Winter Park Veterinary Hospital — Attraction in Winter Park

This is my experience, you're free to create your own opinion:

I called the establishment on Monday (June 30th), due to abnormal behaviors on Sunday (June 29th). My 3.5YO guinea pig was not eating or drinking water. They fit me into an emergency appointment and hospitalized her. The doctor was very knowledgeable and immediately came up with a plan to help her.

Dr Eric Los Kamp operated on Tuesday (July 2nd) and corrected the cause of her illness, which was an issue with her teeth needing to be trimmed. He was very communicative, and called several times each day with an update on how she was doing.

On Wednesday, I was told that she was recovering from the surgery well, and was consuming her pain killers and liquid diet fine. I was also told that she had produced a substantial amount of feces. I was advised that she was not eating as much as she should be (despite the large amount of feces), so they prescribed a appetite stimulant. They wanted her to be sent home this day, but I told them I wanted her to remain in their care until she was completely healed. The doctor pushed and stated that she needed to be sent home, so I relented and agreed to pick her up on Thursday.

During the morning call on Thursday, I was told that she was in great spirits and was consuming everything, including solid food, without any issues. She also apparently had the energy to wheek for additional food. I picked her up, and immediately noticed that she was very lethargic (contrary to what I was told) and had lost a substantial amount of weight. The doctor claimed this might happen while I was picking her up because of how exhausted and stressed out she was while in their care. It's hard to be chipper and stressed out at the same time, which is where the contradictions in the doctor's statements begin. While setting up a follow up appointment, I tried to set one up for the next day but was advised that it was too soon. There were several families coming in at the same time due to their pets becoming unwell again after being in the care of this establishment. There were a variety of different animals. While setting up this appointment, I learned that there would be no staff present on the 4th of July (the next day) and that Dr Eric Los Kamp would be away for a few weeks on paternity leave. I chose a follow up appointment of July 17th, which is the soonest they would allow.

When I brought her home Thursday (July 3rd), I let her rest. When it was time for her medication and liquid food, she was refusing both and was very lethargic. She ended up consuming everything, as per the instructions, but she was certainly not as enthusiastic about it as it was claimed. She drank some water, but it equated to less than 10ml. She did not produce any feces on this day.

I awoke and checked on her on Friday, and noticed that she was doing a lot worse than the day before. She was refusing water, and it took substantially longer than Thursday to feed her the liquid diet. She became progressively more lethargic, and her feces were a different shape and color than normal, a problem that had not been identified by the staff. The staff called to check on Rocky, and I gave them an update. We set an emergency follow up appointment for July 5th at noon. After a couple of hours, she was given the appetite stimulant and painkillers. Afterwards, she laid down and passed on. I called the establishment and left a voicemail updating them that she had passed on.

I understand that things happen, but what I don't understand is paying $2,175 to be lied to regarding the condition of my pet, or being pushed into taking action that is against the best interest of my pet. If they did not want to have her in their custody during the holidays or she was not doing as well as what was stated, I would have preferred to have been told that. I have a feeling that the other pet owners who were all coming in at once with unresponsive pets were having the same experience as me. I will update this review as needed, but it details my experience as of...

RABBIT PARENTS BEWARE! If I could deter just ONE of you, I will feel like my bun's memory & last three weeks of unimaginable pain won't be in vain. I took my beautiful bun here &it will forever feel like one of the worst mistakes I ever made.

(Review condensed to fit character limit) Late at night on February 28th, 2024, my 2 yr old, Trix, was being unusual on their baby camera; she was spinning in circles & leaning on her right side. February 29th, when everyone opened, I scheduled an appt w/ Winter Park Veterinary Hospital (WPVH) at 6pm same day. The ONLY reason I chose this vet was because our usual vet was off & I was afraid to wait another day. W/both buns in tow, I get to our appt, fearing the worst & prepared to pay/do whatever was necessary to fix it. I show the video of Trix & provide a brief history of our buns (they were rescued from the wild; let go by our neighbors w/Trix still growing then & Nesquik's age unknown as he was already fully grown). After a quick physical check up, vet #1 (refraining from giving names) told me it was an ear infection & said & I quote, "I'm surprised you even caught it. Most wouldn't have noticed this early." I was relieved (at the time), thinking, "thank God it's just an ear infection," & paid $300 for her visit, antibiotic shot, pain medication & oral antibiotics. In hindsight, I can't remember a time that a vet wasn't extra precautious & recommended something more (i.e. bloodwork or Xray) like I thought we would be doing, just in case. March 3rd, get new antibiotics (left ours out by accident) & confirmed the doctor didn't want a follow up (thinking the meds would make a difference) Over next 2 weeks, noticed gradual decrease in our buns appetite, but still observed them eating, drinking, & being their normal, happy selves, so I contributed this to Trix's medication upsetting her tummy or possible lingering pain, or the rising FL temps making the house warmer & the buns less hungry. Flashforward to March 17th & Trix is terribly wrong. Her right eye (same side as her "ear infection") is bulging & she has a noticeable disinterest in food or water. Worse yet, camera malfunctioned & didn't record the 16th or 17th for me to determine if something caused the eye or when she last ate. To be proactive, I syringe feed her water & a smoothie of greens, apples, water & give her a hot water bottle. I just returned to work from a 7 month med leave, so mom agrees to come down to take her to the vet on my behalf the 19th (earliest we could get since WPVH required a $200 emergency fee despite a possible misdiagnosis) March 18th, 6pm Trix is wheezing & has clear, thin discharge from her nose. Bulge around right side of neck found later in evening. But she has higher energy levels & is taking food/water from me, so I opt not to take her in. March 19th, Trix is refusing any water or food. Mom takes her in early, insists I goto work despite my worries 11am - on phone w/vet #2 who says we have to put her under to find what's wrong. Says she understands I'm angry, claims it could still be related to ear infection (how when it was caught early & being treated?), but I angrily agree to put her under, to pay $1400 to save my baby from their misdiagnosis. Hours & $900 later, they return my beautiful bun... in a box... because she died on the table. from a tumor in her face. that ate thru her jawbone. that could have been caught.... with an xray.

