Combs Veterinary Clinic

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OPEN NOW - Closes at 5:30pm

I've been taking my dogs to Combs for years. The veterinarians are always honest and compassionate, and I feel they have my dog's best interest at heart. Right now they only have one veterinarian on staff, which makes scheduling a bit challenging, but I've not had any issues with it. It seems there are other reviewers complaining about Combs not having emergency services available. This is a clinic not a hospital, so it's unfair to criticize Combs for not being all that you want. They don't have the staff or facility to deal with all animal emergencies, but they certainly work with their clients. Recently they had a dog come in with a broken leg that needed amputating, but the owners wanted to put the animal down instead. Combs offered to take the dog and re-home it, which they did, and they drastically discounted the cost of the surgery. They have my loyalty.

I had been a loyal customer for years and thought highly of them until the day I had an emergency with my dog. I was told they couldn't see her for a week. I took her to another vet and she is being kept over night and on IV's. She would of died if I had waited. She was established at Combs and I know I've spent thousands over the years. Well I'm no longer a customer as of today. They apparently only have 1 veterinarian on staff and when my wife called to complain they told her if you drop the dog off we might be able to squeeze her in but that could take up to 2 days.

We took our kitten to Combs Veterinary Clinic for her first vet visit and our dog for his annual visit a few weeks ago. The staff were very friendly, our bill was $189. I was told that I had to bring my kitten back in three weeks for a booster to one vaccine she received. I brought my kitten back on Saturday and I was shocked with another bill of $98. On the second bill there was a charge of $39 for an "annual exam" for her booster shot. When I called today to ask why I paid for two "annual" exams within thee weeks. The receptionist said that that is the policy of the clinic, to examine the pet again before the booster. I suggested that it would be a better practice to let customers know that they will have to have another checkup at the booster appointment. In my opinion this is not an honest practice and I will be looking for a new vet.

After our dog was hit by a car, We rushed her to the closest vet. It happened to be Combs. When we arrived at 12:30 I was told, "sorry we do not have a vet here until 1:00". We had to wait in the lobby with our dog's broken leg and bleeding. We STILL did not get seen until 1:30.



They told us our dog needed surgery and it would cost 500-750 MAX. We agreed and let her stay the night for surgery. When I picked her up in the morning the bill was 950! I had to apply for a credit card that I did not want because they do NOT take payments.



We will not be returning due to the ridiculous pricing. I called and asked about a rabies shot and they wanted nearly $30!

Stay away from this vet, hidden fees, and a great deal of deception. They tell you everything has been covered then deny your dog refill on medicine saying there is still a extra bill you need to take care of . There excuse is " Oh sorry there must have been a miscommunication. They are all about the money and they get you coming and going.

I merely state the facts of our situation to warn other pet owners. DO NOT take your pets to Combs. We lost our miniature dachshund due to incompetence and negligence of this veterinary office.



During routine blood work, our dog showed signs of having a bladder infection. After weeks of antibiotics and retesting, he had an x-ray performed that showed what was assumed to be two small stones. The vet recommended surgery. During the procedure, stones were not found, but sediment and his bladder was scraped and cleaned. He was stapled up and placed in a recovery cage. We were told everything went well, but hours later we received a call saying he had experienced “significant” bruising and swelling. He was left at the facility overnight – which closes at 5:30PM – and was picked up by us on Saturday AM at 9AM. He was vomiting by 11:3AM and I took him back to Combs. They gave him pain injections and more pills for the weekend. They closed at 1PM and would not reopen until 8AM on Monday.

Our dog was due for a pain pill, but he vomited when I tried to give it to him. I called Combs and the answering machine referred me to seek care in Indy if the request was urgent. I called our dog’s previous vet in our hometown and he recommended taking him there. He mentioned that he felt the incision was placed incorrectly and that our dog had suffered a lot of post-op bleeding and would need fluids. Our dog was admitted at an emergency clinic in Indy for overnight observation. It was found that his pulse was extremely high and his temperature was low. His clotting factors were still not recovering from the surgery and his kidneys were high. He was also extremely dehydrated and that vet said he did not believe the dog received proper fluids post-surgery via IV. He was placed on fluids and overnight observation where his condition improved marginally and he was brought home on Sunday AM with the instruction to contact our normal DVM if his condition didn’t improve in 24 hours.

