To write this blog is just like adding salt to my wound that has not healed yet. Yet I decided to write this especially for pet owners whose cats are suffering from cancer.
My friend, Mel and I thought Animal Recovery Veterinary Centre is a top animal hospital in Singapore. Despite the good reviews we read in the forum, we found out through the hard way that this is not true.
We brought our beloved cat to the centre as she was suffering from cancer. We spent lots of money on their recommended remedy, shanhuang, which cost about $180. It tasted and smelt so awful that my cat spit it out violently and formed foam in her mouth. We only did two ultrasounds and we trusted the diagnosis that she was suffering from lymphoma. We were told that Miemi’s type of cancer is easily treatable and she was in good hands with a high chance of recovery.
Subsequently, everything else happened in a blur. Miemi was given weekly chemo injections without any checks on whether her body could take it. The ‘checks’ were only based on my observations on how she was doing. Eventually, Miemi’s condition deteriorated and we brought her back to the vet. The vet didn’t even examine her. She didn’t even dispense her any medicine to ease the pain. She pronounced Miemi’s death sentence just like that. Eventually we had to call another vet from another clinic to euthanise her as ARVC doesn’t offer such services. We then learnt that Miemi was suffering from an infection. Blood tests should also be done to check on her health status before chemo injections are administered. We also learnt that it is inaccurate to diagnose the cancer type just by observation. Every cancer type has its protocol. Thanks to good advice, we managed to nurse Miemi back to health and had earned back some time o spend with her.
I remember the notice which was hung on the wall of ARVC, there is one clause that says “please do not embarrass yourself by asking for discount”. “Yourself” refers to “the customers”. To me it is an embarrassment to see such a sign hanging on the wall. It doesn’t look professional at all.
Below was an email sent to Dr Ly by us:
Dear Dr Jean-Paul,
My cat, Miemi Lee, was diagnosed by Dr Sabine two months ago with lymphoma. She saw you once before Dr Lee took over and gave her weekly chemo injections. However, Miemi’s health got worse and during her last visit on 4 Jan 13, Dr Angeline diagnosed that she would not last long and did not give her any medical treatment neither did she try to save her. My cat is just like a family member to me and I would not spare any expense on her health. Your clinic claims to be managed by professionals but I am very upset by the treatment that Miemi received at your centre. I am writing to you to seek clarification on your clinic’s medical protocol and doctors’ diagnosis of Miemi’s illness.
Dr Sabine diagnosed Miemi based on ultrasound scans. However, no biopsy was made. I understand that different cancer types have different treatment methods. On what basis did Dr Sabine base her diagnosis upon?
Miemi had 7 chemo injections. She was getting significantly weaker in her last two injections. However, no blood test was done throughout her chemo treatment. On what basis was Dr Lee sure that Miemi could take the shots and that the chemo was not too strong for her?
Dr Angeline examined Miemi when she was very weak on 4 Jan 13. She did not do a thorough examination of her. Instead, I was told that Miemi would not live long because Miemi’s body temperature was 35.1 degree Celsius and i was told by Dr Angeline that Miemi was unable to regulate her body temperature. She dispensed her with some L-lysine supplement and gave her a jab only when i requested her to give Miemi something. My question is – does the fact that Miemi has cancer mean that it would be certain that she would die? Why did Dr Angeline give up on her so easily?
I have trusted the good reviews of Animal Recovery Centre and have paid a lot of money for Miemi’s treatment. However, my experience tells me otherwise.
Looking forward to your reply.
May Lee and family
Below was the reply from Dr Ly a week after the email:
Dear May Lee,
Please accept my apologies for the delay with my reply.
It is unfortunate that you are unhappy with the level service which was provided for Miemi.
With regards to your queries, the diagnosis was based on clinical signs and ultrasound investigation by our very experienced ultrasonographer, Dr Sabine Bozon.
She is a recognized authority in Europe and not all suspected tumors can be easily biopsied such as brain or intestinal tumors, without an invasive surgical approach.
However, in the case of Miemi, she was too sick to undergo any surgical intervention.
Based on the strong ultrasonographic evidence we offered to try low dose chemotherapy to see if she would respond.
Lymphoma in cats ia the most common and frequent reasons for enlarged lymph nodes and intestines, together with thickening of intestinal lining.
The age of Miemi, her clinical symptoms and the ultrasound findings, point towards feline lymphoma.
As we cannot take the risk of waiting or taking the biopsy surgically, we opted to try low does vincristine and wait for a response.
