Oakville Animal Clinic

[part1] Last year today, I took my dog here for a dental cleaning and she died on the table. She’s only seven years old and I expected another seven years with her. Her sudden death cost me tremendous pain and I’m still grieving. Honestly, I don’t think I will never recover from this trauma and now I fear visiting a vet because I thought doing a dental cleaning was good for her. (At least I was told so. Vets here basically persuaded me into this procedure) and that killed her. So I don’t know what’s good for them anymore. You thought you were doing something good for them, but they end up not coming back from it. I understand any procedure is a risk from my own common knowledge, but this vet particularly failed warning me about the risks. neither the receptionist or the vet even mention the word ‘risks’. let alone gave me any education or a warning heads up. They also didn’t provide me with any information to read about, didn’t give me any waiver or form to sign off my rights. They just took my dog and killed her. One week before her death, I took her here because she was having diarrhoea and bloody poop. The vet gave me medication and stomach sensitive dog food and on that visit, the vet recommended a dental cleaning for her. This was the second time they brought it up so I thought they got a point. so I agreed to a blood test to see if she can go ahead with this procedure. A couple days later they called me saying the blood test came back positive and I can go ahead and book her an appointment. (for the record, I didn’t see a report from this blood test before or after her death ) so I booked her appointment over the phone call, not knowing I schedule her death. September 26th, 2023. My husband dropped her off 8 AM. I didn’t even get to see goodbye to her that morning because I was still asleep. Vet called me 10 AM saying her heart stopped. I cried so much it felt like vomiting. She’s been with me since the first year I came to Canada, she’s been with me all through my college years and right after my wedding, right before we begin a new life, she left me. if the vets give me a warning about risks ahead of the procedure, or gave me a waiver to read through and sign, I might’ve think twice putting her under anaesthetic due to her age. The vet recommended this procedure without considering her age and her health condition. they just wanted money and I will never forgive myself for the rest of my life for not carefully review their recommendations, just blindly trust the vets thinking they know what’s best for her. I killed my baby for being an irresponsible mother.

（Part 2）I have so many questions to ask. On the day she died, we went to see her for the last time. I wasn’t in the right place to ask these questions but for the past year, the replay button had been hit over and over again my mind. why would they recommend to put her under the anaesthetic when she was already ill in the first place ? she had two other surgeries that they put her under anesthetic, prior to this incident, she woke up from those two procedures with no problem. Why did this time killed her? How do they prove that they didn’t give her too much dose? Of course, on the day, I asked the vet if they gave her too much dose and of course he didn’t even gave me a straight “no” as an answer. he shake his head and said “we’ve done this thousands of times” (like that’s an answer to my ‘yes or no’ question) and I asked him why you didn’t warn me about the risks before? he said again they “have done it a thousand of times” (like that proves anything) And he said risks is really really low. but how low is really really low? Does it happen once a year? twice a year? Does it happen on one dog out of 100? out of 1000? How come they can’t give me an exact percentage before pushing a dental cleaning on me, but they tried so hard to push you to book appointment. (They recommended it twice on two different visits. That’s dedication. ) She said her gum condition is getting worse and worse. If I don’t deal with it now I might face pulling out her teeth in the future. why did they focus on scaring me like this instead of provide me with statics and numbers, and properly educate me about risks? No flyers about this procedure was provided. No any sort of information booklet was provided to me to read about. No ricks was mentioned verbally. No waiver to sign. It’s clear what they care and what they don’t : money over the lives of your family members. This place has traumatized me so much that I couldn’t even drive past Kerr Street for months. I will never forget what they did and what they failed to do. I have already reported this case to veterinary college of Ontario. It will take a long time for them to review, but I know I did the right thing to protect the other fur babies in this community from this irresponsible vet. In the meantime while they still have their veterinary license, good luck to every patient and parents that I hope you walk out of there with your pets. Because I didn’t.

All the staff, including Dr. Waters and the other veterinarians, have been amazing in their care of our dog, Louie, over the many years. The clinic staff is very professional and kind. Louie has always loved coming to see 'his friends' at the clinic. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who assisted us over the years with Louie's care. A special thanks to Dr. Waters, who guided us so well through all of our dog's life stages and care. We wish everyone all the best!!

Dr. Warren is knowledgeable and highly experienced. The clinic staff are all also so amazing. It has been 1 year and we are very happy with the awesome service and care for our dog Tuxxy!

Incredibly helpful, caring and passionate team. Dr. Waters went above and beyond to help us meet the import requirements to bring Potato to Australia (which is an extremely stressful, meticulous process - even more so during COVID). If it wasn’t for Dr. Waters and Emily, we would not have been reunited with our fur baby as soon as we were able to. Forever grateful!