OVC Companion Animal Hosp

If your pet has a problem that your regular vet can't deal with or figure out this is the place for you. All the staff I have encountered were very empathetic and professional when dealing with pet owners who are often very upset. The vets the owners deal with are graduates working and conferring with an experienced vet. I felt I got the best of information and treatment for my cat. Although I was able to take my cat home fairly soon after treatments, I meet a women whose dog stayed for a longer time. I was impressed that she could go into the kennel and spend time with her animal. Soooo important for both the animal and owner. Two things I didn't like was that I received no notification that the vet I worked with was done with internship and left. I would have liked to wish him well. Also beware that the costs are higher than in a regular vet practice but I guess it is a specialist type clinic with higher expenses...just saying.

Wonderful, friendly, caring staff. Undoubtedly a great place to bring your pet. Unfortunately the billing and invoicing is not very good. I settled my bill when I picked up my pet and there was a zero balance owing. Two days later I received an invoice for $300 in the mail. When I called to inquire they said there "may" be an additional $300 owing but I should wait to pay it and call back in a week as all invoices go through an internal audit. When I called back after a week they said there was a zero balance. Two days after that I received another invoice for $300 in the mail... massive confusion.

Saved my Brittany spaniel, amazing staff and treatment of both pets and owners. Responded with urgent triage when we called and let them know we were on our way when our little guy crashed. If you need real urgent care, this is the place to be.

Very friendly and detailed staff...just a long way to go. Back and forth with a heart monitor on. I hate highways. Very long trips for someone with anxiety and a dog that pants the whole way

You may have heard wonderful things about OVC ICU small animal hospital in Guelph but I have different story to tell. Story that is hard to believe, story that does not happen at the state of the art facility used by referring veterinarians across the province for treatment and care not readily available in general veterinary practice. Well, it happened to me – the most horrific nightmare and experience imaginable happened to us at OVC small animal hospital and I feel that people need to hear me out in hopes they reconsider entrusting lives of their pets in to hands of OVC. I certainly would never trust them again. To sum up here and also reported for investigation to their regulatory body, here is our heartbreaking story; story which in human health would be considered malpractice in every sense of the word: - OVC veterinarian that took care of my little girl failed to follow mandated standards of care in respect to documentation of administered medications. During review of medical records after my little girl’s death it has come to my attention that it is not clear if IV Lasix was administered (drug that I requested in final attempt to save her since IM Lasix was ineffective). No time, no route, no frequency was recorded which reflects failure to follow standards of care. There was no possibility for misunderstanding of my request. Several people heard me. - Further, corrections were made to the chart (initially reported 2 doses of IM Lasix were corrected to 4 doses of IM Lasix) upon my request to review her medical records. Charts should not be corrected when family requests to see them! If there was discrepancy, this should have been caught by the end of the shift since we are not discussing here minimal things such as bad hair cut. It is life saving drugs that were not properly recorded yet I was told they were administered. We will never know as there is no proof of administration nor route or time of administration. - Repeatedly I had to keep asking for numbers and results of the tests they were doing as I am familiar with them. No one took me seriously as understanding this information my self and wanting to be informed. They failed to inform me accurately which resulted in euthanasia since I thought there was nothing more that could save her. - There was significant 3 week delay in providing me with medical records after initial request for records was made and error in number of IM doses noted. Since 3 weeks passed before I could obtain medical records and with failure to document IV Lasix, any reports now are speculations and in favor of what I want to hear. However, there is no proof that IV was administered as I had requested as last bit of hope in saving her life or at least stabilizing her. - To word it politely, the head of OVC ICU showed no interest in providing me with answers in timely manner after this error was discovered (which provided more time for things to be forgotten). - They further made a mistake in reporting she arrived with IV from referring veterinarian. This is not accurate as I have numerous times asked for IV to be started in Guelph. - It’s been 4 months and I still have no answers. I will never have the answers if the IV Lasix was truly administered – my wish to try everything possible to save her prior to opting for humane euthanasia was taken away due to negligence of veterinarian to document administered medications. - No apology for the grief of never knowing if she could have been saved with IV Lasix, no explanation as to why they failed to adhere to the standards of care has been received. I will take all the proper steps in ensuring this does not happen to your loving pet. Those that don't love what they do should not work in this profession. These little guys can not speak for them selves so it is our duty to ensure they get best care possible. I was in the position to provide this to my little girl and OVC failed her. Stay with your local vet and local emergency clinics (amazing care) without hoping to receive better care at OVC.