I’ve taken my cat to Blum Animal Hospital for many years.  Recently they seem to have taken a turn for the worse.  Two examples, a couple of years ago my cat had a tooth pulled a harrowing experience I’m sure for her  but also for me.  I was put off when I got home with my cat and noticed they left a plastic band around her leg so close I couldn’t cut it off, so I had to turn right back and take her back to Blum so they could take it off.  So, they apologized and I decided to give them another chance.  Well, here’s incident number two, just weeks ago I took my cat there for an examination because she had been losing a lot of weight (i wish i had that problem) and was about to put her on the examining table when I saw a little worm like creature crawl on the table.  She will go back there no more!

Following is my email to them and then their response to me.

I brought my cat, _______, in for an examination with Dr. _______ this weeks and I have high compliments for her as well as the person who was assisting her.  However, I was appalled when I saw a small worm like insect that was crawling on the examination table where my cat was put.  It should be standard practice that the examination tables are wiped off/sanitized before new animals are put on them.  Is this a practice at Blum.  My cat came in sick and I feel lucky that I saw this insect (which looked like some parasitic worm) before it had a chance to latch on to my pet.

Please let me know what you do to sanitize your rooms so I can feel safe to bring my cat back for future treatments.

Their response:

Dear Marla,
I am shocked at your experience! Before any animal is placed on an exam table, it is thoroughly cleaned with a product called “Roccal”. This disinfectant has a strong killing power against bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens. This is similar to what is used in human hospitals, but is safe for use around animals.

I spoke with the assistant that worked with you and “Little Cat” the time of your appointment. She assures me that she cleaned the exam room table just prior to you and “Little Cat” being brought into the exam room. This is a set standard for all assistants to complete prior to escorting a client to an exam room.

She also said she showed this “worm” to Dr. Kraemer and Dr. Kraemer said it was some kind of caterpillar or silk worm. So, I assure you it was not some parasitic worm that could have hurt “Little Cat”. However, the assistant and I are mystified (and horrified) how this caterpillar would have appeared on the exam table.

You can be reassured that we are a very clean facility and have received the highest honor from the American Animal Hospital Association. We must undergo regular inspections to insure we meet the strictest standards for superior patient care in more than 900 areas, facility maintenance and cleanliness being two of them.

I hope you feel confident in our staff, care and lastly, facility. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at the number below.

Sincerely,

Tania Hayes
Hospital Administrator
Blum Animal Hospital

I found myself in an awkward position the other week. The front part of my car decided to fall off.  I’m talking bumper and headlights basically hanging on by a wire.

I was located in Edgewater are and called Triple A.  Lordy, all they could come up with was a repair shop in skokie, but then what would you expect when their call center is in Nebraska or somewhere like that and the customer service agent admits to you she doesn’t know how to use the internet.  Luckily, my friend recalled seeing an auto body shop around the corner on Catalpa, Northshore Auto Works.  Since it was after 6:00pm on a Friday they were closed, but they called me back first thing Saturday morning.  They told me not to call Triple AAA for the tow that maybe they could tie things together and drive it in.  Sure enough that’s what they did and they saved me a tow!

They fixed the car.  They cleaned the car.  They checked my engine light and made the appropriate adjustments and didn’t charge excessively to do those things.  They did it a friendly and caring manner.  I was most surprised at their response when I advised I wanted to take all my future car repairs to them.  They said if you get regular oil changes on your car you should have it problem free for a long time.  How’s that for honesty.  Especially since other places I’ve gone to have made up fictitious problems.

It’s obvious these folks take pride in what they do and care about their customers!

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