Head's Up!

Took my doggie in to Ladron's yesterday for an elusive diagnosis I knew I could get from them. Because they are the best! Very good diagnosticians.

Doggie's exam went well, consult went well, diagnosis went well, blood draw went well. . .every thing went well until I got the bill. The consult was 300, the meds were 150, and the labs were 1,800 pesos! My bad, when he said
'we could do labs to see how her liver and kidney's are working', she's 12, I didn't ask exactly how much those labs would cost.

So, be advised, the labs there are EXPENSIVE.

The Ladron's can be very expensive. The "Head's Up!" is well-warranted.

We continue to shop for a vet, and hope our previous vet, who was spectacular, returns to the area.

(Maybe you guys could take the bitch-slapping of each other to a different thread. As all of you know, there is no shortage of opportunities available here.)

Si, Rosa (lol), I continue to shop around too. I had first gone to see Dr. Daniel, whom I like a lot, but he wasn't there.

I have big hopes for him. He's nice, caring, smart, and is trying to build his practice and business. He's recently bought the franchise, xray equipment, and rented a house down here (lives in Guad now) in order to be more available.

I think he could fill the gap when he gets going.

johninajijic wrote:

Rosa Venus wrote:The Ladron's can be very expensive. The "Head's Up!" is well-warranted.

We continue to shop for a vet, and hope our previous vet, who was spectacular, returns to the area.

(Maybe you guys could take the bitch-slapping of each other to a different thread. As all of you know, there is no shortage of opportunities available here.)

Very expensive would be minimalizing it. There are many other good vets at Lakeside.

John, like who?

Trailrunner - Dr. Medelos. he's on the back street that runs behind El Torito heading West. My Mexican PT has taken his dogs to him for over 30 years. My neighbor Micky, whom CBob rents from takes her dog there.

Ok, that's one I don't know. Thanks.

You may wish to try Dr. Erik Sanabria Cervantes at his clinic named "The Little Doctor" in Chapala. His phone number is 765-3951 and his address is Juarez #549. Juarez is the street behind the mercado and his office is directly behind the back entrance and he speaks perfect Spanish.

A few years ago one of our cats seemed close to death late one Saturday afternoon so we called Dr. Eric. He came over, black bag in hand, diagnosed and gave the cat a shot. Then he returned Sunday afternoon to give the cat another shot. On Monday he stopped by to check the cats vitals, gave us some pills and a bill for 300 pesos. He is good and inexpensive and everyone we know recommends him.

He also feeds the street dogs in the morning and tends to their needs. Nice guy that Dr. Eric.

johninajijic wrote:Trailrunner - Dr. Medelos. he's on the back street that runs behind El Torito heading West. My Mexican PT has taken his dogs to him for over 30 years. My neighbor Micky, whom CBob rents from takes her dog there.

That would be Dr. Jesús Medeles, and he has moved twice since the el torito location. Not only a great vet but a super person. He came to put our lovely girl to sleep, who you now see as my avatar. Afterwards, he stayed for an hour playing my husband's guitar in memory, very beautifully I might add.

His entire family are musicians, and my technics piano, had also died, sort of. Jesús asked me if I wanted to sell it, my answer no, but I'll give it away.

Yesterday my husband found me a used technics, Jesús got his piano, and I got mine. His friend, our contractor, did the delivery service.

Phone: 766-1009. Now on Emiliano Zapata, near the Ajijic clinic.

All's well that ends well.

I can not recommend anyone here more than Jesús. There are no better vets IMO. Realistic, compassionate and very caring. Our doggie loved him, and he loved her. She was his model for an advertisement he did some years back.

Good luck trailrunner. P.M. me if you need more info.

-> Trailrunner: Who is Dr. Daniel....and where? We have a one year plus two month old "puppy" and will need a long-term provider.

(Oh wow. I posted this message earlier, and am now editing it. I see some amazing things about the vets I'm referring to below. Thanks, people!)

Dr. Medelos, who johninajijic refers to, is really close to where we live. We will have to check this vet out, also.

Dr. Erik (spelling?) in Chapala behind the public market is also on our short list. Good experience there once, but it was just a rabies vaccination. Very caring and attentive.

Bob, I remember you telling me that story. That's a great vet.

As to Trailrunner's OP, I personally appreciate the tip and next time I am at Ladronnes with any of my 3 guys, if labs are recommended I will ask what the price is.

My personal experience with them is several visits, good care, reasonable consult fees and reasonable x-ray prices. I didn't have any lab work done at the time.

