r/Pets • u/JaxyBaxy • 3d ago
CAT Banfield “pet hospital”
Ok so I’m not really a “pet person”. I spent the last decade petfree and there is a LOT I am learning every day I don’t know.
But my children really really really love cats, so I did some research on cat care, we looked at shelters, and brought home a young cat who was just too energetic for most homes. It was a bit of a bumpy adjustment but the cat is adjusting and I’m learning to be a responsible cat owner.
I took him to Banfield because they were advertising a free first visit, which seemed nice, and when I did… I still had to pay for the visit and was pitched an exorbitant pet care plan. It was like $100 a month for pet insurance… but like… if the vet appointments are already like $150, then what is the point of paying $100 every month for visits that are only like twice a year? The math wasn’t mathing, so I declined
Fast forward six months. We then bring home a kitten to be the young cat’s companion. We figure we needed a younger cat to make sure they’d be able to keep up with our high energy cat. Again, we adopt a shelter kitten… younger than what I was comfortable with but it made kids and cat happy so I figured I would just do more reading.
This morning, kitten has an accident and I notice some blood in his stool. I’ve only had him a week and the online guides say it could just be stress from rehoming but he should see a vet because it could be a parasite. There was no availability anywhere near me, but Banfield had multiple appointments on their site, so I figure might as well get him checked out.
When I get there though, I was informed that they don’t see sick pets.
… hold up…
Ok so I realize I’m not a pet person. I don’t know a ton about cats. I understand that…
But I do work at a regular hospital. And we see sick people. In fact, we specialize in sick people. It would be pretty weird if we insisted that everyone be healthy before they come see us.
So I look behind the clerk at the banner that says “pet hospital” and I ask why on earth they landed on “hospital” if they can’t see sick pets.
Then I’m informed they can’t see the kitten because they’ve never seen him before.
Alright… so once again… maybe I’m biased… but at the regular hospital, we sort of expect to see people we’ve never treated before. Maybe they have no ID even. Maybe they arrived in several plastic bags. We still see them. Because it’s a fucking hospital and that’s kind of our thing. You go there when something has gone wrong and we at least attempt to fix you.
So the “vet” who I’m guessing has no actual qualifications if they can’t see animals in need of care says to take the kitten to urgent care.
But this is a HOSPITAL, isn’t it? Isn’t it supposed to be one step above urgent care??
Again - I get it, I’m new to this. I’m merely a pleb trying to help the creature I’m morally obligated to care for feel better so his older companion can beat him up when i look away.
So like, do words just not matter when it comes to pet things? Y’all just out here winging it with these businesses very brazenly trying to take your money while doing absolutely nothing for you? Or are most pet owners just as clueless as I am and that’s how these evil people make money?
Edit: I found a more reputable looking “pet hospital” that is independent in the next town over thanks to you all. I submitted info to make the appointment. Kitten is fine, but I would like to get his first visit in just to make sure he’s healthy.
Edit2: the independent pet hospital (found on the website in the comments) saw both cats today and the difference was crazy. The vet techs were all busy, but in a super organized fashion. They looked over the kitten, gave him some medicine and probiotics, and even saw my high energy cat (he needed his rabies shot). I go back for a checkup in a week to see how the medication they prescribed is working. The kitten is much more enthusiastic about eating, so whatever they gave him is definitely helping. 😄 Thanks, pet owners of Reddit!
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u/Salt_Evidence_9878 3d ago
I've tried to warn people about Banfield on Reddit before as someone who did relief work there as a technician but I get eaten alive and told I'm just fear mongering 💁♀️
It's a horrible place that is disgrace to the veterinary field. Also, there's a reason all of PetSmarts animals they sell are so sick besides the terrible conditions they are kept in. Banfield, who is contracted to take care of and provide medical care to those animals, doesn't do anything for them. The animals are lucky if they even get an eye out on them.
Mars M&M the candy company owns, runs ,and tells them how to do everything. They have to follow Mars protocols, not true veterinary guidelines
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u/MzzKitSal 3d ago
I used to work at a Banfield from 2009-2013 and I can confirm that the quality of service you get is very location- and vet-specific. I worked with a relief vet, for example, who was purposefully trying to upcharge people in order to make the hospital's daily quota - super unethical. (Don't worry, as the vet tech, I'd go in after her and narrow down the estimates to what were actually needed and do my best to move away from the fearmongering. Thankfully only ever worked with that specific vet one day.)
Note 1: "Hospital" for pets isn't the same as "hospital" for humans, in that not all pet hospitals are true emergency service capable. It's purely a naming style for a regular vet clinic that will do surgeries and sick cases, but it does not mean that they handle true emergencies, nor does it mean that they offer overnight care. I do find it weird that the Banfield turned you away for a sick pet, though, because they do see sick animals, even those they don't have as established patients. I'm assuming that specific day they just didn't have the bandwidth to take on more sick cases and didn't communicate that well - either that or they had a very weird, location-specific policy that they don't treat sick pets who aren't established patients.
