DO NOT GET RIPPED OFF BY THIS COMPANY. I went there with my terminally ill dog and not only did they NOT realize he was dying (he was dead within a month, at only seven years old), they made me pay full price for a board certified neurology visit -- yet I was seeing the incompetent "student/resident" Dr. Philip Schissler.
Yes -- it's all about money there - you pay the big bucks, but you get whatever cast-off they have available to throw in the office with you. I made an appointment to SEE a neurologist. Schissler was nothing more than a regular vet learning how to be a neurologist. I had been SENT by a regular vet -- did I need to drive 100 miles round trip to go to another regular vet? No I wanted an expert, not another DVM? But that's what I got and due to his total inexperience (and uncaring, money grubbing attitude) I never got a detailed report on what my dog could have -- he frankly didn't know enough to consider ALL the deadly possibilities my dog had.
He also MISQUOTED me $3,000 for the MRI for my dog, making it impossible for me to afford it. (I was later quoted the REAL price there of $1,400 by the head of the office -- WHICH I COULD HAVE AFFORDED... only it was too late... no way was I allowing these idiots to handle my dying dog.
As I was leaving the office, I still had no idea he was not a neurologist. And of course he never mentioned it. Once I happened to grab Schissler's business card on the way out and realized he was not a neurologist, I insisted on seeing a REAL NEUROLOGIST. Unfortunatley, they sent in Dr Jason Evans. OMG! My dog didn't have a chance of getting help between these two. If I thought Dr Philip Schissler was a waste of time and money - I was about to be really shocked by Dr Jason Evans who acted like he was way too busy to be bothered with some tiny, dying dog. He never even touched my dog. Never examined him. REALLY? Between Schissler and Evans it was like Dumb and Dumber.
I finally flew my dog Rudy to Okalhoma University Vet Teaching Hospital, (OSU) where his tests were done.
NOTE: It costs less to fly your pet to OSU and have MRI's done than it does to stay here and go to this place. Also, in Scottsdale, Dr Charles Pullen has MRI's for only $750 -- run don't walk away from Veterinary Neurological Center.
Gary Wilkes
San Tan Valley,#2General Comment
Mon, November 23, 2015
At any juncture in any dealing with a business it is apporpriate to ask to speak to a manager. Specialty practices always have residents. Some are better than others. This appears to be an issue of the client being unfamiliar with the process of purchasing services and later implying that someone acted to slick them out of their money. Like eating a meal and misunderstanding that the $100 bottle of wine wasn't complimentary or that the waiter wasn't the person cooking the meal. As for the cost of the MRI, you can shop that if you want - but the information contained in the imagery may be substandard or not what they neurologist needs to tell the while story.
Meaning you might get a discount MRI and get nothing of value to the board certified specialist who will ulitmately do the work. In this case, since the MRI was not done, it is likely that the resident set up the process and would have been overseen by one of the board certified specialists to propose and complete treatment. If your animal has a neurological disorder that requires this level of care you can certainly go elsewhere and get hit-or-miss skill levels. The staff at Vet Neurological are exceptional for finding solutions from incredibly difficult surgery to balancing internal medicine solutions for serious brain disorders.