I took my dog to Pet Smart for grooming while I went to a Dr's appointment. While at the groomers my dog had a slight "seizure". Pet Smart tried calling me but I did not have my phone on me in the appointment. Not understanding what was going on, the groomer took her to Banfield since it was in the same building. Banfield considered this an emergency, even though the "seizure" was so slight that they could walk my dog to the Pet Hospital, and gave her an IV of anti-seizure medicine. Banfield charged me $160 for this without approval. I took my dog to my own vet who simply suggested I monitor her seizures over time to see the severity of them. We did not put her on drugs but I was given anti-seizure pills in case the seizures became severe. The episodes were so slight that she still functions during the 2-4 minute episodes and snaps right out of them. Medicine was never needed. My vet has since diagnosed it as a food allergy and by simply switching dog foods my dog no longer has the episodes. Never should this have been considered an emergency and drugs administered. I don't expect a groomer to know this, but a Pet Hospital should have known better. I found Banfield to lack greatly in expertise and charged a ridiculously high price. When I tried to get my charge reduced, they simply said I wasn't charged an office fee and that was as low as they could go. Very poor customer service.
I took my dog to Pet Smart for grooming while I went to a Dr's appointment. While at the groomers my dog had a slight "seizure". Pet Smart tried calling me but I did not have my phone on me in the appointment. Not understanding what was going on, the groomer took her to Banfield since it was in the same building. Banfield considered this an emergency, even though the "seizure" was so slight that they could walk my dog to the Pet Hospital, and gave her an IV of anti-seizure medicine. Banfield charged me $160 for this without approval. I took my dog to my own vet who simply suggested I monitor her seizures over time to see the severity of them. We did not put her on drugs but I was given anti-seizure pills in case the seizures became severe. The episodes were so slight that she still functions during the 2-4 minute episodes and snaps right out of them. Medicine was never needed. My vet has since diagnosed it as a food allergy and by simply switching dog foods my dog no longer has the episodes. Never should this have been considered an emergency and drugs administered. I don't expect a groomer to know this, but a Pet Hospital should have known better. I found Banfield to lack greatly in expertise and charged a ridiculously high price. When I tried to get my charge reduced, they simply said I wasn't charged an office fee and that was as low as they could go. Very poor customer service.