Boston West Veterinary Emergency & Specialty — Attraction in Natick

My just turned 5 year old had a VERY rare disease. I tried explaining this to the Internist here, but she didn’t seem to care. The appointment seemed to take about 1-2 hours long. My dogs file is about 160 pages long with all of her medical problems. The disease she has was only written about in case studies as far as my understanding goes and I had read every single one of those case studies. This vet clearly had not. She did bring in one of her files printed out and highlighted, a word over and over again and told me how ALL the other vets on her treatment team where just SCARED and that it was not a big deal and she just had inflammation and that everything on her reports and with her diagnosis just meant Inflammation . That all these other vets were just scared of the disease and that it wasn’t that big of a a deal. She was mocking me and throwing her hands up in the air saying “well since you said she’s your baby since you keep saying she’s your baby” I’m not really sure what she was trying to accomplish with her commentary. I don’t know if she thought I didn’t have money or I wasn’t willing to do whatever it was, that was necessary. But when I tell you, I was a stay at home dog mom to this dog she was my entire life, having a chronically ill. She was a full-time job, from throwing up blood to not eating for days and , to throwing up almost daily and keeping a log of dates and times, and what she ate and what time she through up, how much she puked up and the color. I did any, and every research I could even looking for this disease in humans which there aren’t even Facebook support groups that’s how rare this disease is when it’s found in middle aged men. We spared no expense on this dog so for her to try to insinuate we weren’t going to do what was needed to be done was insane. We had already spent $15,000 on a surgery less than a year ago and we don’t even know what we spent on all her daily medications or normal vet visits never mind ET vet visits because we didn’t care because SHE WAS OUR BABY. she was family. And no she didn’t have insurance. We would have done ANYTHING. For this dog. And we did. No thanks to this vet. When we had gotten to this appointment, my dog had already not been eating for days and I was told if she went much longer without eating, she wouldn’t make it much longer. We were prescribed a medication that because of how big she was would’ve been $1400 a month they told us to Get it on chewy rather than just giving us a dose right then and there to “save money” something I never once expressed was of concern. She told me that my dog would be fine. And we would move forward with an ultrasound in a week. Well my dog didn’t make it a week. I called the next day saying can I get the meds NOW please because she’s not any better I couldn’t wait the 4 days for chewy to send it. They told me I’d have to COME BACK IN for ANOTHER appointment for them to prescribe me the meds!!!! Even tho I was JUST there. I finally called Tuffs who is our normal ER vet crying and they called Boston west asking can them to just give me the meds and that this is insane. They finally agreed if I came in they’d sell me the meds after me being hysterical. I knew something was wrong with my dog and I knew in my gut it wasn’t me over reacting . We got the meds finally at about 11pm. She was good for about 1 day and then she took a turn for the worst not eating again. So I ended up taking her to Tufts for a second opinion where I begged someone to listen and the wonderful vet there heard me out and was kind and compassionate and loving of my best girl. She ran tests and truly listened to me. Unfortunately my gut momma bear instinct was right. And it WAS as bad as all the other vets said. And I was right to be as upset as I was. She was put down THAT day. I can finally write without crying almost a year later. Please save your pets and avoid this place at all costs. “ Dr ” Natalie Langer, learn to listen to your clients. I may not be a vet but I knew her better than...

