Hiawassee & Clarcona-Ocoee Pet Hospital, LLC — Local services in Apopka

So much for low cost and or quality of services...BE PREPARED TO GET RIPPED OFF! DONT SAY YOU WERE NOT WARNED IN ADVANCE!!!Do Not be fooled by the positive Reviews!!! To begin, my fiancee and I brought our Mary, to HCO Pet Hospital, in Ocoee on Monday, January 31, 2022. Our cat was defacating all over herself and could not hardly stand. We paid for the exam, then were told we needed in-house blood work, to which we agreed, for an additional 215.00+ dollars, for the bloodwork. Once we waited for the results, about 90 minutes later, we were told directly by Dr. Hyatt, that Mary was not in kidney failure and that it would be advisable to spend roughly another $150.00, for shots/ antibiotics, of which we agreed, based upon the information and hope given to us by Dr. Hyatt and their staff. All total $473.54 for the visit, on Monday, January 31, 2022.

The reason for this negative review is to address what transpired, following the initial visit, as well, leading to Mary having to be "put down" just 4 days later, on February 4, 2022, along with feeling duped upon discovering the misinformation we were given, along with the attitude of assistant, Giselle, who when I contacted her on Friday, February 4, 2022, at 1:21 PM, ( long before they closed at 5:00 PM) and asked her to please have a nurse contact me, Giselle was very patronizing, telling me, " Our nurses are very very busy with patients and I can't make a promise you will get a call." Wow... so you have nearly $500.00 of ours while our cat is nearly dead, and I can't we can't even get a call back.. Some Service...Not!!!

Long story short, we took Mary to another vet, later on February 4, 2022, whom upon receiving the faxed bloodwoork and paperwork from HCO Pet Hospital, should have known our cat was in "Grave Renal Failure" and should have informed us, based on their own in house bloodwork, versus sell us unnecessary services, along with paing for an exam, which was a total misdiagnosis.

By the time HCO Pet Hospital called back, approximately 72 hours had already passed and our cat was long gone. If you are compassionate about your pets and the care they receive, along with expect honest answers from "services" you pay for, then do both yourself and your pets a favor and go elsewhere for care, where you wont be misinformed, and ripped off, by one who advertises themselves as "Low Cost" , as "Low Care / High Cost" would be a much more accurate description. Scott Silver

Regarding Owners Response: Sorry if I was not clear....Yes, initially and earlier in the week, Mary was showing some improvement, however, when I called and spoke to Joselle, on Friday the 4th of February, she was very short with me, and snooty, to be quite Frank, as I explained to her the urgency to have a Nurse contact me asap, as Mary couldn't move since Wednesday of the same week, even though we were giving her the the antibiotic. Jiselle's only concern was "to set up another billable appointment" as she could have cared less about a nurse contacting us, despite having over 3.5 hours remaining in the operating hours of your facility for that day.

As a result, we took Mary to David's Animal Hospital, who at that time obtained the records, and informed / showed , us that we were given misinformation from our 1/31/2022 visit with HCO, who did the blood work internally (of which we did not have a copy of until Davids Animal Hospital had faxed to them on 2/4/ 2022), at which time their veterinarian showed us that based upon the bloodwork, which we paid for HCO to run in-house, that we should have been immediately informed that Mary was in full kidney failure, and at that point been given some options versus selling us on other services as we were led to believe , were needed, from talking with Dr. Hyatt. that "Mary's kidneys were ok", which clearly was not the case. Imagine, being in our shoes, ponying up $473.54, only to find out the same week we were provided a misdiagnosis. This is a wrong way to do business on...

Follow up response: I appreciate the further details regarding Cleo. I'm sorry it wasn't conveyed properly to your office that she was there for a check up because she didn't seem herself. We also knew she needed to update her vaccines so that's why my husband asked about that. I did not find a missed call on my cell phone from your office unless the doctor called from a different line. Time was an issue and I was trying so hard to be patient and think what to do accessing her condition. I called back around 5:45pm this Wednesday and it went straight to voicemail. So, I emailed you right then. Yet, Thursday morning I did not hear from your office before you started your day. I guess you didn't realize it or maybe your staff checks the emails when they get to them. I don't know. The email of her passing was sent earlier than stated but there could have been a delay there too. I'm sorry my husband seemed hesitant. We've been dealing with a lot financially. It wasn't that he didn't care. You were listed as a low cost clinic online and I think he was shocked by the price and had to come to terms with it. Thank you for your reply. Just wish I could redo everything knowing what I know now. Honestly, I tried to just delete this whole post and can't figure out how. So stressful. (UPDATE: It’s now over a week later and no sympathy card has been received as stated in their offices reply below or copy of invoice. IDK but as I said before I don’t like leaving negative reviews. Read it and decide what you want to do.)