Fortunately your cat responded favourably, confirming our suspicions,.
You must realize, we have not found a cure for cancer either in animals or humans.
Lymphoma can be controlled in our experience, with low dose vincristine and immune modulating supplements but relapses can be expected in 50% of our patients and often relapses tend to be terminal.
We can only try our best and if any second opinion is required, we will gladly refer all our patients’ records to other vets for treatment.
We obtain our degrees formally, through universities, our work experiences and continuous education. We do not consider the internet as a source of reliable information or worthy of us getting our training from.
During the last visit, Dr Yang saw that Miemi’s condition was very advanced and as a holistic practice, we take into consideration the feelings and suffering of our patients.
Therefor, it was felt at that time that no more treatment would be given as Miemi was already very weak and so we gave her some vitamins to help her and explained in full to you, about the seriousness of the illness at that time.
Dr Yang felt that death was imminent and Miemi was certainly suffering.
Although we are highly trained, we are not flawless and I myself make multiple mistakes in my life, but we try with all our skills to help our patients, sometimes even if it is for just another day.
However, we find it difficult to standby if we know our patient has a terminal illness and is reaching that point quickly while suffering.
As we cannot take matters into our own hands, we can only advise.
If there has been any miscommunication, I apologize but the fact still remains that Miemi has a serious condition and requires a humane decision to help her in her terminal illness.
Thank you for taking the time to contact me and I hope this answers your queries.
Kind regards,
Dr Jean-Paul Ly
Director Animal Recovery Veterinary Center
In the end, Dr Ly never explain to us why Miemi was never taken any blood test during all her chemo injection.
Miemi was still strong before she had her chemo injection.
*An advice to those who are sending their cats for chemotherapy: Please ensure that your cats do a blood test before the chemo injections. Taking blood tests is a must before chemo injection to ensure that the cats are able to take the shot.
Today, Dr Ly from Animal Recovery Veterinary Centre still owes us an explanation.
Cats who teach me to fly... 
We had a terrible experience at this clinic as well. Dr Wong tortured our dog by performing unnecessary surgery. Dr Ly and Natty both disagreed with him but Dr Wong was under pressure from the management Mr Alan (CEO) to deliver on a sales target to the clinic which is Private Equity funded. Really a disgrace! They then had the audacity to give me a huge bill! No humanitarian bone in this clinic.
Funded
Hi Karen,
Any vet clinic would prefer their owner to bring their pets to them for opinion or advice. Your trip will not be wasted.
Good health to you and your dog.
Hie everyone. Greetings from Malaysia. My 10 year old shih tzu is ill. We are looking at immunotherapy treatment at ARVC.contacted them via phone and email , not much of help received. Anyone of you has Dr Jean Paul Ly email or contact..? I would like send him my pets report and get him to review first and revert on treatment recommendations before deciding whether to make the trip or no. Anyone able to help? Thank you
In my opinion and through expensive experiences I have doubts about vets in singapore. They are making tons of monies laughing their way to the bank. There is no compassion and some even try to behave like what you see on tv “Dr Jeff, Rocky Mountain vets and others, So far in my opinion the only vet I will recommend is animal clinic in telok kurau.
As a vet, one should save…. I personally feel that animal communicators should not be involved. Yes, crap!
Dr Ly is a lying crap. Touched and felt my baby and said he don’t look good. Maybe left with 1 month. No tests done to pass such a comment. Introduced some lingzhi pills to insert through the rectum that will cost $38 a day. We were so afraid of losing our pet so we almost agreed but Dr Ly said we need to visit an animal communicator working for him first. You know, to see if my dog still wants to live on or not. We don’t really believe such practice but Dr Ly insisted that we should listen to what our pet want to say. Ok, fine we went ahead. 75mind for $190+ and my pet showed us his butt the whole time. Naturally, that communicator can only ask us some generic questions. Blah.
Nonetheless, we can only conclude that Dr Ly and his whole clinic is a scam. Scam on us, scamming on our vulnerability.
True enough, my pet has a lump on his neck area and we only want the best for him thus we went to almost 10 vets to find a cure for him.
All I can say is, vet practice in Singapore is backwards (most are General Practitioners) and charge sky high without the knowledge. We are still looking for a good vet in Singapore.
J.M.,
You’re not alone. I, too, had a very bad experience with Island Vet Jurong – https://m.facebook.com/hannah.ler.5/activity/1256671177690216
It was extremely traumatic. My dog had cancer. If not for their negligence, my beloved dog and I would’ve had more time together. My dog meant *everything* to me.
