Greater Staten Island Veterinary Services

My young dog suffered from seizures for the past 5 months.She was put on meds that were not working, even with much tweaking. Our plan was to keep trying until she either had too many seizures and no meds would help, or she had a seizure that she was not recovering from. This happened last night. After an hour of her being left disoriented, walking in circles, we decided it was time to euthanize. Since it was after hours, we took her to Greater SI Vet Services, based on the recommendations, as well as our familiarity with Garden State Vets for our previous dog. I called them first, to let them know we were coming in to euthanize. I have had 3 pets euthanized before, so I am very familiar with the procedures. When we got there, we were put in a room and waited awhile, but then were told they would have to take her away from us to put in the IV catheter. I have never experienced a euthanasia where the pet was not with us at all times. The dog was already stressed, we were already distraught, and did not want her taken from us. PLUS I told them that we were trying to avoid her having another seizure, and added stress would make her have one. We needed this to be done as fast as possible. They took her into a room for over a half hour. I could hear her making sounds she would make before a seizure, so I peeked into the room and saw her sitting on the tile floor with techs doing other things. I yelled that she was going to have a seizure, which she immediately did and banged her head on the wall, then floor. They rushed around her but made me leave and closed the door. After waiting about another half hour, with me or my husband constantly asking what is going on, they finally brought her into our room WITH A CONE AROUND HER NECK!! I yelled that she hates cones and her head and neck are extremely touch sensitive in this state, so they removed the cone, saying it was so she didn't bite if she had another seizure. SHE NEVER BITES, during seizures, and I hold her head when she has them to keep her from hurting herself. I said I did not understand why this is happening since we took her here to euthanize so that she does not have to suffer another seizure! Her IV was in, but she did not yet have her sedative, so she was still trying to walk and was very distressed. Finally the doctor came in to start the euthanization, and in the middle of giving the lethal dose, something got stuck and he could only give half. He had to call in a tech to help finish it. There we were with our dog half dead, still breathing, waiting for the job to be finished. This whole process from when we got there, until we left was 2 hours of pure horror. The next day, the head of the hospital even called to apologize and said she would make sure this didn't happen to anyone else. Over $300 to euthanize which is much more than I've ever paid for an experience that I will never get over, and all the research I did to make sure my dog had a peaceful ending, turned out to be stressful and violent for her.

I can not say better things about Greater Staten Island Veterinarian services!! they immediately took my puppy in without hesitation, who had severe aspiration pneumonia. They gave her excellent treatment and care from the moment she got there. Every doctor at Greater is wonderful!! Dr Meeking and Dr. Choe are extremely knowledgeable, and caring. They answered all of my questions no matter how many times a day I called and took the time to thoroughly explain options with me. Their facility is clean and beautiful, everything is state of the art, the office is spotless! Each and every vet tech who came in contact with our puppy was friendly, attentive, loving and caring. I would absolutely recommend to anyone who has an emergency, Greater is the place to go for professional and exceptional care. They saved my puppy's life!!!!

I only wish I could give this place a negative rating. I brought my Parrot in for a nail clipping and THEY offered to trim her wings. They took her in the back while I waited. Her nails are still long but the worst part is, they mutilated her wings and chopped off half of her tail. I wish I could post pictures. I wouldn't bring my pet cockroach there for a checkup. They refunded my $145.00 which was ludicrous to begin with and they apologized. They even went as far as saying they didn't cut her tail feathers. When I challenged them, she paused and apologized again. Do your pet some good and don't take it there. I called the pet doctor on Victory Blvd. It's called STATEN ISLAND VETERINARIAN GROUP. I asked them to advise me and they were of great help to me and Gemini. My niece later told me she brings her Pomeranian there and they are gentle and thorough. Just because it says HOSPITAL on it doesn't mean they're not butchers. GET REFERENCES before you find a doctor or hospital for your pet. Thank you for reading my post. I hope it helps!