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March 2024 by Tracy Alexander
Awesome staff
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December 2023 by Liz McEvilly
Banfield in Boise has a caring and knowledgeable staff
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December 2023 by Pat Whipkey
Attention Manager.I use Banfield for my 3 dogs and have been going to Dr Pat Pence for several years. I was again there today with two of my dogs. Dr. Pence has always been very caring and on point with diagnoses for my dogs.A few months ago I had to have her put my Bishon down. She was extremely compassionate and kind!I’ve never had a better Veterinarian!
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November 2023 by Steve Peterson
11/03/23 Update:I've changed the review to 4 stars to reflect the ongoing care our animals receive from Banfield. Plus, they did ultimately refund us $233 of the payment for "services not required". Also, per their operations manager, they had the requisite internal discussions on improving their diagnostics and customer communication standards. I do appreciate the follow-up and the commitment to do better in the future.10/05/23 Update:reached out to my wife to discuss the situation. They said they would investigate and get back to her. Multiple weeks later and nothing but silence. The lack of follow-up, and the seemingly lack of any action, highlights an institution that cares little for the needs of their customers, nor do they seem to care if they get further "trashed" via Google reviews. Tough to feel good about their care and their customer service!Original review:Very disconcerting experience with a specific vet at Banfield last week. My wife brought our dog in for her annual check up. We also had noticed redness, inflamation, and blood vessels in the corneal region of one of her eyes, so asked that to be diagnosed and treated. Dr. Pence did an eye stain and said there was an ulceration that caused an infection. We were prescribed anti bacterial eye drops, and she also said our dog had an ear infection, which didn't make much sense to us, because our dog wasn't scratching her ear, wasn't shaking her head, nor was there any smell one normally associates with an ear infection. More drops, this time for her ears. With prescriptions, eye stain, etc. the visit was around $300. The eye did not improve with the drops, and since the ear was never causing any issues, no improvement could be observed.I brought the dog back in about a week after Dr. Pence gave us the meds, but was clear that I wanted to see a different vet.. At the follow up visit, the 2nd vet said that the lab results on the "ear infection", showed a very low level of yeast in the ear, and since ears are typically not sterile, not out of the ordinary, and far from a raging infection. More concerning was that he did another eye stain (another $80), and said there was no evidence of ulceration, nor any recent scarring of the cornea. I told him we had brought our dog in about a year ago for similar redness in the eye (less severe than this time). He looked back at her previous records, and said he thought it was likely the same inflammatory condition, and since a steroidal eye drop alievated the condition previously, we should use that same med again.Two days later, the eyes are clear, and our dog is doing well. This last visit was ~$130 and actually corrected the health concern. The previous $300 was seemingly paid for an incompetent hack of a vet, who didnt take into account her history with eye inflamation, and did nothing but make guesses (wrongly), about her eye condition, Additionally, emperical evidence, plus lab results, strongly indicated that our dog did not have an ear infection, so in all likelihood, did not require treatment beyond having us clean her ear.After seeing the improvement after only 2 days post 2nd visit, it infuriates me that Banfield employs such a poor doctor. I guess the good news is that the 2nd doctor knew what he was doing, but it's frightening to know that they also employ incompetent doctors as well (based on our experience)If you go to Banfield Boise, beware, and ask for anyone other than Dr. Pence!
