Metzger Animal Hospital Fred Metzger Gross Negligence & Stunning Incompetence State College, Pennsylvania
My dog began limping, holding his leg up in obvious pain. I immediately took him to Metzger Animal Hospital where John Griffiths examined him. After dropping a few hundred dollars on X-rays, this experienced, seasoned vet whos been practicing for 15 years told me that my dog had nothing more than a corn. He advised me to treat it as such & assured me in time, it would heal. Having no reason to doubt his professional opinion, I heeded his advice & followed the prescribed treatment.
Twice daily treatments with corn cream, hyaluronic acid, customized boots, pain medication and nine months later, my dogs foot became swollen & seriously infected. It quickly became obviously that this wasnt, after all, a corn. I had his foot re-examined & x-rayed again only to find out the poor guy had FOUR stones lodged in his paw. These rocks were clearly visible on the x-ray from Metzgers after comparing the two.
I contacted Fred Metzger to let him know about this serious oversight. He replied, providing some experts feedback, who also immediately identified the stones as stones not a corn.
In the end, Metzger wanted to simply refund my office visit. No apology for the months of stress &
pain. Moreover, he flatly refused to consider reimbursing me for the tons of money spent on lotions, potions, boots & treatment for my dogs corn. I wasnt asking for the thousands I laid out
for surgery to correct this rather just the out of pocket expenses incurred
in treating this as a corn.
Stay away! If these guys cant tell the difference between a superficial corn on a dogs pad and numerous rocks embedded deep in a paw, why would you trust them? Its one thing to make a mistake its another to own up to it & make it right. Ridiculous & a total rip-off!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
AK
Lemont,Pennsylvania,
UPDATE
#2Author of original report
Fri, March 29, 2013
Id like to update this matter with factual, relevant information. After noticing this review and post, Dr. Metzger was more than happy to reimburse me for the initial costs incurred (described within) for the first surgery regarding Apollo. This covered the costs I was initially seeking in my complaint regarding the misdiagnosis.
Unfortunately, another year later, sadly my greyhound was still in continuous pain, lameness and
frequent infection in his foot/toe. In February 13, this lead to another surgery and amputation of Apollos toe.
In the end, countless vet trips, two surgeries, and thousands of dollars later, its my hope others wont ever have to endure what I (and Apollo) have had to. While Dr. Metzger replied to my initial complaint last year (and did reimbursed those initial costs), the ongoing implications of the misdiagnosis have been financially, emotionally and psychically draining for me, and Apollo resulting in a loss of thousands of dollars and, more importantly, my companions' toe.
Its my sincere hope that Dr. Jerry Griffins learned from the mistakes made, albeit at the cost to Apollo. I hope this wont happen again and sets the record straight.