At 8AM on Monday, Combs saw our dog and noted that his bruising was worse. He also could still not eat/drink/urine on his own. They expressed his bladder, gave him some fluids under the skin, some AD diet canned food and sent us home. His urine was brown and filled with blood. When I called 12 hours later because he still wouldn’t eat/drink/urinate, I was told they could see him tomorrow or I could express the bladder myself.



8:45AM on Tuesday, our dog was seen again. The doctor felt he may have thrown a clot from the bleeding condition she assumed he had and sent us immediately back up to the animal hospital in Indy. He was admitted where they said he was experiencing acute kidney failure. His clotting times were normal. He was dehydrated and his kidneys and urine were severely inflamed. They called for high doses of fluids and constant observation all night with a central line in his neck and a catheter to urine and monitor his output.



We received a call at 3AM that said his stats were dropping. His kidneys were not responding and the fluid was causing his heart rate to drop. We arrived to hold him and spend time with him before having to put him down.



All of this was avoidable in an otherwise healthy dog, which no previous kidney problems. We were told that this low-risk surgery would be fine and in the end, we not only lost our dog but spend nearly $5000 in vet fees.



There are three vets on staff, but no one is on call if you have a question. The front desk can barely answer basic questions and the techs just repeat what the doctors tell them. No one accepts the responsibility for the fact that they made a grave error that compounded into fatality for our dog.

I have nothing but good things to say about this clinic! My mini schnauzer has been going there over a year and they have been pleasant. informantive and very kind! I am always greeted warmly by the desk gals! They even saw him right away when he was bitten by a snake last spring, offering life saving advice over the phone before we could get there!!! I DO reccomend this Clinic to others and will keep taking my Charlie!

This clinic has gone downhill since Dr. Comb's sold it. It's now all about the MONEY. Under the new ownership, the vets come & go (mostly go) & most of the good people who originally worked for Comb's have gone. The owner received veterinary training at a school (outside the US) that has been under investigation for years for animal neglect/cruelty. There was difficulty even getting accredited to practice in the US.

My family and I have been long time Combs Vet Clients. We use to take our dogs to see Dr. Combs when he was working out of his basement. Combs Vet used to be the best place to take your family pet to get the best and most affordable care.....however, it has all changed since Dr. Combs sold his practice. The front desk receptionists have absolutely no customer service skills at all, most of the time you won't even get a Hello from them when you walk in. The vet techs don't explain things well upon leaving and getting meds, you're rushed in and out the door. They have recently stopped giving out an emergency number for after hours. Instead they give you the number to the Indy Animal Hospital. So.... if you have a serious emergency and need to see a Vet right away, you'll have to take your pet up to Indy to get help?!? They have 3 or 4 Vets in that practice and can't rotate an emergency call schedule....... hmmm, I'm sure glad our human doctors take emergency calls, why should Vets be any different. Most other Vet practices in Bloomington have an emergency number. We are no longer clients at combs and have recently started going to another practice in Bloomington and are much much happier!!!

Good first impressions. Unfortunately I feel they lacked accountability. After our dog had a surgery costing nearly five thousand dollars she was unable to hold her food down. After four weeks, three visits, and a dozen phone calls they denied anything was wrong with her. It turns out she had developed a life threatening stricture from the surgery.



At two-three weeks we even found an article about a dog suffering similar to ours because of a stricture from anesthesia and the completely dismissed it. When you spend that kind of money (not to mention the life of your pet) you want your problems to be given very sincere consideration. We could accept the rare complication but we cannot come to terms with how it was handled - a complete denial. That denial nearly cost our dog her life and amounted to thousands of dollars worth in increased medical needs.



This was so much more complicated and involved a third party - referral surgeon. Fortunately the referral clinic recognized the error and has guaranteed our dog all the treatment needed. Sadly Combs was most responsible and they offered nothing - they wouldn't even address our complaints. They seem like nice people but don't except them to demonstrate accountability with the life of your animal and the money you’re willing to put into it.



All they had to do was address the issue and accept that it might have been caused by the surgery – had they done that the referral clinic would have diagnosed and treated the problem for free. Instead we were denied the problem for four weeks and had to spend a lot more for a neutral diagnosis.