Banfield almost killed our patient
Interesting case/vent. I’m a tech and last week we got a pitbull in as an emergency that was suffering from apparent heat stroke. The dog was non responsive with an otic temp of 108.5. We managed to get his temp down quickly and his owners shared he was at Banfield for a dental procedure earlier in the day. We didn’t receive records from Banfield until the next day, where his temps were reported as high and rising and they sent him home anyway, leading us to determine malignant hyperthermia as his diagnosis. The dog woke up extremely aggressive, lunging/attacking at us through the cage doors and was incontinent. We warned his owner of this and at an attempted pick up, the dog was aggressive towards his owner and didn’t seem to recognize him. The owner opted to leave him with us for another day because he had children and cats at home. The dog was not previously aggressive toward anyone, but was (of course) an intact male and a clearly backyard bred pitbull. We contacted the Banfield and the DVM who performed the dental did apologize and verbally admitted it was their negligence that the temperature was not addressed and the dog was sent home. After another day with us he settled back to “normal” behavior and returned to his owners… but damn. If this case isn’t proof that Banfield’s philosophy of volume is dangerous and offensive to patients, clients, and professionals alike, I don’t know what is.