We didn’t have a bad experience with Dr Ly as our JRT did quite well under him and with the Sang Hwang supplements despite having Osteosarcoma. We also felt Dr Sabine was good; we have tried other vets for ultrasound and once we even had to rush our shiba down for a second opinion by her because the first vet told us he couldn’t find her kidneys in the ultrasound. But we did have terrible experience with a junior vet since the new organisation took over.
Our shiba has since passed away under her hands and it is still too raw for us to tell the story but this is what our baby gal would have said:
“I fell sick, and my new owner could not afford my medical bills.
I pray day and night for a miracle and God gave me one. Jill’s mama decided to adopt me too.
First, I was heart-broken because Didi could not recognize me anymore. But I miss him so much and really wanted to play with him.
The next 7 months was like Heaven. I had the best Didi, good mama and papa, loving me more than anything else. I went to work with Mama, and stayed over with papa and mama in the night. Everything was perfect… …
But nothing is too perfect. I fell sick again. This time, I saw mummy crying and papa crying too. I never saw Papa crying before, Papa is always a smiley man. I know it is bad this time.
Very shortly, I was unable to go to work with mama. Papa stopped working and took care of me 24 hours. As I was losing weight, I saw my Papa lose weight and crying to himself everynight. My heart was painful.
On 19th Feb, I was really sick. I waited for Mama to come home and Papa send us straight to the hospital.
—
Doctor, you said I got water in my lungs. Papa has you to give me Hyperbaric Chamber. But you said 100% Oxygen on land and under pressure is the same thing. Papa did not debate with you.
Doctor, you said I got water in my lungs. But before confirming and X-Ray, you gave me furosemide.
Doctor, you said I got water in my lungs and gave me furosemide without checking my medical conditions.
Doctor, my daddy begged for your chamber and you said something about me going into convulsion.
Doctor, this is another day, another animal dead for you.
Doctor, do you know my daddy and mummy is crying every other day because I am gone? And they have to deal with it.
Doctor, you will have to deal with yourself if you have made a wrong choice.”
Our baby died in the X ray room..
After the incident, we discovered that we should have kept her at home and let her pass away in our arms peacefully, because ARVC’s so called hyperbaric chamber is only a mild HBOT it delivers at best a couple more percentage of pure oxygen compared to what we have been giving her at home from 100% pure oxygen tanks. Dr Ly was not available on that fateful day otherwise we would never had conceded to let her be handled by a junior vet. And the irony of it all was that the junior vet was right, the “hyperbaric chamber” would have not worked for her . What she needed was a true hyperbaric chamber that is currently available only in human hospitals in Singapore
I used to bring my dog to see Dr Lye from ARC. He came highly recommended by a forum online. On hindsight, I suspected the reviews are quite biased.
I was a new and inexperienced owner and obliged to all types of tests that were suggested by him. We see him twice per month for the initial 6 months. Subsequent monthly / bi-monthly review and checkup.
He is known to be the most expensive. His clinic is known to be very expensive. So go figure the cost. We spent no less than a 5 digits sum in less than 2 years with him.
His appointment is always fully booked and we have to wait for at least 4 hours to see him for 10 minutes even with a booked appointment. With our high frequency rate of visiting him, he didn’t remember my dog’s condition. He relied on reviewing just the previous appointment record and that can be as brief as 3-4 liners. Sometimes, the record is input by inexperienced staff. I have ever corrected the staff on the input because I saw her typing right in front of me. What he said and what she recorded is not the same and she has missed out the important notes. Not to mention, he didn’t even remember or know my dog’s name. Sometimes, he didn’t even made sense of what was his previous diagnosis based on the previous record input and I have to remind him.
Dr Ly has ordered many tests for my dog. Too many but not the most important one.
We did Xrays, bloodtests, allergy tests. Especially xrays and blood tests, we had to do it monthly consecutively for few months. I later learned that xrays are not to be taken so frequently. I suspect it was taken each time because they didn’t properly keep track of the prior results. Who knows?
When we first see him, the vet before Dr Lye suggested Ultrasound but Dr Lye assured there is not a need to. Since we have transferred our dog to ARC, we just trust whatever Dr Lye said. I think 2-3 months later, he suddenly wanted us to do a ultrasound. The result shows a condition and my dog has been on medi that is not suitable for him all these while. We had to change treatment plan immediately after reviewing the ultrasound result. Suspiciously, if we had taken the ultrasound earlier, could it make a difference to my dog? I don’t know.