As other reviewers have said, do NOT bring your animal here! While the state they are a hospital dedicated to providing compassionate medical care to dogs and cats, my experience was anything but that and trying to deal with them about THEIR mistake has been anything but pleasant and they have shown zero compassion to my dog. Appears this place is all about collecting your money and little care for your animal. This is the verbiage directly from their paperwork: "Reason for the Visit: Dropped off for surgery for a ligament problem of the right knee. Diagnostic Tests and Therapy Performed: Radiographs; Supportive fluid and drug therapy; Nursing care; Pain management (including Nocita). Diagnosis at Time of Discharge: Partial tear of the right cranial cruciate ligament. Likely damage of the left cranial cruciate ligament. Overweight." As you can see, i dropped my dog off for a RIGHT and guess what leg he did the surgery on, you guessed it, the LEFT leg. Because of their mistake, I have a dog that can barely walk anymore after this surgery. Trying to get his full medical records took a while, now I see why. Contacted Tish Minium, the Boston West Hospital Manager and she was not very helpful, just had a member of the surgery team contact me and she was very argumentative, I had forgotten her name. Then they had Dr. Joel Alsup contact me and in explaining that I had dropped him off for his RIGHT, he again said all paper work showed left, which is not true as I have all the paperwork and you can see the quoted sections above that everything says RIGHT. He asked me what should be done to rectify and when I stated I don't know, I am not a vet and asked what should be done to rectify it, he said "Nothing, as I did nothing wrong" and basically tried to push blame to my regular vet, based on just a visual exam and they recommended me to Dr. Alsup for sedated exam/ x-rays to confirm. Dr. Alsup only did and exam and x-rays on the LEFT leg! Why only the left when their paperwork specifically states I dropped him for his RIGHT leg! Where zero compassion comes in is they basically just state that their paperwork is wrong and they went off what the notes from my vet stated which was unable to determine which leg, recommend sedated exam by specialist so they are basically blaming someone else when they did not read the vets note and just went of a note from an intake tech vet that said it could possibly be the left! So much for being a specialit if you do not read the proper Dr. notes of why the dog was referred to you on the first place. As I said, AVOID this place, especially if your vet recommends you to Dr. Alsup, run to another surgeon at another hospital that knows what they are doing and actually shows some compassion towards animals.

UPDATE: Based on the owners response, yes I did speak with someone there and it just confirmed that they operated on the wrong knee of my dog and they have come up with every excuse to try and justify it. So it basically come down to Dr. Alsup took the notes of a front desk attendant instead of the notes of a veterinarian and did not do what he had said he was going to do before the surgery. My opinion is he should not be allowed near another dog. Weird thing is that everyone I spoke to did not seem to care that my dog is 1000% worse post surgery, they just seem to care about covering their butts instead of showing some empathy or rectifying their mistake for a dog their...

The doctors and nurses here are kind and professional, and I truly appreciate their efforts. That's where the two stars from. But I also hope this hospital can find more flexibility and compassion when working with sensitive cats like mine.

My cat Henry suddenly developed a lump on his chest last Thursday night, and we rushed him to Boston West ER. At the beginning of the visit, Henry was still friendly and curious, and interacting with nurse and doctor well. I explained to the doctor and nurse that Henry reacts very strongly to needles and carriers, and asked for extra care. An ultrasound suggested an abscess pocket, so sedation and drainage were recommended, and we agreed. From visual observation, it looked most likely to have started from a nail puncture during a fight with my other cat, which then caused the abscess and inflammation — explaining why the lump grew so suddenly.

After two hours, however, we were told Henry had become too agitated to sedate. When we came to pick him up, the nurse explained he had struggled violently, even defecated from fear, and they were trying to force him back into the carrier before discharge. I was shocked — Henry has never been this terrified at a hospital before. Knowing he spent three hours in that state was heartbreaking. I had explained at the very start that Henry panics with carriers, and asked if he could be brought out directly or if I could hold him, but was told “no” for safety reasons. Hearing staff describe it as “some cats just don’t tolerate” felt dismissive, as if it was only the cat’s fault, rather than a moment where different handling might have helped.

That night at home, Henry could barely stand, and would not even let us clean him. We were told the abscess needed care by the weekend, so despite our hesitation we returned Friday morning with gabapentin on board. A different doctor saw him, and felt sedation and drainage were not necessary, recommending medication instead. I don’t know whether this decision was purely medical, or partly because Henry was so difficult to handle at that moment, but it left us uncertain and worried. Henry received a long-acting antibiotic injection (Convenia) and his first oral dose of meloxicam.

Unfortunately, after the second visit Henry completely shut down — he refused all food and water, was weak, could barely open his eyes or walk. This was devastating to witness. Just 24 hours earlier he had been an energetic, happy cat with only mild discomfort from the lump. After two visits, and effectively just one injection and one oral dose of medication, he was in a life-threatening state from the combined effects of stress, lack of intake, and inflammation.

By Sunday, after syringe-feeding and rehydrating him at home, he slowly began eating wet food again. Today, three days after the visit, the lump is slightly larger, and Henry is fragile but improving. Looking back, I regret the initial decision to bring him here — it feels like the experience caused more harm than help.

I share this not in anger, but in sadness, and in the hope that Boston West may reflect on how rigid protocols can sometimes unintentionally harm sensitive patients. Cats like Henry need not only medical treatment, but also flexibility, gentleness, and compassion...