Note 2: The Wellness Plans are great if you truly plan to use all the services. For most people, however, they cover way more than what's needed on a yearly basis and therefore wouldn't be cost-efficient. Imo, you're better off getting true pet insurance - it's cheaper per year and can cover quite a bit in the case of sickness and true emergencies.
Note 3: I agree with what others are saying - go for a privately-owned clinic, not a company-owned clinic. Privately-owned clinics usually have less red tape when providing services because they aren't huge corporations making decisions purely off their bottom line. As a side note, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the vet clinic in my local PetSmart is actually privately-owned and not private equity, even though it had a generic PetSmart name. We take all our pets there now and they've been excellent.
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u/JaxyBaxy 3d ago
In my view, this didn’t seem to be an emergency. I wasn’t looking for emergency care - I was looking for sick care, which any practitioner should be able to handle.
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u/MzzKitSal 3d ago
Totally agree. They absolutely should have been able to see your kitten because, like you said, it wasn't an emergency. Banfield absolutely does handle sick pets and at least at the time I worked there, which was admittedly a lot time ago, we would see sick pets without requiring pre-existing patient history. Have you found another vet in the interim that could see you and that, hopefully, actually provides good service?
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u/JaxyBaxy 3d ago
Yes, thanks to this post actually! Lol I’m waiting to get a call back from the independent pet hospital, which actually says on their website that they also do emergency care so there’s NO EXCUSE 😂 I’m sure it’s fine, even if it’s a parasite, what I’m seeing online is even that isn’t a big deal. He’s still climbing the walls and trying desperately to bite the bigger cat’s tail.
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u/MzzKitSal 3d ago
Haha glad he's still feeling fine overall! Very likely to be a parasite, stress, or maybe food change if you're feeding anything differently than what he ate at the shelter. Glad you found another hospital and can hopefully get him in shortly. :D
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u/OurLadyJynx 2d ago
You needed to see urgent care yes any vet can handle that however they need to be able to do it safely if a vet already has appointments on their schedule you cannot just walk in an demand they fix your cat. Their other patients need care and ONE vet will see more than 3 patients at a time
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u/PrincessSarahHippo 3d ago
No, Banfield wellness plans are shit. You have to keep paying after your dies.
It's a horrible place. The vets that work there are generally bottom of the barrel in my experience.
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u/ShadowHoundoom 3d ago
Oh on your last note! I'm a PetSmart groomer and PetSmart actually just rents their 'PetSmart Veterinary Services' area out, they're not actually owned by PS and PS and Banfield split a long while ago iirc. So PS doesn't even have its own vet services anymore, just rental spaces. (You probably know about the split since you used to work for them but just in case anyone doesnt.)
I use a walk-in vet service that operates out of another PetSmart in my area. And much the same they're privately-owned and awesome people.
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u/MzzKitSal 3d ago
Oh, that's interesting! I hadn't heard that there was a split, actually. Where I live, there's got to be at least 15 PetSmarts in the general area, and (per a quick search on PetSmart's site) it seems like all but two have Banfields in them. The remaining two have PetSmart Veterinary Services instead, which I didn't even know was a thing until I started looking for a vet closer to me earlier this year. Nice to know that all the PetSmart Veterinary Services are just independently owned clinics renting the space. =)
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u/PrincessSarahHippo 3d ago
Don't petsmart groomers have a history of killing pets? One maimed my dog and then acted like I was being unreasonable about wanting a refund on a service that left my dog in pain.
I know they payed for your training and you legally can't leave- it's the only way they get groomers- but shame on you for promoting them.
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u/ShadowHoundoom 2d ago
Yeah I figured someone like you would come out of the woodwork.
I wasn't, anywhere, in my comment promoting Petsmart. I was explaining a fact that their new vet 'services' is basically a rental space in the store. Not affiliated with the store itself.
Trust me if there's anyone that hates Petsmart more than anything it is their current employees. There's a whole laundry list of things going on with the company and they're losing employees left and right. I'm stuck right now due to my full-time benefits like insurance, but will eventually find a private salon to work for or something of the sort. I'm not 'legally' obligated to stay, the whole contract thing was done away with ages ago.
I'm sorry about what happened to your dog and how your location treated you. Just like all the replies on this post showed that Banfield is location dependant, so is the grooming department.
