Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital — Local services in Wheat Ridge

DON'T take your animal here. My animal was poisoned with rat Poisoning, I was able to see it visibly With my own eyes, this was my service animal I Raised up from a pup and got training for for my d. I d. Upon arriving at wheat ridge, I let them know what was wrong with my guy and that he had been poisoned with rat poisoning, the green one. They did not listen to anything. I said they went on to say that they believe he had cancer without doing any kind of evaluation on him. They gave him MRI. Suddenly Free of cost of course, to find that there was no cancer at all, not even a tumor. And still treated him with chemo When I was gone I came back to where he was being held in his kennel, with a needle that was unlabeled with clear liquid in it. Not the doctor or the nurses would tell me or could tell me what it was. Never changed his IV bag. After this needle found. My guy started bleeding in urin. I might have asked different questions or pushed harder. Or even take the picture Of the needle but all this came to mind after I was taking care of his cremation service. Neptune had no cancer. He was a healthy four-year-old cane. Corso. Even after reporting to me no cancer, she continued to give him chemo treatments, which ultimately ended his life. He needed vit. K Shot TO HELP THE POISONING He hadn't ate for 3 days after being there. I had to forcibly bring food in to feed my own animal. Only one nice nurse was there to offer me a can of chicken. The Doctor taking care of my animal kept picking him up by the harness. They strapped around him improperly the harness strap. Ended up unhooking and my dog's head slammed on the floor right in front of my kids. The nurses giggled about it. It wasn't funny it was devastating. After all of this Neptune laid on their floor dying. They collected thousand dollars from me and are still trying to collect from me and will not send an itemized bill. I called and asked for the management. And the owners I've asked for everyone. You can think of I never received a call back. Neptune died November 13th. And I'm still waiting on a call back. I'm still waiting on the Doctor to explain to me why she gave a dog with rat poisoning chemo treatment and why she continued to treat him with chemo after the. MRI showed no cancer at all. All I asked for was a toxicity test. Because I knew he was poisoned with rat. Poisoning. That toxicity test would have told us everything we needed to know. And we would have been able to treat Neptune and save his life. My dog was murdered here. It'd be best to go somewhere else. They will kill your dog all while trumping up charges. Endless charges and you will never get an explanation. The entire time the veterinarian was more interested in trying to tell my disabled autistic son to just let it go and put him down because his mother couldn't feed him and the dog. Not sure where she got that idea. Maybe it's my disability? Maybe she was god at the time im not sure Or why it would matter to her. My dog was an extremely healthy 4 yr old Cane Corso 200 pounds 6'1 on his hind Legs. Most disgusting practice. I've ever stepped foot into and some of the most disgusting customer service and empathy skills i've ever seen. They should really make sure that everybody's on board with them. There was one woman I cannot mention her name who gave me an idea to call the cops and report this behavior because she was there when I requested the toxicity test. My dog was murdered, his name was. Neptune, he was a four year old king corso, who served me and two of my autistic children. Our life has changed all because money was more important to this doctor. I wouldn't even call her that. You're signing your pets life away when you bring them here. You are risking them lying to you about what is happening with your dog. And what is the actual problem. Instead of using her opinions and thoughts to figure out how to help Neptune, she decided to look at me and judge me for my disability. Told me I had too many kids and I couldn't feed them and my dog. I really believe she put...

This review aims to bring attention to the actions of Dr. Jessica Villm, which, we believe, contributed to the tragic and preventable death of my service animal, Coco. After an extensive investigation by my research team, in consultation with veterinary experts, we found that Dr. Villm’s actions violated medical ethics and fell short of the expected standard of care.

Coco was under the care of Dr. Villm for IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease) and was otherwise healthy. However, Coco would end up developing a life threatening autoimmune disease that we believe was caused by medication that I refused to give her. The failed diagnosis, and untreated progression of that disease would result in unnecessary suffering and ultimately in Coco’s early death.

Dr. Villm repeatedly urged me to administer a blood thinner called Plavix to Coco over the course of her care. Each time, I declined. I made the decision not to administer the potentially dangerous blood thinner, a decision informed by our veterinarian’s advice, research, and careful consideration of the risks.

While I was away my wife brought Coco in for a checkup. Dr. Villm disregarded my explicit wishes and persuaded my pregnant wife to administer Plavix. Dr. Villm failed to inform my wife that I had previously refused the medication and did not disclose the potentially deadly side effects.

Before prescribing Plavix, Dr. Villm did not perform a clotting test to determine if Coco needed a blood thinner and did not conduct a baseline CBC (Complete Blood Count) to assess blood levels before or during her treatment. She did not schedule a follow-up exam after prescribing Plavix or perform any subsequent monitoring.

When I returned home Coco had lost over 10% of her body weight, was weak and had become jaundice. Dr. Villm assured us that Plavix could not cause Coco’s condition. Despite our concerns, she insisted Coco remain on the medication for another 3 months.

