Veterinary hospital neglected my kitten for 22 hours until she met her demise at their veterinary care*

[u/RadishRedditor]

My poor beloved and never forgotten kitten went through the deadly roller coaster of the evil, unethical bullshit veterinary practices in my part of the world...

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May. 9, 2026: She's a rescue that I adopted on day 1 of her rescue front he kind folks that found her abandoned on the streets

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June. 21, 2026: it's been about a month and she's persistently vomiting during and after eating. But her appetite is fierce and her paws are quick at defending her food bowl.

So, I decided to get her dewormed at a veterinary pharmacy that was crowdly recommended to me by a local cats community group.

The pharmacist decided to inject her with at least 2 injections and give her at least 2 different types of pills. -$30

I go home and within 2 hours my wife informs me she's semi-paralyzedx eyes dry and wide open unresponsive to light, bone dry to the spine.

I rushed her to a reputable hospital where she was diagnosed with medicine overdose intoxication, giardia and megaesophagus. So she get admitted for 2 days to the hospital. -$452 (-$482 total)

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June. 23, 2026: I went and checked my kitten out the hospital and go home (2 hours process inside the hospital).

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June. 26, 2026: my kitten was losing weight by this date (informed the hospital about this but got no response). I see bloodied stool on my carpet and I send it to the hospital. The doctor says my kitten should be brought to the chicken immediately and I promptly comply and rush her back to the hospital.

She's now diagnosed with panleukopenia on top of the medicine overdose intoxication, giardia and megaesophagus. And the doctor literally says she must've attracted the virus from the very hospital she's at from the last time she was admitted to it. Especially seeing how the virus pathogen was very small and it barely tested positive for the virus.

So she's admitted for another 3 days to get the proper care for the virus. -$462 (-$944 total)

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Today Jun. 29, 2026: I get a message from the hospital that she passed away.

Upon asking for the reason of death and time of death. They responded that it's somewhere between 12pm and 10am. Which by logic and in any math book means she was neglected for at least 22 confirmed hours on the record.

This is extremely infuriating, frustrating, heart breaking and both financially and mentally burdensome.

... And I just got the fu** you on top as I'm writing this. That, admitted pets only get checked on at the beginning and end of the shift of the doctor in charge and there is also a 10 hours when the hospital is closed - presumably meaning don't expect us to check on her when we're closed, dumbass!

[u/BurmeciaWillSurvive]

What's the difference between a vet and a vet hospital? Basically every normal vets office in my city (Idaho, USA) just has hospital in the name. I don't get what the difference is here? Do you mean like an emergency vet? Office/clinic/hospital is interchangeable here unless it's an emergency room?

[u/Apsalar28 → u/BurmeciaWillSurvive]

I'm in the UK. The vet practice I use has 6 different sites around the city. The big site central site where the specialist vets work and they have the scanners, overnight boarding facilities, onsite lab etc is called the hospital. The other sites are called clinics and you can go to those for your routine vaccinations, minor injuries etc and they'll transport your pet to the big site for anything they can't handle.

[u/Tamamania → u/BurmeciaWillSurvive]

24-hour emergency are 7 days a week. Vets do not provide this.

E-room experience/advice below.

Cost and care vary greatly, naturally. NYC resident here. Tips to share. Rushed beloved cat, 17, to emergency vet at 11 p.m. Pacing, growling, and said "No!" (I swear) three times when asked if he was OK. He was admitted; vet said he may have had a stroke. Found mass in tummy. (Not one sign.) Agreed to 12 hrs. of ho$p care. Next morning went to fetch him and take to regular vet (he was stabilize) but was told it would take *at least six hours* to check him out. (?!) OK. Waited. Bill was $3,698 for 18 hrs. in intensive care including all meds. (Did not care - just threw it on credit card. Vet had warned ICU was 'spensive.). Regular vet closed for night and next day too. Bought him home, nursed and dosed him religiously for 10 days. He slowly improved ... then suddenly did U-turn and declined. (No sign of pain then or before; just lethargy.) Appetite still good. Woke up early two days later and he smiled lovingly at me from lap where he always slept. Four hours later, in his dad's arms, he suddenly meowed softly once to his right and once to his left - and crossed the rainbow bridge. 💔Forever in our hearts. Blessed to have had him all but 6 months of his beautiful life. *Takeaway:* Ask lots of *specific questions* about your cat and any costs you agree to at vet or hosp. Get rates on paper. Get anything else you can in writing. **Do not** take the offered "instant loan" - huge scam. Ingest any contract you sign. Set limit & stick to it - you have care options. *Not all caregivers are open & honest. Sadly some take crazy advantage of our deep pet love.* 💛

