BluePearl Pet Hospital — Local services in New York

Originally posted on Yelp in 2019; edited to meet Google character limits: I had an extremely negative experience at this BluePearl. I think other pet owners deserve to be informed. Not only was my cat's condition not helped by BluePearl, it was made markedly worse. The cat I picked up, two or three days after I had dropped him off, was practically a different cat. His symptoms were much worse. What bothered me more was that he seemed traumatized. He went from being a confident, calm cat to being skittish, which makes me wonder what the heck BluePearl was doing to him that could cause such a change. My hunch is that, among other things, the various tests and treatments were too aggressive. On top of that, the cost estimates I was given were wrong. I was presented with a meaningfully higher bill than I had been led to expect. There was even a partial paper trail showing how the quotes differed from the final bill. BluePearl not only wouldn't honor the quotes. They wouldn't acknowledge or apologize for the mistake. They tied themselves in knots trying to explain it away. Despite their convoluted attempts to cover the error, there was just no getting around the fact I was presented with certain numbers and charged higher ones. I've considered a complaint to the BBB, as well as escalating the issue to the corporate level of BluePearl, but frankly don't have the time--which I think is what they're counting on. No matter how badly they fail clients, most won't have the time to do much about it (notwithstanding that an online search will reveal alarming legal issues they have faced). The real kicker--the thing that made a bad experience a terrible one--was the way I was personally treated by the staff. If a pet owner is at BluePearl, that person probably has a very sick pet and is in distress. I will never forget the way I was treated by the person I was checked out by at the front desk. She projected entirely the wrong attitude for the setting in which she works--apathetic, moody, dismissive, insensitive. At that moment, I already knew that the news regarding my cat's health was going to be bad and hard to hear. To then encounter such poor customer service put me over the edge. It was all downhill from there. The wait to get my cat back was long. They had known I would be coming and at what time, but when I finally walked out the door with my cat, he was literally still bleeding. I'd spent that late afternoon and early evening waving my arms, repeatedly having to be very assertive to get the staff's attention. Of course they acted as though I was the problem, despite their lack of preparation and the remarkable lags I experienced between each step of the process, when it felt as though I and my cat had been forgotten. No one was communicating with me unless I demanded their focus. By the end of it, the vet couldn't even look me in the eye. BluePearl had messed up spectacularly. In the end, I got a diagnosis--a serious form of cancer. They wanted me to come back for chemotherapy. The idea of going back to BluePearl was unthinkable at that point. No way was I going to let them charge me even more thousands for more suffering and mistreatment. I worked out with my regular vet a more palliative approach to seeing my cat through his last weeks. Although sadly he did have to be put to sleep not long thereafter and I'm still devastated, my regular vet and I did manage to keep him comfortable and minimize his suffering. I have a new kitten now: If there's ever an emergency with his health that can't wait till my regular vet is open, I'm going to The Animal Medical Center and I strongly suggest you do the same. I made my concerns known to multiple staff members at BluePearl, including the hospital administrator, but what I got and you'll get is a very cordial (and belated) lack of accountability. Unreasonableness with a superficial warm tone. Spare yourself...

I know this place gets dumped on so I'll start with why I give it four stars:

We brought a very difficult (for others, not at home!) cat in after two weeks of alarming behavior (vomiting, not eating). We were seen immediately, and the Dr. that did our intake (after our cat went nuts and attacked the tech) was very friendly and knowledgeable - even after she went to help cart the cat and came back with a giant bandage over her finger. He ended up going through a lot of testing there - all of which was entirely justified - while basically raising hell with the other animals and anyone that had to deal with him. Despite that, I found the doctors superb. Dr. Ferreri was primarily in charge of our dude and she couldn't have been any better. Every test result was phoned to me exactly when promised, and she had no problem staying on the phone and answering every little question I had - and then doing the exact same for my wife. I've spent a lot of time in ERs myself and I have the say the care I saw for my little guy was as good as the care I get.

Despite our dude being a total monster, the entire staff still treated us with the utmost empathy - telling us they had similar pets, offering us tissues as we cried over the cat that just mauled them, and basically answering to all of our needs, including visits. It really is, like, a hospital for animals.