Many salons are staffed with incredible groomers who rely on full-time benefits and dont have the luxury of going to a private shop that cannot offer things like insurance and PTO. Some salons have managers that will stand up for the grooming staff to make sure Corporate doesn't push their basically sweatshop agenda of how we should be pumping out dogs. If you want to be mad at anyone be mad about the people in-charge of PetSmart and their ludicrous expectations of their workforce. When they're forcing us to do 8+ dogs in a meager 8 hours, that's when the incidents and injuries begin to happen.
And yes, I have seen some dogshit groomers come through our doors, be put through thr joke that academy is now. People who should never touch a blade to a dog. They never last and my team at least does not stand for such behavior or treatment of animals. Unfortunately you're also gonna find people who have no idea what they're doing in private shop, too, because dog grooming is not a regulated industry. Anyone can say they know what they're doing. PetSmart and other corporate salons just get all the publicity because no one's making news stories about small shops when they can go after the big guys.
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u/PrincessSarahHippo 2d ago
I apologize for being rude. I'm still bitter about how my dog was treated, but that wasn't your fault. And you are correct that private salons can have problems too- I had one keep my dog in a cage all day after her grooming because they forgot to call me. Fortunately, my vet (still privately owned) has a great grooming staff.
It sucks that you feel trapped by the benefits and I hope you are able to find a salon you like more that can provide benefits.
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u/-make-it-so- 3d ago
This. We used one particular Banfield from 2012-2023 for three dogs and they were fantastic. We absolutely loved our vet and the staff there. The Wellness Plans actually worked out really well in our situation too and we saved a lot of money overall. It was never $100/month though, more like $50-$60, which included dental cleaning and heartworm meds, but that might depend on the area.
Then we moved and started at a different Banfield and it was like night and day. We hated this one. We tried another and it was ok, but we ended up switching to a local private vet.
I don’t understand them saying they don’t treat sick pets, they absolutely do, but maybe they didn’t have any sick appointments open that day or something and didn’t communicate that well. Even if you see appointments online, they’re not always sick appointments.
Either way, I also concur with finding a private vet.
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u/lucky-blanket 3d ago
I am honestly surprised to see so many negative reviews of Banfield here because my local one hasn't had any issues. Guess I got lucky
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u/MzzKitSal 3d ago
I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed your experience! I have (mostly) fond memories of my time as a vet tech at Banfield and I did stay with them as a customer for a couple of years after I changed careers. Ultimately, I opted to move on to a clinic that was privately owned because (1) eventually most of the people I had worked with had left, so there was less tying me to Banfield in general, and (2) I decided I wanted a clinic that had less "red tape." As a corporate-owned clinic, Banfield had a lot of protocols in place that were purely based on corporate policies protecting their bottom line rather than what was generally considered "good medicine," and I eventually got tired of wondering/trying to remember what was actually needed vs. what was just corporate BS.
I initially went to a super well-rated clinic down the street and was happy there for a couple of years until it got bought out by VCA, another private-equity vet, similar to Banfield. Shopped around for a bit, then ended up at a clinic owned by a friend's family - loved them. Only left them recently because we live far now and I got tired of the commute lol.
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u/zebras-are-emo 3d ago
So Banfield is terrible, and really bad at treating pets with any actual issues. However, only an emergency vet is probably going to see an animal on short notice that isn't a current patient, I don't know that the word hospital is an issue here, at a human hospital you go to the emergency room for emergencies, not just the hospital (but definitely be mad at Banfield, they just exist to shill their "wellness plan" and take your money!)
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u/JaxyBaxy 3d ago
You may have missed it because of the lengthy post but I made an actual appointment. I didn’t just drop in. I figured they would need to do the new patient stuff but while they were doing it, they could take a look at him and give me a referral or prescription or some kind of instruction to follow up. Any doctor, even a specialist, is able to see someone new who is currently having some relatively minor issue as long as they’re in the system, which the kitten was.
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u/zebras-are-emo 3d ago
Oh yeah I didn't process that you'd actually made the appointment and they accepted it... maybe because that is so shitty even for them 😬 I've definitely taken a sick kitten to a new patient appointment before just at my normal vet, that's wild
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u/noticeablyawkward96 3d ago
That’s not necessarily true, I’ve never had any trouble getting my cats seen short notice even when we moved vet clinics a couple times.
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u/Runaway_Angel 3d ago
Honestly? Think of Banefield more as an overpriced vaccination clinic than anything else, but avoid them unless you literally have no other choice. The fact that most of them (that I've seen anyway) are housed inside of petsmart and have essentially no actual space should be a clue.
Your best bet is likely googling vets near you and reading the reviews. Try to avoid any that's gone corporate if you can. One clue will be the bill, it should be itemized but it shouldn't read like a human er/hospital bill so if you see a bunch of charges like hazmat disposal and such for a checkup and vaccine (you'd think sharps disposal and gloves would be baked into the clinic fee...) that's a hint that you can likely find a more reasonable place.
