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
My 3 year old cat was treated for a bladder infection by a local vet. The vet catherized my cat's urethra and drained his bladder. The vet told me my cat did not have any crystal blockage. He kept my cat over night . I brought my cat home the next day. The vet prescribed an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory medication and a prescription cat food. I noticed that my cat was licking his urethra and still had not urinated after several hours. My cat would not eat the special food the vet had prescribed but did drink some water. I called my vet the next day and he refered me to Metzger Animal Hospital. I truly believe that my cat would still be alive today if I would of kept him at home.
Metzger Animal Hospital's Dr. Griffiths did all kinds of expensive test and catherized my cat without explaining to me first what test and procedure he was going to do to my cat and also, how much each test would cost! He catherized my cat and did a ultrasound on my cat's bladder. He asked me if I had a medical background. Then Vet Griffiths showed me the ultrasound. He told me that he was almost certain that my 3 year old cat had a malignant tumor in his bladder and that it could also be blocking his urethra. I have seen ultrasounds before and I told Dr. Griffiths that it looked like either a blood clot or cyst to me.
He showed me the bladder x-ray with contrast and I could see the catheter and the contrast empty into my cat's bladder. It did not look like my cat had any blockage at all! He told me that even Dr. Metzger thought my cat had a malignant tumor. Vet Griffiths told me that the only way to save my cat's life was to do surgery. The surgery would cost from $2000.00 to $3,000.00. He told me he would insert a catheter from inside my cat's bladder thru his urethra out. Dr. Griffiths assured me that he had done this procedure and it was very sucessful.
I was very upset after he told me my cat's prognosis if I did not have the surgery. The next day I brought my cat back to Metzger Animal Hospital to have the surgical procedure on my cat. Dr. Griffiths told me he would know within 5 minutes of the surgery if my cat had a malignant bladder tumor. I waited almost 3 hours before Dr. Griffiths came out to talk to me. He told me that my cat had a non-fatal blood clot, but that he could not put the catheter thru my cats urethra. He said my cat's blood pressure was dropping so they had to euthanize him!
Dr. John Griffiths & Dr. Fred Metzger misdiagnosed my cat and mislead me to believe that my cat needed expensive surgery to save his life! They butchered my cat's urethra! Metzger Animal Hospital charged me $1,800.00 and ended up killing my cat!!! Beware!!! I would never trust Dr. John Griffiths! This animal hospital is the most expensive around and they prey on pet owners like me to pad their pockets!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
metzgeranimalhospital
State College,Pennsylvania,
Response to comments
#2UPDATE Employee
Tue, July 09, 2013
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.