Instead of acknowledging their mistake, WPVH has shifted blame & refused responsibility by claiming 1: "You didn't even know how old Trix was," & 2: "We see this a lot with rabbits that aren't spayed." Trix was 2. We knew this because we raised her & watched her grow. It was Nesquik whose age we didn't know & we intended on spaying Trix this year instead of paying $1200 for a misdiagnosis. Vet also dodgy about sending trix's records despite asking for them 4 days ago. I suspect they will counter this review, further proving me right.

Bun parents, go anywhere but here.

This family adored Trix & now our family will never...

My dog, Reuben, passed away due to a forced rabies vaccination, specifically resulting in severe anemia and seizures. I know what you're thinking...another anti-vaccinator blaming someone on their dog's death. Call it what you want, but I know my fur-son wasn't well enough to begin with, struggling with life-long allergies and that vaccines carry serious side-effects, especially when a vet is careless enough to overlook medical history and/or past reactions to vaccines in which case Reuben has had and apparently wasn't noted in his file like it should've been as he's had past reactions before. Quite the contrary to belief, I became an anti-vaccinator not through misguided information off the internet written by random people but as a result of my very own experiences with them and from resources from both licensed hollistic and non-hollistic veternarians that ADMIT vaccines are not always safe and effective, especially in both dogs and people with a comprised immune system, as was the case with Reuben. On top of always trying to force me to neuter him everytime I came in, on top of the thousands of dollars I paid just to help his allergies time and time again, this time I was essentially forced to have him vaccinated for rabies, claiming, "its by law and legal action can be taken against you", despite the fact ALL animals are excempted from the rabies vaccine in the state of Florida if they have had past reactions or are deemed unhealthy; a responsible; knowledgeable vet would've otherwise given me an excemption letter. I explained to the assistant(or so I assume that's what she was), that he didn't do well his last vaccine that I only vaccinated him because I had no choice but to board him at the time at a different facility and that he experienced ataxia and lethargy(i.e. falling off beds, stumbling, ect.) However, with the threat of "legal action being taken against you" (she was very rude in saying this btw), I assumed, at the time, at least before I really understood what the law meant, that someone would take my dog away. At least this is how forceful it felt upon me; I literally felt I had no choice and that I was breaking a law and therefore would be reported. I made a serious mistake. Within hours, at just 5 years old, he started developing serious problems in both his back legs. I call to speak with someone because I was very upset and was given the same lame excuse of the whole it's by law..if he bites someone...blah blah blah. Then I was given nothing more after that except an un-heartfelt apology of, "I'm sorry the way it was worded but we would not report you if you chose not to vaccinate". Then.."my manager might call you"..guess what? No manager ever called me. No surprise. Within days, he started swelling. I didn't call back because when comparing to their lack of care and the numerous forced attempts of not respecting my decision making why bother? I felt really helpless and guilty, especially since ultimately, I was to blame. At the end of the day, I brought him in. Even if someone showed up to my door, looking back I would've risked it just so I could've kept in him safe. Just so I could've held him back in my arms. He was seen March 6th..it's now April 2nd. And he's already gone. I would also like to note, someone left me a voicemail stating his blood work was normal, which also adds to the fact this happened as a result of whatever happened after his visit. Despite efforts to save him at an emergency vet in which case I was told it could not be determined 100% that the vaccine was to blame(I think all vets say this just to save themselves), I was told it was immune mediated anemia, and that "more than likely" it was brought on by a rabies vaccine. Last to note, Reuben never once had a seizure until shortly before his E.R. visit and again his blood work less than a mere month ago came back normal. If my post can save at least one, that's all I ask. Do not bring your animal here. R.I.P my sweet...