And if somebody finds a good vet like Bob has for his cat, sharing the contact info is doing everyone a favor. I'll still continue with Ladronnes until I have an issue with them.

And John, I don't believe for a minute that the charge was because she's a gringo and perceived to have money. I may be naive but I don't believe that for a moment.

Ummmm. Returning to the OP:

Raq! Thank you so much. I'd forgotten about him and for years here oldtimers have quietly recommended him. I will go there. Thanks again. Please, tho, can you give me a better direction? Is he where Zavalos used to be? Do you go up the hill from the Ajijic Clinic? Also, eRaq, is he a good diagnostician and does he have equipment???

Rosa! We may have found what we were looking for in Dr. Medeles. Dr. Daniel Borrego is the vet who now owns the pet store next to Soriana. He is another option but he has to be a little more available.

RB! Thanks for the Dr. Erik recommendation. He is a nice guy.

We took our previous cat to the Ladrons and they were able to diagnose a very difficult, and unfortunately chronic problem, and treat it such that she did very well for a long time before she passed away.

Although we noticed that they had increased their fees dramatically not too long after we arrived 4.5 years ago, we stuck with them because of the great job they did with our previous cat.

However, with Max, the fellow whose picture is my avatar, they made a major error and while doing so, hit us with some really high and questionable charges. They claimed he had a heart condition and ran all these expensive, and inconclusive tests, for what turned out to be a severe hairball problem. Max actually managed to get rid of that himself and thus alerted, we've changed his diet and give him supplements to prevent a return. We've decided to look around for his next Vet visit, for his annual shots, and may give Dr. Pepe a try.

Just to reiterate. . .

I think highly of the Ladrons medical abilities. They've been good - over the top, in some cases - to me over the years and I trusted them. They saved my last dog from erlichiosis (sp?) and gave us another couple of years together. They did make a bad dx about mange once and soon all 3 of us had it. But over all they are really good vets and all medical people make mistakes.

My problem is I was never told what it would cost for the lab test beforehand and therefore could not make a decision whether or not to have it done without having all the facts. That's all. And I take responsibility for not asking but I trusted that they wouldn't do what they did. My bad.

And, that's why I'm telling you! Someone has to.

Hello Trailrunner,

My experience with Dr. Ladron has been wonderful. I believe he saved my dog's life. He saw us as an emergency at 7:00AM and called us at our home to arrange that meeting. When we got to the clinic I told him that I did not want any heroic measures and that I would prefer to keep the cost to around 1000 peseo max. He said not to worry and proceeded to run tests, do diagnostics and administer medication and my dog fully recovered. The bill was 800 pesos.

You are correct in admitting that you were remiss in not asking the cost ahead of time. However, I feel you also should have contacted other vets to get their price before posting this thread to be fair to Ladrone. Do you know for a fact that Ladrone is more expensive or were you just venting ?

Rosa Venus wrote:The Ladron's can be very expensive. The "Head's Up!" is well-warranted.

We continue to shop for a vet, and hope our previous vet, who was spectacular, returns to the area.

(Maybe you guys could take the bitch-slapping of each other to a different thread. As all of you know, there is no shortage of opportunities available here.)

To this I can only say YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! New to the area 7 years ago, we needed a vet for our German Shepard, rescued from Anita's. She had a chronic skin condition and a foul odor. We checked MexConnect and read the same BS about Ladron, so we avoided him.

The first vet who has left the area for Guadalajara after threats of kidnapping blew the diagnosis. At LCS, a vet happened to walk by, noticed the odor, and prescribed another course of treatment....as with the four subsequent vets we went to, some improvement would occur, but only for a short period. They all treated for a different diagnosis....topical, internal parasites, virus, diet, you name it. Out of desperation, we finally took her to Dr. Ladron. He did some lab tests & discovered an E-coli bacteria plus another problem usually found in a cow udder! He perscribed meds, and within 2 days the odor was gone. She is still under treatment, but because we had gone 6 years using other vets (some of who I think got their degrees at Hogwarts), the problem is going to take time to cure.

Yes, he's not cheap, but we would have been better off if we had gone to him in the first place. As to the cost of the lab work, how many tests needed to be done? Don't some types of tests cost more than others? Did the work have to be sent off to Guadalajara?....Throwing out a total number doesn't really tell us much.

If his prices are so out of line, why is his waiting room usually full?

Hi 12Oaks. I think if you read my posts on this topic you'll be able to answer your own question.