But guess what? We later learned that his image specialist was not available during that period of time. He ordered the ultrasound only when the image specialist came back. What a coincidence.
Because of dog keeps licking himself, we asked him if an allergy test is needed. He said no need to. The result is hardly accurate. Then some time later, he kept suggesting us to do the allergy test. We later learned that, coincidentally, he has just introduced or reintroduced the allergy test service. Well, the allergy test shows ridiculous result like allergic to 70% of the listed the first time we did it. So he suggested to do it again. We did and the 2nd time is even worst. allergic to 99% of the listed. Well, then he said not to be trusted.
We have seen few vets before him. After seeing him, my dog does get better for a while. Our family thought he is god send. We soon to realized it may not be the case. Due to his cost, most owners will go to him as a last resort. These owners usually have visited other vets and have tried other vets’ treatments. Dr Lye probably has some advantage from reviewing the trial and errors from previous vets. However, I am not a vet so I can’t proof how relevant it is.
My dog has crossed over to the rainbow bridge. If I were to do it again, I’ll probably not bring my dog to see Dr Lye. I hope I can be patient enough with the vet before him. At least that vet knows my dog’s name, remembers her condition and he doesn’t charged us a 5 figure sum. He wanted to do an ultrasound but his clinic doesn’t has such facility. If only I didn’t go to Dr Lye perhaps maybe probably it will make a difference. I don’t know.
RIP my best friend
Sorry to hear some of you have good and bad experiences in ARVC.
Fortunately I had very good experiences with Dr. Jean Paul Lye saving the lives of my dog 2x at Age 6 and another time again Age 11.
As he is the Senior Vet with ARVC, same as human doctors have their ranking and charges accordingly. It will be higher but to me its worth the money and the wait.
Before i come to this vet, i ran around with my dog for 1.5 years cabbing and hunting for the supposedly the best vets in Singapore but no vet could treat the heavy bleeding in my dog’s urine, Chronic UTI(bladder inflammed), bladder stones, 2 tumors in my dog. Whenever they cannot resolve the issue and oral antiobiotics no longer work to stop the heavy blessing in my dog(fresh red blood 2x a day), they want me to inject antibiotics in my dog every day. I insisted no,I am not going to let her suffer under needle and took my friend’s advice to visit Dr. Lye.
In just 3 visits problems resolved. Her heavy bleeding stopped. He applied both holistic and western medical treatment on her-Hills Diet was prescribed short term to dissolve stones after a precise and clear utlrasound to identify they were Struvite Cystals ( I went so many other vets, the ultrasound from them is not clear and they could not even tell me the crystal name),later changed to raw food diet and supplements, op to remove tumor.
From Dr.Lye, i learn how to feed raw food diet, from 6 years old to 11 years old the illnesses never came back recurr.She is healthy.
I spent 10K travelling 1.5 years to see other vets to no avail but 2K+ in ARVC, Dr Lye resolved everything (cost include operation) in 3 visits.
Age 11 – My dog had breed related soft spine and slip discs and kept falling down and turning over and was in pain and i brought her back to see Dr. Lye
He diagnosed her in having 2 slip discs accurately by Dr. Lye ARVC in just 1 visit – June 2015.while my friend is still struggling with her dog at a supposedly good doctor at Gentle Oats on the same issue who just give some supplement for pain relief, issue not resolved)
Action is taken fast to put my dog on Thundershirt to hold her Spine close, supplements given and chiropractic session done.She regained mobility in 1 month’s time and gradually on the 2nd to 3rd month, she is able to walk and run though she still have to take her supplements to support the nerve pain.
That alone is a great relief as not many vets experienced with spine issues, if left to deteriorate will result in hind limb paralysis.
I will think our personal experience with our doctor is the best evidence of who we should trust. Which ever vet that is able to resolve my dog’s problem is a good vet. Personally my choice will be holistic + western vet with continuously learning doctor.
Finally I do realise there are different views stated in social media.
I have at least 10 vets before i decide for myself ARVC Dr. Lye as my final line of defence for critical illness in fur kids. I also have a second backup excellent in Ultrasound that i trust when Dr. Lye is not around. He is doctor Christopher Tham at Jireh Vet.
Dear Pei Ling,
The Code of Ethics for Veterinarians (by AVA, Singapore) states very clearly under Section 12.4 that a veterinarian is obliged to provide a summarized report of the medical records when requested by the client. A veterinarian is entitled to charge a fee for preparing this report.
