Eastern Shore Animal Hospital

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We took our dog to this facility because it was close to our home, we were new to the area and did not have a vet yet. The initial testing, blood work and X-rays were negative, so the vet recommended further testing, a barium swallow test. At this point our dog was vomiting 1x a day, did not seem to be in pain, was active and had a good appetite. The vet told us that our dog had a foreign body obstruction in his stomach. Since he is 11 years old and has never been one to chew or eat things that aren't his, we questioned this diagnosis and asked if it was possible that it was not a foreign object but rather a growth or something. The vet insisted that it was a foreign object and surgery was the only option.
They performed the surgery the next morning and we were informed that there was no foreign object found, the only thing that was wrong was he had a ore-ulcerous area that was treated with over the counter Pepcid. We visited our dog, only to find him in an awful smelling kennel room, the smell nearly took my breath away. We then noticed that our dog had some IV fluids going, but the bag clearly displayed "irrigation solution, NOT FOR INJECTION". When we questioned the vet tech, she told us that it was ok, because "it's not an injection, it's just going through his IV". She was clearly not trained properly in the various methods of injection, including IV. We then asked to speak with the vet, however the one who had done the surgery was unavailable, so we spoke with another vet in the practice. This vet would not look us in the eye when speaking and just kept making excuses. When questioned about the IV fluids, he said it was fine, they do it all of the time and that he contacted the manufacturer and they said it was fine for IV use. I did't understand why it would be clearly labeled on the product not to use it for IV if it were actually ok. So I later called the manufacturer and they said that under no circumstances that this product was recommended for IV use, it was only to be used as labeled as irrigation.
Needless to say, we paid our bill and took our dog home, even though they recommended him to stay a few days to recover. My husband and I are both in healthcare and felt we could provide better care for our dog at home. He did just fine and was back to his old self in just a few weeks. We do however continue to feel guilty for putting him through this terrible ordeal.
We contacted the vets office by letter after the experience and at first received no response, but after a second letter that was sent certified we received a response, they continued to state they were doing nothing wrong with administering the wrong IV fluids and offered no apology.
Dr. Paula seemed very genuine and caring, however the other vet we dealt with was very cold and didn't seemed to care at all.

The vets at Eastern Shore are professional, caring, and personable. They do not hesitate to refer clients to a veterinary specialist when necessary. An on-call vet is available 24/7/365. Eastern Shore is sponsoring the puppy I am raising for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Highly recommend this excellent facility.