Over the next three months, Coco's condition deteriorated. Despite many visits (10 in only 12 weeks), Dr. Villm failed to conduct essential tests or make an accurate diagnosis. Only after I presented data that showed that Coco was healthy until she was given Plavix did she order a CBC, which revealed dangerously low blood cell counts.

When Dr. Villm finally took Coco off Plavix, she also, without having performed any additional tests, took Coco off the only medication that was helping control her drug-induced immune disease. This decision would prove to be fatal, and cause Coco to suffer and ultimately lead to her death. We would ultimately spend over $20,000 trying to save Coco's life.

Coco was more than a service animal; she was a beloved family member and a loyal companion who faithfully supported me through multiple reconstructive surgeries. Her death has caused significant emotional distress to our family, overshadowing the birth of our first child. Coco’s litter-mate, Riley, inseparable since birth struggles without her. I am now forced to try to adapt to life without the service animal I had by my side for nearly 9 years and to cope with the shocking circumstances that cut her life short.

Astoundingly, Dr. Villm would tell me only weeks before Coco’s death that if Coco’s condition was caused by Plavix that she would publish a research paper on her case. This was highly insensitive and inappropriate and further demonstrated Dr. Villm’s lack of ethics and professionalism.

In honor of Coco, we are petitioning the Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine to review her case and determine whether Dr. Villm’s actions warrant disciplinary measures. We are also exploring our legal options.

Given our experience, we strongly urge anyone considering veterinary care to thoroughly evaluate their options and ensure that their chosen provider adheres to the highest standards of care. If your service animal or pet suffered or passed away under the care of Dr. Villm or any other veterinarian at Wheatridge Animal Hospital, please contact us, we want to hear from you.

We miss you, Coco. Your story is...

I SENT THIS EMAIL TO THE MANAGER, BROOK DORAN, AND THE VET, MATTHEW LAZARUS ON 4/22. IT HAS BEEN A WHOLE WEEK AND HAVE YET TO HEAR BACK FROM EITHER:

I took my two cats in for emergency care after coming in contact with lily flowers.

Dr. Lazarus started by spending several minutes heavily iterating that, for cats, ingesting lilies is fatal. Dr. Lazarus took time to discuss the “gold standard” treatment route saying his recommendation was for both cats (one of which had unconfirmed exposure and was presenting with normal behavior and vitals) be admitted to the hospital to be intravenously treated for 3 days. This treatment plan, the most extensive and expensive treatment plan, totaled over $10,000. When asked about different tiers of treatment, he continued to circle back focusing solely on the “gold standard”, leading me to believe that any other tier would not be effective, and would exponentially increase the risk of kidney failure and death. I expect, since Dr. Lazarus is a professional in the field, that he would be able to walk clients through all aspects of the situation: what exactly is happening, what we risk by choosing one path vs another, and the overall projection of success for the wellbeing of the pet with the available treatment options. I would also expect that, being a provider in an emergency setting, he would focus on communicating the outcome rather than the what-ifs in the event that care was never sought out. He didn’t ever express that with treatment (even the ‘lower tier’ treatments), in a vast majority of cases, kidney damage was prevented, and death is unlikely. Dr. Lazarus had presented me with two major takeaways: 1) If we didn’t follow his suggested 3 day inpatient care route, kidney damage was a high probability and 2) the only way to successfully treat this issue will cost $10,200.

I respect Dr. Lazarus for presenting facts, I also expect that in an emergency situation the care provider would be empathetic and have a team player mindset in exploring all possible, effective, and successful treatment options. Not just the most expensive “gold standard” option. Instead, my conversation with Dr. Lazarus induced fear and pressured me into almost choosing a care option that would have been unnecessary and financially/emotionally traumatic.

Upon Dr. Lazarus leaving the room, I decided to get a second opinion with a different provider over the phone. By the end of this call, I felt 100% confident in my choice to leave the WRAH and seek care with this other provider. After sharing this decision with Dr. Lazarus, he proceeded to create a narrative that criticized my decision and felt as if to induce fear by saying “just so you know, that hospital doesn’t have specialists so many of their animals end up coming back to us” and “I hope the vet at the place you are going didn’t downplay the severity of this situation.” These comments, questioning the qualifications and ability of other providers, are unprofessional and manipulating.

I want to be clear, my switching providers had little to do with the cost of treatment. I switched because of the quality of care, professionalism, and communication. All of which fell far short with Dr. Lazarus. My chosen emergency provider empowered me to make informed decisions for my cats and brought peace of mind and confidence for the care they were providing.

I care deeply about working with local businesses, but I will not do so at the expense of my mental health or my cats’ lives/comfort. Dr. Lazarus mentioned the struggle of competing for business against corporate/chain providers. I am confident that the WRAH has the tools and facilities to succeed and outdo corporate/chain competitors. I want to bring my business to you all. For me to feel confident doing that, at the bare minimum, the emergency care experience must change. I will be rooting for your success, but I will not be a...