Winter Garden Animal Hospital — Attraction in Winter Garden

It’s taken me this long time to put words down about how disappointed and upset we are about WGAH.

We chose this hospital because we believed they were there for the pet and not just to make a quick buck. How wrong was I to think this would be any different.

On August 27, 2021, our fur baby had gone in for a teeth cleaning after 12 years of having no issues with them. This is because the Vet said that he had a few teeth that may need to be removed. He came home that same day with a “clean bill of health” and no teeth were removed and in fact we were told they only needed to be cleaned. Hooray! We were so happy to hear no teeth removed.

He passed away in our arms on the 29th at 3:30 am from aspirating on his vomit. We contacted the WGAH letting them know that he passed away. They contacted us that Monday to say they never had this happen at their location and that they were truly sorry. They think he may have had a reaction to the anesthesia but doubted it and could not think of any other reason of why he would have passed away.

The vet said that during the procedure they tested his blood for any allergies to the anesthesia and tested his heart for any issues and everything was fine.

We found out later that the vet that performed the procedure was a traveling vet and not our fur baby’s vet. This vet was also the husband of our pet’s vet. We never even met him. We assumed the person who addressed us at the hospital on the 27th was the vet performing this cleaning.

We asked them to send us the paperwork on this procedure. This paperwork was received via email after weeks of calls. It was handwritten in illegible handwriting.

It said he had a level 2 heart condition, which we have no idea what that even means. We should have been told immediately. The fact is there were too many discrepancies in person, on phone and by email on their part. We truly believe had there been certain policies in place things could have gone differently.

When a situation happens like this in a vet hospital one of the first things that they could have done is tell us how they would make things better for any pets in the future. We would have told them that they should make sure the pet parents meet with the actual vet who is performing any procedure. That they explain how things would work, what type of recovery is expected, and what to look out for in the event something happens. Oh, and don’t schedule a procedure on a Friday when you know you would be closed on the weekend.

After doing some research we never knew that there were several types of anesthesia that your pet could be given and if it is not tailored correctly to fit your pet you could lose your pet.

We will never recommend Winter Garden Animal Hospital to anyone who has a pet.

Stop worrying about collecting the money and spend a little more time on the care of your...

A shout out for Winter Garden Animal Hospital!

I know this is long, but a little of the backstory helps…

WGAH has twice saved the life of my 8 year old YorkieChi, Tramp. In August of 2013 he became very ill within just a few days and overnight he was so sick he laid vomiting and could barely stand. Dr. Prather told us to bring him in immediately and after ultrasounds, labs etc. it was determined he needed to have immediate surgery. He was diagnosed with acute necrotizing pancreatitis and his prognosis was not good. He was a very sick little guy and I was devastated to say the least. In my research on this, 98% of pets diagnosed with this die or are ultimately euthanized. His condition degraded day by day despite conventional treatment. He was dying and would not respond to anything unless I was there with him. The staff encouraged me to spend as much time as I could with him as he would fade away while I was gone and only rally when I came in for “visitations”. Dr. Prather consulted with several outside specialists on treatment options and became very aggressive in his treatment. He slowly began responding to treatment and after 2 1/2 weeks I was finally able to bring him home. Those two weeks were a roller coaster ride of emotions as he’d seem to improve only to plummet to near death again, over and over. The staff were fantastic people! They were so emotionally supportive of me, made sure I had a constant supply of clean towels, soap and water, bedding and whatever I needed for him. Sometime after the first week I was looking at their board of hospitalized critters and listed under Tramp was “Tramp’s Dad” and my treatment plan: “emotional support and lots of coffee”. I got a good chuckle out of that and it really shows how much they care, not just for Tramp, but for me as well.

He has chronic pancreatitis and, with care and advice from WGAH, did very well over the course of a year. Then he got into something he shouldn’t have eaten. Treatment was immediate and aggressive. He pulled thru the critical phase quickly but wouldn’t eat or drink anything, no matter how enticing it was. We had to insert a feeding tube for sustenance for nearly three months before he would eat again. I couldn’t have asked for better care and support again from the staff! The compassion for their animal patients was so very evident during the times I was there visiting Tramp. Every time someone’s pet had to be euthanized, they held it together to support the family and then had a group cry afterwards. I was just so impressed with the professional knowledge of not just the Doctors, but the veterinarian technicians as well and everyone cared so much for the animals along with the owners.

I just cannot recommend Winter Garden Animal Hospital enough for the care...

We took my gf's tabby cat, Bruce, to get a check up along with blood work and a ton of other services. Immediately we were impressed with the person we spoke to on the phone....extremely knowledgeable and friendly (Note, we called about 3 times and every single attendant was on top of their pet game). We showed up at 9am on a Saturday and their waiting room was emmaculate for a pet waiting room. Not a lot of hair every where and it smelled wonderful. The staff greeted us very kindly and we were being attended within minutes of our arrival. Our nurse/tech Kelly, was awesome! Extremely knowledgeable and understanding to our concerns with Bruce's tension of car rides. She handled the items such as clipping of nails (which they did for free), weight, bloodwork, etc. She was very sweet and comforting to our pet and was able to calm him down quite a bit. She brought Bruce back along with the doctor, Dr. Andy Franker, who was also extremely knowledgeable and caring to our Bruce. The doctor checked his teeth, organs, ears, eyes, and gave us his professional opinion on our pet's weight along with a plan to mitigate any issues. Bruce was also due for some vaccines and this Doc had the magic touch. Our cat literally had no idea he was getting two shots lol. We were stunned as well they were able to keep him calm and the way they treated our pet as their own. This was our first time at this vet and we are more than happy with how they treated our pet as well as how awesome they were with us and all our questions and concerns. Not to mention our bills ended up being less than we were quoted over the phone and significantly less than their locals competitors given the services we received and treatment our pet was alloted. We are extremely thankful to the entire staff at The Winter Garden Vet Hospital for taking what started out as an extremely stressful day and turning it into a calm, relaxed trip to the vet. Awesome people and...