Yvonne C

No compassion at Ashburne Veterinary hospital

My cat was sick but I only had R500 to take him to the vet with. I had made an appointment at a Veterinary hospital which agreed to treat him for that amount that I had. During the night he could not breathe so I had no choice but to rush him to Ashburne Veterinary hospital as they are opened 24 hours. They took him straight to the back because he was having trouble breathing and told me that he is stabilized and on oxygen. I was told that I needed at least 15k for all the tests they need to run. I am unemployed so I told them I only had R500 and asked if they could please just leave him on oxygen for the night so that I could get him to the other clinic in the morning which I could afford. He said to me that it won't be advisable to move him as he is on oxygen. When I asked to see him, he was in a small cubicle which was half opened and there was a small tube of oxygen just left there but all the list was escaping because of the cubicle being half opened. He still could not breathe. I asked if it will take some time for his breathing to normalize he told me yes. He told me I could speak to management the next day to discuss giving me some time to raise funds to pay the bill. I went there the next morning to speak to someone from management. I explained my situation to him and he was cold. He looked at me as if I want to ***** from him. My cat was left in that condition with no drip set up even though he was not eating and no help at all. I was told that his fever was down because he was injected with antibiotics but he was obviously dehydrated and nothing was being done about that. I saw him in the same state. He still was having difficulty breathing. I tried so hard to raise funds posting on Facebook. I was panicked within me because I knew he was deteriorating and I had no time. I was told I needed 5k in order for them to start testing and xrays even after I poured my heart out to them. I asked if they can please start treating him while I come up with the funds. They refused. I felt so stressed. I was shocked to learn that there was no compassion at all. It was all about money. That same night they called me to say he had passed away. I was devastated. I felt like I failed him yet they failed us both. My heart is crushed. All I wanted was for him to recover and come home 😭. I went to fetch his body to bury him at home and I was told I could not take him without settling an amount of R2600 first which I did not have. Though my grief I had to endure this. I told them I didnr have money and he died in their care where there was no drip and he was left with oxygen that looked like it was for show. No one came to speak to me. The receptionist was back and forth conveying messages. After she got back from speaking to management she came back to say that they can being the amount down from R2600 to R1400 and I have one month in which I can pay that amount and fetch my cat. I had no choice but to leave without him. I will have to come up with that money and fetch my baby so I can bring him home. This was the worst experience that I have ever had at veterinary hospital before.