Here is the link to the Code of Ethics:
http://www.ava.gov.sg/docs/default-source/tools-and-resources/resources-for-businesses/codeofethicsforveterinariansfeb2012.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Many people are not aware that there is a certain set of conduct veterinarians have to abide by, thus making us an easy target for unethical and unprofessional veterinarians to exploit.
I do encourage all pet owners to have a copy of the Code of Ethics in hand to safeguard not just yours, but most importantly, your beloved pet’s interest, whose life and well-being lies mostly in our hands.
And if the need arises, to convict these unethical veterinarians (through AVA, and if dissatisfied with the judgement of AVA, the Ministry of National Development because AVA is a statutory Board under MND) which I believe, many of us as pet owners, have had a fair share of.
Peiling, I sincerely hope that your dog is well again today. 🙂
My pets have been visiting arc for the last few years and i must said that they were very good in the beginning. Each visit would cost more then $800. In July this year they insisted that my dog require a surgery to remove the lump otherwise she will die, during the ultrasound i asked the sonographer and she said it is not life threatening however need close monitoring. This really help to assure us hence we refuse to consider the surgery. My dog is 13 years old this year hence we try to minimise surgery unless necessary. Indeed the lump become smaller and we are still monitoring them.
2 days ago she had a seizure attack and we rush her to arc wiithin 10 mins, the doctor recommended blood test $400 and MRI $2500, i do understand that it is necessary to perform all the test to confirm the underlying condition. Immediately i told them i would like to seek a second opinion and the doctor face change, charge was $188 without any things done. I requested for all the medical report including surgical reports to be email to me and my sister but was told that they can only email to the vet i am going to. I told the receptionist that i do not want to call tomorrow as their line was always engaged and i want to have them ready when i see the vet. I paid for all the test and as a owner i believe i have the rights to have a copy. Even if we go to hospital we are allowed to obtain a copy of reports for ourselves. She told me she will check and revert to me as the admin staff have left and they can only do it tomorrow. I told her it is fine as the vet is also closed. When we were on our way home, Dr Cheryl Tan called and mentioned i asked to speak to her which i did not. I told her what i relayed to the receptionist and she insisted that Dr Ly owned the clinic and reports belong to clinic. What rubbish is that? I told her i am working in the hospital and this is absolutely atrocious. Anyway no one reverted the next day until i managed to reach them at around 1pm.
That night my dog have 2 more attack and we rushed her to another vet recommended by my colleague who is so much better, not only the vet is caring, reasonable pricing and he gave alternative treatment method. Most importantly he is ethical and not so commercialise. Apart from that when i showed him the medication prescribe by arc, he told us that the mites medicine and shower wash power prescribe in July may caused blindness to the dog eye. And before that my eye was blinded twice this year and all along the mites problem she had, the medications are all prescribe by arc. I am dissappointed in arc and will never go back to them again.
Hi, I have not been to all the vet clinics in Singapore. Therefore, I am unable to provide you the infomation.
So, just curious to know who are the top 3 or 5 vets (trustworthy, capable, caring, professional) in Singapore. I read so much here but am still confused as to the shortlist of favorites. And when it comes to our four-legged loved-ones we want to be careful about “shopping around”. For an automobile that’s fine but, for a living breathing being we’d all like to get it as close to right as possible.
So, what say y’all? Your shortlist of most victory-driven-vets in Singapore?
Thanks
Understand.
Saw your tribute to your cat and can sense your grieve.
But just thinking about how many other poor little animals who are the babies of us will pass through her hands make me sick
At that point of time, I lost my beloved cat. I can’t think of anything else until I calm myself 6 months later to tell my story.
To cut the long story short, she basically does not put the welfare of animals as her top priority as a vet.
Why didn’t you want to pursue it with AVA?
Nope. I did not pursue. What happened?
Hi,
May I know if you pursued the case with AVA?
I had a really bad experience with Dr Angeline Yang too and was surprised to hear you mention about her.
arvc charges are not the most expensive in SG. I did comparison on some similar procedures. Yes, i totally agree that a 2-hour wait is long. If anyone cannot wait or do not like their services, it makes good sense to go somewhere else.
Emergencies happen unexpectedly at any clinic and arvc would be one of the clinics to go to if your pet “crushed” suddenly. It takes time for blood tests/x-ray/scan (co-ordination of various staff members) to diagnose the problem.
i totally agree that arvc needs to work on their scheduling of patients – i am sure suggestions are welcome.
