Specialists in Companion Animal Neurology (SCAN) - Clearwater — Local services in Clearwater

Update on previous review:

Update on my previous review: got a call from Director, woman by the name of Stephanie. We talked for a very long time. Unfortunately, through all of that, we didn't get anywhere because just the basics were never met at my "appointment" and she just couldn't grasp why that was an issue. She only called me because she saw my review here on yelp. Even after the poor experience that I had, never even speaking to the vet, he never called me and nobody on his staff called me.

I had asked the vet tech questions to ask the vet, he never answered my questions. His responses to my cat's disorder showed how much he is lacking on current research in that respect. Not getting the basics, or even a phone call speaks volumes to me. The ability to speak with someone who has that elevated knowledge can be very soothing for a distressed pet owner, I did not get that experience either.

I wasn't asking for anything crazy and I wasn't even looking for a miracle for my cat. Apparently, getting communication and being shown some decency was just too much to ask. It's simply common sense. I felt like Stephanie wasn't really grasping that. He could have even called me two days later to have a genuine conversation with me. That would have be very nice. I would have appreciated that more than Stephanie or anyone could ever know.

She also mentioned that it would be unethical for dr cook to use his expertise to hand out medication without $3,000-$4,000 worth of testing. This is insulting to say the least. My cat wouldn't even be alive right now if a vet didn't use there expertise to TRY and help him, he wouldn't be alive. Hundreds of thousands of pets wouldn't be alive right now.

Life is not black and white.

When he was paralyzed from the waste down and the vet couldn't figure out what was going on in his body, she TRIED some medications and they saved his life. When an animal is struggling with everyday life, you TRY. You make an effort. You show compassion, kindness, empathy, professionalism, you reach out, you communicate. You do these things because you are passionate about helping animals and their owners.

She even had the nerve to mention that I didn't pay the $175. Never in my entire life have I not paid a vet. Never. Having two special needs pets, I have been to more primary vets and specialist than most. But to pay someone, you actually have to receive what you are paying for in return. Its not a one way street. He would have actually had to talk to me. Hard to imagine right lol. She had to send me the basic summary and findings from the vet. I didn't even have a weight for him from that day. Nothing but that cold note he typed up for me. It's outrageous and sad. I made it very clear to her that I do not want anymore contact from her or anyone else. I hope they listen.

I already informed my primary vet of the experience I had, in detail, and she was not happy at all. Thankfully, my cat will get the help he deserves and desperately needs.

My poor cat was in there for 2.5 hours, after very long drive, away from me, in a new place, around strange people he didn't know and I got to deal with all of this insanity. I think we suffered enough.

You never know what someone is going through and Stephanie, Dr. Cook and his staff have no idea what myself and my family have been going through. You just never know. A little kindness and professionalism is not that...

My dachshund, Bubba, jumped off our couch one day and we heard a yelp from him and right after that we could tell something was not right! A few hours passed, he was sleeping, and when he woke and tried to walk, he was almost completely paralyzed from about half his back, down. Both legs dragged and he could not walk on his back legs at all. We took him to an over night vets office, where they took x-rays and said everything looked fine and gave him some anti-inflammatory and pain meds and said he should be better in a few days. He did not get better at all, so i took him a few days later to my mother-n-laws vet (mine was closed that day) and she looked him over, let him walk and instantly said he has deeper issues and most likely needed some kind of surgery (back surgery). She referred Dr. Levine and is staff and said that his office was actually closed but him and his staff would be willing to come in to help and get him taken care of asap. We live in Lutz, so it was a pretty far drive, but i appreciated that they would come in on such short notice. Myself, My husband and grandfather drove down there at 8 o'clock at night and they were there waiting with smiles on their faces! Marley walked us to our room, asked if we needed anything and was as sweet as she could be. Dr. Levine came in and first thing he did was sit on the floor with Bubba, and played with him and let him sniff him to get used o him! I was instantly impressed! You could 100% tell he had compassion and truly loved his job and animals!! He walked us through the whole process, gave us statistics on his other patients and told us every single thing we needed to know! I think i asked the same questions about 100 times haha and he was never got annoyed or mad, he very patiently answered them all! I then left him with the staff and they were going to take some x-rays and mris and call us with the results before they started any surgery! They called us before we even made it back to Tampa and said he had 2 ruptured discs in his back and needed the back surgery right away! We agreed and they took him right in for surgery at 11 o'clock at night! They called the next morning and stated he did great in surgery and is now in recovery resting and we could pick him up later that night! He looked so much better when we got there, he was even walking before we left the drs office! I WAS IN TEARS!!!!! We brought him home and over the next few weeks he got stronger and stronger!

Today, almost 8 months after surgery, he is at about 92-95% back to normal, which is exactly what Dr. Levine stated when we first came in. He runs, jumps, plays. Its almost as if he never had surgery. His scar is even almost 100% disappeared!

I am BEYOND SATISFIED with Dr. Levine and his whole staff! Taking my dog (who is like my son) to Dr. Levine and his staff was truly the BEST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE!!

THANK YOU DR. LEVINE AND STAFF FOR GIVING ME BACK MY...

Our female Mini Daschound, Murphy, fell off a stool and 3 days later was dragging her back right leg. We had taken her to her vet, then to Blue Pearl who examined her and said she needed to see their neurology vet, who didn't have an appointment for 11 more days. Our doxies are our "fur babies" and I was scared Murphy would never walk again. I started searching the internet like a mad woman trying to find someone who could see here ASAP. I found Dr. Levine's office on Monday, explained my situation, and was told they could see her the next morning at 8 am . The receptionist was completely understanding and very compassionate. Her tone of caring assured me that things would be OK. We took Murphy in the next morning, and consulted with Dr. Levine. He got down on the floor with her, did a thorough exam, and told us he needed to do an MRI to be able to see everything in Murphy's spine. He told us that he would have to put her to sleep so she would stay still, and if he found something it would be better, since she was already asleep, to proceed with the surgery. He consulted with us his finding after the MRI and Murphy went into surgery. The staff kept us updated through out the process as we waited. Dr Lavine came out after surgery and went over what had happened in the OR and told us Murphy had 98% chance of a complete recovery. He told me that I could trust him to take as good care of Murphy overnight, as he would his own pet. She spent that night in their hospital unit under their close supervision, and I was told to feel free to call and check on her through out the night, which I did. Each time I called I was given an update by his great friendly staff. We picked her up the next day at noon . They gave us a very detail description of what to expect, what not to do and what was allowed. Our whole experience with Dr Levine and his entire staff made our horrible accident, much easier. Everyone genuinely cared about Murphy while keeping us informed the whole time. I cannot tell you what a relief it was to find, and meet Dr Lavine. I can't say enough good things about Dr. Lavine and his amazing staff. Don't even hesitate if you need a Vet with his specialty to contact his office. In our opinion, we found the best there is out there.

Just an update, Murphy saw Dr Levine August 22. Every day we see the amazing recovery process she is going through. Today is day 4 post surgery and she is walking slowly on all 4 legs to go potty. She still has a lot of bed rest and recovery time, but now do you see why I'm shouting his praise. THANK YOU Dr. Levine and your amazing staff. I just wish they had a higher review chart for Yelp, because he rates higher...