TRUCK. You're preaching to the choir. They are the best. The lab test was done in-house with their new equipment (I was told it was a 30,000 US piece of equipment) and the results were printed on about 3 inches of paper and included about a dozen values and was ready in about 5 minutes.

I thought we would be only testing liver and kidney function as that is what was mentioned and I had also told him of a recent negative diabetes test that didn't need to be repeated. Didn't turn out that way, turned out to be a complete blood count far as I could tell including, but not limited to, liver, kidney, and blood sugar for diabetes.

The waiting room was not full. The first day was a woman picking up a cat and the next morning when I had to bring the remainder of the money there were 2 pts.

Trailrunner wrote:Ummmm. Returning to the OP:

Raq! Thank you so much. I'd forgotten about him and for years here oldtimers have quietly recommended him. I will go there. Thanks again. Please, tho, can you give me a better direction? Is he where Zavalos used to be? Do you go up the hill from the Ajijic Clinic? Also, eRaq, is he a good diagnostician and does he have equipment???

Rosa! We may have found what we were looking for in Dr. Medeles. Dr. Daniel Borrego is the vet who now owns the pet store next to Soriana. He is another option but he has to be a little more available.

RB! Thanks for the Dr. Erik recommendation. He is a nice guy.

Trailrunner, you turn north at the Ajijic clinic, pass the Zavalo clinic, which appears to be operating. Go up two blocks and turn left. Cross one street and they are on the right side, or north side. Blue door with a sign on it. Medeles family. Just ask in the area if you get lost. Just a great vet, and a very fine person. Our dog, who was a large retriever, half lab, half golden, was 12 and a half, far past the life span normally given for these dogs. The only vet I trusted for her was Jesús. Who even came to our house at midnight when there was an emergency some years ago.

The Ladrons have an expensive clinic, and offer treatment not normally available here. They are expensive. When our dog was young she had a benign epulis on the side of her mouth, they recommended chemotherapy which we declined. Turned out it wasn't necessary, but they could have just been a little over cautious, who knows. I just changed vets, and only went to Luz, when necessary. She is also a very good vet, sadly no longer here.

HI again Trailrunner.

I reread your postings and didn't see where you had obtained prices from other vets and posted them here. Did I miss something ?

Thanks mucho E-raq. I did take a ride over to the area today and located it. It took me a couple of go'rounds tho.
Yes, Dr. Zavalo is still there.

I'm really looking forward to meeting him and the family. Who knows, maybe he even knows someone who can fix my guitar!

Thanks again.

Trailrunner wrote:Thanks mucho E-raq. I did take a ride over to the area today and located it. It took me a couple of go'rounds tho.
Yes, Dr. Zavalo is still there.

I'm really looking forward to meeting him and the family. Who knows, maybe he even knows someone who can fix my guitar!

Thanks again.

Well, before his serenade to our dog, he fixed my husband's guitar. Replaced a string and tuned it. Good luck, nothing fancy in his clinic, but he knows his stuff, and if he doesn't know something he'll call in an actual specialist unlike some other "professionals" in the area.

johninajijic wrote:Trailrunner - Dr. Medelos. he's on the back street that runs behind El Torito heading West. My Mexican PT has taken his dogs to him for over 30 years. My neighbor Micky, whom CBob rents from takes her dog there.

He is not located there any more. He sold the house and has moved. I believe he is in Ajijic somewhere on the mountain side of the carraterra.

I go to Memo on Constitution if it's not too complicated. He has no blood lab to do that kind of testing. But I go to Dr. Baron in Guadalajara if it's anything serious and needs a blood draw. He is about half to 1/3 the price of Ladron's. He was Dr. Perez's professor and she sent me to him when my lab had a problem that Ladron's couldn't fix and Luz said she was too new - she had just started practice. Dr. Baron fixed the problem in one surgery and she has been perfect since.

Ladron's make as many misdiagnosis as the others, they just charge more for them. There is an excellent vet in Guadalajara who is head of veterinary medecine at the university. Many people have switched to him.
I lost both my fur babies 6 and 7 months ago, I had used Dr. Medeles for the 11 1/2 years I had them. I was very happy with his service and he was always available when there was an emergency, once at 11:00 P.M.

[quote="shana"]Ladron's make as many misdiagnosis as the others, they just charge more for them. quote]

An accusation without substantiation. I think I made the case for them above when I pointed out 6 other vets blew the diagnosis...Hector was the only one to get it right.

Not sure I'd do business with someone named "Ladron".

viajero wrote:Not sure I'd do business with someone named "Ladron".

I've been wondering how long that one would take.