Furthermore, everything is on site. After talking to a few fellow pet owners that had animals with serious diseases, it appears you're probably going to end up at BluePearl anyway for something or another. Especially for a working couple it helped to be able to leave him there for everything - radiology, his sonogram, the blood pull, the oncologist - and be able to see him after we finished work, instead of running him from specialist to specialist. My wife was so happy with the staff that she brought them cupcakes.

Ultimately we had to make a 50/50 decision on where to go - to pursue surgery or not. I spoke at length with Dr. Ferreri and she was very open about both the pros and cons, including after i mentioned the financial considerations we had. I never felt at all pressured or like they were playing on my emotions to upsell me. the estimates we had ended up being much higher than what we paid, and Dr. Ferreri was extremely helpful both in helping me to decide to move my cat's care to a local vet and facilitating the procedure. By the time I talked to my local vet (a new vet, at that) about moving my cat's care there she had already been in touch with both Dr. Ferreri and the oncologist that analyzed his results and was completely on top of the situation - I've since been to this vet and they're wonderful and speak very highly of the staff at BluePearl, and seem to have great communication with them.

So - why four stars? It's really, really expensive. Would I take my cat here for check ups? Not unless I could afford to live on CPW and it really was my local vet, but even then, it's a 24 hour ER, I wouldn't expect it to be predictable. Is the pet credit they offer borderline predatory? Yes, and it's a blemish on a practice full of otherwise wonderful people. Can the reception staff be surly? For the most part I found them to be extremely friendly, but there is apparently a bad apple in the bunch, as I found out towards the end of my cat's stay. But, if one of my cats clearly needed immediate care in the middle of the night, would I run up my credit card here again? Yes, I would, and I'm thankful for the care my little buddy got.

If you're rich it's...

On 12/03/2019 I went to Bluepearl on 410 west 55th street because my dog Diva has a hearth murmur. .I went there in good faith because I thought I would have gotten the help needed for my baby. .Upon arrival I was greeted by a front desk staff who took my dog downstairs while had me fill out paperwork. The Vet that came to assist was Rebecca Meltzer she asked me what my dog condition was and I told her she was having rapid hearth beat without conducting any formal exam on my dog she immediately insist that I put my dog to sleep and kept forcing me to sign the paperwork .I was emotional crying of course she showed no remorse. I asked her if she did any X Ray's are any special test to determine why she came to that conclusion she said no because it would cost $5000 which I would have to pay up front .She said she was only determine her decision base of what I told her about my dogs condition. She placed my dog in an oxygen tank and told me my dog would not be able to breathe once she took her out. I ask to see my dog and for her to remove her from the machine because something didn't sit right with this woman because of her sudden decision to want to kill my dog .She seem hesitate to take my dog out the machine even telling me at one point that I cannot take my dog home.My dog was so happy to see me she was wagging her tail with excitement. My dog was up and about in a happy mood. I was looking at my dog with emotion thinking this is not a dog that is ready to be put to death..She got furious because then I decided to take my dog home. She told me I had to pay $198 This woman was upset because she felt the need to make more money if she had put my dog to sleep she even told me I could set up payment plan for paying for cremation ; but she didn't give an option as far as treating my dog . She had a nasty attitude when I ask her to give me something in writing base on my dogs condition which she wrote 3 things on a piece of paper with no letter heading and told me she was busy assisting other people . I am so happy I took my dog home .This Vet has no compassion she is only about money she told me by talking to her alone is $70 and upon finding out I had Care Credit she told me she would take all the remain I have off my card considering I had put my dog to sleep. First of all i didn't take my dog there half dead are in a deplorable condition yet she was pushing me to kill her..Lucky to say my baby is home she has always been a tough girl she is doing just fine and to think she wanted to put my dog to sleep. I will be taking her somewhere else to get treated. It is a joy to see her greeting me when I get home with such love I am still crying at the fact that I would have made the worst decision in my life .By the grace of God when my baby time comes I rather her pass away when God wants her to but not forcefully she told me it be like a abandage covering my dogs condition REBECCA DAMM YOU!!!! I would rather work with a bandage and do what it take to take care of my baby. When that time comes I would rather her go to heaven and not because I had some rude vet putting her to death. .I would never recommend anyone there to this facility and to have her assist them with there dogs . She is Cruella De Vil she does not have love for animals she need to choose another profession maybe work in a slaughter house instead she is all about the money . The staff there was very nice .Pamela and Teresa was awesome they showed me alot of...