DAEC at UCD

Jessie2012

My dog, labrador, had problems going to the toilet over the weekend, and typical bank holiday weekend our usual vet wasnt open so had to bring her to the DAEC and i will never cross they're door again. again we were left waiting and she was in agony after not being able to go to the toilet for a few hours, eventually when the vet did see her, she disapperared twice to make sure we were on the computer system, then to get an enema for our dog and when that didnt really work they decided to keep her in and see what else they could do, so they gave us an "estimate of cost" which was 345 euro and if an anestatic was required it would be another 137 euro, so we had to leave a 200euro deposit and we left her in their "capable hands" at 4.00pm on sunday, i rang at 7.00pm to see how she was and was told there was no news but if i wanted to ring back at 10.00pm so i did and was told she still hadnt gone to the toilet but that if in the next little while there was no change they would give her an anestatic and clear her out....
i rang back at 8.30am the next morning to be told she didnt end up needing the anestatic that she had passed some toilet and they were going to give her another enema and hopefully this would help and they would ring me when she was ready to go home. by 1.00pm i still hadnt heard anything so i rang them and was told "ah yeah she's ready to go", so drove over to collect her and was left waiting for 45mins that "a vet would be out to talk to us soon", no vet arrived just the receptionist with our dog, and some more enema's saying " she'll need more cos she's not fully clear" they hadnt even washed her back side, she was stinking, they had obviously left her in her own feaces all night, our poor dog didnt even wag her tail when she saw us she was in pain and discomfort.
she's still trying to go to the toilet, we have been looking after her since 2.30pm yesterday doing the job we paid them 330 euro for and they just didnt care. i will never ever return to them, i would rather sit up and wait with my dog before i go back there.

star-pants

Did you ask to speak to someone in charge? Did you complain?

tk123

I didn't have the best experience there either tbh - though we were there as a referral and not an emergency case. My visit there summed up my opinion that some vets have a passion and love of animals and some are just at work doing their job which happens to be working with animals. Who knows maybe if we had seen another vet there we would have had a better experience - I know from reading posts here a lot of people have had great experiences there.
Did I complain? No - I got a second opinion and my dog got his legs fixed which was all I wanted tbh.

anniehoo

tk123 wrote: »

No - I got a second opinion and my dog got his legs fixed which was all I wanted tbh.

Just to clarify, the DAEC and the University Veterinary Hospital are 2 completely separate businesses. They operate out of the same premises (DAEC are evening and overnight) but are staffed by totally different vets,nurses,technical and reception staff.

If you received bad treatment by the DAEC a complaint most definitely should be made to the Manager. It's also normal to pay a €200 deposit, this is standard for anyone attending the DAEC. If bad service was gotten it should in no way reflect the same service the UVH gives.There's no comparison to be honest.

Vojera

I know this is a bump, but I just wanted to add my experience to this thread.

Last night my guinea pig (who has a history of heart murmurs) went into what looked like congestive heart failure. He was struggling to breathe, becoming cold and his lungs sounded like there was fluid building up inside.

I rang the DAEC to explain the situation and they were all gig to bring him in until I mentioned money. Normally I do have a vet fund, but I just paid for major surgery on one of my other pigs last week and, as you may know, it is not possible to buy pet insurance for guinea pigs in this country, so literally all I had was €50 until next week. I was told that unless I could bring €120, which was the minimum fee, as well as payment for whatever treatment my pig needed, I couldn't bring him in.

Now, I fully understand that this is a business and not a charity, but they have my records on file. I have been to them five times before, and each time I have paid in full upfront. I offered to do a payment plan, direct debit, whatever they needed to see my pig, who, all the while, was in distress and struggling to breathe, but they refused. I didn't know where else to call and I was so upset that all I could do was hope and pray that he made it until morning time to see his own vet. This morning I had him at his normal vet as soon as their doors opened, but unfortunately he had passed away in the car on the way.

I know they have problems with people not paying or people leaving their animals, but their excuse to me on the phone was "we don't have a patient list so we can't chase people for money". In my case, I DID have a history with them, and why can they not have an arrangement with their partner vets to get details off them of people who don't pay? If it's a problem for data protection then make people sign a form saying they understand that their details will be shared when they arrive.

My own vet (who is signed up to their service, by the way) was disgusted this morning when he heard they refused to treat my little man. I sincerely hope he lets his displeasure be known because they're far more likely to listen to him than to me.

All my previous experiences here were positive, but at the moment, rightly or wrongly, I feel like it's their fault my friend is dead and that if they had had his welfare in mind they wouldn't have allowed him to suffer all night, and maybe they could have saved him.