North College Road Animal Hospital

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We have a 7 year old dog named Ali who all of a sudden on 11/4/13 started having grand mal seizures and we rushed her to the Emergency and Trauma Hospital. They confirmed that Ali was having grand mal seizures and put her on Phenobarbital which stopped and stabilized the seizures. They suspected that based on her age and symptoms that she may have either a brain tumor or some other type of neurological disorder.

The next day we took her to our regular vet, North College Rd. Animal Hospital, for further observation. Dr. Nusbaum said her symptoms were due to her having an enlarged heart. Her advice was to completely flush out the Phenobarbital and put Ali on a heart medication called Vetmedin. My wife and I were very confused at this point and didn't know what to do because we were getting two completely different diagnoses. Dr. Nusbaum said that the Trauma Hospital didn’t have all of the history and lab results that she had and therefore questioned their diagnosis. She was insinuating that Ali was having "syncope" or “fainting" episodes and coughing; symptoms which Ali was having neither of. There is a big and noticeable difference between fainting and grand mal seizures.

My wife and I made the decision to stick to the Hospital’s advice and keep her on the Phenobarbital. When we went to pick Ali up from our vet and informed them of our decision, they had me sign a release form that said we were denying care for our dog and not doing what was in Ali's best interest. We regret signing that, because just the opposite is true. We would do anything, no matter what, in the best interest of our dog. We then decided to change vets and went to Wilmington Animal Healthcare and asked them their opinion. After reviewing the reports from both, they agreed with the Trauma Hospital and said that Ali should definitely stay on the Phenobarbital, just as the Trauma Hospital said, and they did not believe that the enlarged heart was the root cause of the grand mal seizures.

My wife and I are now relieved and glad that we did not listen to Dr Nusbuam's advice. Since she’s been on the Phenobarbital, she has been doing great and acts completely normal. I know she is not cured and still could have seizures in the future, but the medicine is working. Dr. Nusbaum does care, and I believe she tries to give your pet the best care possible, but in this case her advice was dead wrong and I have the documents to prove it. I will say that her staff are very nice and have always treated us well. My advice to her would be to listen to her clients a little more closely and at least consider other professional opinions so as not to lose a long time and loyal client as myself or even worse, possibly lose a family member due to a missed diagnosis.

In response to the review dated 10-18-2012, there must be clarification concerning this review. We did perform veterinary services for their family pet including other veterinary services along with dental cleaning. Their family pet was released to the owner following the veterinary services in good faith. Days following the family pet's visit, her daughter was traveling in their car with their family pet. Their daughter's car was struck by another car resulting in the family pet hitting her mouth along the dashboard. She informed us that her family pet was involved in an auto accident. She sought veterinary emergency care at a nearby veterinary hospital. Her injuries, very unfortunate, occured from the trauma as a direct result of the motor vehicle accident.

We wish their family pet the best for a quick recovery.

I take both my dog and cat to North College Road Animal Hospital. Beyond the usual shots and checkups, Dr. Nusbaum treated my dog for Parvo and my cat for Bartonella. She also declawed and fixed my cat. She uses technologically advanced treatments, including laser surgery, which makes recovery much quicker and surgeries less painful. Plus, her prices are reasonable and the staff is friendly. I would reccomend them to everyone needing a vet (and I have). Friends have been so impressed by her work that they have switched to her as their primary vetrinarian.