Rivergate Pet Emergency Clinic

Dinah M.

Joined 6 months ago

My beloved puppy was hit by a car at 10pm last week. This place seemed to be my only choice at the time. they wanted $85 before they would even look at him, and "suggested" tht I pay $754 for what they called comprehensive care (or at least that's what I thought she said, I couldn't hear her between my hearing loss and the extreme ringing in my head cause I was scared to death). I had to pay that before they even saw him. Everything they suggested was way over what I could afford, cash at the time, and they would NOT work with me at all. They ended up giving him 2 shots and a $33 prescription of pain meds and sent us home. total was almost $200. and about 20 minutes total

I took my baby to Value Vet on Monday and they spent more than 1/2 hour with us and charged me $65 which included 2 prescriptions. They sent me home with an RX for pain meds. Just took them to be filled and it was the exact same medicine. Kroger is charging me $4 for 15 tablets for the exact same medicine they charged me $33 for 5 tablets.

PLEASE LOOK INTO ANY OTHER ALTERNATIVE PLACES BEFORE GOING TO THIS JOKE OF A CLINIC. Unless of course money is no object.

Recommends

Joanie P.

Joined 1 year ago

Quality Care and Advice. I've had two interactions with this clinic. The first time, my dog had an anaphylactic reaction to yellow jacket stings. She'd had a reaction once before, and we knew she needed more than Benadryl, so we took her to the the Rivergate Clinic (it was a weekend night). They gave her the shot she needed and got us on our way and Mae on her way to recovery.

My second interaction was when Mae ate some Play Doh. I knew Play Doh had high salt content and read mixed reviews online as to whether or not it could cause sodium toxicity and death. I called the Rivergate Clinic to ask if I should induce vomiting. In the past, I've called other emergency vets who have refused to give advice over the phone. I was pleasantly surprised at how thorough and helpful this clinic was! The receptionist took the information and Mae's weight and asked the vet if I needed to do anything. She returned and said that Mae would've had to have eaten 20 oz of Play Doh to need to do anything about it. She said it wouldn't hurt to mention it to our vet if we were there in the near future and that they might check her blood levels and just to watch for vomiting or abnormal stools.

Recommends

Kelly W.

Joined 1 year ago

I was very pleased.... On Saturday evening, I decided that my cat needed to see a vet immediately. I'm new to the area, and found this clinic via Google. The receptionist took some basic information, and moved us into an examination room immediately. A tech was in almost immediately, and Dr. Stacy Smith came in very shortly thereafter. She examined Pasha thoroughly, and then explained what she found, and what she wanted to do.

A tech came in with a breakdown of the costs, and it was simply more than I could afford. Dr Smith returned, we talked more, and came up with an affordable, and I beleive medically sound solution.

When i came back the next evening either to pick her up or determine a further course of action. Her condition was virtually unchanged, barring the fact that she was no longer as dehydrated. Dr. April Smith explained what she believed the situation was, and what my options were. Most of what she discussed involved follow-up with a private vet, i.e., options that would provide no income to the clinic. In response to my questions , she indicated that Pasha was very ill, and that no matter how much money I chose to spend, there was very little chance of her recovering to a quality life.

At that point I decided to have her put to sleep. Dr. Smith was extremely compassionate, and indicated that she thought it was the best choice under the circumstances. One of the techs indicated that she had looked after Pasha all day and had seen no movement, and that she thought I was doing the right thing. They allowed me all the time I wanted alone with Pasha before she was euthanized. They allowed me to hold her as the injection was delivered. They allowed me to stay alone in the room with Pasha until I was ready to leave. Dr Smith hugged me.

I spent about $1,300.00 for one night's Intensive care. It's expensive, but emergency and intensive care are both always expensive. I appreciated the fact that they told me ahead of time what the cost would be. This allowed me to make informed decisions.

In short, I have no complaints at all regarding my experience there. I found the staff to be both competent and compassionate. I feel comfortable that I gave my beloved Pasha the best care that I could.

Doesn't Recommend

Elleena B.

Joined 1 year ago

Not worth the heartache. I took my 3 month old baby ferret here a few weeks ago when I found him lying in his bed unresponsive and limp. My usual vet is Dr. Corwin at Airport Animal Clinic, and he is incredible, whether your pet is an exotic or not. Unfortunately, it was the weekend, and his office was closed. This was the only other place I could find that would see a ferret. Once I got there and checked in, I waited for almost **15 MINUTES** while my baby lay against my chest, not blinking or moving, taking irratic deep breaths, producing bloody stools all over himself and me. Once the vet finally called us back, she told me he was dying. OBVIOUSLY, do something about it, that's your job! Then she left the room, and ANOTHER 15 minutes went by, while my baby is taking fewer and fewer breaths. All throughout this process, *none* of the things she should have been doing were done. He was severely dehydrated, but they waited until after taking x-rays to even bother giving him fluids. Then he started seizuring due to low blood sugar, but of course these idiots didn't think of that, they just gave him a sedative. While all this was happening, I was out in the waiting room, under the impression that they were doing everything they could. They called me back when he finally stopped breathing, and I just had to stand there and watch him die until his heart stopped. I feel no hesitation in saying that they helped him die, if not caused it. This whole ordeal cost me $800. I paid nearly a grand to watch my sweet little ferret die suffering on a cold metal table. I have no problem paying whatever it costs for good, quality pet health care. But this was unethical, cruel, and heartless. When this clinic sent their report to my regular vet, he said he crumpled it up in frustration and anger. He was so appalled at what they did or rather didn't do for my baby.

So the point is, if you value your pet's life, if you don't want to pay people to basically stand by and let them die, then DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, go here.

Doesn't Recommend

jay b.