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October 2023 by Jackie Teller
I had a "wellness" appointment with Dr. Pence at Banfield Pet Hospital for my 13 year old chihuahua/jack russell on 10/5. LuLu has a Grade 4 heart murmur. The first thing Dr. Pence said was, "has this dog always been so fat, her stomach looks like she's in heart failure". Bloodwork is part of the "wellness check up". The bloodwork results were not even that abnormally high, but Dr. Pence had nothing positive to say. She then made a comment about how she was "surprised" LuLu was still alive! She requested an x-ray of LuLu's stomach. When the results came back, Dr. Pence pulled up the x ray on her cellphone and she stated, "your dog has a big tumor that looks like cancer." At this point, the visit was well over $700 and it was going to cost me another $200 to have a radiologist confirm the diagnosis. So, Banfield and Dr. Pence suggested I purchase their premium health plan which runs $60/mo. without tax. I was distraught, in shock and obviously not thinking rationally. Why should I buy an expensive monthly health plan when, according to Dr. Pence, my dog is dying? I also left three messages for Dr. Pence to review previous x-rays that had been sent over from WestVet. She NEVER returned my calls, except one short message that she was out of the office for three days.I was so distraught when I left there that I switched to another doctor, Dr. Wynne for LuLu's scheduled EKG the following week. Well, this woman wasn't any better. She told me "I was wasting her time because she had other clients and that she hadn't not/could not look at LuLu's previous xrays. She berated me about taking my beloved dog on a bucket list (because according to Banfield, my dog was dying) to visit the ocean because in her words, "it wasn't right for the dog and LuLu would never make it!" I had asked for a calming medication because LuLu gets carsick. A couple days later I get a call from the clinic stated Dr. Wynne will not prescribe the meditation and that I need to schedule a visit with her before I can even schedule the EKG! This is blatant robbery and extortion from a grieving and distraught pet owner... who has just been told by two vets that "your dog is dying and will probably be dead in a month". I am done with Banfield. What they did is unconscionable. I had to take a week off work I was so distraught.After I pulled myself together the following week I downloaded the x-rays from Banfield and went to to WestVet. Dr. Arndt performed an EKG for LuLu. I also provided the bloodwork. LuLu's EKG was fine. Yes, she is 13 years old and has an enlarged heart and a heart murmur but she is not in heart failure. With the proper medications (which LuLu is on 2 heart meds) she could possibly live for another year or two. After getting this diagnosis from Dr. Arndt, he looked at the x-rays that (free of charge that Banfield wanted to charge me another $250 for a radiologist) and reviewed the areas of concern. Dr. Arndt stated that tumors will usually show up as darker spots on the x-ray. Dr. Arndt said LuLu has some benign liver nodes which are very common on older dogs. But then he pointed at the area Dr. Pence/Banfield indicated was probably liver cancer and said, "Jackie, those are fat cells!" LuLu needs to lose some weight. She does not have heart failure and she does not have liver cancer!Banfield Pet Hospital is all about volume and money. It's all about generating income and offering these "wellness plans" that offset their exorbitant costs that you pay for for 12 months even if your beloved pet dies! Avoid Banfield Pet Hospitals at all costs!
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September 2023 by Rogue Koala
I've been using Banfield for the last 8 years ? They are a breeze to work with and help keep my pups healthy with scheduling appointments ?
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August 2023 by Katie Carpenter
I was taking my dog to doggy day camp and they wouldn’t let him in because he didn’t have all of his vaccinations. I thought that was crazy, because he just had his visit the week before and got his vaccines… so I walk over to Banfield and they tell me, “the tech who gave Meeko the vaccines, did not give him all of them, but did record that she did. That tech no longer works here”So I got screwed over and my dog wasn’t allowed in dog camp because someone else messed up.I understand mistakes happen, but why do my dog and I have to take on someone else’s mistakes? Why didn’t they offer me something to make up for that mistake?I asked for compensation; like a free day to doggy day camp or a discount on my monthly plan, since I didn’t receive the full service.They didn’t care. I spent weeks contacting the manager, it’s been months and months and never heard back from her.They put my dog at risk of not being updated on vaccines… the new management team they have on, is not working.The management team and doctors before were amazing! It’s not the same anymore.Go to the Meridian location! They were so caring and nice! They listened to my frustrations and went the extra mile to make sure Meeko was cared for.
