Vca Rotherwood Animal Hospital

Reviewer: Audrey Kadis

My 10 year old Burmese cat, Nina, died as a result of their lack of care. Nina had a long standing heart problem. When I brought her in for a routine check-up I was told she needed her teeth cleaned. Dr. Kelley told me that VCA's cadiologist was the best in Boston and I scheduled an echocardiogram to assess whether she should be anesthesized. Dr. Harpster, who repeatedly claimed he was the best, noted that there was "mild to moderate enlargement of the left atrium" in Nina's record, but he did not tell us about this finding. Also, in reponse to several direct questions, he told us it would be fine to have her anesthesized. I now know that an enlarged left atrium is the usual sympton of cardiomyopathy. Any first year vet student would know this. Two weeks after the anesthesia, Nina suffered congestive heart failure and was admitted to Angell Memorial. The quality of Nina's life rapidly deteriorated despite the fact that we did everything we could to aleviate her symptoms. Two weeks later she stopped eating and drinking and because I loved her, I had her euthenized. We asked VCA to pay for the bills we incurred. After 6 weeks they wrote and told us that we caused Nina's death. They sited as evidence incidents that never happened and have been refuted by the vets at Angell. After reading my story, I hope you will benefit from my horrible experience. Nina died on 9/2 and I'm still crying. If I hadn't listened to Dr. Harpster, Nina would be alive and waiting at the door for me when I get home from work today.