Westarbor Animal Hospital

Terrible, heartbreaking experience at this veterinarians.
My cat had been displaying signs of illness for a very long time. She had vomited blood, lost weight, become weak, continued to vomit, and had times where she trembled and seemed to be collapsing.
She vomited blood (a few times that I noticed) well over a year before she was finally, correctly diagnosed by a cancer specialist as having pancreatic cancer. When I phoned and told Westarbor and Dr Clarkson that she had vomited blood, he laughed and said his cat vomited all the time and then ate its own vomit. I asked about the blood and was told in a dismissive way that it was probably a ruptured blood vessel.
Months later, I started bringing her in because I was concerned about her wellness. She seemed to be in pain. She was losing weight. She vomited a lot. She would become weak. He kept diagnosing constipation and hairballs. I am not kidding. This went on for MONTHS and all the while in reality she had Pancreatic Cancer and was suffering more and more and slowly dying. Her body could not digest food. Anytime she ate she would have been in great pain. One night I phoned around 11 pm because they had a vet on call for the phone until then. I never would have phoned unless I was very very worried, and I was. I spoke to Dr Clarkson. I told him, and I remember specifically using the word COLLAPSING. I said she was weak and seemed to be collapsing. I was afraid she was dying before my eyes. While on the phone I massaged and spoke to her and finally she seemed more alert. But obviously I was still very worried. Dr Clarkson

-- additional:

[updated on 2012-11-26 15:07:08]:
. Later, when he forwarded her records to the cancer center, he downplayed this whole conversation. (Also I noticed when he forwarded her records, all the sections where her temperature readings would have been for the last year were empty. I know now a low temp can indicate cancer. They had taken her temp a number of times.)
And it was many weeks after this when again I took her in saying I felt there was something wrong, more than constipation, more than hairballs. FINALLY, he took an x-ray. A simple x-ray showed many anomalies in her abdomen. He came back in the room clearly shaken, squeezed her stomach VERY HARD and she choked and foamed at the mouth and I saw her writhe in pain. An image I wish to forget but never, ever will.Finally, he said it was cancer.
But even now, he did not tell me there was a specialist cancer center. Luckily he was out of town a few days and Dr Morgan (no longer there) told me about the cancer center as an option. I took her there, they did ultra sound and then exploratory surgery and told me it was very advanced pancreatic cancer. And that she had maybe a few weeks. They got her on pain medicine right away and she was at least she was out of pain. Finally. I don't like to think of what she suffered all those months. I had her put to sleep less than a week later, before things got even worse. I didn't want her to suffer anymore. It was the most heartbreaking experience of my life. It was wrong. I trusted the vet. I should have listened to my cat. She was trying to tell me. I should have listened to my instinct.
Please, please, please, take heed.

[updated on 2012-11-26 15:08:41]:
Sorry- at the end of the first part of this review it should read "Dr. Clarkson wasn't"

Pros: NONE

Cons: Misdiagnosed Pancreatic Cancer as Constipation and Hairballs

We have brought our dig Tug to Westarbor since she was a puppy and would never thing of going to another vet. This is a first class facility.

They also have a great blog at www.westarborblog.com

Pros: great service, caring staff, smart vets

Cons: a little out of the way for me