Ian L.
WINTER GARDEN PET PARADISE: DONT BOARD SENIOR DOGS HERE.
This place is not good for senior dogs. Avoid it for boarding if you have a senior dog. We boarded our 3 Shih Tzu’s on October 8th, late afternoon and collected them on October 16th in the morning. During that time, we communicated by email and they confirmed that all dogs were doing great, except that all 3 had diarrhea, to which they stated that they would feed them pumpkin. We choose this place as it has an onsite Veterinarian. Plus, we provided our own pet food to avoid any problems. Our senior dog was in great shape prior to boarding. Upon collection on the morning of October 16th, our senior dog had clearly lost weight, her ribs were visible, she was lethargic, her eyes were closed stuck with eye discharge and she was covered in diarrhea. We took her to the vet on the 17th and after weighing her she was 8 pounds. Prior to boarding, she was 10.06 pounds, over a 20% weight loss in 8 days. Her primary vet reported on the general workup form that it was due to “suspected acute kidney injury due to poss toxin/pathogen exposure” She was transferred from her primary vet to UF in Gainesville and spent 3 days in there. She had elevated kidney levels, along with a UTI. I advised Pet Paradise that I was not happy about the treatment received on October 18th and they asked us to forward the blood work results, which I did on October 19th, since then, they have gone silent. They have not had the decency to follow up, so I feel that this boarding facility does not really care about the animals, they only care about the $$. Our dog had the Librela injection on October 3rd which was her 4th injection, so I understand her condition could have been an adverse effect. (search online if your pet is having these injections) HOWEVER, they failed to notice her dramatic weight loss, ensure she was eating, drinking and take care of her to an acceptable standard. They even have an onsite vet, to which we approved treatment if needed on the initial paperwork, yet again they failed to take proper care of her. In my opinion, considering what happened to my senior dog. Avoid this place if you care for your pets.