California Veterinary Specialists Ontario RUN away from this place Ontario California

After reading lots of other reviews of this place, I guess I should be grateful my dog is still alive. Wish I'd read more of them before her surgery.

One of their vets performed TPLO surgery on my 10-year-old girl. Now it's 8 months later & she's having problems & cannot put weight on the leg at all. She can't walk without limping, much more than before the surgery, and literally everything else about this place is awful as well.

If you are used to being involved in your pet's care, forget it. They whisk the animal out of the room & perform all exams elsewhere while you wait. When I went for one post-op checkup, I SPECIFICALLY requested that I be present for her exam and was completely ignored. They performed the exam without me.

After the initial exam, which I didn't get to witness, I was told she did in fact have a CCL tear, but I've wondered many times if this isn't the reason they do the exams without you there -- they can basically say anything they like. My questions were answered & options explained, & TPLO surgery seemed to be the only choice. Now come the problems. A vet tech then comes into the room with what amounts to a number written on a piece of paper. Nothing is broken out or itemized. Just a total, which you are told includes "everything." It's only after you've paid the bill that you find out you were charged $40 for an e-collar we never used but could get on amazon for 15 bucks, or that you were charged $150 for medication, the generic for which I got at Costco for $32, or $75 for a sling that we never used but I had no choice about, or $200 for ONE fentanyl patch, for which price you can get 10 patches at any pharmacy.

At the aforementioned postop check, we got Dr. Bissonette, who I have to say is more full of himself than any physician, human or animal, I've ever met. He is the one who did the exam without me & at one point during the conversation, while he was explaining the restrictions I should put on her activity, he says "we don't want to have to reoperate," even though the surgery is so "fun" to perform & "really good for my bank account." No, I'm not kidding.

So I said I guess it is, considering I paid 40 bucks for an e-collar. Which made him look vaguely sheepish, not much more. He then proceeded to over-prescribe pain meds, which made her sick & dehydrated.

Which brings me to my next point. The "everything" that is included in the magic number did not include even a single session of physical therapy or even instruction on how to manage postop rehab. You are given lots of restrictions, told everything possible about what *not* to do, but not told one thing about what you *should* do. So now my dog has a terribly weak leg & is limping worse than before the surgery. Deconditioning? Nerve damage? I'm working on finding out. Her limp is getting worse & worse & at this point, as I mentioned, is worse than it ever was when she had her supposed partial CCL rupture.

I saw the 2-month x-rays and was told they looked fine. I was given the impression that this would all take care of itself & not even told things to watch out for and am reduced to power-surfing Youtube for instructions. We went to a physical therapist, who identified, among other things, a severe hamstring contracture. They saw her before surgery, during surgery, 2 weeks after surgery, & 2 months after surgery & never caught this. It's absolutely inexcusable. I have serious doubts that she even needed the surgery but there's no way I can prove it because everything they do is hidden. 

I would *never* go to this place for anything, ever again, & I advise anyone to avoid CVS at all costs.

Update: I reported them to the BBB. They got a copy of the above review. Their response to everything I said above was "You knew there could be complications." My head is exploding. They just don't get it. Bunch of sleazebags.