Animal Hospital at Vista Lakes — Local services in Orlando

Made an appointment with this vet because my other vet was full. This was my first visit at this office with my dog. Received a call in the morning at 8:47am asking if I could come in at 9:30am instead of my 11am. I did my best to get there to convenience them. Got there by 9:20am. There was a sign at the front desk stating they were short staffed and to please have patience. I was eventually taken to a room. The vet tech came in and briefly spoke to me. Dr. Harris eventually came in. She sat on the floor to look at my dog. She did more talking than looking. She said my dog had an ear infection. She always has allergies around this time of year. I brought all the different products I’ve been using to clean her wrinkles and treat her allergies. She stated I should use a medicated shampoo on her. I told her I do, I already have one. She got defensive and said that she was going to recommend what was needed and that it was up to me to follow the doctor’s orders. The mood completely changed. The floor in the room was dirty. There was some kind of powder that my dog was stepping on. I had her paw prints all over my black pants. Dr. Harris made it a point to tell me that she knew I got my dog at Petland. I have no idea why any of that would even matter. I corrected her and said she belonged to a person I had a previous relationship with that did not care for her. I said I kept her. It was all very strange. She discussed with me wanting to see documents on vaccination. I expressed to her that I brought in all the documents I had for my dog and that some were in my email inbox. I stated she could not be vaccinated ever due to anaphylactic shock at her 1 year vaccination. She was more defensive that she wanted to see that document because I didn’t provide it with the others. She stated she should be vaccinated. I understand that she would be susceptible to getting sick without vaccinations but she could also die. I’m not taking that chance or putting her through that again. I immediately got on my phone and found the exemption for vaccination. I emailed it as a screenshot and a PDF. I was ready to get my dog’s medications for the ear infection, allergies, and leave. The visit was very uncomfortable. The vet tech came back with a long list of “recommendations”. It was close to $465 I think. I was shocked. We went line for line. I asked why a cone was needed. The vet tech said “She didn’t go over the estimate with me, I will go ask her”. She eventually came back. I said several of those items I didn’t agree with. After the vet had already diagnosed my dog with an ear infection and allergies in the very brief moment she looked at her, they wanted to charge for an ear swab. I said this was never done. The vet tech then said they were going to do it. They had an $8.41 charge for a waste disposal fee. I asked what waste disposal? The vet tech said to clean the room and sanitize. I asked her to look at my pants how dirty they were from the room. I stated I would pay for the visit and the medications she needed, the ear drops and the oral pills. The vet tech said she would talk to Dr. Harris. She then came back to the room to tell me that if I didn’t pay for the ear swab that she wouldn’t give me the medications she said my dog needed. What??? I said that was ridiculous. I was shocked that they would not treat my dog because she said they were a corporate vet that had set prices and I had to pay for the ear swab even though the vet had already told me what was wrong. The greed of these vets and companies. I went from feeling uncomfortable to outraged. This was a waste of time and they did not help my dog. They then stated I did not want to help my dog by doing what was recommended. Should be ashamed of yourselves. Refused to sell me the medication. They did not help my dog. DO...

To give some background of this rating, I am now the caretaker of my father's dog (the dog I grew up with) as he no longer had the means to care for the condition she was in. My dog has allergies and anxiety, which causes her to chew at her paws when she is alone. As a result of that, there was much inflammation to her skin and a growth on her paw when she came in my care. After seeing her condition, I brought her to the vet as soon as I could, and the veterinarian closest with an appointment available the soonest was Animal Hospital at Lee Vista.

While there, my experience was not unpleasant. The staff is friendly, the wait was a bit long but considering I needed her looked at I was not complaining. The vet and vet tech were both very nice, but I can't say the veterinarian spent very much time with my dog.

All in all, an xray was done on her foot to evaluate her bones, two skin tests, and an ear cleanse/medication provided. I took home a steroid, a shampoo, and an antibiotic for her skin. I spent about $400 on this visit. I was told her toe might need to be amputated and given an estimate of about $1200.

Because AHVL does not accept payment plans, I searched for another veterinary hospital. I visited this other hospital (BVL Veterinary Hospital) and within the first 5 minutes with my dog, this veterinarian noticed 3 other tumors located through my dogs body and a heart murmur. Things AHVL did not notice and did not check for. The veterinarian also explained that with the behavior of my dogs paw growth as well as the appearance lead her to believe cancer is a possibility, and since steroids suppress the bodies immunological response, steroids would not be recommended by her for an animal with the possibility of cancer.

My new Veterinary Hospital not only took the very best care of my dog each visit, the vet performed the toe amputation at HALF the cost AND removed the other three tumors. Included was also each follow up for the surgery, her stay at the clinic, medication, and the histopathology that confirmed the type of cancer.

All in all, I am so disappointed in the lack of care my animal received at Animal Hospital at Vista Lakes. The lack of time spent with my dog as well as the fact that they seemed more interested in money than my animal's well being will is why I felt the need to write this review, so perhaps others will not make my mistake and instead bring your animal to a hospital that is much more personable, cares more for your animal than money, and will do all they can for your family.

EDIT:

First of all, my dogs name is not Luna, so considering my animals name wasn't important enough to recall, I believe its safe to say very little personable care was given to her.

I had no issue with the treatment I was given apart from the the steroids. I understood the need for the x-ray. I was more so upset that the THREE other tumors were not found nor the heart murmur, which the other vet discovered almost immediately.

Second Edit: I'm amused that you felt the need to edit your post once again to take a second shot at...

DO NOT BOARD YOUR DOG HERE! CAGES & TICKS...I have never written a yelp post but don't want any other dog owners to experience what I did. I am new to Orlando & did a lot of research to find a good place to take my 14 year old Weimaraner while traveling out for work for 8 days. I was referred over by Canine Country Club & I called a few days before I had to travel & asked a lot of questions about the conditions & if there were cages or kennels of any kind because my dog will hurt herself on anything resembling a cage/crate/kennel. I was assured on the phone that they had rooms with doors for the dogs & no cages or crates, etc. I dropped my dog off to a horrific smell in the lobby. I thought an animal may have had an accident & the smell had not dissipated. Having multiple animals over the years, I have had many vet office visits so I gave them the benefit of the doubt (mistake). I called during the week to check on my girl & they said she had scraped her nose on the door and were treating it with cream. I figured that they had cages but at that point, what was I supposed to do 2,000 miles away with no one I know locally to go get her. I picked her up today & was greeted by the same stench that I experienced when dropping her off, which tells me that it wasn't just an accident but rather a cleanliness problem. I asked the front desk person if they had cages & she said yes. I told her about the conversation I had with the person on the phone prior to making the reservation & she wasn't sure who told me they had rooms & was very apologetic. I was nice as it wasn't her fault that I was lied to. I was charged $28 for a bath which seemed a little high (not so sure on that since we usually bathe her at home). The girl that brought my Bailee dog out told me she had numerous ticks on her that they noticed when bathing her. She explained that most were small but there was one big one & they took them off which explained the bloody marks on her. I live in a condo community so my dog is only out on leash & I get in the floor & give her daily pets multiple times a day so I know for a fact that she did not go into this place with ticks on her. She got them at this facility & I told the girl that. She seemed less than phased by this & said that they COULD check the other dogs. This might be a good place for vet care but not for...