University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital — Local services in Urbana

On Friday 9/6, I brought my dog in for an abdominal ultrasound to check out a mass that had been found in her abdomen. Despite it being 10:30am, Dr. Kao told me they were "fully booked" for abdominal ultrasounds, though that was the one thing I said I needed when I made the appointment 1 1/2 weeks earlier and drove 6 hours round trip from NE Chicago.

I left her there for the tests, but as I was driving away, I received a call from a tech who said my dog would need to be sedated. When I protested, Dr. Kao came on the line said it wasn't a sedative per se, but a pain reliever called butorphanol that was safe. My last words to her were, "OK, I trust you".

Two hours later when i returned to pick her up, they had to carry her into the room. They did not address why she was unresponsive until I asked, and they said they didn't know why. I had to carry her out.

My dog never walked more than a few steps again. After moaning in pain the rest of Friday and Saturday, she seemed to get a bit better Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday 9/10, she was too weak to stand and I had to euthanize her.

A few days later, I called to ask for a reduction on the bill, since what happened that day forced me to end her life. I was transferred to Lori's (I believe this was the head of customer service) voicemail. A week and a half went by with no return call.

When I called back Tuesday, 10/1, I was put on hold for 15 minutes, only to have Lori come on and have the gall to LIE and tell me that my dog was "in poor condition" and "succumbed to her disease", which somehow happened in the two hours I left her alone there. Lori then said I'd been informed of the potential for bleeding during the tests, which A) is not true. Kao said the FNA test could cause bleeding, but we did not end up doing that test. B) the "repercussions" of bleeding were not discussed at all. I thought it would be like a cut, which heals. If Kao had said that simply doing an ultrasound and X-rays were going to kill her, I would've said, "thank you for telling me, let's not do any of these tests then and call it a day."

I said these lies were unacceptable, so Lori said she'd refer to me to Dr. Wittington, the director, but she'd be out for the rest of the week. After 11 days with no call, I called back on 10/11, and was told Wittington would be out until 10/18 or 10/19, so they passed me on to Natalie Lamphier (Laskowski on her vm), who was acting director in Wittington's absence. Natalie called back within a few hours and repeated that a Dr. Garrett had reviewed the case file and my dog, who walked in happily but had to be carried out and soon died, was "in poor condition" and "succumbed to her disease". When I asked why the test I'd made an appointment for 1 1/2 weeks earlier was not available, she said emergencies often book up those appointments. If I would've been told that before arrival, I would've cancelled my appointment and my dog might still be alive.

I can't tell you how long my dog would've lived had we never gone to U of I. It could've been weeks, it could've been months. What I do know is going there cost me an extra $500+, 6 hours of driving, a month of brush offs and lies, and ended my dog's life prematurely and miserably. I honestly can't give you a recommendation of a better place to go either. MedVet and Premier were booked up over a month in advance, and both locations of Blue Pearl had such horrendous reviews that I'd never consider darkening their door. I gave two stars instead of one because Kao, the techs, and the receptionists seemed very nice and I was actually happy with the service, right up until they...

I took my cat here after he had been sick for weeks and all of our local (near St. Louis) vets couldn't do anything to help him. He was having digestive issues and couldn't keep any food down. Our personal vet determined it was probably Intestinal Lymphoma or IBD and it was also discovered that he had a heart murmur, making a lot of the local surgical facilities unable to perform a biopsy due to lack of capability to do post-surgery monitoring. On top of that, all local facilities were making us wait at least a month to get a consultation/echocardiogram and then at least another month to schedule a surgery, that they couldn't even guarantee they could do until a consultation and multiple visits.The only two places that could do the biopsy quoted me $3000-5000 (depending on how long he needed to be monitored after) for all of the testing and a dangerous biopsy, which wouldn't even treat the problem if they could find it.

I kept getting recommended U of I since they were much more specialized. I was apprehensive because it's a 2 1/2 hour drive but I finally called and I'm glad I did. Unlike local facilities here, they had adequate pricing information and they transferred me to a cancer specialist who called me back within a half hour. They laid out everything they thought would needed to be done and it was all less than $1000, worst case scenario, even if he'd end up needing cancer treatment (which the other facilities didn't get close to quoting for me). They also said they could do a Fine Needle Aspirate, a much less dangerous, less expensive procedure to do the biopsy. They had us booked for an appointment only two weeks out but said to expect a call later that day because they might be able to move him up since it potentially involved cancer. They actually called back within a couple hours and had him moved up to within a week and on top of that said they would even likely be able to do all the tests in one day since we were traveling so far and that that was normal for them for people from St. Louis or Chicago.

The day of the appointment, they ran all the tests within 4 hours and determined that it wasn't what they thought it was and we were still in the dark as to what was causing his issues.. I felt like we were back to square one but they still had a treatment plan for his heart and recommended changing his diet. A day later I got a call from the cancer specialist at U of I and she asked if they could do more testing on his left over blood from a previous test to check his Thyroid because his symptoms matched potential Thyroid issues. These tests were fruitful and we are now treating his Thyroid problem with hopes that we can narrow it down to the source of the problem to see if that treatment handles his heart issue as well because it could go either way. The U of I vet was the only one out of the handful of vets that even thought of doing this and you could tell she was thinking about my guy in her spare time and he wasn't just a number to him. I have spoken with her multiple times since then and recommend to anyone having to make a decision that could go north of $1000 to just take your...

As other recent reviews suggest, you're better off driving to Bloomington, Chicago, or even Madison, WI, as that will be faster than waiting to receive care here. During regular business hours, go to the South Clinic, who are stellar and far more organised. The new ER policies put profit before the animal's care.

The ER showed no concern or compassion for our pet in his final moments. We brought him in at a time when due to his advanced age he was struggling to breathe, showed signs of severe pain, had no interest in water or food, and was having diarrhoea. Instead of conducting triage or getting anyone to even look at him, they took their time charging us a $190 deposit at the front desk. I understand having a deposit in the regular clinic, but in the ER? As an animal is slipping away in suffering? There's only one entrance, and you cannot leave without paying. We have never spared any expense as their clients or not paid a bill in full right then and there, yet they treated us in such a grubby way during a medical emergency. After collecting the deposit that covers the physical exam and a few other procedures, they whisked off our pet but did not take the intake form, his cage, food, or water. Then they made us wait for over 2 hours, when the signs in the room say it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes for an update (and they still didn't take the intake form with his full medical history and list of symptoms - in fact, we left the premises with it since nobody cared to collect it at any time). The front desk did not care that our little guy was without water for 2 hours. When we finally demanded him back, he was brusquely shoved back into our hands by a vet/student who promptly stormed off without a word. He was returned to us covered in his own faeces, and in much worse condition than before. They left him in pain and covered in his own bowel movements for over 2 hours and did nothing to help him. And after that, they told us the deposit would not be refunded as per their new policy, even though the documents you sign state that the deposit is for, at least, a physical exam, which they never conducted. In other words, they charged us money to neglect our pet and leave him in his filth for over two hours, when his suffering should have been ended much, much sooner, and at the very least, something should have been done to relieve his pain. I understand they have to prioritise care in order of the seriousness of the pet's condition, but our pet was not stable and slipping away in pain, and they couldn't manage a single update over the course of 2+ hours?

We rushed him to another vet who acknowledged how dire his condition was and how it could have resulted in a painful end at any moment. They quickly ended his suffering.

This whole experience has been traumatising. In the past, we have had to fight them to not euthanise our pets using cruel intra-cardiac injections when other less painful methods are available. I do not recommend this place - their prioritisation of profit is sickening, and their neglect and incompetence essentially feel like malpractice for all...