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August 2023 by Sidney Miller
My wife brought our dog in today and an employee named Katie administered and accidentally subcutaneous injection of an intranasal medication Bordetella. My wife asked for paperwork about it immediately after the incident and Katie responded with they dont do that. Our dog is in pain and limping on his right front leg so My wife called to see if they atleast took any precautionary measures by diluting an antibiotic in saline and injecting it in the area after the incident, katie answers the phone and nope they didnt and also informs my wife it happens all the time. I called right after and asked for documentation of the incident to make sure they are reliable if there is an abscess, cellulitis, or any problems with his liver that you can just google and see are possible side effects of this mistake and of course Katie answers the phone and tells me she doesn't understand what we want, puts me on hold to talk to the Dr, I tell the Dr that I just want documentation that the incident happened, instead she tries to explain the attributes of the compound. I regrettably cut her off and talked over her out of frustration, I told her i dont need information I just need it documented and please email it to me. We will see if I get the email. Accidents happen, but what matters is how they are handled and this is extremely unprofessional. I will update whether they send the documentation or not.Email received, says risks were explained, but definitely was not we had to Google it. Katie's words were, "There are no risks it happens all the time." Also when on the phone they said it was administered in the right shoulder, the side he's limping on, the documentation says left. Also forgot to include Katie said he could take triheart without the heart worm test, but when the Dr was asked she said it could result in death if he does have heart worms. Crazy experience.
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July 2023 by Madisyn Frazier
Wonderful vet clinic! Staff is friendly and accommodating! Dr Pence and Dr Soderquist listen to you and truly care for our pets. They have taken care of our puppies all the way until they were seniors. Great value. They whole practice does a great job at providing evidence based preventive care at a fair price and providing great urgent care for acute problems. I have been a costumer for over 12 years and just signed up our new puppy.
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June 2023 by Janell Hall
Dr. Soderquist and the staff were wonderful to my sweet dog. We receive the same caring feeling each time we go to Banfield at the Milwaukee location in Boise. We've been a clientfor 7 yrs.??
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June 2023 by Yvette Viveros
At one point this was our go to place to take our pets but their quality of service has been declining. We’ve shown up on time to our appointments only to find out they had been rescheduled without us being notified. This along with several other incidents is why we no longer go there.
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May 2023 by Rosalind Haley
Most non ER veterinary clinics schedule appointments with reserving 1-2 appointments for same day sick pets. Most human physicians do not take walk in's or appointments after they are fully booked. This is the same in veterinary medicine. The Wellness plan is for vaccines and scheduled office visits not urgent cases 15 minutes before the hospital closes. Most of the staff including the doctors have completed seeing pets by then and have gone home. This is the same as non ER human medicine. Please take care of your pet if he is bleeding in need of urgent veterinary care- complaining to the front desk saying you are paying for the wellness plan that covers vaccines and general hospital visits will not help your bleeding pet.
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March 2023 by Rachel A.
The staff at Banfield were so caring and empathetic when I had to make the heart wrenching decision to put my sick cat down. Dr. Soderquist really listened to me and had such a sympathetic ear the two times I brought Toby in to see him. After they put him down, they mailed me a beautiful card where all of the staff wrote their condolences. I want to say "thank you" to everyone at Banfield for really being so caring and supportive!
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February 2023 by Nicolette Eberline
I am no stranger to Banfield with having four animals (three of which were geriatric and frequent flyers to the vet). I have the Wellness plan on all my critters which Banfield makes it very easy to keep up on their health maintenance. Unfortunately, two of my seniors got really sick and had to be put down. I called Banfield first thing on a Monday morning and Dr. Soderquist got me on his schedule within a couple hours. Putting an animal down is never easy but he walked me through all of the options and really advocated for what was best for my dog without putting any pressure on me. He was very kind, patient, and empathetic. My other animals now see him and he is a great source of knowledge, experience, and expertise to Banfield and the Treasure Valley. After 16 years of going through vets and clinics that seemed to be more of a money making operation and would pass off my pets medical conditions with referrals; my pets now have a solid, trustworthy, place to go where they are truly cared for thanks to Dr. Soderquist and his team.
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February 2023 by Chris Barham
Amazing...been taking my girl to them for 11 years and no issues...friendly and usually busy so that's always a good thing