Red Bank Veterinary Hospital (RBVH) - Hillsborough — Local services in Hillsborough Township

"Red Bank"Veterinary Hospital was known in the past to be a place to bring your pet to receive not only the best of care but compassionate veterinarians and personnel. An establishment with the highest credentials. OUR VISIT AND EXPERIENCE WAS JUST THE OPPOSITE AT "RED BANK"HILLSBOROUGH VETERINARY. At 9:30 a.m. Saturday January 13 2024 I called Red Bank Hillsborough Location. I specifically called this vet because of the two words "RED BANK" before their name. I had my dogs to the original Red Bank Vet Hospital before they ceased operation and was very satisfied with their professionalism and compassion. Not the same at this place. The receptionist answering that morning was unpleasant and short. The vet who examined my dog never used my dog's name. She examined her, stated the dog was not experiencing pain, no fever, and said she thought she had a UTI by what I told her about her actions in the last 24 hours. She then stated a Urinalysis and Blood Work was needed. She stated the urine test result would not be known for 24 hours. I did not learn until the next day this vet was not a regular vet working there and would be called in on weekends as needed. The cost for the 2 tests and visit was upwards of $1000. We received 13 Amoxicillin (should be 14 pills but missing one pill) We were told our dog already had the first pill and to give her the next pill 12 hours later. I called to be sure they gave her a pill. The receptionist said I could not talk to the vet.?? checked with the medication department and said no pill given. We were told by the staff she WAS given the medication.?? I was told it would be on the record, no pill given. By then I had lost all credibility and trust in this facility. I didn't know what to do, give her a pill or not. I asked the receptionist to please have the veterinarian who treated MonaLisa call me. NO-ONE CALLED. I waited 12 hours going by what the staff stated they gave her first pill, and not hearing back from anyone at Hillsboro Vet. I spoke to our regular vet on Monday January 14th and was told the blood work could have waited until Monday and Mona Lisa should not of had to wait 12 hours allowing the infection and discomfort to worsen. I called Hillsborough Vet right after speaking to our regular vet and was given no co-operation, I pressed to speak to someone in charge and given the name of the client advocate, Nicole. That was Wed January 16th. Today is January 23rd. After my persistent calls I got to talk to the Director Gina. She was also rude, non compassionate and stated before she hung up on me our dog could not have experienced more discomfort or worsening of infection in 12 hours. The fact is: THIS WOMAN IS NOT A VET, SHE IS NOT A VETERINARIAN!! NOT STUDYING TO BE A VET OR DOCTOR OF ANY KIND. SHE HAS NO RIGHT OR LICENSE TO MAKE THAT STATEMENT. I love my dog our family loves mozey, she is fiercely loved. Please read this every word is true. They are nothing like the original Red Bank Vet that I remember. My question is how and why they use "RED BANK" before the location name. Rudeness, No courtesy, No compassion, Medication mistake, and NON DOCTORS making medical observations and diagnosis only a Doctor should make. DONT BRING YOUR PET TO HILLSBORO VET. I excluded "Red Bank" because in my opinion and experience there is a world of difference between the two. Feb1 2024 Following up to my post Jan 23, I haven't heard back from Nicole, Client Service or Gina, the Director. They never followed up to see how my pet was, not a word of concern or apology. I notified the Better Business Bureau with the details of the unprofessional experience we had at Hillsborough Vet and I hope pet owners think twice before they spend $$$$ and regret their visit. I have read some of the other complaints and I sympathize with these people. It's really sad when your pet doesn't have a voice. Beware when your pet is taken to the back rooms and you cannot accompany. They have had so many bad reviews. After just one, they should fix the problem and make reparation to...

I will never bring another one of my animals here ever again for what they did and what they tried to pull.

I had a cat that was severely overweight and could not take care of herself and as a result developed an infection and was suffering due to her inability to properly clean and groom.

My cat always had a problem with her weight and despite me trying to change her food, portion sizes, feeding times of when she could eat and even attempted more extreme measures of borderline starving her "this all by the vet's recommendation btw" but regardless she would still put the weight right back on despite the measures taken. After 8 years of this her health began to fail and she became diabetic. apart from spending thousands of dollars to prolong her suffering by kepping her artificially alive there was nothing more that could be done and it was time to make the decision noone wants to make. I would not bring her to a shelter where she would be frightened by the unfamiliar environment and people that would have put her to sleep regardless, but instead I would be there with her in those final moments.

