The Young Veterinary Partnership

Very nice and helpful staff

We had to leave Young's after 3 years of taking our dog there. To be honest I don't know why I even bothered sticking around for so long! I was first with the Brentford branch and then I moved to the Ealing branch. At both branches I felt patronised, shoved to the corner. The vets treated my dog with no compassion. The branches are small, out-dated, cold-looking. The nail in the coffin for me was when I took her for the annual booster jab last year and the way they handled her was atrocious and traumatising for both myself and my dog. She's an anxious dog, but it really felt like they just didn't care, especially the older vet – for a couple of years they'd mention muzzling her (muzzling a frenchie?) and last year what they did was took her into the next room and two nurses pinned her down while the older vet administer the jab. The screams, scratching and shrieks coming from my dog all the way from the next room honestly sounded like animal abuse. The vet then handed me her lead covered in poo, and proceeded to make me feel even worse by putting the blame on me. I cleaned up the lead there and then, and I left in tears with a certainty that I'd never return. Never will I ever go back to this clinic!

My beloved cat was ill. We took him to Young Veterinary Partnership. He subsequently died. I was devastated. We'd arranged for him to be cremated individually. I couldn't face the idea of him being cremated with other pets. It cost £250 but I didn't care. I had to go and collect his remains. I could barely speak, I was so upset. The staff were incredibly sensitive. They knew why I was there and with me barely speaking, they gave me his remains and took the payment. They knew who I was and found it on their system with me practically saying nothing. My cats have always been my children. They understood my loss and did everything they could to mitigate that loss. They also didn't make me feel guilty for crying.

It is with regret that I write this review about an independent veterinary practice at a time when the industry is under scrutiny. I registered my cat with Youngs when he was a kitten and in October sought a medical explanation for his tendency to overgroom. I received an e-mail from Dr Wilson, proprietor of Youngs as follows: '...would require a full dermatological investigation to determine the underlying cause - full blood profile, skin scrapes, fungal culture and skin biopsies under sedation, initially possibly with allergy blood testing on initial results before specific medication can be prescribed. This would require coming in for a morning appointment and then leaving Sasha with us for the day....approx. £1,000 for initial tests (not including allergy tests)'. I was shocked to receive such an abrupt message. There was no narrative, breakdown of this figure and what the 'allergy tests' might cost. I requested further information from him but got a reply from Office Manager, Vicky. I was then requested to book a consultation (presumably the morning appointment) just prior to the procedure. Although not stated, I got the impression this would incur a further fee. I was then obliged to do my own research to find that one of the procedures involved chunks being taken out of my cat, hence the sedation. I then felt the need to seek advice from another practice, more forthcoming, with a friendlier disposition, and to whom I ultimately 'defected' for Sasha's care. I was absolutely flabbergasted by Youngs' overt attempt to financially gain by withholding this essential information. To me, this was unadulterated greed. I was not asking them to divulge trade secrets but let me know the cost of each component as well as any supplementary expenses. For instance, I also found my cat would have to wear a collar for a few days until sutures had healed. Discussed only on the day, this would have influenced me as to whether to go ahead. Indeed, if I had declined, our trip would have been pointless, money wasted and Youngs would not have got the gig, which they failed to do anyway. It therefore made sense for them to be up front about the overall cost and what was involved. Vicky responded to my concern about the withholding of information saying that: 'Dr Wilson may have assumed he had addressed your concerns fully, with the understanding that any remaining questions could be discussed in more detail during your pre-op appointment'. However, I could not find any indication of where he made such an assumption. There was no mention of any fee for this 'pre-op appointment' or if it was part of the open ended £1000. To complicate the issue, Vicky said: 'Regarding surgical procedures, I would like to assure you that we INCLUDE (my emphasis) a pre-operative health check the morning of the surgery.....and we offer this as an opportunity to answer any questions that owners might have. We believe that this face to face interaction helps to resolve any outstanding concerns better than e-mail exchanges'. I sent a letter to Dr Wilson, snail mail but only got a reply from Vicky, assuring me that he was 'aware of' my concerns. I remain satisfied that he did not even read my letter. Furthermore, her reply was actually unsigned with no last name. Never before have I been on the receiving end of such sheer impertinence, which suggested utter contempt for both me and my pet. The bottom line is that I was a loyal customer for the best part of three years. I still find this jaw-droppingly unbelievable. It remained unclear how much this procedure would have been in total and when I would have found out. Remember, the £1000 was only for 'initial tests'. What is worse is that this arrogance and high handedness in the pursuit of profit was from those who purport to be part of the caring industry for both animals and their human companions. I would advise anyone in a similar position to ask all the questions you want before parting with any money and if not satisfied, do what I did, go elsewhere and leave a review like mine.