I do not go to arvc regularly but i do know when to go there. Right now i have a pet on drip & TPN for 72-hrs at arvc after a scan (at another clinic which was less busy but no hospitalisation facilities) showed continuous iv drip was necessary. arvc has 24/7 hospital care with the better facilities including suites for pets.
Like everything else in SG, you “shop” around for the best vet care to suit your pocket and time…and patience.
Yes, Ling is a very nice long time staff member at Mt E referral clinic. I used to take my pets to Mt P to consult the visiting veterinary opthamologist and acupuncturist (both no longer there).
To be fair to arvc, they do not turn away patients (hence the “overbook” bit). I once called a clinic to say my cat’s eyes were diluted/confusion/head tilt and i feared a stroke/seizure coming on & was told to come after the weekend as they were fully booked till closing time. Which would be better ?
No one can plan when a pet gets sick suddenly, least of all the staff at vet clinics. They have to work harder to get things going as best as they can even as the scheduled clients start to flow through the clinic doors.
About the worst thing pet owners can do is to bring their furkids to a much ‘raved about’ veterinary clinic. There is no excuse. Some vets end up thinking themselves as celebrities & less clinician. Celebrities are only good t one thing – being celebrities, not clinical work. It will show in their exhorbitant fees & increasingly poor bedside manner. As a professional myself, my time is precious – I would have sent the clinic a bill for wasting my time if they made me wait for hours after my scheduled appointment time. From numerous reports, clinicians running very late seems to be a frequent occurrence at ARVC. If ARVC cannot keep to their scheduled appointment time, then, their practice policy has to change. Do not be un$crupulou$ly greedy & overbook. Running overtime all the time, clearly shows that you’re poor at planning your time, at your clinical work or both.
My pet dog pass away 3 years ago at Mount Pleasant Hospital at 18 yrs old. She was attended by adhoc doctors on shift, who are young, unknown, but still compassionate and working long hours for sick furkids. My dog stayed there for a week, i was there every day, until the last day, her condition became worse, i stayed thru the wee hours and witness how they worked. They told me to put her down, to stop the sufferring. But i just couldn’t bear to say ok.
At about 2am, I saw a family who came in, their old dog was breathing heavily but able to sit upright and eyes were bright. It took barely 15 mins to decide, they took the doctor advice and put her down. Maybe they can do something different, but who knows what is the right decision?
I learnt that when humans and pets are sick, the care giver will be stressed emotionally and rely heavily on doctor’s advice. But its their job to give just advice, WE have to stay clam and make the decision. I knew my pet is old and sick and will pass on some day. But i just couldn’t make myself to research thru the do’s and don’ts of things to note when your pet is about to die. But if i did, i think i will handle her passing better, such as religion and cremation, etc. Btw, Ling is the receptionist at Mount pleasant hospital. She is such a sweet gentle lady, really comforting and i’m blessed she help tide through my old pet’s cremation. Bless her too.
I brought my dog to ARC yesterday. the receptionist told me to come at 10.45am and I waited till after 12 before it was my turn!
after which I have to wait for blood test and blah blah blah.. had to go put 5 parking coupons and sat there waiting without lunch not knowing what was going on till I asked a plump lady with terrible hair, she was busy on the phone and totally ignored me. then I politely asked a gentleman by the name of Zhi Yuan, which was totally rude and un-gentlemanly, how was my dog doing as I could hear her barking. he seems agitated and frustrated not knowing what was going on too and said he is still finding out.
to my diapointment , after asking 3 “nurses” and waiting till past 3pm, nothing was done to my dog!
such unprofessionalism! I was expecting them to at least inform me of the procedures and how long I have to wait or maybe I can come back later.
instead why let me sit there for half a day? I finally wrote a letter and passed it to the front desk and told her this is my feedback.
finally, it got some ones attention and my dog was sedated and had her tooth extracted at 4.30pm!
so you can imagine, after 5 hourly parking coupons and almost more than 6 hours of waiting .. I was told my dog needs to be hospitalised! does it actually take 5 hours to know the blood test results?
I was asked to pay a deposit of $1,000 for hospitalisation. the consultation, blood test, sedation was $589!
money aside if they can take good care of my dog and nurse her back to good health. what I feel is unprofessional and lacking, for the amount I pay (which I believe the final bill which I have yet to receive, will not ex!) is proper and basic communication with the owner.
