Purdue University Small Animal Hospital — Attraction in West Lafayette

This review is for the orthopedic specialists at Purdue Veterinary School and Small Animal Hospital. Our dog, Pancho, had corrective surgery on 1/10/24 to fix an angular limb deformity. Our experience with Purdue was incredible. Thank you Dr. Kim, Dr. Rochat, Dr. Nelson, RVT Anna Ihrie, and Rhett McCutchan. You all took such good care of Pancho and of us - and now he is on the road to a better quality of life.

Pancho developed an angular limb deformity during his first year. At first his paws just looked like normal dachshund mix paws - but it quickly became clear that his paw was not growing normally. We took him to a specialist near us who said it would take three separate surgeries to correct the deformity and would cost ~ $10,000. Obviously, this was not something that we could afford, but more importantly, we did not want to put our little guy through three major surgeries. We then worked on giving him the best quality of life to accommodate the deformity, such as using a stroller, so he could still enjoy longer walks, pain management with heat pads and massages. But around his fourth birthday, it became obvious that things were just going to get harder for him as he got older. That’s when a friend told us about Purdue Veterinary School. She had brought her dog who had a rare form of cancer here, and said they had an innovative approach to fixing complex health issues. So we drove 2.5 hours down to Lafayette and met with the orthopedic team to see what options we could explore. We were pleasantly surprised when they told us that they have done many surgeries like this before, and Panchos paw could be fixed in one surgery, and it would cost us less than half the initial price we were quoted! We set up the appointment and were eager but also nervous as this would be the first time Pancho was getting a major surgery.

To say that the team at Purdue was spectacular would be an understatement. We were very nervous about the entire procedure, and they took extra time and care to answer all of our questions, and reassure us that Pancho would get the best care possible. They have a huge team of orthopedic surgeons and board-certified anesthesiologists that would be closely monitoring Pancho to ensure his safety during the almost 2 hour surgery. They called us the morning of the surgery to check in, before the surgery started, after the surgery was completed and would call every evening while Pancho was recovering to give an update on how he was doing. We could tell that he was in very good hands, and that they were giving him lots of love, which made the entire process so much easier for us. They were also very transparent about what medications they would be giving Pancho, what the entire surgery wouldn’t entail, and we were able to meet most of his surgery team beforehand, which was really nice. When we finally got to pick up Pancho, they were very clear about his care instructions and continued to call after we went home to check in with us. The entire surgery ended up costing us just under $4000 and Pancho is already trying to use his paw and is in high spirits. We are so thankful we found Purdue Small Animal Hospital and will be recommending them to anyone who is looking for specialty care for their pets.

The only piece of feedback that we would give, and this is minor, is that there was a little bit of confusion about which day Pancho would actually be having the surgery. We found out when he dropped him off that his surgery would actually be the next day, which meant that we had to pick him up later than we had planned for. Luckily, our accommodation was a friend we were staying with, so we were able to adjust. But this may have been a little bit harder for those who need to stay at a hotel and are coming from far away. Again, very minor and did not have a huge impact for us, but worth noting for future patients to clarify expectations and timeline around when the surgery is taking place and when they should be ready to pick up their pet.

THANK YOU PURDUE SMALL...

So this is a mixed review, but the TL;DR is that the emergency service is fantastic**; however, I do NOT recommend using the Small Animal Hospital for regular care.

**updated October 2024 to say that the emergency care, if you have an emergency overnight, is much harder, though Dr Halsmer is wonderful.

Purdue is just too busy, and too big, to offer good primary care. Here are the (alas many) negatives. Some of these are within their control, some not - but even what's not in their control is pretty important when finding a primary care provider for your pets.

Diff vet every time. My dog is really anxious; this does not help. There is no way to establish a history or relationships. One of the reviews on the Purdue website (from 2008) claimed that everyone knew the family and their pets - how? Maybe it was really different then, but apart from the front desk people (who don't remember you, either), no one is ever the same. This is under the "not in their control" category, but even so - it's not great. Were this the only drawback, I'd still go, but it's not.

Poor communication. I've often been promised a follow-up call (at emergency care, too) that does not come. I always have to follow up and call to find out about the status of my pet. Again, I assume this has to do with sheer chaos there (chaos not through anyone's fault, but when you're the primary animal emergency facilities in a region, it's of course really busy - and communication suffers as a result). I do think they are mostly doing their best, but this failure has been consistent. My impression is that they are serving so many people they can't keep up with regular patients. I would not hesitate to take my pets to their emergency department, where I've had wonderful interactions and experiences (a special shoutout to Dr. Childress!!!!!). But the poor communication extends to include even trying to get medications refilled, for instance - one sometimes waits on hold for a hella long time. Again - understandable. But again - not ideal, to say the least, when you want a primary care provider who is available for you and your pet.

