Crago Veterinary Clinic

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It makes me very sad to say that I can no
longer recommend Crago Veterinary Clinic.  I have been a client there for
about 15 years and used to recommend them highly.
I have gone to this veterinary group for about
15 years. Today I was told that I could not be a client of my veterinarian
anymore.  I had set up the appointment a couple of days ago for my cat,
Parsley, a blue-point Siamese.  She is healthy (I think) and clean and
mild-mannered.  I took her in for a pre-spay check-up.   I am an
unusual client.  I am a biology professor and an ethical hobby breeder of
show Siamese and Oriental cats.  This means that I need to find things
out, and am capable of understanding most things, though I am NOT a
veterinarian and anatomy and physiology are
not my strong suit.  I am a molecular geneticist.  In order to be an
ethical breeder I need good veterinarians. 
I hunted around for some years before I started
going to Crago Vet Clinic.   I really liked them.  They were
competent, paid attention, and helped me get through sick kittens, health
certificates for flying, a couple of cancer surgeries, and lots of
diagnostics.  On occasion a cat or kitten becomes ill and dies, sometimes
suddenly, sometimes after several vet visits.  I always need to know what
happened.  Was it contagious?  Do I need to treat my other
cats?  Was it hereditary?  Do I need to contact owners of related
cats and not repeat that breeding?  I also work with feline geneticists at
major Universities on some issues, and may send them cheek swabs or even
tissue. The goal is to have healthy and beautiful cats and to participate in
health related issues that may have a positive impact on all cats.
Over the last couple of years I have started
having problems with the Crago Veterinary Clinic.  These problems have
been becoming steadily worse. First, they refused to send out a necropsy to
Ohio State.  Then they started pressuring me about any kind of
diagnostic tissue samples that they have always sent to Antech for
diagnostics.  They got to be very funny about any post-mortems or sent out
diagnostics, other than bloodwork, at all.  
A few months ago, I placed an adult neutered cat
who had previously had a health issue, and may not be 100% normal, with someone
I have known for some time and who has had Orientals as pets.  I had
explained his situation and gave her copies of his bloodwork results from my
veterinarian and did not notice that one of the copies was mislabeled on the
gender and age of the cat, though it was his bloodwork and they had his name
correct.  I specifically told my vet's office to release the kitty's
records to her and her vet.  Her veterinarian called my vet's office for
clarification. Someone at the office told her that they didn't have any such
records and all my cats were sickly. The new owner said that you could have
heard a pin drop when her vet relayed the message that she was given from my
vet's office.  My veterinarian was startled, he claims that that could not
or should not have ever happened and that no one talked to him about the cat's
records. The owner has had Orientals cats as pets for many years and has worked
with her vet for many years.  I believe both her and my specific
veterinarian at the Crago Clinic.  In other words, I am quite sure that
someone actually said that to the veterinarian who called in, and that it was
someone other than the veterinarian I have seen for over a decade.  This
is highly unprofessional.
Recently I had a very sweet and lovely 5 month
old kitten fall ill.  We went in to the vet three times in her life. 
Once, when she was little and was sneezing, she was given antibiotics and got
over her sneezes, and then twice over the last 2 weeks.  At first it
seemed to be something simple, but suddenly she deteriorated.  I had
several tests done, blood values, virus tests, very little was abnormal, though
there were signs of infection response, but the kitten died a few days
later.  I was devastated.  I called to see if they would be willing
to do a post-mortem and send samples out if necessary.  I have younger
kittens in my house.  I need to know if they are at risk, what happened.
They said yes.  So I brought her in, wrapped carefully and
discreetly.  Whatever happened to her was weird apparently, unlike
anything my vet has seen before, and he sent samples out for analysis. 
This was apparently one too many things for the owners of the clinic to deal
with from me.  The owners of the clinic told my vet to terminate me/my
cats as a client.  They made it clear that they will do no more
post-mortems, no more diagnostics for the kind of information that I need to
protect my cats and for anyone who gets a cat from me. It seems that they will
not see my cats for any reason, not even a simple checkup and spay on a healthy
cat.
I should add that I pay all my bills on time,
typically at the time of service, and have spent over $1,400.00 there this past
month for two surgeries on the ear of a cat who damaged his ear, the sick
kitten, and another cat who had kidney failure.  I am currently looking
for a new vet.
My understanding is that they now want to only
do regular vet visits on people with regular pets, ideally healthy ones. They
have no problem with seeing a pet cat or dog that came from an irresponsible
breeder who does not test or check the health of the pets they produce. They
probably would have no trouble with irresponsible breeders themselves as long
as they don't have to do post-mortems or send samples off or try to deal with
anything that looks complex or unusual. The intention for all but simple health
issues is to refer the pet owner to Pittsburgh or Akron.  In other words,
the new policy is to not provide full veterinary services.  It is a real
shame as there are some very qualified, excellent veterinarians in the
group.  They have good equipment and individual veterinarians with great
expertise; however, I think that it is very important to see a veterinarian who
will be with you through both good times and bad times.  If you want a
cheap clinic for vaccines and toe-nail clipping there are cheaper places. 
If you want a veterinarian who can help you with a serious illness or an
unusual case you need to go elsewhere.   
I do not know what the owners of the practice
current goal is, but it is not to provide full veterinary services for people
who truly care about their pet's health.

unknown

very well we go here for all our pets (10 cats and 3 dogs now) our 15 year old lab was put down on april 7. but they are very professional and they take great care of our pets.

We raise German Shepherds and Dr. Zipay has cared for three of them over the past few years. We lost one to cancer. Dr. Zipay is very knowledgeable, professional, and competent. We have been to different vets and feel the $15-$30 more we pay for services is worth every penny in and quot;peace of mindand quot;. It is very clean and professional.
There are a variety of appointments available. When necesssary, we have also seen other Dr's in the Clinic and have been happy with all services. I would highly recommend this clinic!

Excellent. If price is your first concern, you may not like this clinic. I've been bringing multiple dogs here for 13 years and have no intention of going anywhere else. I've always been given whatever time was needed for any visit. I have a preferred doctor, but I would not be reluctant to to see any of the doctors here if needed.

This was recommended from a friend. They are very personable. We like Dr. Scott, and he likes our dog. Their service pleasant, it is very quick to get in there. Their appointments are usually on time. They have a clean environment, and they have lots of doctors available. Their service price is high to reasonable.