Vets4Pets Reviews 46

Having had an awful experience at Vets 4 Pets Festival Park, contributing to my pet's passing, I am reluctant to even give this vet chain even 1 star, however there isn't an option for 0 stars.

Listen to the other reviews and avoid this chain!

My rabbit, Bon, has never seemed as healthy as my other rabbits (she was adopted from Pets at Home), but we were determined to give her the best life we could. However, soon after adopting her, Bon began to have phantom pregnancies which would be very stressful for her. Sadly due to Covid, we couldn't get her spayed to prevent more phantom pregnancies (we understood that this was just the rules and we accepted this not to be the vets direct fault). However, I rang Vets 4 Pets Festival Park for advice, they said there was nothing they could do and told me that they were too busy as there were only three members of staff in (making me feel awful for reaching out for help). I was told that they would only see Bon if she was bleeding to death - this is of course not a symptom of a phantom pregnancy. The vet nurse (who said that he owned this particular branch of V4P) began to joke, saying how much he loves rabbits, especially how much he loves eating them. I didn't find this funny and it was completely inappropriate. Despite this, I continued to care for Bon at home and tried to make her as comfy as possible; despite the fact she was pulling her fur our to make a nest and was not eating/toileting properly.

Two weeks later and Bon had stopped eating pretty much all together. She made groaning noises and was clearly in a lot of pain and discomfort. As a prey animal, this is very concerning, as rabbits typically hide their pain. I called Vets 4 Pets and begged them to help. After some convincing they saw her in the afternoon and said that Bon has gut statis which was likely caused by the stress of the phantom pregnancies. I was gutted, as if Bon had expert support during the phantom pregnancies, this could have been avoided.

I wasn't allowed into Bon's consultation due to Covid (which again I did not blame on V4P as this was the rule in place). After the consultation, the vet said that Bon had been very 'feisty' and the vet nurse had had to pin Bon down on the floor to examine her - he laughed as he told me this. Due to Covid, I could not go in to see what was happening but Bon looked TERRIFIED when she was back after her consultation. They had clearly been very rough with her. I would also note that Bon was far from feisty, she was a very shy, beautiful rabbit who never hurt anyone. During the consultation, the vet gave her nothing on site (other than a real scare) and sent her away with a few different oral medications (costing us around £70). They did this despite knowing that Bon was struggling to take anything orally.

A few hours later and she wasn't looking well at all and I didn't think she would make it through the night. I had given Bon the medication from the vet but sadly it did nothing. I called V4P and they told me that they couldn't see her now as it was too late and wished me 'good luck' whilst Bon whimpered in pain. Obviously unhappy with this, I decided that as V4P didn't care, I would find someone who would. I took her to an out of hours vet who are not associated with V4P. This vet charged me nothing for this out of hours appointment (which exceeded 9pm) and they rushed Bon in for an x-ray. This fabulous vet could not believe that V4P had let Bon leave like that.

This vet found out that the medication prescribed by V4P was useless, as they had misdiagnosed Bon. Bon didn't have gut statis - this was a completely wrong diagnosis.

Sadly, Bon lost her fight 9 days later. Not that money mattered, but 9 nights of intensive care, x-rays, tests, hand feeding, etc cost just over £300 at this amazing vets. Their care was incredible. They couldn't do enough to keep us informed about Bon and desperately wanted to save her - a COMPLETE contrast to V4P.

I called V4P when Bon had passed to ask them why they let Bon leave that day (despite another vet being in dismay about this decision), why they didn't seem to care about her or how she was handled and why they had mis-diagnosed her illness and had charged us £70 for irrelevant medication. I also expressed that I wasn't happy with how the vet nurse had spoken to me, as if Bon was not a living creature.

I am still, three months on, trying to get an apology. I have now been talking to the Veterinary Client Mediation Service (VCMS) who are helping me to get an apology and the £70 back, which I would like to donate to a local rabbit rescue in Bon's memory. Not that they are at all bothered about this.

Avoid this money-grabbing chain. They do not care for animals, just profits. If they had correctly diagnosed Bon that afternoon, they could have treated her quicker, potentially saving her life.

Thank you to the Ridgehaven and Golden Grove staff!
My precious 14 year old Maltese X, Bonnie, was diagnosed with diabetes, pancreatitis and numerous other health issues, early last year and for the first few months it was touch and go. However, thanks to the marvellous and dedicated efforts of Doctors Caroline O’Connell, Cheryl Lordan and Layla Powell and the excellent support staff, especially all the lovely ladies who helped nurse Bonnie back to health at the Ridgehaven and Golden Grove clinics, she is now living a happy and comfortable life, for an old girl. I really can't thank them enough, especially Dr Caroline, who continues to monitor and take an interest in Bonnie's health, even outside of normal consultation times. I would recommend this clinic to anyone, in a heart beat. Kind regards, Christine Lawton