November 2021 by Marianne S.
Many of the techs, some of whom also run the front desk, are rude (especially one in particular), & early in my experience w/this facility of 2 & 1/2 yrs, one of the vets, Dr. Dan McConnel, quoted me $700 for a procedure but then he wanted an extra $120 when it came time to remove a holding wire 6 weeks post surgery, of which, was part of the procedure & so should have already been in his quote. I stopped using McConnel as my cats' vet sometime thereafter. Caldwell Vet also has equipment issues. I have senior cats w/chronic kidney disease, & one of them, Gracie, needed blood pressure monitoring (as determined by a visit to West Vet during Caldwell Vet's off hours), but according to a subsequent visit w/Dr. McConnel, her primary Caldwell vet, their BP monitor was not working properly & it took months for them to get a new one (& this was pre covid). I have come to understand recently, that all cats w/CKD should have their BP checked as part of their exams, as high BP from CKD can lead to sudden blindness, but the Caldwell vets did not do BP checks for any of my senior cats w/CKD (nor explained that this should be done) until I started asking for them after one of my senior cats, Candy, went blind from high BP due to her CKD (I rushed her to West Vet, & she got some of her sight back due to their fast care). Caldwell's vets have also been doing dental surgeries for years, & still are, w/out the benefit of a dental x-ray machine. These vets are also not the most observant, as Dr Oesch even failed to notice one of my senior cats, Tuxie, had gone blind in one eye (but not from high BP) despite a well lit room where it could plainly be seen that one of Tuxie's pupils was clearly larger than the other, & there had been initial signs of an issue (small red patches in Tuxie's eyes) that I had made an appointment for w/Dr. McConnel 2 yrs prior, but Tuxie's eye issue continued to remain undiagnosed by 3 different vets throughout all of Tuxie's subsequent visits until one day I noticed different sized pupils indicating he had become blind in one eye. These vets are also useless when it comes to palliative care for cats w/arthritis, or for other complications of CKD, common in cats. They should at least be up on using marijuana derivatives, as pain management is highly significant to quality & longevity of life. Having to put your pet to sleep is very traumatic, & when it came time for me to say goodbye to Tuxie, now 18 & w/advanced kidney disease, hind leg arthritis, mostly deaf, blind in one eye, & showing signs of being ready to go to the Rainbow Bridge, I wanted as much privacy & care for Tuxie as possible through the process, but I got anything but that as Dr Oesch thought it prudent to get me unnecessarily 2nd guessing my decision only to then bring me back around to it, & while inserting his ego into the situation where it definitely did not belong, & there was also no real need for a tech to assist him, of which, just infringed on my privacy (not to mention his oversight in trying to use the tech who had been especially rude to me overtime, & so I asked her to leave...another tech replaced her), & instead of giving both the sedative & the final drug via an IV catheter, Dr. Oesch is in the habit of giving the shots separately which is more painful for cats. There is much more I could elaborate on, as these vets have not provided good overall care for my cats. I advise taking your pet(s) elsewhere, as they only make excuses & become more rude as you voice your concerns preferring their incompetence to quality pet care. I will be finding a different vet facility to care for my pets.