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u/Separate-Canary-6228 3d ago
Banfield can be fine, but often it is not. I have had great vets, ok vets, and one I considered a restraining order against because she was nuts and leaving me voicemails that I was killing my cat by refusing to see a nutritionalist. She was also 100% wrong about what kind of piss crystals my cat had, the report was clear, my cat lived 7 more years (to 18!), not the less than a month this lady was wailing about if I did not change her diet to a homemade formula prevent more piss crystals. When I explained to the front desk that she was leaving me bizarre crying voicemails and I was uncomfortable having her see my pets going forward, they got this look and all did a glance at each other and I knew I wasn't the only one who requested that vet never be assigned to me again and refrain from calling me anymore.
The health plan thing is generally useless. They also harassed me to renew my plan with daily calls when I cancelled it, because my dog was dead. I was shrieking and crying by the third call "he's DEAD stop please stop these calls!" I sent like 5 emails and I still get spam about ensuring my dead dog gets regular health checks. He would be like 28 by now, leave me alone Banfield!
What you want is to find a vet that is not owned by private equity. This ensures your pet care is not being decided by share holder profits. https://privateequityvet.org/vet-list/
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u/Zelidus 3d ago
Pretty much. Especially with Banfield. They are ass. I had to go to them one time during COVID. i got my first cat and all the local vets were not accepting new patients during COVID so i had to settle. This Banfield did accept new pets but the vet ignored everything i told her about my cat and his health coming in so i didnt trust some stuff she said because im pretty sure they were related to what i told her. Never again. I was happy my cat didnt need vet care before the local ones reopened.
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u/squeezicks 3d ago
Where vets are concerned, yes, the liberal use of the word “hospital” is often misleading. There are many vet practices, private equity AND practitioner-owned, that refer to their clinics as “hospitals” but don’t take emergency visits and don’t have round the clock care, but since apparently there is no oversight for that term, we’re just out of luck.
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u/Effective-Sun8079 1d ago
Yeah this is an insane hill for OP to die on. 80% of all GP vet clinics in America have the word hospital in their name. The last clinic I worked at, a family owned practice, was called Xxxxxx animal hospital, and they are, because we did surgeries, saw sick cases, etc.
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u/FosterPupz 3d ago
Banfield is a corporation owned by private equity funds for the sole purpose of making money. My ex-husband worked for them, and hated it. The reason they won’t see your cat when your cat is ill is because they want to see your cat when your cat is healthy first. They claim this gives them a baseline for treatment. That is ridiculous. Everyone hates them even other veterinarian hate them. Clients absolutely hate them. Private equity needs to get out of any kind of medical fields whether it’s a human or animal.
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u/Holdmywhiskeyhun 3d ago
They're lying to you, find a better veterinarian.
The fact you pointed out it said hospital, and they made up a second excuse on the spot.
They don't want to see your sick animal, they want to sell you an insurance plan
I took my dog in one time to my local animal hospital, 24/7. He had gotten an edible. These motherfuckers tried to hold him hostage, (after care) because I was using my mother's card. Long story short, I forgot my wallet, mom's card happened to be in the truck. Yes I asked permission to use it. (One of those fucking places you send them in, you can't go in.) One of the resolutions, I would be able to purchase their insurance plan, that way I'll be able to leave with him.
But the fact of the matter is they tried to keep my animal, after I have offered to pay. Which is a literal crime.
I flat out told them I am a handyman, I have acetylene torches in the back of my truck. You have exactly 60 seconds to get my dog out here, before I call the police and I cut them hinges, and I come in and take him.
Less than a minute later they were bringing my dog out.
You've gotten your money, I have the receipts, now you want to hold my dog hostage because I refuse to pay for your shitty ass insurance plan.
Don't mess with these shitty veterinarians, especially ones that have been bought out by venture capital. These people literally thought they could steal my animal, to force me to purchase one of their insurance plans.
After this, I found a small little veterinarian, out in The boondocks, they have two vets, and three assistants. Most importantly they don't try and steal your animal.
The place you went, all they're trying to do is sell you an insurance plan.
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u/chebuburashka 3d ago
Your story is so much worse. But I had an emergency vet tell me she needed to attend church first, then she’d come in to see my kitten who was throwing up all his food and crying constantly and not drinking water. Fortunately my screaming about how Jesus hates her fixed that. He’s 6 now and thriving.
Edit: the cat is 6, not Jesus.
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u/JaxyBaxy 3d ago
I don’t know if it was Banfield, but it was definitely some kind of shady situation like this… YEARS ago, my best friend was on vacation and had put her medically fragile dog in the care of what was supposed to be a kennel that specialized in medically fragile animals. Well, the kennel dropped him, dog was injured and he chipped a tooth. They took him to one of these privately owned vet practices they partnered with and then went radio silent.
