Recommended Vet Pittsburgh Pa

[Cleopatra Beers]

If you paid for the visit with a card, you can stop payment. I would write the owners a letter and enclose your pictures. You can also find the organization that regulates vets in your area and send them a copy of the letter and pictures. Be sure you tell the vets exactly what you want from them; at least a refund of your payment, but they also need to strengthen their animal security, train their staff in animal handling and sensitivity, and possibly pay for any further care if Teddy gets infected from those cuts. Please don't say it's too much trouble. I had a problem with a gynecologist's office staff, and when he got my letter, he thanked me. It turned out that he didn't know anything about this problem. Today his staff is all new, and he asked me to give him a second chance. We NEED to keep these Providers notified when this stuff happens!!

 

[ElvirasMum]

I am in search of a new vet in the pittsburgh area after an incident I had today with my baby sphynx Teddy... any suggestions are welcome... Thank you.

Please avoid Pleasant Hills Pet Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa. I took my sphynx kitty (11mos old) in for a checkup for a retained deciduous tooth (he never lost one of his baby teeth), that portion of the visit went OK, but at the end I figured I would have them trim his nails since we were there. They took him in the back and I was told to wait in the waiting area and they would bring Teddy to me when they were done. I sat down and next thing I know I hear yowling and crying (from Teddy) so I jumped up to go in the back because all I could think was that they nicked one of his blood vessels while trimming his nails. To my surprise, Teddy came flying up through the reception area from the back of the hospital and into the lobby. I guess there is no door or barrier that keeps pets from coming to the main lobby. It is a good thing no one was coming in or out of the doors because Teddy would have been out the door and on the road. Luckily he saw me right away and I picked him up and I quickly noticed he had 3 big fingernail indentations in his neck. I asked the Vet tech who came running shortly after him what she did to him and she said well he was going to bite me and he got away. So, apparently she tried to grab at his neck to keep him from getting loose while also digging her fingernails into it. I put Teddy into his carrier and walked out of there. When we got home his neck was still bleeding and bruising started up. I called back to get the name of the vet tech and when I told AMY the office manager that Teddy’s neck was still bleeding she said “Well because your cat doesn’t have any fur.â€

Teddy is my baby and I love him to death like any pet owner. I just don’t want anyone else’s animals to be treated the way Teddy was as surely there are other ways to subdue a small cat than by digging your nails into their neck.

Below are two pictures of Teddy’s neck after we got home and I cleaned his neck off with warm water and antiseptic. It is still very red, and bruising is starting to appear. I was too flustered to take a photo right when this happened, but I wish I would have captured an image of the nail marks.

Again, the Vet Tech that did this to Teddy (who never once apologized) is Megan at Pleasant Hills Pet hospital. The office manager who made the snide remark about Teddy being a hairless cat is named Amy.

Now I must search for a new caring veterinary office in the Pittsburgh area.

I am so sorry you had those issues with PHPH!!!!
In an earlier post in this thread, Dr Winnie himself posted, which is pretty cool. He has a Sphynx himself so he knows about the babies:
Feel free to stop in or make an appointment if the need arises.

Sean Winnie D.V.M.
Greenfield Veterinary Hospital
611 Greenfield Ave
Pittsburgh 15207

412 422 7755

If Greenfield is too far for you to travel and you're in / around the Pleasant Hills area, I would strongly encourage you to go to Always Compassionate Vet Care. They're right on 51 near Baldwin / Whitehall high school. Address: 4701 Clairton Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15236
Phone412) 882-3070
ACVC staff treat Elvy like she's a rock star!
I would send a copy of the letter and pictures to Animal Control to see if abuse charges can be filed against the broad who put her fingernails in poor Teddy's neck! People like that disgust me and she has no business being a vet tech if thats how she's gonna treat someone's baby!!!

 

[SphynxCatLuvr]

Thank you guys for your support. We will travel wherever we need to have a vet that treats Teddy good. I actually didn't pay for the visit, I walked out and said if you think I should pay then you can send a bill. I haven't heard anything about it yet, and do not intend to pay even if I get one. I've been keeping a close eye on Ted's neck- there are no signs of infection so he should be okay, just some yellow/purple bruising now. He seemed pretty traumatized that whole day as he slept in my closet the remainder of the evening (he usually sleeps with us or in one of his beds).

To Cleopatra: I called and spoke to the manager of the office and she gave me just as much attitude as the one who dug her nails into Ted's neck. She's the one that responded "well yeah cause your cat has no fur" when I said is neck was still bleeding after our half hour ride home and I cleaned it. It seems as though they will all stick up for each other.

ElvirasMum: I never had issues with them before, but we recently started seeing a new doc at PHPH because our former one (Dr Weaver) actually moved to Erie, Pa. She basically did everything herself with Teddy because she had one of his half brothers so she loved him. It wasn't until after she left that I had issues with them The breeder that we got Teddy from in Pittsburgh also takes ALL of her kitties to PHPH so I told her all about this- she hasn't indicated she will be going elsewhere though

We've had a lot of good recommendations for new vets so hopefully we find one we like. We're moving out to the South Hills in the next couple of weeks (we're in the city now) so we might give pleasant valley vet clinic in McMurray a try cause that will be super close to our new house. However, I am liking the idea of Dr. Winnie since he has a sphynx and knows how precious and perfect they are

 

[Cleopatra Beers]

I'm glad Teddy seems to be okay, but I still strongly urge you to put in writing your experience and send copies to the owners of the clinic, and to the agencies in your area that oversee the clinics. They do not keep records of phone calls, and it is really easy to deny that a call even occurred. I know that our natural instinct is to try to put these experiences behind us, but think about the next person who may lose his or her pet because of the same careless handling that your Teddy received. If the owners do not know that this is going on, they cannot change anything. And it's no joke, employees are usually not going to tell their bosses that they let a cat loose to run through the entire office or that they caused bruises and bleeding with their own fingernails. They are equally not going to say to the boss that they blamed everything on the cat's lack of hair on the phone to the owner. I am glad your Teddy is okay and it's great that you have other good options for vet care for him.

 

[iolaus]

What happened to poor Teddy should be reported to the ASPCA! The worst of it is that not everyone who works with animals are required to actually love or care for those same animals, if I were in your place, I would have choked the living hell out of the little twit!
But this thread is about Vets in Pennsylvania, can anyone here point me in the direction
of a good vet in the surrounding areas of Philly? I live in Exton, which is in Chester County, if that helps any. Many Thanks again Sphynx-Fans.