I took my 4 year old Golden Retriever into Homestead Animal Hospital for an ear infection. The Vet, who was new to the hospital, strongly urged that my dog be neutered.
The day after the surgery, Saturday, I noticed that Lucas’ belly was very hard on one side. On Sunday it was even harder. On Monday morning, my dog was breathing shallow and rapid, his belly was very hard as a rock, and a large bulging liquid soft mass had developed on his belly and chest. I immediately took him again into Homestead Animal Hospital. The Temporary Vet who saw him said it was normal.
By 5 p.m. that same evening, Lucas began to shake profusely, was having great difficulty breathing and he refused to stand up. I rushed him to the VRCC hospital on Hampden Ave. Lucas was require to stay in intensive care for 4 nights at a cost of nearly $5,000. He had contracted a STAFF infection from the surgery at Homestead Animal Hospital. It took a month for him to recover.

I immediately complained about this situation to Homestead’s office manager. She said that “they will make it right”. A week goes by and there was no response. Finally, after repeated calls, the manager provides me with their insurance company’s phone number. The insurance company refused to pay.
I have seen two other vets since the surgery and both indicated that Homestead should have covered the VRCC hospital costs based on how their clinics would have handled it.
I wish I had done more research. I would have avoided this entire costly and unfortunate series of events. My suggestion if you Love your pet is to read the reviews, heed them and be very cautious.

Dr. Geislehardt,

We trusted you with our beloved English Bulldog Boss, just 13 months old. We trusted you because of the care you showed Peyton our other English Bulldog with her pallet surgery. For Peyton's surgery, you personally stayed with her overnight at your hospital to ensure a smooth recovery.

That trust was destroyed with you punted our baby boy Boss just hours after his surgery to Animal ER. Animal ER obviously did not do the correct thing with our boy. Your desicion to send Boss away created this situation, Animal ER did nothing for him when he aspirated at midnight, then next morning, he should have never been sent home. When we picked our beloved Boss up, he was covered in urine, and vomit.... The veterinarian did not speak to us just a tech saying he was fine.

The hours post surgery were critical to survival, after much research with other veterinarians, if Boss had been managed properly post surgery his chances of a full recovery were very positive. The fact that he aspirated, and was not treated immediately while at Animal ER, that created a snowball effect of wet lungs and sepsis.

After the initial aspiration/vomiting episode at Animal ER, proper protocol with this surgery and this breed would have been X rays and starting on a course of antibiotics to prevent pneumonia. None of that was done, he was sent home.

You created the cascading turn of events by opting to send him away, not what we expected and not what you had done with Peyton after her pallet surgery. Now we are devastated by our loss, $6,500 in vet bills in the hole, money we don't for we dedicate our lives to saving animals and have 40 rescue horses to provide for each day.
You have broken the hearts of two very empathetic animal loving beings that will forever be scared. He was fine when we brought him to you, we simply wanted a better life for him, and your decisions caused his death.... shame on you.

Devastated,

Jodi and Paul Messenich
Zuma's Rescue Ranch

One of the vets in this practice has lost his compassion and commitment to animals: Dr. Geislehardt,We trusted you with our beloved English Bulldog Boss, just 13 months old. We trusted you because of the care you showed Peyton our other English Bulldog with her pallet surgery. For Peyton's surgery, you personally stayed with her overnight at your hospital to ensure a smooth recovery.That trust was destroyed with you punted our baby boy Boss just hours after his surgery to Animal ER. Animal ER obviously did not do the correct thing with our boy. Your desicion to send Boss away created this situation, Animal ER did nothing for him when he aspirated at midnight, then next morning, he should have never been sent home. When we picked our beloved Boss up, he was covered in urine, and vomit.... The veterinarian did not speak to us just a tech saying he was fine. The hours post surgery were critical to survival, after much research with other veterinarians, if Boss had been managed properly post surgery his chances of a full recovery were very positive. The fact that he aspirated, and was not treated immediately while at Animal ER, that created a snowball effect of wet lungs and sepsis. After the initial aspiration/vomiting episode at Animal ER, proper protocol with this surgery and this breed would have been X rays and starting on a course of antibiotics to prevent pneumonia. None of that was done, he was sent home. Upon our 8:pm visit to the animal ER post surgery, we urged them to do or change something, we felt this Boss was in an unusual presentation. We had experience two previous soft pallet surgeries and explained that this was much much different. We were told he was fine and not to worry. You created the cascading turn of events by opting to send him away, not what we expected and not what you had done with Peyton after her pallet surgery. Now we are devastated by our loss, $6,500 in vet bills in the hole, money we don't for we dedicate our lives to saving animals and have 40 rescue horses to provide for each day. You took our baby, you took from the herd of rescue horses at Zuma's Rescue Ranch and you didn't even call us to apologize, to offer a refund for your mistake, to cover the multiple hospital bills at VRCC trying to save our boy after your decision cost him his life... You have broken the hearts of two very empathetic animal loving beings that will forever be scared. He was fine when we brought him to you, we simply wanted a better life for him, and your decisions caused his death.... shame on you.Devastated,Jodi and Paul MessenichZuma's Rescue Ranch

Dr.Labonde and his staff are absolutely fabulous! I have taken my baby exotic bird to Dr.Labonde and he was both kind and through with the inital consult to the end process of the treatment. Today my bird is thriving and doing great! I have also taken my older schnauzer to see Dr.Labonde just recently and the experience again was equally amazing!! I completely recommend this fine team at Homestead f you are lookin professon

Homestead is by far the best animal hospital I've seen. I brought them my little dwarf conure parrot with a broken leg and Dr. Summar fixed him right up. I am so impressed with the way he handled my bird and the whole experience with him. Thanks Dr. Summar, you're awesome! The bill was about half of what I expected, so that was a huge plus and relief. I'll be back if I have a vet emergency again, for sure.

Highly recommendedNot every veterinarian is equipped to help with "exotics" like gerbils. This practice was recommended to me by another veterinarian.Dr. Summar took great care of our badly-injured gerbil. He took his time, educated us on the best way to care for our pet, and he made sure that we understood his instructions. He also advised us about what behavioral issues we might expect from our formerly-friendly-gerbil-pair. Dr. Summar was kind and sympathetic.Unbelievably, I was charged 1/4 what I expected to be charged for our visit. I was so shocked that I asked the clerk to verify that something hadn't been left off of the bill.

I have found their services to be very professional, courteous and they are good about calling you back for appointments or whatever you may need. I highly recommend Dr. Summar or Dr. LaBonde for birds. I am sure they do a good job with all the animals as everyone seems to really get good care based on my observations. They are always busy but seemed to have a good flow of workers to address the visitors on time.

This can be the hardest thing to do when relocating or getting a new pet, is to find a good vet. They have always given us good deals while providing the highest quality care and education. Just pay attention to the quotes they give you on the phone, sometimes they will mysteriously change by the time you get in. wink wink. ; )

We have been to see this vet for various reasons and have received exceptional care! Don't hesitate to call or visit.