Joined 1 year ago

Stay away from Dr. Stacy Smith. I took my poor baby there to be treated and they acted as if I were stupid! Dr. Stacy Smith was the the doctor who was on and she went out of her way to make me feel bad for not having the money to treat my pet. She had her techs come into my room so many times with different prices of treatment. It was a joke and a horrible thing to put me and my baby through. Her techs were horrible and smelled very bad. One of them had long nasty hair and a very bad odor.

There was one tech named Izzie? who was the only nice thing about the experience. She seemed to care and understood my money issues and she did not smell. She did not rush me and made me feel better. She was the only one who cared, and that is sad. She wrapped my baby up for me just as I wanted her to be and also cut some hair for me to keep. She even hugged me and really cared. Everyone there shoud take a lesson from her.

Shame on the doctor Stacy Smith and her smelly techs. They should never be allowed to touch pets! Stay far away from this place!! MY baby died because they only care about money and then they make you feel bad if you can not afford to treat your pet!

Recommends

Jon W.

Joined 1 year ago

Compassionate and competent staff from front-desk to doc. My dog collapsed suddenly with what turned out to be a mass on her spleen and on her heart. The staff did a great job giving me the difficult details I needed in a compassionate way.

I had to decide to put her down. It was a very difficult night with difficult decisions to say the least. I couldn't ask for better people to help guide me through it.

Most of all, I'm grateful they gave my pet a comfortable last hour.

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Jitterbug8

Joined 3 years ago

Very pleased. I have lived in several areas of the country, and my experience with animal emergency clinics has not overall been positive. I was very pleased with my experience at Rivergate Pet Emergency Clinic. One of my male pit bulls had escaped from his kennel and was attacked by the other, suffering expensive bite wounds. I brought both dogs for treatment. I found the basic charge ($85 per animal, as compared to about $40 for a regular daytime vet appointment at most clinics) to be quite reasonable. Dr. Chad Givens was the attending vet. The treatment was conservative. In Dr. Givens's opinion, both dogs had likely sustained fractures; however, when I asked whether an x-ray would change the treatment, we mutually decided that incurring the expense of an x-ray was unnecessary. Both dogs were prescribed antibiotics, I was advised to clean the wounds twice daily with Betadine and apply warm compresses. No unnecessary or expensive treatment was recommended. The staff was pleasant and helpful, and I was particularly impressed with Dr. Givens.

Doesn't Recommend

Flphil

Joined 2 years ago

This place should be closed. Having brought my 4 year old English Cocker Spaniel to this place, I never would have thought there could be a vet clinic whose sole concern was paying in advance prior to a diagnosis (really!). My wife and I brought our dog there after hours because he suddenly had an issue with his feces and blood. We only made it to the receptionist because after her attitude, we could only imagine what the rest of the staff would be like. It wasn't even an issue of whether we could pay or not. This person was only concerned with our $197 payment and nothing else!Their evening receptionist would be much better suited to work in a prison (or worse if there is) because her people skills

are terrible. As for their knowledge or ability to treat

animals, I WILL never know! By the way, the first thing the

following morning, we took our dog to the Critter Clinic in

Gallatin where we were treated as if we were the only

one's in there. Excellent staff and Dr. As for the rest of you

who have posted your negative experiences with this

place, I think that you were scammed. And yes, I do believe many, if not all positive reviews posted on here came from the staff.

Pros: I won't be back.

Cons: the entire staff perhaps

Doesn't Recommend

suzsuz11

Joined 2 years ago

COLD, CALLOUS, AND EXPENSIVE. Please do not bring your pet to this office. I felt pressured into authorizing what they call "Emergency Treatment" at $671.00, without time to think, and without the vet discussing alternatives to costly diagnosis and treatment. I acted with my heart initially and approved the "emergency treatment", however when I was told that they still did not know for sure what was wrong with my cat, and that it would be a minimum of $1000.00 more in tests, and a "lifetime of treatment" for the cat, I made the heart wrenching decision to euthanize. When I asked why euthanasia was not discussed as an option to treatment, she replied ?We do not discuss it, as we assume that MOST people want to save their animals?. Well, I am MOST people, and believe me, if I could have afforded to save my cat, I would have. I received no sympathy from the vet, who appeared indignant with my decision. Stand clear of this vet. Better she should work with animals, as she has ZERO people skills.

Doesn't Recommend

Clay1969

Joined 2 years ago

Cat not diagnosed properly now euthanized for no good reason. I noticed my cat had tapeworm and found an over the counter remedy at TSC. The drug was praziquantel and was in a little bottle of three tablets. I gave the cat one tablet on Saturday. By Monday the cat was lethargic and by Tuesday he was having extreme nausea and was in really bad shape when I came in from work. I had taken one of my dogs to the Rivergate Pet Emergency Clinic ion the past and they prescribed some antibiotics and he turned out good so I decided to take Whiskers the cat theree to see if they could help him too. We arrived there at 8pm or so with the cat and the meds I gave him. They told me he was really ill and asked if I wanted to opt for full emergency treatment. Long story short is that the cat had most every known side effect from praziquantel (which the vet said repeatedly had nothing to do with my cats condition) jauntice being the chief symptom he had...and thast I really needed to rule out FeLV (luekemia) and FIV (feline immuniodeficiency) neither of which he had symptoms as it turns out. So after his apparent "positive" FIV test and jauntice (which was "accute" she admitted) I had the cat euthanized. My dead cat is buried in the back yard partly because of my ignorance to his situation but mostly due to the complete and utter lack of proper care and diagnosis from this pet care provider. DVM Moore NEVER addressed the symptoms but instead was far more interested in a blood test to "rule out" FeLV and FIV. If you care about your animals please take my advice and stay as far away from the these idiots as possible.