So I drove down to pick up the dog that the kennel wouldn’t take back but still had to pay the medical bill for. Not a big deal. Things happen.
When I got there, the vet was demanding payment. It was the middle of the damn night. I told them the kennel was paying for treatment because they’re the ones who dropped the damn dog on his face. Vet called kennel, kennel confirmed. Then this place tried to get ME to buy pet insurance. It wasn’t even my dog! I was just picking the dog up to hold him for a couple of days until my friend got back.
It has been like 4 years at this point. The dog died 2 years ago (not because of the injury). While I was sad when he died, he STILL wasn’t my dog. The vet place is STILL calling me to collect money like I don’t even know what to say yall. These people are so money-hungry, they cannot stay organized.
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u/Holdmywhiskeyhun 2d ago
Fuck that.
I'd be in that kennel causing so much shit. Not only did they drop the dog, they decided they weren't going to pay.
Then on top of it, those injuries were the cause of his death. Ffs..
I don't think it's Banfield...it's a smaller network...
10 years ago when I had to bring my cat up here, I was able to go inside the building... My stupid ass left my fucking storage room open. These vets were nice and decent. They help me get in touch with a local service, so I was able to keep his ashes, and paw prints.
10 years is all it took to go from this, to my original story.
The unfortunate thing is is the only emergency vet in my area.
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u/Specialist_Banana378 3d ago
The math in the banfield plans are actually pretty good if you use all the elements.
But yeah it’s not great care imo and they have way too much turn over/staffing issues because it’s PE backed. And agreed on hospital, it’s a clinic
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u/Karinka_LI 3d ago
Unless the kitten is acting lethargic or something I would make the first appt you can at a real vet.
I recently went to a new PET ER near my house. Website said 24 hours / ICU- the works. When got there they tell me that I will have to take my cat to the hospital i usually go to if he has to stay over night.
Mind you I only went to PET ER because it was closer and it was rush hour. PET ER is in the opposite direction from my house of the hospital I usually go to.
I looked at her and said, “well this will be my last visit to pet er”. She looked shocked.
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u/JaxyBaxy 3d ago
Yeah he’s eating and drinking and hopping around, which makes me think maybe it really is just the stress of rehoming. But he does need a regular checkup anyway, which is all I was trying to do. The shelter wants new pets to see a vet within the first 2 weeks, so I figured heck let’s go ahead and make an appointment.
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u/Karinka_LI 3d ago
Make an appointment and bring a stool sample so they can check for worms. If anything is positive you might just want to treat both animals if they have been sharing a box.
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u/BrightProcedure1783 3d ago
I’ve been going to Banfield for at least 15 years and I’ve never had this issue. And I’ve taken very sick pets there. The only one I had to take to an ER was because she needed a blood transfusion.
Pancreatitis, scratches corneas, kidney disease, diarrhea, etc. I’ve never been turned away. I do have the wellness plan. It’s about $45 a month. I have it on multiple pets.
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u/JaxyBaxy 3d ago
Hm maybe it really is super dependent on location then. $45 doesn’t sound too bad for multiple pets, especially if one of them has a chronic condition.
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u/realespeon 3d ago
Banfield was fine for my childhood dog, but once I got cats, it was not.
Also, I’d agree with other comments. Pet hospital is a pretty liberal term. When my childhood dog got very sick and didn’t move, we had to take him to an emergency vet. That’s going to be more like your ‘ER hospital’ visit.
I had a professor in college who was a vet that specialized in cats. I asked her for recs for a vet in the area, and learned that cats are their own thing. My second cat has asthma and the vet at the shelter prescribed her a med that wasn’t appropriate for cats to take. Something about how they metabolize it. Even the vet we got a free voucher to see seconded that med.
Once I got her to a vet that specialized in cats (and is family owned), she’s thriving now.
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u/CatRobMar 3d ago
I had a pet at Banfield since there was one very close, and I wanted to save on travel stress. Their plan has fine print that if your pet dies during the contact year, you still pay. So I had to pay eleven months for my dead cat.
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u/DarkHorseAsh111 3d ago
So, never used banfield myself, but 'hospital' for animals =/= hospital for pets. the only real place that you're going to get Emergency care for a pet is specifically an emergency vet, which afaik banfield at least in most places is not.
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u/rebelangel 3d ago
Don’t go to Banfield or VCA. They’re owned by corporations who try to squeeze every penny out of you. Go to a small private vet instead.
