Would Banfield Vets Intentionally Make My Pet Sick for the $$$? And Is it Medically Possible for a Vet to Do?

Question

Banfield Vets diagnosed my cat with "kidney failure" during a routine blood exam for a dental cleaning. He seemed perfectly healthy and active before. They then said he would need more exams, all which would cost over $600. I'm currently trying to find a trustworthy vet in my area. But my family and I have noticed that my cat has started looking tired and sick AFTER the twelve hours that they held him to give him "blood tests" and a "urinalysis." This was 5 days ago and he's still acting tired and strange. He was also unusually clingy the day after and now startles easily, like when someone suddenly walks into the room, which he has NEVER done before. Since the diagnosis I've read numerous horror stories about Banfield and am wondering if they would actually DO SOMETHING INTENTIONALLY to sicken my pet and if anyone has ever experienced this with Banfield or another vet? And is it medically possible to ruin a cat's kidneys or health with an injection or some other way?

Answer 1

The worst part about this is that your pet can't tell you. Is this a new form of abuse that will have to be investigated. By what you have written here, I would say that it is all too suspicious. The problem, now is to find out whether or not there is an actual problem with your cat or to find out if it has been injected with something purposely. The sooner you get it to another vet, the sooner an actual investigation can begin. This is unscrupulous and it carries a heavy fine to intentionally hurt animals. Contact your local ASPCA and see if they have had any bad reports regarding this specific service provider.

Answer 2

The only real issue at the moment is that your cat is sick and needs to be treated - and obviously not by this Banfield vets, because you're not happy with them. It's therefore your prereogative to go to a different vet - the new vet will get your cat's clinical history from Banfields so they can see what's going on. You can then pursue your complaint after your cat is sorted out, IF you feel you can justify your reason to do so.

It's fairly unlikely that a vet would intentionally make an animal sick, because they risk being struck off and prosecuted of course. In theory it is possible for a person or persons with no morals to do this - overdoses of certain drugs would cause kidney failure. However, it would take longer than 12 hours for these effects to appear.

You need to know before you proceed that kidney failure is fairly common in cats, especially in those aged over 8. It's not too uncommon for cats aged under 8 to have it, and in rare cases cats under 1 can have it. The reason pre-anaesthetic bloods are done is to pick up on this kind of problem, which would not necessarily have been noticeable otherwise, but could have jeopardised the safety of the anaesthetic.

I'm not saying these Banfield people are blameless because I don't know, but these are facts you need to be aware of first. You should also know that 9/10, 'horror stories' from a vets are a result of people not understanding what is going on. If a vet was particularly bad at explaining things, or had a bad bedside manner, his practice would likely get a bad reputation for mistreating vets - clinical skills are basically judged on bedside manner.

I would think the clingyness and jumpiness of your cat is more to do with being unsettled from his experience at the vets - most cats do take a while to settle back down after any kind of procedure. He would have had an anaesthetic for dental work, which would certainly make him tired and ill-looking at least for the rest of the day, especially if he's an older cat.

The most important thing for you can your cat right now is to go to a different vet. They will obtain the history from Banfields, including the test results, and proceed from there.

Chalice

EDIT: JRs answer seems confused - CD is a diet for bladder problems, and your question makes no mention of your cat having bladder problems. Urinalysis can be to test kidney function, it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with crystals. Don't go demanding CD or bladder treatments, just see what another vet has to say.

Answer 3

First find another vet since you are clearly unhappy with this group. Get a second opinion. This will mean running tests again though.

Kidney failure is common and can appear quickly and in early stages show no symptoms.

Your cat may have been stressed by being held at a vet for a period of time. I had a rather shy female who would be stressed for several days after any extended stay at the vet.

I doubt they made your cat intentionally sick. But being at the vet can make already sick animals stressed and exacerbate mild symptoms.

Answer 4

Not odd. I took my cat there once and had to diagnose MYSELF the problem. (I knew he was having FUS troubles)..anyway when I pointed out the problem and requested they give him something to dissolve the crystals and asked for an estimate, they gave me something that said around the range of $75, which I signed. When I returned to get him later, they had done over $820 worth of unauthorized work on him! They claimed he had all this trouble here and there, but didn't even know what was wrong with him until I pointed it out!
I refused to pay it and they tried to KEEP the cat! I demanded him to be released to me and someone there had shaved his legs and stuck him with an IV and everything!
You know what? The hair has not grown back and this was 3 years back! I still have no clue what they did to him, but he was in pain for weeks. I took him to a homeopathic vet after that, and he gave me a food formula that naturally dissolved the pee crystals and he has been fine with that.

I hope your pet gets better! Get help from another opinion ASAP! Call around on the phone, get recommendations from others in the area. Banfield is just way too corporate in my opinion..

Answer 5

I don't think I would treat anything that I can't see the symptoms or the pet in distress.

They could have done a cbc and the cat had elevated levels and I would take that into consideration that something may be eminent in the future.

I would tak ehte info and put the cat on a cd diet and an antibiotics to see if it helps. My cat did go into acute kidney failure from bladder crystals and I fed him boiled chicken. It did help when they said nothing would.

Yu want to lower the ph in the diet to prevent the crystals so no butter or oils just boiled chicken no spices just PLAIN. Then retest. see if that helps and then the cd diet that you can buy at the vet. LOTS OF FLUIDS!!!

Answer 6

Most likely when you cat was put under this lowers his resistance to fight off illnesses so now you are able to see the problem they located.

I have never had a problem with Ban field other than there high prices. I've always dealt with good vets.

Find a new vet and have him rechecked. You can even not say anything to see if he comes up with the same diagnosis.

Answer 7

Get a second opinion from another vet.

Yes, since vets are doctors, they have the means and the knowledge to make an animal intentionally sick... just like human MDs can, and have done.

Most vets are good, but there are some lowlife, soulless crooks out there too.

Make sure to file a complaint with the state, and the local animal rights groups in your area.

Answer 8

take you pets to another vet. i have heard all sorts of horror stories about that place from all different states

Answer 9

i cna't prove it but i think its possible. most of them want money and money. they dont' care about the pet you can find good vets but they are hard to find. take care.