Animal Clinic Of South Elgin

01/15/10

Don't go there!

by alison gaines

My dog had a severely swollen leg overnight and an open sore and was in terrible pain when I brought him in. At the initial exam Dr. Churan felt the problem was related to his arthritis. While he is old and arthritic this was clearly something different and I felt that she was not listening. She kept him for the day for observation and took blood. I was told to pick him up in the afternoon. When I did his leg looked worse and he was heavily sedated (presumably to shut him up since he was probably vocalizing his pain). I was sent home with pain-killers and strong arthritis medicine and told there would be no results from the blood work until the next day. $428 dollars to get the wrong diagnosis and NO relief from the dog's pain!

A couple of hours after I got him home the sedation wore off and he was howling in pain AND his leg was oozing pus. I took him to the Dundee Animal Hospital. In 20 minutes they made the correct diagnosis and began treating the problem immediately with anti-biotics and by draining the pus (unfortunately I had to pay for the x-rays again). She never called to check on him although she was notified by Dundee of the situation.

If I had gone to Dundee first I could've almost that entire $418 bill to Dr. Churan.

• Pros: Cheap
• Cons: Incompetent and inhumane