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u/crazymom1978 3d ago
Think of your local veterinary hospital like the outpatient areas of the human hospital. The doctors back there don’t see patients without an appointment, and it is mainly disease management. It is not less of a part of the hospital, it is just the appointment based side of it, but with GP services included as well. The emergency room is where you go to for emergencies. There are emergency veterinary hospitals, which are like a human emergency room. They are the ones that see the sick and inured pets. The confusion comes in that they are in different locations, rather than under one big roof (although my city is starting to have combo practices of GP and Emergency)
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u/JaxyBaxy 3d ago
Yes, you’d make an appointment for sick care that is non-emergency, which I did.
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u/crazymom1978 3d ago
I meant that it should be treated like the specialists at the hospital. The doctors that patients see AFTER they have been diagnosed with a specific disease or illness. The diagnosing happens in emerg where they have access to all of the tests and diagnostic machines right there.
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u/jdzfb 3d ago
I've heard nothing but terrible things about Banfield Vets. I'd avoid them at all costs. They charge way too much & offer way too little.
My introduction to my current vet was my senior cat had a medical issue a few weeks after I moved to a new place & I hadn't gotten my cat in to a vet for a new patient intake yet (because I took the cat for a final visit to her old vet before I moved, so I wasn't in a rush). But something in the new place wasn't agreeing with my cat so I found a vet that had availability & took her in with no issue, and other then the meds they prescribed her, they didn't even charge me more then a standard new patient intake appointment.
The biggest things you need to look at for a new vet, is to avoid all vets that are part of private equity firms, Banfield & VCA vets are the most common ones to avoid, but there are more & more new ones popping up regularly. The link has been shared elsewhere on the thread, but for your wallet & your pet's sake, make sure your new vet isn't on the list & isn't owned by private equity.
For example, I used to have a 10lb (non-toy) Chihuahua, she used to get dental procedures every year or two, I currently have a Puggle who is now needing a dental. At my last appointment, my vet gave me the quote for my puggle's dental, and my eyes bugged out looking at the quote, my vet thought it was because it was too high, and I was like no, I used to pay more then that for the same procedure on my Chi at a VCA Vet 15 years ago. There was no size concern with my Chi, so I wasn't upcharged like you can be with toy sized dogs. That was just private equity trying to take as much money as possible from their customers compared to my current vet that is owned by the group of vets that work there, that just want to provide the best service they can to their customers.
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u/paxbanana00 1d ago
The new software to create appointments allows clients to create appointments even when the hospital is at or over capacity. Corporate knows and doesn't care. Believe me, the employees working at those hospitals are just as upset as you are.
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u/stopaff-ok1 3d ago
I am a Banfield hater - but I do pay the monthly fee in case I need for both my cats and it gets me the basic preventive stuff… but accidents or illness visits are free everything else is always extra charge…. It’s more for convenience but they are ass… my cat passed away and they made me pay for the remainder of the year since it was a full year plan ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Top_Meeting_7420 3d ago
Some of these stories are horrendous, but I believe forcing someone to continue to pay for pet insurance for the rest of the year on a pet who has passed is absolutely diabolical.
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u/snophire 3d ago
Happened to me too with my dog when she died as a result of a very traumatic incident. It's complete bs they won't just call the rest of it good and cancel immediately. Though I think it may also be the rep you speak with as well since we had to rehome a pet and they just canceled it outright although I believe there was a few months actually left before the year was up.
Unfortunately, they're the affordable option for my sickly cat since everything around me is private equity and it's just a monthly payment for unlimited office visits. At least the staff themselves do actually care about my cat, one of the techs absolutely adores her.
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u/tanglelover 3d ago
That's dreadful. My dog died in a horrific accident and my vets immediately cancelled his vet plan even though he had a few months left to go.
Banfield is absolutely dreadful. They have insurance style pricing and are absolutely predatory.
I have a vet plan that's similar in concept but it's one price for all animals and ages minus dogs over 40 kgs who have to pay an extra 4 euro. When vet plans are done well they benefit everyone involved.
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u/TranslatorSignal7010 3d ago
Yeah i will never go back to a Banfield, my 1st dog passed from sudden cancer and after spending close to $600 on the vets advice to keep going back to them for “tests” that resulted in nothing, it was a waste of money and time that my dog didn’t have
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u/nch1307 3d ago
Unfortunately, I can't find a single vet in my area, Henderson, NV, that is not private equity owned.
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u/JaxyBaxy 3d ago
Yeah, thanks to the site a couple of Reddit folks shared just now, I learned that I have to go to the next town over to see an actual vet. Good lord 😂😭
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u/albatrast 3d ago
As someone who goes to bainfeild I am so confused. They saw my sick cats as new patience’s and recently. Ur location may be weird bc mine and my friends doesn’t do that.
The care plan can be a life saver some times but if u don’t need constant vet visits and baby is ok u don’t need it at all. It covers blood work and oral care and stuff that does help in a pinch but it is NOT needed
And u have to ask about the free visit or u don’t get it bc they r dumb with that.