I was really surprised at this, but in the latest visit, we were sold $200 worth of flea and tick prevention we did NOT ask for. We needed a new heart worm preventative (pro-tip, everyone: heartguard plus does not protect against whipworm!), but Dr Thompson neither spoke with me or recommended a different flea and tick medicine (we use nexguard). My husband picked up our dog, and not realizing this, paid for the new medicine - which they of course won't take back. I am frustrated to the point of being mildly angry about this - not ok. I get that no returns is their policy, but do NOT make decisions on behalf of pet owners. (Dr. Thompson evidently did so because there was a rebate. We already have a robust supply of the medicine we use; if you want to offer us $200 worth of extra stuff, for heaven's sake ask, don't assume.)

To start our dog on the whipworm medication they prescribed, we needed another medication as well to prevent diarrhea. We paid for this medication. It was not in the bag my husband picked up. I probably wouldn't have checked either, to be honest, because one assumes what one pays for will be there. Now we are waiting on its preparation - they will hopefully call - and we cannot start her on the dewormer until we have this other medication.

The biggest problem was my dog's heart murmur. :-( A medication was recommended, but for some reason, this was not prescribed or given to us - and the heart murmur is the biggest problem. I have no idea why it was not prescribed.

This is, again, where the poor communication becomes a serious problem. I never had these problems with my previous vet. I do not think Purdue has the capacity to offer good and responsive primary care, and I'm not really sure why they do. They are an excellent research facility and emergency facility - but in this area,...

I am the owner of a lovable pug who recently injured her claw. She was bleeding a bit and whining, and she didn’t seem to be able to put weight on that foot comfortably.

I went to the Purdue Vet Clinic (ER) to have her looked at.

I am giving Purdue Vet Clinic 2.5 stars because they treated her paw with minimal intervention and she is healing up well. For that I am very grateful.

However, I am taking 2.5 stars because I felt that the staff failed to consider both my and my pug’s feelings and comfort for the duration of our visit. I also feel that they violated some basic rights by failing to secure my permission before they took my dog from me for the duration of our visit.

After waiting for a bit, she and I were taken back to an examination room by a senior vet student.

I asked the student if I should set my pug down on the examination table but he said that he would hold her.

To my surprise, he immediately left the room with her in his arms muttering what I think was supposed to be an explanation as he exited.

I was shut inside and, as I soon discovered, not allowed to leave the room.

I sat there by myself wondering what was going on for five or ten minutes. Then a clinic employee accidentally opened the door to the room that I was in.

And while she did agree to check in on my dog, it should be noted that she had tried to quickly shut the door before I could speak to her.

Afterward, the vet student came back to inform me that “they weren’t sure but they would probably have to sedate [my dog] and remove her claw,” but this wasn’t definite.

Meanwhile, my dog was kept...somewhere. I still hadn’t been informed of where they had taken her or when they planned on returning her to me.

Perhaps separating the pet from its owner is standard procedure for a Veterinary ER (?) But if so, this was not explained to me.

And I did not give them permission to take my dog from me for the duration of the visit... or to confine me in a room.

After 20 more minutes, the Vet came in with the vet student. This was only after I asked for a status update.

This is another issue; I had to press them to get any information about my dog.

Never did they come of their own volition to let me know how she was doing and they seemed annoyed at me for asking.

I stood when they came into the room.

The Vet told me to sit down.

She then informed me that the “technician was busy holding [my pug] because she’s just really cute” and that I needed to be patient because they “teach while [they] are working.”

Also, the vet student said that earlier on in our visit, he had taken her and put her in a cage.

They did not explain exactly why they had taken my pug in the first place but I deduced what I could from the vet’s explanation.

From what I gathered, they separated my dog from me so that they could show “a cute pug” [their words] to the vet students unhindered by me, the owner.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t mind letting a stranger play with her or even hold her.

But we were at the ER and I was a worried dog owner. And my dog suffers from separation anxiety.

It was not the time or the place for the staff to be parading my pug around.

She was separated from the only person she knew, hurt and in a new environment and I was worried and unsure about the extent of her injury for the majority of my visit.

It would have been in both of our best interests to keep her near me, unless separation was absolutely necessary.

To be clear... I would have been okay with vet students being present during the examination and subsequent nail trim. All they had to do was ask.

But they didn’t ask.

When they returned her to me 40 minutes later, she was trembling and panting.

I have had my dog since she was puppy and I could tell that she was distressed- even if they could not. This upset me even more.

I am grateful to them for helping my dog. But I did not like the overall lack of professionalism and lack of consideration for...