I need to go to work, I need to take half day leave (in this case, 1 day leave!), I need to run out to the car to put coupons before I get a parking summon, I need to pick my son from school…is it so difficult to just inform me an estimate timing and what to expect or at least advise me to go have my lunch first!
very disappointed really. so what if ARC is raved about, I know they must be very very busy, too busy to remember basic courtesy.
Hmm… Noted. Thank you.
Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up
and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading properly.
I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and both
show the same results.
When Dr Sabine did ultra sound for my stomach lymphoma cat, i wanted no more tests to be done than that (cost constraint) – i did mention it was my choice/decision above. Sure more tests should have been run ….. cheap shots would not pay for these tests.
Thank you. Hope the public could learn from this.
With respect to Meimi the cat discussed above….if dr Sabine is so advanced at ultrasound she should have performed an ultrasound guided FNA of Lymph nodes within the abdomen. These should have been submitted for cytologic evaluation.(Needle aspirate) which would have ruled in or out lymphoma. You are correct. More tests should have been run…..
Sure, will write my experience to share with the people out there soon. Will pick a day when i am ready to sob in front of the computer when recollecting the event. I hope to share and hopefully warn those who love their furry family buddy on their options.
Hi, you are welcome to share your experience. Btw, I love the name Porky :).
Sorry to hear about your cat. I’m dying inside when I think about my decision to bring my holland lop Porky to ARC. I blame myself until today for doing that. For not doing proper research and allow Porky to go through so much pain. Porky died last year March and till this day when i recall how Porky was treated in ARC it only bring me alot of pain. As alot will know rabbits do not make any sound unless they are in alot of pain. I will relate more on a better day I hope and also to bring to light that Dr Jean Paul Ly is not suitable to be a vet. Too much fame and money has put him and ARC less sympathetic to continue in this field.
I am glad to hear all things were and are fine with your pets. The purpose of me writing is to share my experience with anyone. I have nobody to go against with. Yes, I am still upset with the procedures done to my beloved cat… It was my negligence…
My sincere wish to your present cat to be well and playful:) and that I am happy for you:).
I am sorry to hear of your Mei’s passing. It is very hard to say goodbye to a precious pet.
3 of my cancer pets were treated at arvc.
The first was a cat with squamous cell carcinoma (specimen tested at quest lab) in the nose. There was no chemo in 2005. Surgeries did not help and cancer came back within weeks. arvc holistic treatment kept cat for 3.5 yrs with good quality life (Dr Ly was very surprised himself). When cat suffered from acute kidney failure at 14yrs old, she was put down at arvc in 2008. The cancer was in remission.
Labrador’s x-ray showed spots in his lungs. Vet at arvc said cancer was most probably terminal and for palliative care, we gave the sanghwang in capsules, liquid (2 bottles a day, $50 a bottle) and suppositories. Subsequent x-ray showed tumor in abdomen (primary source) shrank. Dog was able to resume near normal life for 3 mths till he collapsed. We put our beloved 12-yr old dog to sleep at arvc.
Our 12 yr old cat has stomach lymphoma since Oct 2012. Vet at arvc said re-occurrance was high and that a 12-24mth survival rate would be considered good. Dr Sabine’s report was fair to me. The report gave the measurements for the stomach lining and concluded that it could be stomach ulcer or cancer. A biospy could mean surgery and i decided (it was my choice) for chemo. Cat has good quality life presently and goes for monthly check ups including regular full blood tests. Cat did not require a blood test prior to each chemo therapy as his pcv/blood platelets were good – 40%. We did 4 ultra scans – 1 at diagnosis, 1 at 2mths into chemo and 2 subsequently. Each day is a blessing.
This is not to say that arvc is the best clinic. Every clinic has its pros and cons. 2 of my cats had acupuncture sessions with Dr Phoon, Dr Oh (Mt P Referral) and a Dr Tan (used to be at Bukit Purmei). Personally i do not think a session of acupuncture would make a pet worse. My cats had multiple sessions of acupuncture – 2x a week for 2 mths in the hope of an improvement.
My pets go to various vet clinics (Mt P Redhill, AC, Companion) depending on what care is best served by the vets concerned.
Of course we love our pets and get upset (i bitch about vets in private too) when we believe that treatment was not going as planned. I used to bring my pets to the only vets in SG in the 1960’s at Primary Production (now ava) at Kg Jaya Road in the 1960’s. Am very thankful for the many vets we have presently.
