They are very effective in taking customers time and money but the young Mr. Zamorano is trying to run a 24 hour practice that he seems incapable of managing. He has not trained the front office staff in handling customers under stress and his so-called PR reps seem to enjoy personally attacking paying customers who have seen their pets either get worse or die. This may fix itself in a few years by sheer trial, error and the range of customer complaints but let the buyer beware.
Dr. Zamorano, Dr. Rojas, Dr. Ramirez and all the Doctors on staff are the only Veterinarians I trust with my Yorkshire Terrier and 3 Bichon Frise. Dr. Z has saved the life of my Yorkie Paisley and my female Bichon Frise, Winter. Pet Dr. 911 has gone way above and beyond during this COVID-19 Pandemic treating their regular patients as well as treating new patients, walk-ins, patients of other Veterinarians that wouldn't accept walk-ins of their regular patients, much less take on new patients. I have seen and heard clients of other Veterinarians scream and verbally abuse the staff because the wait time was "too long". Seems to me the wait time at your regular Veterinarian's office is "too long" as you are probably still waiting for an appointment. You should feel very grateful that Dr. Zamorano and his staff, risked getting COVID-19 and welcomed your ill pet as a walk-in and treating them when your own Veterinarian would not. I am extremely proud and grateful that these caring Veterinarians have cared for my fur-babies since 2015. They put their own lives as well as their family's lives at risk. They are HEROS in my opinion. 10 stars instead of 5 stars would be a better starting point!
I am an Emergency Medicine Provider- someone who has been on the front lines for this pandemic and is very aware of the exhaustion that comes with being on your feet 12 hours without eating, using the restroom or even getting a chance to look at your phone all the while attempting to please patients who are tired of waiting and hungry after 1-2 hours for their non urgent or non emergent complaints. I know what it's like to be exhausted in the middle of a crisis and responsible for everyone at the same time. As such, Dr Zamorano has no excuse for his passive aggression, frequent interruptions, speaking over his patients, lack of attention to detail and the frank lack of medical knowledge (either that or negligence to HPI and care plan, unclear which is first), zero home care instructions he illustrated during my dog Laika's visit.
I pay his paycheck. I help put food on his table that also takes care of his own animals and he chose this public service profession. As such, he owes his patients and their owners the attention he feels his own "South African Boer Goats" would need DURING THEIR TURN IF THEY WAITED PATIENTLY WITHOUT COMPLAINING when vomiting and having just exhibited extremely alarming atypical behavior (she caught a ball, landed, cried out for 20seconds, peed herself and then started limping out of the blue). You owe us that time Dr Zamorano- we pay for it. Cash most of the time too (unlike in my profession). Also, I am you but for humans. Do you think i would bring my dog to the ER and wait there 3 hours for a little sprained wrist? 911 Pet Emergency is for Emergency. You are supposed to think of worst case scenario. Especially with a good story.
Dr Zamorano was polite on the phone, however his lack of attention to the actual history of illness (it was almost like he wanted to combine the complaints and fit it in to the timeline he decided she would be symptomatic for, "around a month, right?" instead of hearing-he likes interrupting and speaking over the patient), substandard medical knowledge ("I see a little flattening of the shoulder, could be something there. I don't really feel like we need to send it to the radiologist for a formal read... you know, it could be one of those things humans hurt sometimes around their shoulder, what's it called again?" Me (starting to get concerned): "the rotator cuff??" Dr Zamorano: "Yes! something like that..."), lack of attention to detail (2 concerns: obstruction vs gastritis from frequent vomiting and significant injury after a rollover MVC in which my own spine, femur, ribs, and sternum were broken- I told him the vet work up in Dallas she had had and that if she started vomiting again was recommended to come in the ED for an ultrasound or set it up as an outpatient- he dismissed the concerns of the prior vet and myself after seeing her once for 10 minutes- did not recommend any follow up, any diet, home care or outpatient vets for possible further evaluation).
For pain, he tried to give her an NSAID- If one of the chief complaints is vomiting, then gastritis, ulcer, bloat are all on differential to consider and he could have killed my dog by giving her an ulcer or worsening the one she had after not even knowing what a rotator cuff was with meloxicam. When I calmly said I think I would prefer to give her something different since vomiting is one of my concerns and did not want to worsen and ulcer or gastritis.
Dr Zamorano actually suggested the abnormality he saw on xray could be "dysplasia" in her shoulder. This irked me for the following reasons:
Yes, she is a German Shepherd but she's not even 3 years old. Her mother was hip certified and her father never had any issues. She does not come from a breeder- one time litter from co worker in New York and had just started becoming symptomatic after a high velocity rollover car accident in which along with my own broken body, I myself herniated 4 discs. Tell my how dysplasia is more likely than injury from accident in this particular patient? And in her shoulder? I guess it happens but GSD usually get them in the hips first and I am not even a vet (read it in the book I have on GSD). He should have said "I can't be sure, we should probably send it for a formal read to be safe given your concerns and given the significant accident" rather than dismissing whatever the abnormality was he could not diagnose after a significant mechanism. Another good one would have been "we can explore other imaging options or refer you to someone who would be able to although this may be expensive."
No return precautions. No "look out for," no recommendations on how what signs would be reassuring even if she was yelping, etc. Ie, no piece of mind after I left there- Just an emptier wallet, some xrays I can now show another veterinarian (suggestive of a HERNIATED DISC DR ZAMORANO IF YOU ARE READING THIS), serious concern regarding Dr Zamorano's medical making decision skills and indignation that I did not get the care that I work my own butt off to provide my patients when they come into my ER.
I guess did learn one thing: Never ever let this man see my dog again. I am sure the rest of the vets at that 911 pet center are wonderful but it would take a lot for me to go back there given my experience with this man.
We did not see Dr. Zamorano, but another Vet in his practice Pet Emergency 911. These comments are directed at that clinic.
My cat was very sick; this was the only facility that could see him immediately; we were staying in Port Isabel.
The clinic is chaotic; I was told to just stop in; apparently I could have made an appointment. After perhaps 2 hours after signing in, a tech came and took our cat. It was another hour before someone called to discuss his issues. Then another hour plus for a tech to come out to our car and explain that they had no ide what the problem is and that they needed to do blood work. With an hour drive back to Port Isabel, we decided the clinic should keep him overnight, do the blood work and whatever needed to bring down his temp.
I called at 8 the next morning to let them know we needed a 1pm pick-up and they agreed. We finally got our cat at 2, after a lot of work on my part. We were given 6 meds that I could not get our cat to take. We received a document for administering the meds; we received NO written information about procedures run, conclusions reached. The clinic is so crowded and chaotic, this is not a surprise; however for $1100, I certainly expected better.
I scheduled a follow-up appointment with our regular vet, gave her the clinic info; she contacted the clinic and they gave her blood test results and the meds list; they would not provide a complete transcript of the visit. Our cat has not improved and I am seeing our regular vet tomorrow morning. You are in TX/I am in CO. I am a retired accountant certainly familiar with client confidentiality. I see no reason your staff could not have emailed me a release to sign
