Communication has been virtually non existent.

After several days in Lort Smith they attempted to charge an additional $800-$900 for testing for a condition that could have been done days earlier during her admission, had already been confirmed with ultrasound and couldn't be treated anyway due to comorbidities.

My pet lost over 1 kg of weight in their "care" and I was told she was only given small bits of chicken (she was starving when she got home).

She was repeatedly dosed with opioids (at 8 hour intervals over several days) without advice or consent, a medication I understand is contraindicated in renal patients and they'd already been told she doesn't fare well with and also confirmed she hadn't been given anything, yet when I found out from an INVOICE, they advised she was in pain for days despite no record of pain ever existing in the history I was given, videos of her daily and staff specifically advising she had not had any pain and never being contacted to advise about pain.

I wasn't advised about a condition that was known to Lort Smith from last year and only found out by chance in a conversation with one of the very many vets I was forced to deal with. Dietary and lifestyle changes could have been made at that time to improve her quality of life a lot earlier.

Vets constantly changed and no one appears to take ownership of your animal, its condition, tests or results etc. In fact one of the Vets didn't even know what my dog was there for, nor did she know the sex of my animal and kept referring to HIM/HE and told me I could take HIM home, told me she thought they'd overloaded my dog with fluid because it was panting (without checking heart or lungs to see if that was the case) and continued treating my animal after I instructed the practice to specifically remove my animal from her care (and was assured by a Senior Veterinarian that my animal would be removed from her care immediately). Had I known they wouldn't or that she would remain involved in any capacity, I would have taken her right then to another Vet.

I advised I was collecting my animal after a text asking for money without any context or information and following that a call from an aggressive staff member, all authorities and consents to treat were revoked and they continued to "treat" without consent and gave excuses for the reasons, that contradicted what I was told in person.

I took my animal from Lort Smith immediately to another Practice and she appeared to be so heavily sedated that she defecated in her sleep, she couldn't stand unassisted and couldn't stay awake (all videoed and documented). This made it very difficult to assess her properly.

I've had my animal for almost 16 years and I've never experienced anything like this. Failure to respond to questions relating to care, multiple requests regarding retaining CCTV from the practice ignored, dismal communication, text messages for money without even discussing what was happening or intentions and much more that I had to remove from the review for legal reasons.

There has been very little investigation or response from the Veterinary Director who initially tried to close the matter, despite now having in excess of 3 weeks to investigate and all claims being evidenced. The last communication I received was "we are considering our response".

All I can say is that I'm glad I took her elsewhere, had her assessed, got a proper treatment plan and she's still alive.

I'd been going there for years and they weren't always this bad, I have no idea what's happened!

Approximate cost: $2000