Animal Clinic of Bensonhurst

By far, the worst vet experience I’ve ever had. Probably one of the most terrifying experience when worrying about a sick pet.
Dr. Gordon was my only option after my bird suffered a seizure later in the afternoon. My regular avian vet was on vacation and his stand in left early that day. I frantically looked for an avian vet that was close by because my green cheek conure looked like he was about to die.
I called Dr. Gordon’s office and made an emergency appointment with him.
I rushed to the office holding my severely weakened bird in my hands while he struggled to stay awake. I get in the office and see his front desk assistant who looks like he hates his job. After this experience I don’t blame him.
The doctor is in the room with his pets. He has two old, smelly, ridiculous looking dogs who he allows into the room while he’s working with patients.
I was completely shocked when Dr. Gordon holds my bird in his hand and jokingly puts it up to his dogs mouth taunting ‘Are you hungry?“
This is the pet bird I’ve had for the last 11 years and this jerk is sitting here as my bird looks to be dying making believe he’s going to allow his awful dogs to eat my bird.
After some time, he asks whats wrong. I tell him and ask what my options are. He strongly pushes for me to euthanize my bird without throughly looking him over. This was pushed on me multiple times. Many of those times he was either smiling or chuckling. Is this guy crazy? Senile?
Being scared and depressed that my bird was sick and appeared to be dying, I thought that the humane thing would be to put him down. After some thought outside of the exam room, I was about to tell him to do it. Thankfully my brother was with me and was level headed. He saved my birds life that day. He helped me come to the decision to take the bird home that night and see how things work out by morning.
The bird is at full strength now and is livelier than ever. This doctor, without even thoroughly examining my bird, was about to tell me my best option was to kill the bird.
Please, don’t support this guy. He deserves to go out of business.

I am SO angry and concerned right now about my Robo named Q-​Tip.
Roborovskis are sometimes considered «exotic pets» by vets simply because they don’t have the medical training necessary to treat them properly and safely. Robos are also very prone to stress, and if stressed just enough, they can die from it– especially if already ill. Noise, smells, temperature, manhandling, etc. can all stress her out, so I called all the closest places and went to the closest vet I could that said they treat robos. Unfortunately, they were only the third closest to me, and I had to take a bus to get there, which I wanted to avoid for her safety.
Got there, and the man took us in the back observation room– with a bunch of barking, leaping dogs, knowing very well I had a sick hamster in my pouch. At this point, I was surprised, but I knew Q-​Tip generally does perfectly fine with other animals, including Yorkies like those, in the room, so I brushed it off. I got her out of my pouch in her carrying case, and he asked, after reading the sheet that said «Roborovski Dwarf Hamster» on it, what type of animal I had. I told him I have a Robo dwarf, and he replied, «What’s that?»
He didn’t know what a dwarf hamster was; he didn’t know they’re separate species from Syrians. He didn’t know Syrian hamsters and teddy bear hamsters are the same thing. He didn’t know her size meant she was a different species. He thought her size and coloring meant she was a small Syrian hamster.
I asked if he’d be able to treat her because if you don’t even know the basics, then how are you supposed to treat her properly? He looked at me all offended and said that it wouldn’t be any different– that a hamster is a hamster (NOT TRUE). He also belittled me and said that he didn’t think there were any «what do you call it– a– a robo?» hamster vet specialists.
I was infuriated. His tone was condescending; his behavior was disgusting. But I didn’t want to force Q-​Tip to wait until Saturday or later for treatment if we could find a better vet and get a car to go see one, and I know how very quickly Robos can deteriorate in their condition, and I had just put her through a bunch of stress getting there, so I bit my tongue and just let him see her.
He asked if she bites, and I said that no, she’s very tame and calm, and she reacts very well to strangers. To which he used a towel to grab her roughly, manhandling her poor, tiny body making her squirm in discomfort and fear until I got angry and took her back from him. He asked me to hold her still, as though it would be difficult, and I simply put her in my hand like I always do, and she sat very still and patiently in my hand. She trusts me not to hurt her like this jerk.
Then he kept trying to look in her tiny ear by grabbing at it roughly with his huge fingers. Obviously, she didn’t respond well to that, and I had to help again– just by doing the decent thing and being careful with and considerate of her. And she let me do it NO PROBLEM. Then he looked in her ear and found signs of an ear infection, likely from fungus, but perhaps from bacteria.
He offered me two choices of medication, belittling me for asking questions every single time because I wanted to make sure I understood the consequences and because I asked if it was safe for her size. (The dosage he had was for cats and dogs, but she’s only two inches long– too high a dosage, and it could kill her or leave her badly hurt.) He got all offended, and I decided I would take the medication and call a separate vet when I got out to confirm its safety since I was already going to be paying for the visit and had her put through all this already.
Then he wanted to clip the fur around her ears because HE had a hard time with it. He pointed at a set of trimmers that were TWICE as big as my hamster’s ENTIRE body, and I said no. I didn’t think it was necessary to apply the medication; I didn’t think it was necessary to stress her like that when I knew I would be able to apply the medication easily with her fur still there; and I didn’t think it was necessary to risk him shearing off her delicate ear with as little care as he did examining her.
He got angry, but he applied the medication to both ears, and he told me that I would need another person to help me apply the medicine (I don’t because my hamster isn’t terrified of me treating her so badly), then I paid, and I left. Now I’m waiting to hear back from a different vet that actually does handle Robos to confirm her safety. Disgusting. Stay AWAY from this incompetent, callous jerk if you have small pets– heck, any pets.

!!!THE WORST VET EVER!!!
I was waiting in the other room and all Dr Gordon was doing was complaining about spending $ 8 for lunch.
Another friend of mine said instead of examining their dog he was asking what color jaguar to buy.
He is way over priced
He talks like he is still in the first grade or that he is retarded
I asked him if he know anyone looking to put up a dog for adoption and he said that I should buy a dog instead of adopting???
He new specialty is tail docking and ear cropping (two practices that should be outlawed)
I wouldn’t wipe my a** with him

I took my sick bird to this doctor. The bird was not well as we stood there and watched him examine the bird it died in his hands. We were so upset and after we left we both mentioned that we felt that he had over handled the bird squeezing it in his hands excessively. HE is the WORST vet I have ever been to. He even charged me $ 70 after killing my bird!

So we used to go here for years and years, and as of the past two-​three years, Dr. Gordon has decided it is in your pets interests to
1– Not take any vital signs whatsoever.
2– not palpate you pet’s internal organs etc
3– Not address your pet by its name, but by «it.»
I’ve had the extremely stressing scenario where my cat was obviously sick, but Dr. Gordon did not think it necessary to do a blood test to ascertain why. Well I had to bring my cat back to him, and literally forced him into taking blood. («Dr. Gordon, I want to spend $ 200+ on blood tests!» «No Vito, your cat doesn’t need them.» «Well Doc, what’s wrong?» «I don’t know.» Take a blood sample and find out.
The other times I’ve been there, the female Dr. has been anything but helpful, in fact she has been rude and completely off-​putting about anything. No rapport, either with me, or more importantly with my pets.
Turns out my cat had kidney failure. But the nerve that I had to partake in the differential diagnosis process, when I’m paying him to do that. Never again. I go to Animal Kind from now on.