Cromlyn House Veterinary Hospital - Hillsborough

"When our dog Lily was admitted here one of the first questions I was asked when she was admitted was ‘is she insured?’ The second question was ‘how much for?’ I can understand being asked if I have insurance but why is it so important for you to know how much for? The first week that Lily was at the hospital all kinds of treatments were given and we had high hopes that she was going to recover but by last week we were told there was nothing more you could do. Oddly enough by this time, your fees had almost reached my insurance limit! We feel that you saw our Lily as a wee money making machine. I do not think that your vets are in any way incapable, I do believe that they knew sooner than when we were informed that she wouldn’t recover and that they kept her ‘comfortable’ for longer than they should have, just to get as much money as possible. Your fees are disgustingly high and I believe that as a veterinary practice, you have lost sight of why you are in the profession of animal welfare because in my experience, your priority is making as much money as you can. On Tuesday 17th Catherine rang with an update and by this time we had decided that if Lily had declined any more then we would like to bring her home and have a little time with her before having to put her to sleep. When I voiced this to Catherine the first thing she said was this ‘Are you wanting to take her home with a view to euthanise her?’ As a vet, how could you be so insensitive? She advised us not to take Lily home so we left her with you although we were not at all happy about doing it. All we wanted was to have some precious time with our girl but you denied us that. On the Thursday we were told that you could do no more for Lily but you could do a CT scan or we could take her to ICU in Dublin but we’d have to let you know our decision fairly soon in order for you to do the referral. We decided not to do either of these things as we felt that Lily had been through enough and sedation for a scan or a trip to Dublin would be cruel. We just wanted our girl home to spend what little time we had with her before calling on the services of HomeVet NI to come to our home and put our sweet girl to sleep, but Catherine didn’t make that easy for us either. She contacted our regular vet to say that Lily should stay with yourselves another night and to then go to our regular vet on Friday morning. Why would she want to do that? Isn’t that making Lily suffer more for longer? Why did she not want us, her owners to take Lily home on Thursday? Catherine then went on to contact HomeVet NI to ask if they could do an urgent PTS on Thursday evening! How dare she? It was also intimated to me during a conversation with the vet Amy that I would take Lily home and keep her suffering for days instead of having her put to sleep. How dare any of you question my integrity! I have loved and cared for animals for longer than some of you have been alive so stop behaving like you are the Gods of the animal kingdom. When we we went to collect Lily, not one vet was there to speak to us, to explain anything, say sorry…..nothing! It was an absolute disgrace that none of you could be professional enough to at least come and offer us your condolences. The vets Amy and Catherine have definitely not shown any compassion whatsoever. They gave updates like they were reading from a script, robotic almost. I used Cromlyn House many years ago when it was owned by Mr Heffron….he was an excellent and caring vet and he had an excellent reputation. Cromlyn House had an excellent reputation because of him and the Cromlyn House of today is continuing to run off that reputation when they shouldn’t! I would like some answers to the issues that I have raised. EDIT: Yes Kathryn, I received your communication in response to my complaint but there are issues that we’ll have to agree to disagree on."

"On 19th November I had to take my 16 year old cat Greebo to Cromlyn house after what seemed to have been a stroke. Rebecca the locum vet was so good with Greebo and me. Patient, understanding and explained everything before she helped Greebo fall into his final sleep with the peace and dignity he deserved. Thanks so much to Rebecca for making a hard day more bearable and treating us both with so much kindness."

"My daughter and I were there at the emergency vet with her 16 year old cat who took ill very suddenly. Rebecca, the locum vet handled a very sad situation with great care, patience and respect and made a very sad and difficult situation as easy as possible for us. Although she seems to be quite young still she handled the situation perfectly and with great understanding for everybody."

"I must admit I have moved my dog about vets, she was currently registered with the vets at pets at home however she was always previously with Cromlyn House. When she took a bad seizure late at night Pets at Home was obviously closed and we got an out of hours surgery in Belfast. Absolutely no use as I didn’t know where I was going and very shook up at this point. I called Cromlyn house and no questions asked told me to bring my dog asap. The vet himself was waiting on us.. they kept her overnight and we are waiting on blood results. My loyalty will always be with Cromlyn House now as In that moment of time I needed them.. they were there.. fantastic vet team and service. Thankyou for putting us at ease and looking after our girl. Outstanding service when we needed help"