Initial Post: (edited after reply posted) Let me start off by saying I’ve never written a bad review so please know I don’t “enjoy” doing this. Start with the good, the staff was friendly. We got a same day appointment Monday. I didn’t personally meet the doctor, my husband did. Our dog wasn’t acting right so we took her in for a check up. She was breathing a little heavy, acting tired, not much of an appetite, and just not herself. First complaint, I googled low cost clinics and this shows up yet I don't feel it's truly low cost. Medication we needed was cheaper at Costco and the Altamonte Pet Doc. Necessary bloodwork ran over $300. We had to wait 2 days for the bloodwork results. That may be typicaL. Yet, The concerning part was, as I feared, something was terribly wrong. It comes back that she is severely anemic. I’m pretty sure if the doctor would have looked at her teeth/gums they would have been pale on Monday. Yet, my husband said the doctor was very busy and quick with the exam. The doctor calls my husband after hours on Wednesday to explain the lab work yet my husband was on an appointment unable to take his call. The doctor then emails me the bad news saying he tried to call me. No message or missed call from his office line on my phone. Maybe he called from a different number. I immediately try calling the office but with it being after hours, it goes to voicemail. So, I email him back my number and asked him to call me ASAP. Nothing. Suggestion: With results like that, please give an alternative phone number where you can be reached after hours. To make someone wait is torture. The next morning after watching her all night and making 3 different crock pots of food to help with anemia and not being able to get her to eat, I hoped he’d call me yet I had to call him to find out he was tied up all day with surgeries and appointments. So, I’ve still never spoke with him. My husband left work to take her to another vet but she died on the way. I then emailed the office telling them she died. I post this review and then I get a response on here and an email. I really hope I've misjudged him and everyone else has a wonderful experience but when time is of the essence, I felt he was too busy. Maybe my dog would have died anyway. Nothing I can do...

Let me start off with I have MS and I'm in a wheelchair. Remember that for the story. Been coming here for 2 years now with my dog. Prices are great, but the staff is worthless. Every time I've been in I've had to hold and restrain my own aninal. They don't do it here... Unless you have a small, cute, sweet and cuddly animal, don't go here. They won't help you with your animal if it's scared and acting aggressive. I used to work for Hiawassee Veterinary Clinic on old winter garden road and we NEVER did that. If it took 3 techs to restrain an animal for the vet, then that's what we did. We never turned anyone away. That's just nuts. ALL animals need veterinary care! My last time going was on 3/19/18 for a heartworm test and I will not be back. My dog barked very loudly when the tech popped her head in the door and she looked scared and immediately shut it. I immediately put our own muzzle on him that I brought with me. Someone else came in and the same thing. The dr came in and I tried to have a conversation with him and he refused to address me or even look into my face while I was saying doctor, doctor. Wouldn't look me in the eyes... Then said I'm too old to fight with these dogs. I was then told that they could not do the test on my aggressive dog. I said ok, what CAN we do. What can I possibly do to get this done for my dog. If he doesn't get the test, he can't get preventative meds and he'll get heartworms! They brought me a too small muzzle for him. I put it on him and my 2 sons were told by dr hyatt to lift him onto the exam table. They looked like not sure they could do it. He's 80 lbs and they're children. The doctors exact words were "come on guys. He's YOUR dog." we got him on the table, held him and the dr. got the blood. No problem. While I was in line to pay I asked the doctor if I could speak to him for a second and he mumbled under his breath while walking away "I will when I'm done with this appt." What about MY appt? I never got a chance to speak to anyone about anything. They kept cutting me off, blowing me off, shutting the door on me mid sentence and disrespecting myself and my animal. Well my total was almost 80 dollars when I was told it would be 36. An extra charge for a tech fee. I said tech fee for what? I held my dog and my sons lifted him onto the table. The tech did nothing. I said you should be paying me the tech fee. Well the dr. Hyatt is his name, and that's when he actually spoke to me directly, lied and said we told you we weren't doing it because your dog is unruly and you told is we HAD to do it. I said no sir. I said what can we do to get this done and what do you usually do in this situation? Those were my exact words. Never told them they HAD to... So I gave them $80 and said give the change to the tech who didn't do anything. Never going back. I'll go to a veterinarian clinic where they treat me and my dog with some respect because this place just sucks. The staff and doctors have no bedside manner, customer service skills or knowledge of animal behavior and how not to approach a scared animal. Watch the Dog Whisperer for God's sake! Read the other reviews. They may be cheaper than other places but it's not worth it in my opinion to put up with that. If I could give them no stars, I would. Again unless you have a sweet dog that's sweet to everyone all the time, this place can't handle them. And don't forget, they had a handicapped woman and 2 children doing their jobs for them, not sure if that's even legal, looking into that...yet they still charged me an extra fee...NOT NICE DR. HYATT! 👎👎👎 The WHOLE OFFICE needs to watch The Dog Whisperer and learn what calm, assertive...