Cat Doctors — Local services in Tampa

To say my experience at The Cat Doctors was bad would be an understatement. I left there crying and not because of anything to do with my cat.

We had been to TCD one time before this for his annual appointment since we recently moved to the area. During that appointment they tested his ears and he had an infection which was treated and we made a follow up appointment for 3 weeks. Fast forward to today, the Vet, Dr Fischer, started off by not even remembering me or my cat. Which is weird because why don’t you have a paper that outlines who he is and why he is here before entering the room? Anyway, she swabs his ears and grabs parts of his body and asks if I want a pricing sheet for if he needs re-treatment, I said yes and after she left, a Vet tech comes in with the sheet. There was a $70 charge for an examination. I was surprised by this since he was just here 3 weeks ago for a full exam and this was just for his ears. So I questioned it and the vet tech said she would ask the vet. Several minutes later Dr Fischer returns and greets me by saying “Do we have a problem here?” And then proceeds to get loud with me completely unprovoked. She said that she set 45min for my appointment out of her day and essentially I’m paying her for her time. What else was said isn’t even important it’s how I was spoken to and how she kept asking if she should get her manager. To which I said “sure?”

A long time passed before a woman comes in who ironically is the woman who cut my cat’s nails last time we were here. Is she really a manager? Who knows. I told her what happened and she said that they couldn’t not charge me in good conscience and GIVES ME A HUG. Mind you I’m crying at this point out of frustration and disrespect. Several minutes later the Vet came back in to “apologize” and say his ears are fine. She said she understands if I never want to come back again and GIVES ME A HUG. She made a joke about me needing a vet that is more considerate? She also said she sees a lot of cats and it’s not like she doesn’t like me or my cat, that’s why she didn’t remember us. Clearly she doesn’t understand what I meant by that.

I have never in my life felt so belittled and disrespected by a professional. I was charged $111 for nothing. On top of the hundreds I spent at the last appointment. The money isn’t even the issue here. All I did was question a charge like any normal person would do and I was met with an abnormally escalated situation with a VET raising her voice at me like a dictator.

There is so much left out of this because it would just be too long. But the key take away is that all these people care about is TAKING YOUR MONEY at any cost. They would rather take your money than foster good relationships with their patients. Both the vet and “manager” said that they understand if I never want to come back. How about you at least discount my appointment so maybe I will come back? But instead here I am writing this much deserved review.

Come to TCD if you want to spend hundreds of dollars on half-ass care for your cat in an extremely unprofessional...

My poor Sweetpea started vomiting last August 2020. We just moved and were under a full house remodel so I thought she was stressed and over grooming, as she had never vomited in the past, especially as a short haired cat. I took her to a local vet once I noticed the weight loss and they said she must have allergies due to her higher liver levels, so go on this intestinal prescription food. That didn't work and she was losing more weight so I went to another local vet. The second vet wasn't concerned about her liver levels because they weren't "that high" and swore she had hairballs. He prescribed hairball control food and laxitone. That didn't work and she was losing more weight and projectile vomiting brown liquid at this point. I got her an x-ray and it showed nothing. The vet still maintained hairballs and told me to shave my cat, but if I wanted to get an ultrasound done, I could take her to Blue Pearl. Nope! I called The Cat Doctors that day and explained everything and made an in-person appointment. Dr. Connolly called me the night before her appt. and explained that she feels Sweetpea might have an intestinal issue based on the history and recommend a very specific test. Sure enough, that test came back as intestinal disease. She was put on antibiotics for 2 weeks and was to have her blood re-checked. Sweetpea still had elevated liver levels, so we did an ultra sound in-house with Dr. Ludrow, as Dr. Connolly felt she might have lymphoma. Ultimately, Sweetpea was diagnosed with lymphoma and placed on chemo and other medication. She just had her labs redone one month after starting the chemo and I am happy to report her liver levels are in the normal range, she is maintaining weight, no adverse effects to the chemo, and she has not vomited in over 2 months. Dr. Connolly literally saved my baby girl's life and I am forever grateful! She used to thrown up 1-2 times a day, every other day sometimes and lost 4 pounds in 6 months. Now, it's like I have my happy, sweet girl back. Dr. Connolly is so knowledgeable and the vets at The Cat Doctor's possess such talent. Everyone is so nice and I am so grateful for their genuine vestment in their patients. This has been such a trying experience with my girl, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am forever grateful to Dr. Connolly and all involved in having a hand to extend and provide quality again to Sweetpea's life. I can't say thank you enough. Just the best and anyone with a cat, sick or not, should go to The Cat Doctor's. I wish I could give them a...

“P.S. I just want to add here that the practice manager from Cat Doctors called me and explained a few things and also assured me that she will address the issues. I appreciate when concerns are taken seriously, especially in medical practices. So, definitely kudos to them for that. I hope Cat Doctors will do only the best work moving onward and folks in Tampa can have the best experience with them.”

Unfortunately we had a really bad experience with the Cat Doctors. And even though we gave them a couple of chances they could not meet our expectations and we have decided to quit going there for our cat. At first, they administered a vaccine that had issues; our kitten reacted to it immediately with a fever we had to deal with so much anxiety and trauma. They did administer a free steroid but never told us then what was wrong, they revealed this information at a later time. However, mistakes happen so we went back a second time. This time around my partner took our kitten and they upcharged us for so many things including testing for a few things that she did not need to be tested for cause those were already done and were in her records. They charged us around $500 whereas we expected a normal visit with a rabies vaccine. They also kept giving us fecal tests, but our kitten's tests returned as just fine. After confronting them, they said sorry and credited us for a test they ran for no reason. When we got an estimate for spaying, that was the end of our patience. They gave us an estimate for $1000 with charging spaying twice and a few other things that looked ridiculous. Even though our kitten is chipped and they know it, they wanted to microchip her again. And they were charging us a ridiculous amount for a flea topical. They are supposed to speciality cat vets, I was so happy initially when I saw that something like this existed in Tampa but going to them has been a horrendous experience. We had to cancel our spaying appointment with them and find other options. “

If you get their service, be sure to check the estimates and invoices multiple times and question everything they are doing. They clearly don't have the...