Understanding the most comfortable option for her by limiting further unnecessary suffering was to her put down and was painful none the less, However the hard working men and women of Red Bank would not have this happen as they informed me that they needed to do blood work to determine exactly what it was that was going on with her and need to exhaust every other option in the pursuit of financial gain with an enthusiasm of "her suffering is not our concern". When I pointed out the painfully obviousness of her condition the vet (who gets a bump for extra testing) said to me with a gaslighting tone that "she will not be the grim reaper". The woman actually said that to me and even attempted to goad me into making a comment about putting the animal down myself as I can only suspect she had the intentions of taking it further as revenge for my not willing to pay the ridiculous prices they are charging for the unnecessary testing. I get it. They have bills to, but this is what happens when they are focused on the business of medicine rather than the medicine.

Understand that putting down an animal you love is a difficult decision by itself but now you have to have deal with someone standing before you and looking to exploit that dificult moment for financial gain by means of even narsisticly gaslighting and insulting people is the result of a diseased mind. Obvious discussed by their behavior and lack of professionalism I took my cat to another vet on 202 at 9:30 at night and had her put to sleep.

The following day I was contacted by the owner herself along with the office manager to serve as a witness no doubt while simultaneously recording the conversation as they were curious to see why I chose to leave. Being aware that they have no morals or decency in their actions I wasn't about to have these people dig it up for me to relive it again but instead told her that I will not interested in going through what ever pre-phonecall plan they had come up with and ended the conversation.

I do apologize I know this is long-winded but I need to tell what happened because If you have a sick or injured animal do yourself a favor, DO NOT BRING YOUR ANIMAL TO THESE PEOPLE. They will only prolong its pain with unnecessary testing at the expense of the owner. They are not professional they have no compassion they just want know how much you're willing to pay. And watch out for their signature move of getting blood work for everything because it's a $250 charge...

I came here on Sunday afternoon with my cat Clyde. He was diagnosed with late stage cancer that Wednesday and we had taken him to this hospital Friday morning. On Friday, the vet was fantastic. She broke down his medical records from his primary vet for us, told us next steps, and stabilized him for his oncology appointment later that afternoon. Our oncology appointment didn't go well and he wasn't strong enough to be put on chemo and was given a higher dose of Prednisolone and we were told to see how he did over the weekend. We noticed his gums were white, which was a sign of his anemia progressing, and took him here on Sunday. About 10 minutes after arriving we were brought to a room to talk with the vet. She came in, within the first 5 minutes that she believed we should put him to sleep and that he had blood in his stomach. I told her that we had been to multiple vets in the last week and they all reported free floating fluid in his stomach, and she says that she didn't actually know if it was blood. My boyfriend referenced our previous visit here and she said all she saw on his chart was something with his ear. He's never had any problems with his ear, either she looked at the wrong chart or there was a system error within their network. After she suggested putting him to sleep, my boyfriend asked if he'd be ok to bring home so we could make it as comfortable as we could for him. She asked if we'd do it that day, emphasizing she believed his anemia was around a 15 and he could go into cardiac arrest at any time. I asked her to check his anemia so we could make a decision, because, if she had looked at his chart, we knew what it was on the previous Saturday, that Friday, and now Sunday and see how quickly he was declining. This was a point my boyfriend had to bring up to her, not something she suggested. She tested him and it was at a 20, which she almost seemed disappointed that she wasn't right about how severe it was. We took him home and put him to sleep in his own bed after a beautiful morning on Monday. This is just to say the problems I had with her medical guidance.

Personally, I cannot imagine a worse person to have received some of the worst news of my life from. She was rude, flippant, and entirely unkind and not at all empathetic. I was crying the entire time and trying to get questions out so I could make the best decision for Clyde. She didn't wait for me to be able to finish and looked to my boyfriend to finish for me whenever I got choked up. After talking about putting him to sleep and hearing her urgency in feeling like we should do it that day, I asked "would it be premature?" and she looked to my boyfriend and said "I don't understand".

My first visit to this hospital on Friday was good, although we received bad news. I would never want another pet owner to deal with the vet I spoke to on Sunday under similar circumstances. This was one of the worst moments of my life and a horrible decision to make, only made worse and more horrible...