Hi j.M.,
Sorry to hear about what happened to your dog. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Personally, i have bad experience with island vet at jurong east. My dog has lymphoma. I read online that some said acupuncture may help in cancer so I thought just give it a try as it may probably helps relieve my dog’s discomfort etc.
Brought her to see Dr Phoon, who is known on their website that she is specialised in TCM and acupuncture. But my dog felt worse after her 2nd session of acupuncture. Her legs became weaker that she cant even stand up to walk at all from that day onwards (note that she can still stand up to walk by herself before the acupuncture). She stopped eating food fully from that day onwards (before that session, she’s still able to eat some meat on her every meal though not alot).
I called just to asked Island Vet to look for Dr Phoon, to ask if is there any reason for my dog felt worse after the acupuncture? Am also wondering why she didnt take her pulse or examined if my dog is suitable for acupuncture during every session (whereby i was told by their reception that the doctor will examine if dog is suitable for acupuncture or not). Her staff said will relate the message to her and get her to call back.
DR PHOON DID NOT BOTHER TO CALL BACK ME AT ALL!! And i called second time a few days later…. THE VET STILL DID NOT CALL ME BACK AT ALL!!?? And my dog passed away a week after her acupuncture session.
Is that the way an ethical or responsible vet would do?? Is she avoiding me becos she knows she did something wrong during the process? Or else why she is she avoiding calling back to explain and answer my doubts? An animal’s life is not important to them is it?? How can someone so uncompassionate be a vet??
I am angry becos she did not bother to call me back and i’m sure she did not examine my dog’s suitability before she starts the acupuncture.
U may wonder why i did not question Dr Phoon when i brought my dog there during acupuncture because: she was so busy with not much time for us. Immediately after we went in during the session, the vet poked the needles onto my dog and went into another room attending other animals who was after us. So me and my dog was left alone in the room for 20-30mins. (She was so busy as she was the only vet there performing the consultation on the 2 days when i was there. Can someone really fully concentrated and handle well alone, esp on a weekend??
My dog was diagnosed with cancer after seeing Dr Ly for 3 weeks. He did not make the effort to give her a full body checkup like ultrasound, xray for the whole body etc for the first time he met her. She had high fever according to Dr Ly when they first met.. He gave her antibiotics to take orally and steroid on her front leg, told me to bring her back on next week. Her fever subsided but still refusing to eat, and until the 3rd review, Dr Ly arranged for an ultrasound and full xray, unfortunately my dog is already at the end stage of cancer. I am very pissed with the negligence of full body check up and he based everything by his experience. I do not know if my dog could be saved if he spotted cancer earlier. I doubt them but yet not knowing which vet is better to go, I brought my dog there for I heard ARC is the best.
How was your experience with Island Vet? Mind to share?
Some were good, some were so so, some were really bad…
Money is not not issue for the ones we loved, but we want the professional knowledge and consultation.
Me too have some good and bad experiences with them,
I have two Shit Tzu, one is a 12 year old male with congestive heart failure and mitral valve not functioning well due to old age, he’s still visiting the ARC for reviews and medication. So far so good though it’s expensive.
Another one was my lovely 13 year old female Shih Tzu female that I brought to them for a neck sprain check and died after 3 weeks, I suspect the medication they inject might have trigger the mammary cancer and took her away…
The mammary lump the size of two small apples appeared after a week, which I did not see any lumps at all before that. The doctor Angeline Tan who seen her that time, did an X-ray, blood test that took 3 hours believe it or not! With some new trainees! Up till today, I still think that their medication caused the death of my beloved dog, which brought her down withing 3 weeks.
I heard that Angeline was no longer with ARC, a relief to hear that.
Dr; Jean Paul, an experienced vet and the owner of ARC, so so I would say.
He did not give any checks during consultation, never ask and never never do anything. I don’t see why we should pay $68.00 for his consultation!?
Dr. Sabine Bozon is a good, she is very caring towards my dog when doing the ultrasound and ECG. My survived male Shih Tzu is still seeing her, though I have to pay $400 for that, that’s well worth, she’s a good vet.
I went to Island Vet at jurong. Their website is http://www.ivc.com.sg You may ask for Dr Tham. Hope that your furkids is fine.
Hi,
May I know which clinic did you bring your cat to after ARC? I just went there, waited for 2 hours and it cost me a leg (800++) for blood test and ultrasound. I still have to go back there for allergy test and such. I do want 2nd opinion. Thanks.