Angela (as Dr H introduced herself) is beyond belief. Her clarity, thoroughness, lack of rigidity/dogmatism blew my mind. She carefully & sensitively explained the options, price & depth wise. No pressure. I found the pricing to be completely reasonable.
My cat was gently and lovingly (!!!) attended to. I’m gobsmacked.
I avoided vets for a number of reasons (pushing unnecessary vaccines…hope ya’all know about titres), tests and procedures. I absolutely won’t go anywhere else now.
EVERYONE, from receptionists to techs were so so caring, gentle and kind. This is the way the world should be. A deep bow of gratitude & congratulations to Angela.
The ego and negligence of Dr. Sonia Gi ended up costing my sweet kitten his life.
He was not diagnosed in time and he died. He didn’t have to. He had FIP, a disease that used to be fatal—but now has a treatment with a newly FDA-approved antiviral (June 2024). That same drug saved my other kitten’s life (they were littermates), who was later diagnosed by a different vet who actually took me seriously.
From shortly after we brought him home at 8 weeks old, he had chronic upper respiratory congestion and red, bloodshot eyes that never improved. He was a ragdoll with bright blue eyes, and I even noticed the color starting to fade around the edges, turning white. I later learned this is a classic sign of uveitis—often associated with serious diseases like FIP.
We had already seen other vets and tried treatments with no success. At our visit with Dr. Gi, she made multiple condescending remarks that implied I was incompetent. When I explained that antibiotic eye ointment had already made his eyes worse, she responded, “Well sometimes it can be hard to get it in their eyes,” insinuating I didn’t know how to administer it properly. She made several similar comments throughout the appointment.
She dismissed his condition as likely herpes and prescribed another antibiotic—despite prior antibiotics having no effect. I asked for a herpes PCR test instead of guessing, and thankfully she agreed.
After completing the full course of antibiotics, nothing improved. When she left me a voicemail saying the herpes test was negative, she claimed it was probably due to a poor sample. This became a pattern: when something didn’t fit her assumption, she blamed execution rather than reconsidering the diagnosis.
I emailed her asking what further testing should be done given the negative result and lack of improvement. She never responded. I was completely ignored.
We proceeded with his neuter at the same practice but saw different vets. The managing veterinarian, Jessica Lee, did not comment on his severely bloodshot eyes. The surgeon, Gabre Denton, also said nothing. Three veterinarians saw my kitten, and not one suggested further investigation into a clearly chronic, unresolved condition—or even delaying surgery.
Two weeks after surgery, he became critically ill: high fever, not eating. At that point, I no longer trusted this practice and took him elsewhere.
Even then, he was not properly diagnosed and ultimately died.
When his sister began showing symptoms, the only reason we discovered it was FIP was because of a conversation with a natural pet food store owner. She had seen identical symptoms—red, inflamed eyes—in rescue kittens that turned out to be FIP. She told me about the new treatment, connected me to an FIP support group, and referred me to a knowledgeable vet. That vet diagnosed my kitten, and within 72 hours of starting GS-441524, she was back to eating, playing, and acting like herself.
I took my kittens to 4–5 veterinary practices, and in the end, it was a pet store owner who pointed me in the right direction. That is unconscionable.
In hindsight, my kitten had clear signs of uveitis—an important clue pointing to serious underlying disease like FIP. Not one veterinarian recognized it. I was a first-time cat owner. Why was it my responsibility to figure this out?
I also live with chronic illness and have experienced similar patterns in human healthcare—being dismissed, not listened to, and forced to figure things out on my own while providers assume they know best. It is deeply disturbing to see the same systemic failures in veterinary medicine.
I am absolutely disgusted.
