Review: Dr. Dennis - Mount Pleasant... Mount Okay?

Pringles visited the vet today! Got him vaccinated for Heartworm and ... Distemper? And Dr. Dennis said his size was "acceptable" even though there was "SPARE". When he said "SPARE", he gripped both sides of Pringles (like a kid’s sippy cup), and gave a good shake. And Pringles didn't even move. Yes there is that much loose skin around Mr. Paws. Time to lose weight, Pringles...

Had always been iffy about visiting Mount Pleasant, primarily because they've a reputation for being expensive and unreliable. If internet opinion is to be believed, the staff are unfeeling, possibly to the point of being rude, and the place is bogged down by processes.

HOWEVER, a series of unfortunate events culminated in us returning for a complimentary consultation with Dr. Dennis Choi.. who just happens to come with good reviews. Luckily, we weren’t disappointed:

Our appointment was made for noon on a Saturday “because Dr. Dennis doesn’t work Saturday afternoons”.. fair enough. Unfortunately, there was a crazy jam that resulted in us being 20 minutes late. Luckily, the receptionist still booked us in, and we managed to see the vet at around one (yes. 20 minutes of waiting).

Dr. Dennis was knowledgeable, but neither pompous nor brusque. In fact, he gave us a very detailed explanation of why Pringles has a persistent tear mark that drugs may not necessarily eliminate. We felt comfortable around him – he was mild-mannered, but confident in his diagnosis of the dog. The administration of the vaccination was also professional and quick. I’ve heard horror stories of dogs being painfully prodded by inexperienced vets.

Dare I say we’ve found a “go-to” vet for Pringles? I hope so! If you’re looking for a fair-weather vet, I would say Dr. Dennis ticks all the boxes. Don’t let the Mount Pleasant name put you off, as he really is quite experienced. I think, when looking for a vet, look for a particular vet, as lousy vets at good vet surgeries aren’t going to be much help. They may just look forward to helping you incur exorbitant vet fees instead.

Finally, referencing the above point about Mount Pleasant having uncaring admin staff - I must say that I found the good folk at All Pets to be friendlier...and at least they bothered to get Pringles' birthday right (17 Feb'12). The good folk of Mount Pleasant took my scribbled "2 years and 6 months" of age literally, and registered his birthday as 23 February 2012. Of course I don't think this tiny administrative error is going to result in misdiagnosis of my pet, but... my pet is very important to me, and by extension, his birthday is very important to me. Couldn't they at least put that field down on the registration form? Otherwise, I guess they were okay!

Unfortunately, I’m still on the look-out for a vet which will treat him well if he ever needs to be hospitalized. I understand (via internet reviews, of course) that people with dogs in critical condition may not be allowed to spend the night with their pets? While I understand the need for order to be maintained, I’m not sure having a dying animal spend the night together with other dying animals baying away may help. I do foresee myself wanting to be with my dying animal when the time comes. But I digress, and I have no answer to this at the moment. However, I will be keeping an eye out for a vet that answers the question more ideally than Mount Pleasant presently does.

Mount Not So Pleasant

About 1 week back, we brought Doggy to Mount Pleasant (Jln Gelenggang) to fetch a friend who was donating blood. And as dogs are wont to do in a place with a water source, all three of them consumed water... and got diarrhea after.

While some may think it presumptuous of us to blame it on Mount Pleasant, we did our due diligence on this - the three dogs had just happened to all visit the same doggy cafe the night before, so we'd checked with all our contemporaries to see if anyone was down with diarrhea too. Nada. The next thing they all had in common - was a trip to Mount Pleasant.

The most proactive of us brought her dog back to Mount Pleasant immediately after the onset of diarrhea, and the "boss" (this was how his minion kindly referred to him) waived all consultation charges, and she was only billed for medicine.

Over the next few days, I journeyed overseas, and Doggy failed to recover - in fact, he began regurgitating all his food. Poor baby! So Pringleman brought him to Mount Pleasant alone, where the receptionist declared, upon seeing him, that:

A, They had done a check on the water, and there was "no bacteria", and it was not the cause of diarrhea
B. Consultation fees would not be waived for our dog

Well Mt. Pleasant's infamous for being expensive, so fearing a very high bill, Pringleman drove straight on to a different vet, but I was just shocked at the lack of professionalism encountered. I even called the clinic to clarify, because it just sounded so unbelievable and illogical. Putting it in point form below so it is easy to reference the points above.

A.

• They made the comment without sampling Pringles' poop - how would they know that the bacteria in his poop did not match ANY bacteria in the water? At the very least, a Fecalysis and treatment should have been rendered, with the agreement that if there was NO match between the water and his poop, then we would have to foot the bill! Hello - people enter hospitals expecting to recover, not emerge half dead.
• Water ALWAYS has bacteria - that is why contact lens wearers are advised to DRY THEIR HANDS before putting in contact lenses. Wet things ALWAYS, ALWAYS have bacteria. That's why an M&M dropped behind a sofa for the past 3 months is probably safer than a piece of meat dropped on a hawker center table just 5 seconds ago (time to review your 5 second rule, everyone). Based on ignorance of this alone, the receptionist was not qualified to make this statement.
• Receptionist. Hello receptionist! I believe you're not a qualified vet. I trust and respect you for doling out our pets' meds, and keying their information in correctly, but unfortunately I don't trust your medical judgement...

B

• Hello - why waive it for one dog, but not the rest? Especially even after being informed of the situation? Water has ALOT of bacteria. Even if Doggy 1's diarrhea reaction was not in response to a given bacteria in the water, how could she have known that OUR doggy had not suffered from the water?

I was highly disappointed when I confirmed statements A and B to be true, after calling two personnel at the clinic to clarify. What rights did the receptionist have, to declare that our dog's situation was not the result of the water at her workplace? What an imbecile. And the best part was - she did not even check with authority before issuing her statement and turning Pringleman away. I'm pretty sure her job description didn't include making medical judgement - totally overstepped the line there.

As I was overseas, I left Pringleman's mobile number, and Dr. Dennis returned the call the following day, kindly apologizing for his staff, and offering us a complimentary consultation. Not bad..  I suppose.

Update - 23 Aug 2014 - we went for the complimentary consult! And it was okay! I think we should be engaging Dr. Dennis as our annual vet going forward. Hope all goes well!