Beatty Animal Clinic

Catherine Whitlock _{on Google}

Jun 22nd, 2014

Dr. Beatty was an amazing vet -- and well earned his recent retirement. Unfortunately, the people who took over the clinic and kept his good name on it are absolutely horrible. This clinic has changed from a place that cares about the welfare of animals to a business looking to make a dollar any way it can, even if it means suggesting unnecessary, invasive and potentially harmful procedures. I took my cat there on Saturday and the following things happened:
1. The woman (Vanessa) attending the front desk took it upon herself to let my cat out of his carrier in the waiting room -- stupid because what if he got away? What if an aggressive dog came in for a visit? What if my cat (who she had never met and had no way of knowing is a sweetheart) was mean and clawed the crap out of her?
2. We were there because the cat was having problems with a tooth. The vet, Dr. Lazerson, suggested putting the cat out and giving him a full dental cleaning despite notes in his file that this was tried once and the cat did not respond well to the anesthesia and doing so again could have negative health consequences.
3. When my husband and I told him of this, Dr. Lazerson changed tack. He told us that our cat had a chest deformity and may need surgery. Our cat is 8 and no vet has ever said that before -- including the amazing Dr. Beatty!
4. By the end of our appointment, the vet put quotes for all of these procedures in front of me for me to sign, even though I'd made clear that they weren't going to happen. The dental cleaning and diagnostic tests for my cat's "deformity" were quoted at nearly $800.
5. They initially forgot to weigh my cat. When they saw that he is three pounds lighter than before, they didn't think that was a big deal -- but any cat owner knows that such drastic weight loss is a warning that there could be any number of serious reasons for that!
6. They never even took his temperature. In a visit that cost $96. Nor did they even let the cat smell them or pet him a moment to let him get used to them before they started manhandling him.
7. THEY BROUGHT A STRANGE CAT INTO THE EXAM ROOM WITHOUT ASKING. They wanted to compare my cat's chest to another's, so they went out, grabbed a cat from God knows where (and who knows why that cat was at the vet -- if my cat gets sick this week I'll sure know it was their fault!) and began comparing the two, repeatedly touching each cat without washing their hands in between.
8. They were extremely disorganized and people entered and left the exam room about a dozen times. Each time, they left the door wide open even though my cat was outside the carrier at their request.
When Dr. Beatty first retired, we were told that his old office staff and assistants would remain and the practice would gain two new vets and a new office worker (presumably this Vanessa person I met). In the entire time we were there, we didn't see a SINGLE person from the original office staff -- and that staff was as wonderful as Dr. Beatty, so that is a real loss.
We took our cat to the Coconut Grove Animal Clinic right after we left the Beatty Animal Clinic for a second opinion. The vet there saw no "deformity" and completely understood that the cat was advised to not go under anesthesia if other options existed. He advised us on those, did a full physical exam and sent us on our way.