My dog had to have emergency surgery from another vet after having his tooth extracted from her. I brought him to see her after the extraction site had gotten infected, she prescribed antibiotics and said to flush the extraction site and he'd be fine in a few days(she didn't even give him anymore pain medication, which he was on his last day of- even after I asked her if he needed it). Two days later I read the review on here about the cat who had died from an infected tooth extraction site. I called Dr. Darnell and asked if my dog could die, she laughed and said no it was no big deal. I took my dog to another vet right away. They immediately took my dog into surgery. He was x-rayed and bone fragments had been left in the site. There was so little tissue left after the infection was removed, that the new vet was forced to drill away part of my dog's mouth bone to create enough to close the hole. The new vet told us that he would never have removed the large k-9 tooth unless it was a last resort (Darnell told us the only reason not to remove it was for esthetic purposes), he also told us that the procedure looked like it had not been done correctly, and that if we hadn't brought our dog in to see him there was no way it would have healed with anti-biotic and flushing the site. It was supposed to take my dog 9 days to heal (according to Shelter Island Staff) it ended up taking over a month. Not only did Dr. Darnell miss the fact that she had left bone fragments in my dog's mouth (and not even try to determine why there had been an infection), but she also disclosed information about another patient to me. Before saying anything she stated, "I know I'm crossing the line here." She then told me that the client was going to sue her, then told me the cat hadn't even died from the tooth extraction but from a viral infection, she later emailed me and told me she had no clue how the cat died and was investigating it. She also emailed me that infections were so rare in tooth extraction sites, and she had only seen them in a few cats, never in a dog, and never one as bad as my dogs (well then why did you just leave it when I brought him back to see you???). I then received another email from her stating how common infections of extraction sites were(make up your mind). I wouldn't trust this vet, she seems to say whatever the client wants to hear, and when you call her on something she just gets defensive (and heartless if you see her response to the cat dying below). Everyone at our new vet's office could not believe how much her service cost when we told them, and were appalled by my dog's condition. It was so bad that the new vet took before and after pictures for teaching purposes, I have posted the before picture above.
Not only was my dog in pain for a month, but this was a horrible experience to go through. He is my world, and it was scary hearing about the death of another's pet and the taking him for his emergency surgery. Plus everything including the surgeries, medication, lost wages, and petsitting costs(since it was required that he couldn't be alone)- ended up being thousands of dollars.
Staci P I am sorry about your cat, please know that your review may have saved my dogs life- as after reading it I took him immediately to a new vet. So, thank you Staci P! I hope our reviews serve as a warning for other pet owners. I would also like to add that my experience wasn't based on another client's review, it is based on the care my dog received at Shelter Island Vet. Yes, I read the review, but the reason I was reading it in the first place was because I had a gut feeling that something was wrong, and didn't feel like it was being taken seriously. And the "new vet" is amazing, he cleaned up Dr. Darnell's mess- and she is just mad because he called her on the mess. This is the second time you've responded to my review Dr. Darnell, so obviously it deserves a response. One thing I do know we deserved, my dog deserved better care than he received from you.
Posted 05/17/08 | Report Abuse
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replied on 07/16/08
There are simply no words to describe how hurt and offended I am personally by this review. I bent over backwards to make friends with this clients dog who hasn't met a vet he's liked yet. Then, to be accused of malpractice, negligence and worst of all, accused of NOT CARING is absolutely insulting. It is an outright lie that I denied her pain medication!! Why would I do that?? I don't feel it's appropriate to address all the ignorant remarks made above, but I have chosen 1 statement to rebute...What I said was "infected teeth are very common in animals, It's the number one reason for extraction of teeth"...in a completely different conversation I said "infection of extraction sites is very uncommon" (since you're removing the source of the infection). So maybe instead of throwing insults, you should take a deep breath and call me next time to discuss your concerns instead of going to the internet. As for potential clients, make your own decision as to whether or not I care about your pets. I do.