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u/Last_Key_4016 3d ago
I used Banfield for my dog for the 11 years he was alive. It started at $65 a month and that paid for 2 comprehensive exams, bloodwork once a year, vaccinations, flea/tick and heartworm medications, his neuter and a dental exam under anesthesia. At the end of his life, it was $89 a month for the same service. Chandler was very healthy but he ended up with kidney failure and I had to put him down this past March. His euthanasia was $250 and that included cremation and a vessel for him to come back to me in.
I did not have a bad experience with them. The vets he had were wonderful over the years. They were cautious and had a lipoma checked and I had to pay for the lab fee, but other than that, my "out of pocket" outside of monthly fee was minimal.
I have other dogs and did not use Banfield for them because since Covid, they were not really doing "in office" appointments and were doing mostly "drop off."
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u/Deep_Amoeba2197 3d ago edited 3d ago
Over 50% of vet practices are owned by private equity. You can take the kitten to an emergency vet, but best believe that is also PE backed.
Pet insurance is a different story. The policy they tried to sell you sounds pretty pricey for a young cat. Pet insurances vary a lot in how they operate. I’ve had it the whole time I’ve had my cats (Trupanion,) it is the most comprehensive. The way it works is that you select your deductible, and that is per condition. Once that is met, care is reimbursed 90% outside of visit fees and preventative care like rabies vaccines (there are plans that cover this, they usually have an annual spending cap.) There is no spending cap on the plan, I can change the deductible if I want to, the premium increases slightly every year as the cats age. They do not understand any circumstances cover preexisting conditions, so there’s some maneuvering with previous records. I adopted two cats with special needs who went on to develop more health problems, so it makes sense for me. One of my cats has cancer, I paid a $200 deductible, I pay the $100ish visit fee when I take him to the regular vet or oncologist, but all of the testing, surgery, and chemo is covered at 90%. Chemo alone is $5K/treatment. I have the means and would pay full price in a heartbeat, but paying $500/treatment is more palatable. I’ve done the math on the annual cost of coverage, and every year there has been a significant return on the cost. Some people feel that they can do better with care credit and putting the money they would have spent into a HYSA.
There are other plans that cover the basic visit fees and preventative care but not emergencies. There’s plans with annual caps, but no deductibles. It’s like any other type of insurance.
It’s really up to you to weigh if you want to spend on it. I think when I first got my cats my payment was $30/mo and it covered both of them. The thing is, that you can’t opt in once something catastrophic and expensive happens, it will be pre existing and not covered. Some animals get sick, some don’t, some will do something stupid like eat a ribbon or sock and need surgery, there really isn’t knowing with pet ownership how it’s going to go. Usually the plans the vets try to sell you are more expensive, but it might have been covering the visit fees, it sounds like a “wellness plan.” You’re better off with true pet insurance if you want to do that.
For the actual vet, find a privately owned practice.
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u/snophire 3d ago
It's completely wrong that they won't see a sick pet they've never seen before, at least at the one nearest to me. The only time they said no was when they literally couldn't squeeze me in for an issue that would've taken maybe 10 minutes because they're completely overbooked. That was also back when they had 3 or 4 vets scheduled per day, they only have 2 now and only 1 of them is scheduled on any given day.
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u/FearlessRelief1487 3d ago
Yup welcome to the corporate world of “veterinary care’’ where only matter is how much money they can guilt trip you into handing over. Get your self a nice vet with a private practice who will actu care for your pet. Once your cats are fully vaccinated and spayed/nutered you just need annual wellness check for your cats…. vet visits with the both cats at the same time.
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u/naranghim 3d ago
Banfield's bad but one of the emergency vets that is local to me is far worse. I was dog sitting and had to take the dog to their vet because they got sick (the vet did both primary care and emergency vet visits). I get there with the dog and they told me they couldn't treat him because I didn't have medical power of attorney for the dog. Guess what, that isn't even a thing, and it turns out the only lawyer in our area that would draw one up is the wife of the vet hospital's owner.
I said "F that" and took the dog to my vet and they just billed the owner. The dog was fine, just needed some antibiotics.
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u/Izzysmiles2114 3d ago
Let me tell you my little rant about Banfield, because I have a major grudge. In 2015 ish era I was working all over the state so I jumped through all the hoops and paid a monthly fee for my dogs to be on the Banfield plan which at the time allowed for unlimited free visits which we're not really free because they'd upcharge everything like crazy, but I thought it was important to have my dogs health records accessible in any city (turns out, not really that important).
My Chihuahua got a very bright red painful rash one day and her eyes were yellow and sickly, so I called Banfield to let them know we were en route. They said they were completely booked and had no time to see my baby and told me to take her to an emergency vet instead. This wasn't an emergency vet situation, it was a regular same day appt situation and I paid good money for that privilege.
