Best Vet on STT?

We have opinions on a few of the Dr. here on STT. These are our opinions, and I am sure this will turn into a lively discussion at some point.

We have been to both Dr. Williamson in Frenchman's Bay and Dr. Bowden at Imperial (Contant). Both very different styles. Dr. Williamson is know for not having any people skills (however, he gets along great with my husband) he is all about caring and connecting with the animal. Dr. Bowden is very good with people and perhaps as good with the animal.

However, and this is a huge consideration when choosing a vet, who is the Emergency Vet? Dr. Bowden says that he is as well as Dr. Moore. Dr. Williamson is also, if you know the correct # to call (and you probably would only get that if you were a patient).

With that being said, this is our story, sad and as real as it gets.

Our 90 lb lab, 13 yrs, took a tumble off of the lower roof from our balcony last year ( a year ago on the 26th of April). Yes, we have railings, yes, our balcony is safe. She likes to lay in the sun on the lower roof (we now know that) and somehow squeezed her body in between the railings. She apparently slipped on the misty, algae slicked roof and took a tumble about 20' down into the bush. For some reason that day I decided to come home on lunch break-which is something I never do. The cats met me at the french doors of the balcony - but not Allie. Fast forward a few minutes and I saw her yellow head down below in the bush-still alive but slightly whimpering. My husband was able to come immediately home and we trekked down the bush-in an extremely heavy downpour- managed to lift her up to her feet and carry her up the hill. Called Dr. Williamson's office, who was her Vet, but they couldn't get her in ASAP. Called Dr. Bowden because he is an emergency vet and they told us to bring her in right away. So we did. They were basically waiting for us to arrive, immediately saw her, checked all of her limbs and ribs for broken bones, took x-rays. They were amazing-at that point. Told us she was just mostly really banged up from taking such a fall and the best thing to do would be to take her home and make her comfy. So we did. Dr. called in the morning and we gave him an update. He gave her the thumbs up to stay home and heal since she was drinking and pee'ing and just needed to heal.

Now, here is the kicker. Sunday afternoon we came home to find that she had hemorrhaged on the balcony-still alive but barely. Called Dr. Bowden ASAP. He did tell us that sometimes his phone will not alert him that he has an incoming call, but he ALWAYS (and he stressed that) gets the voicemail alert. So we left a msg. and another, and another, and on and on... Nothing for over an hour. Didn't have Williamson's emergency # cause, quite frankly, never thought I would need it. Nothing still from Bowden. Now we are panicked-no one is answering and Allie is clearly going into shock. We see in the phone book that Dr. Moore is an emergency vet, so we call and leave a msg. Guess what-we got a call back within a minute.....! Amazing. Bad thing for us was he was in Red Hook and we live on the Norhtside. He meets us there as promised, with a vet tech, and they were ready for us! Unfortunately, Allie didn't make the trip to Red Hook and died in my arms. But, Dr. Moore was great with us-and with her.

So, on Tuesday- 2 days after our panicked calls to Dr. Bowden, we finally get a call from his office saying that they just received the msgs. 2 Days??? Really? What happened to Monday morning, monday afternoon??

Dr. Bowden= not emergency vet, and in our opinion not reliable. We probably would not routinely take well animals to Dr. Moore, but he was there for us as promised. Dr. Williamson=no people skills, but amazing with animals.

That is our rant, our opinion on Vets here. I just think that if you say you are a 24 hr emergency vet than you damned well live up to that.

Cheryl and Mike

Wow, I'm so sorry Cheryl! 😮

We are going to take him to Dr. Williamson for neutering and to take care of a little patch of mange he has. I know he is more expensive, but for surgery, I'd like to go to someone who has the better reputation, despite having no people skills.

I've used both Dr. Moore and (as we call her) Dr. Mrs. Moore for ten years and have been very happy with both the care, the concern and the service from them. I tend towards Dr. Mrs. just because her office is more convenient for me but both are great in my opinion.

Pamela

Thank you, everyone.

Cheryl, I am so sorry for your loss. We don't have dogs but were property managers for an estate and were in charge of their two cats while the owners were away. When one turned up, after having been missing for 24 hours, with the side of her face and eye swollen about twice it's size! Panicked, as this was a Sunday night and we lived in Botany Bay (ALL the way at the end of Botany Bay, mind you!), we began calling every vet in the book. Dr. Williamson called us back, waited for us to arrive with her and kept her overnight; ended up that she must have fallen (she was a little crazy!) and broke some teeth, had to have a root canal, but was fine. Although many say he is difficult to deal with, we have always been treated kindly and fairly with him. We did not get any return phone calls from Dr. Moore until the following day and never heard a word from Dr. Bowden. I will say knowing others with similar experiences, I will never be going to Bowden for anything. Just my two cents worth. Again, I am so sorry about Allie...

Thank you all for your kind words. I wish that I had know Dr. Bowden's reputation ahead of time before we placed Allies's life in his hands...but we didn't...

We, hands down, choose Dr. Williamson, despite his lack of people skills, he is amazing with the animals.

oh, and on a side note. We brought in 2 stray animals ( at separate times) that had been hit by a car or kicked, one had mange...He saw us for FREE, gave us free antibiotics and anti inflammatory again forFREE...He is all about the animals

Hands down...Dr, Williamson