It’s hard to believe but it has already been one year since I took ownership of the well-known Castro Valley Redwood Animal Hospital. To celebrate this milestone, instead of writing about our beloved four-legged companions and how to keep them safe, this month’s topic will be more personal: a retrospective on the past year as a business owner, a working mother, and being new to the community of Castro Valley.
Until a year ago my life was pretty easy. My daily routine consisted of the usual family events: dropping off/picking up the kid(s) at daycare, going to work, making lunch/dinner, putting kid(s) to bed, going to bed, and repeating day after day. To make life even easier, my work place was only two miles from my home so I could come home at lunch.
This routine changed drastically on September 1st 2011 when I became the new owner of Redwood Animal Hospital. Instead of my two-mile commute, I was now driving over 20 miles one-way. Going home for lunch, letting the dogs out, and putting my feet up for a few minutes was no longer an option (keep in mind that I was 8 months pregnant at that time).
I had prepared myself for this. I had prepared myself for a lot of the changes that were going to take place. I had spoken with multiple business owners, colleagues, family, and friends. I was ready for those changes. After all, my dream was coming true: I was my own boss, could set my own hours, and could fix my own problems.
While my newborn baby girl was sleeping in my office or being babysat by my wonderful staff, I was ready for this exciting adventure and greeting our clients.
Like many new business owners, I had to overcome unfair competition, false rumors, negative advertising, but also as a new resident to Castro Valley I had to earn the trust of the community and fight the resistance to change.
Very early on, I was very fortunate to meet some exceptional people and given a warm welcome by several neighboring veterinary hospitals, local business owners, and residents of Castro Valley who had been clients of Redwood Animal Hospital for years.
It took several months of patience and persistence as well as the heart and encouragement of RAH loyal clients and patients to keep us going and we did. Everyone: staff, doctors, and clients became involved with RAH and this is how our first year ended as a success.
The old phrase “This is not how it was before” is now heard as a compliment to the various improvements and changes we have implemented.
To celebrate our One Year Anniversary and continue to help the Castro Valley Community, Redwood Animal Hospital will be hosting their first .
On Wednesday September 19th from 12-4pm: Redwood Animal Hospital will provide free examinations and rabies vaccinations for dogs and cats whose parents are in financial need. It is a first come first serve event.
After I had taken the cat to her, she phoned us to advise us in a very unprofessional manner that, "Your cat is dying!" and "I think your cat is going to die!". I advised her that the reason she now had the cat was to prevent exactly that from happening. This vet lacks both people and animal handling skills. After 14 years of good service before she took over, we will never take any animal to this facility again!!
I do not believe discussing your pet's medical treatment on the CV patch is the place to do it but since it is your wish, then we will proceed as I cannot stand there and let false statements tarnish the excellent reputation of RAH. The Emergency hospital and the entire staff at RAH stand behind the excellent care and treatment provided to your pets What you failed to mentioned in this post is that you dropped off your kitty with our receptionist (you did not have an appointment) and simply stated that your kitty was not able to walk today. Normally at that time of day, I would have been in surgery but luckily for your kitty I was not. Within minutes of her being dropped off, we opened her carrier to find her laying there, having grand mal seizures, covered with urine and barely able to breathe. We immediately started treatment and as we were saving her life called you to inform you that your kitty was dying!. We stabilized her and later found out that she was suffering from hypoglycemic crisis due to a severe overdose of insulin. You had been giving your cat more than 10 TIMES her regular dose. Not only did you not listen to our doctor and gave a higher dose but you also did not listen to the pharmacist (insulin was purchased by you through a human pharmacy) and refused to take the proper insulin syringes! Without RAH highly trained staff and myself having worked for years as an Emergency veterinarian, your cat would not be alive today. Dr. Abrams
While I did not have an appointment, I called ahead, said I had an emergency, and was advised by the person on the phone to bring our cat in and the doctor would see her as soon as she could. I did not just drop her off unannounced as Dr. Abrams implies. I dropped the cat off and a short time later received a totally unprofessional phone call from Dr. Abrams saying my cat was dying. As for the animal "having grand mal seizures, covered with urine", that all happened after she was in the care of Dr. Abrams. While she was very ill, unable to walk, she was NOT in that condition until after she was in Redwood Animal Hospital. As for the Insulin overdose, when we picked up the prescription for the insulin, we were never advised as to the dosage or to bring the cat in so the vet could check to see if the current dosage was correct. We would have listened to the doctor but she never even talked to us! A staff person gave us the prescription and with the comment that insulin "should be alright". Nothing was said about dosage or syringes. Dr. Abrams totally failed to perform her duty to give us advice in these areas. My wife and I are not veterinarians. Had Dr. Abrams given us ANY advice, we would have followed it and. this whole incident would have been avoided. We received no advice from the pharmacist. That was not his job. It was Dr. Abrams that failed here.