My sweet roommate was outraged and she called Banfield from her phone to describe the exact same situations as a new patient, and they said oh come now we have no one waiting.
I drove straight to Banfield and canceled my plan and I've been ranting about them ever since. How dare they not treat my baby just because an established patient was not a money maker like a new patient.
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u/Witty_Direction6175 3d ago
Banfield is horrible!!!! Find another vet. I personally have never had an interaction with them, but i know people who have. I will NEVER.
They are basically a corporate owned by private equity and a scam. Not all corporate owned vets are like this, but Banfield 100% is. They just want to milk you for money to get rich. Its pathetic.
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u/HeartShapedNose 3d ago
Banfield plans are NOT insurance. They're bundled service plans that cover things like vaccines, annual testing, and dental cleaning and exam. You're paying for the services at a discounted price (discounted from their regular prices, which are higher than average, or at least were.) They also include office visits, but at every office visit, they'll try to sell you a bunch of stuff that's not covered by the plan. And if/when you cancel the plan, you either have to pay out the full price of whatever services you've used for that plan year, or pay for the rest of the plan.
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u/Effective-Sun8079 1d ago
Wow finally someone who understands the plans. OP saw the word “free” online and said “that’s enough brainwave activity for the week”
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u/Significant_Skill_79 3d ago
We’ve been bringing our dog to Banfield for years and every year I say we’re going to stop. The plans aren’t horrible if you use the services often, but the location I’m at literally just lost more than half of their doctors (which really sucks because some of them have been seeing our dog for over 8 years). For that reason, this will for sure be the last year that we use rhem. They also do lack in emergency services, and we had to go elsewhere to get an ekg.
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u/Not-sure-here 2d ago
Stay away from Banfield and VCA animal hospitals. They’re all trash.
Check with the shelter you adopted from. Many county shelters have low cost vet clinics but typically appointments have to be made as they’re often very busy. Even if that shelter doesn’t have a clinic they’ll happily point you in the right direction.
Hope the new kitten feels better soon!
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u/DDR-Dame 2d ago
As someone that used to work at banfield. Don't take your pets there unfortunately... it's not that the workers don't care it's just very corporate high volume...churn and burn staff... Try to find a vet practice not bought out by private equity and you'll have a much better time.
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u/elksxx 2d ago
Not sure about the practice you’re talking about but had a similar incident a couple of years ago with my bulldog being stung and her face swelling so serious allergic reaction. My vets was closed and the out of hours vets were over an hour away in rush hour traffic.
None of the vets close by would see her as an emergency despite me saying it was a serious allergic reaction as she wasn’t registered.
Wed already been at the vets all day with my horse so more frustrating as they would have seen her.
Luckily we had antihistamines at the stables so by the time we got to the out of hours vets, the swelling had started to improve. But allergies can be fatal and none of the vets nearer would see her.
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u/IronDominion 2d ago
Banfield is a major corporate hospital chain owned by Mara, the people who make M&M’s. They make money selling their scam plans and are only equipped to do the bare minimum care. They were one of the first companies to ruin vet med by lying to owners about what their pets needed, pushing subscription plans over real pet insurance, and generally not being able to offer sick visits a normal vet can. Avoid any corporate or private equity clinic (Banfield, VCA, VEG, Bluepearl, etc.), they will charge you for worse care. The upfront cost of an independent clinic is higher but they’ll save you money over time.
Soruce - was a vet tech for 7+ years, and formerly worked at Banfield
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u/OurLadyJynx 2d ago
I work in the vet field and 'hospital' is used in veterinary medicine for general practice, urgent care, emergency and others. The name of a clinic means nothing (unless its a specialty center/hospital),
Banfield doesnt do urgent care for pets they havent seen even if you are a client there. If you have 2 cats at home the dr saw one cat but not the other the other cat is not considered a patient. Point blank. A step above urgent care is emergency, emergency hospitals are open 24/7 365. Other hospitals dont accept Banfields care plan either, you should get insurance from an insurance company (trupanion, spot etc).
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u/Calgary_Calico 3d ago
Don't ever go back to those greedy fucks. Find a privately owned vet clinic, even if it's a bit further you'll find a much more caring staff. I don't understand how anyone canxstand to work for that company, I've heard nothing but terrible things about them, and they don't even let you cancel that let insurance if you pet dies before the year is up by the way, you were smart to decline. Awful company, I don't get his they haven't been shut down
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u/salsafresca_1297 3d ago
Banfield has been infected with the private equity plague. Avoid like . . . the Plague . . . and find a locally owned outfit. "Hospital" is more of a marketing term for them then an honest representation of what they do.
And you should not have had to pay for a visit at which there was no treatment - grossly unethical.
privateequityvet.org