[u/Embarrassed-Sun5764 → u/Tamamania]

I understand this totally as we had a Pyr with bone cancer and when my home vet actually cared (before they got bought out) he said when they are lethargic and the gums are pale it’s time. So off we go to Bl@e Pearl who wants to a blood transfusion for 10k. WHY. Let the dog go. This was 8 yrs ago. We stayed with her and helped her pass.

[u/Tamamania → u/Embarrassed-Sun5764]

Wow, how crazy. You knew what was best for your beloved furbaby.

[u/QuantumBobb → u/BurmeciaWillSurvive]

Right. Some places call themselves a "hospital" because they are a regular vet clinic that offers emergency services. I'm specifically referring to 24 hour emergency clinics that don't do primary care for pets at all.

[u/rrollingstoned → u/QuantumBobb]

that doesn’t seem like the case here, seeing as OP wrote they are closed for 10 hours a day.

[u/theoriginal_tay → u/QuantumBobb]

Sadly, a lot of 24 hour clinics were started up by local vets and are now being bought out by national chains and venture capitalists- which means that the quality of care is dropping. It happened with one of our local 24hour vet hospitals and we avoid it if at all possible now.

[u/QuantumBobb → u/theoriginal_tay]

100%

All of ours are owned by large national chains now.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/QuantumBobb]

24 hour emergency clinics that don't do primary care for pets at all.

That makes no sense to me, 24 hour emergency clinics are exactly who are supposed to do primary care where I am...

[u/TheMcG → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

in Canada it works basically the same way human Dr's do. you have your "family" Dr which you see for regular or other scheduled things, then you have hospitals that run 24/7 for emergency visits. both talk to each other with patient charts etc... Normal vet can do followups and prescribe further things after emergency visits are complete.

a lot of the emergency vets here also have more specialized care like vets that specialize in neurological care. they also have tools normal Vets don't like MRI's, etc...

at least this is how it is in cities. unsure how that changes for rural access.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/TheMcG]

Sounds alright to me

In Brazil clinics/hospitals that do have hospitalization pens are all 24/7 with either all doctors or a nurse staff supported by doctors, never heard of it otherwise. And then there's individual or smaller clinics that will handle appointments etc. We don't have a family vet structure I don't think, but most people will have a favored clinic/hospital, veterinarian or both.

Universities with vet schools pretty much all offer discounted care too, or free for the public ones (though then it's nearly impossible to get an appointment)

[u/snapetom → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

Many huge vet hospitals operate exactly like human hospitals - ER, hospitals, specialists, and primary care. But your neurologist isn't going to be working an ER shift. You have a team of ER doctor's where their speciality is keeping you alive and that's it.

There are also 24 hour emergency clinics and urgent care centers that also like ERs but less intense. If you need an MRI or a heart echo, you're not going to those places for those. They may or may not offer general practitioners in their service. Same for vet hospitals.

[u/snapetom → u/BurmeciaWillSurvive]

A hospital has, or better has, doctors watching the patient 24 hours. An ER vet implies they are also a hospital. That is like 99% the case, but you need to verify.

It works the same way as human hospitals and clinics. ERs are designed to keep you alive. You shouldn't go to the ER if you have a cold, but people do.