North Ogden Animal Hospital

1580 N Washington Blvd
Ogden, UT 84404

(801) 782-4401

northogdenanimalhospital.com

Our little chihuahua/terrier mix had a broken femur on her right hind leg, the vet sent us home with our broken dog and no splint on the leg.  We needed to find someone almost immediately to get her treated, as the vet sent us home without proper long term care.

We live in Logan, and were initially referred to a veterinary orthopedic surgeon in Salt Lake City.  We were quoted $1200 for her surgery via the intial vet, which was completely FALSE.  Upon calling Dr. Smith (the surgeon in SLC), we were informed that her surgery would cost anywhere from $2500-$5000, when he didn't even see the xrays yet.  That was just outrageous and we were sorely tempted to just have the leg amputated due to cost.  Dr. Smith even told me that he was going on a cruise and could not do the surgery until either Monday or Tues.  That is over 6 days from the initial injury date, and absolutely insane to make a dog wait that long while in massive pain.

I called around 45 different vet clinics and animal hospitals (all the way from Northern Utah down to Midvale).  Each one told me the same thing: they would most likely refer me back to Dr. Smith, OR that they could try to do the surgery but no promises on not referring me back to Dr. Smith.

Finally, I spoke with Sandy at North Ogden Animal Hospital (still a long drive, but worth it if they can do the surgery and save my dog's leg).  She gave me a quote of $1600 to pin, or $2000 to plate the leg.  (Still, a LOT cheaper then Dr. Smith.)  She took the time to even get Dr. Evans on the phone with me to figure out an almost exact cost, and IF he could do the surgery (without the original xrays).  They scheduled me the very NEXT DAY!!!  Wow!  Dr. Evans told me that because my puppy's leg was NOT splinted, that she was in dire need of emergency care.

I am on bedrest due to SPD during my pregnancy.  My doctor has informed me to not even drive longer then 5 minutes.  Dr. Evans completely understood and worked with my brother to get the proper care/updates.  (This is also why SLC was out of the question)  Even during a blizzard, Dr. Evans worked in surgery on my puppy and went beyond what he needed to do.  He called me and talked to me at length about our options before even suggesting anything.

He isn't a fan of amputation, but suggested it upon seeing the cost and the injury.  However, I opted to pay $2300 to get the plates put in and they did the surgery.  I got the call an hour ago that my baby is out of surgery, and will be fully functional in 6-8 weeks.  He even spent an additional 30 minutes joking around on the phone with me, and informed me that the price might be LESS then $2300.  He told me that because the surgery was VERY costly (and not at all difficult) that he tried to save me money as best as he could.  (They accept Care Credit)

My baby comes home tomorrow.  Three total days after the injury.  I couldn't ask for a better vet!!!  This doctor was fantastic!  The entire office was speedy, informative, and fantastic!


Update 11/18/13:  My baby is home now.  The total cost for the surgery was $1990.  WAY cheaper then what even he quoted me for.  He went out of his way to try to save me any money he could, and made sure that I knew I could call him for ANYTHING.  He has even offered us a free amputation if something goes sour.  He answered a lot of questions I had, and even walked me through several "worst case" solutions (so we didn't have to make the drive again).  He even joked with me about even though my baby was completely doped up, that she was still bouncy.  He told me EVERYTHING that happened while she was in their care for that 12 hours (she went potty outside, licked a nurse - who gave her a cute scarf, and she was excited to come home).

My puppy is currently on day 4 of her bedrest, and comes off of it tomorrow.  She will be able to walk for a week, without any jumping still.  After that week is over, we can slowly start to play with her again.  We expect a full recovery in 4-6 weeks.  Stitches will come out after her recovery, but I'm fairly certain we won't need to drive back down there ever again.  He saved me a lot of time, aggravation, and a lot of money!

Oh...and ALL of this was done during a SEVERE winter storm.  The drive was miserable for my brother, but Dr. Evans stayed IN OFFICE during this mini-ice blizzard going on.  He went above and beyond the call of duty.