Metzger Animal Hospital AKA Dr. John Griffiths & Fred Metzger Dr. Griffths misdiagnosed my 3 year old cat. He told me my cat would die if he did not have surgery. State College Pennsylvania

I was shocked when Google Alerts recently forwarded a link to your review on Ripoff Report.  We are all sympathetic and deeply saddened by your loss. It was disappointing and disheartening to read these accusations. Attempts to contact you have been unsuccessful but I felt it was necessary to address some of your points in your review.

Losing a pet, especially at a young age, is always a traumatic experience.  They become such important parts of our family, and when illness takes them from us; it is common to experience feelings of anger, guilt, denial, etc.  It’s all part of the mourning process, and it takes time to work through these steps. 

When Marco was presented to us as a referral, he was in serious condition.  The referring doctor had attempted multiple unsuccessful urinary catheterizations; the bladder had been drained, but it was done, according to your referral vet, by cystocentesis (a needle placed into the abdomen).  Abdominal ultrasonography revealed a significant mixed echogenic mass which Dr. Griffiths explained that it COULD be a tumor or a blood clot, but there was no way to definitively know without surgery.  At this point, your Marco’s blood work was of great concern.  His kidney values showed dangerous levels of elevation. 

Without a doubt, he would not have survived without some kind of intervention.  Since a catheter could not be passed to drain the bladder, surgery was our only option.  The contrast study showed that only small amounts were making it to the bladder, which led us to suspect a tear in the urethra as well. We recommended immediate action to prevent continuing deterioration and worsening prognosis At that point, you had told us that you were planning to take your cat to your local vet for euthanization. 

The next morning we got a call that you had decided to go pursue surgery.  At this point, Marco had  very serious complications including: hypotension (low blood pressure), hypothermia (low body temperature)  and dehydration.  All attempts were made to correct these deficiencies prior to surgery. Once in surgery, Dr. Griffiths discovered that it was a large blood clot and the pelvic urethra had several areas of injury and had a longitudinal tear, likely caused when the referral vet attempted to pass the catheter. Despite 3 hours in surgery and attempts by two surgeons, the damage was too extensive to repair. This situation was explained to you and all agreed that euthanasia was the best option.

The entire situation was a terrible tragedy for everyone involved. The doctors did everything they could but sometimes there are situations that cannot be fixed.  If we were only interested in the money, Dr. Griffiths would have charged the full amount for the surgery.  Instead, he charged only for the hospital costs involved.  I understand your disappointment and frustration, but please understand that we made all attempts to save his life.  It was a devastating loss for us as well, and not one that was taken lightly.

I have made several attempts to contact you so that we could discuss this, but have not been able to reach you.  If you would like to talk about this or still have questions, please call us.