Medivet Carterton

I would strongly warn others about BOAS surgery with Will Knobel at Medivet. He over-promised the outcome and failed in his professional duty to disclose risks — admitting he only told us about the risk of death. His advice was based on his own claimed “100% success rate,” not balanced or evidence-based information. We paid for a BOAS consultation, but were not told about referral options, CT scans, or the benefits of seeing a specialist. Only after the failed surgery did he describe his service as an “affordable alternative” — none of this was explained beforehand. This is a clear lack of informed consent. At the consultation, Mr Knobel told us a story to reassure us: that he had performed this surgery on another dog, and it became so quiet afterwards that "the owner had to check it was still alive." This gave us a completely misleading and unrealistic view of the procedure. In reality, he failed to perform an X-ray clearly listed in the paperwork and included in the price — a breach of the agreed service and diagnostic protocol. He admitted to the specialist afterwards that he may not have removed enough tissue. The specialist later confirmed that this had caused a “snake tongue” of tissue to form, which was being sucked into my dog’s airway and causing him to suffocate after surgery. We had to seek urgent specialist corrective surgery. Mr Knobel offered a partial refund for the “throat work” but still wanted to charge for the nose. However, the specialist later confirmed that my dog’s nostrils remained narrow after the first surgery — meaning this work was also incomplete and did not achieve the result that had been implied. Post-op, my dog vomited continuously. Mr Knobel dismissed this as an anaesthetic reaction — even though vomiting after BOAS is dangerous and should be proactively managed. He did not prescribe anti-sickness medication for two weeks, by which time my dog had developed severe oesophagitis — again, a failure in post-operative care. The Medivet health plan is also concerning. At every “free” 6-month check, BOAS surgery was heavily promoted to us — despite us never raising concerns about my dog’s breathing. This felt more like a sales tactic than a genuine clinical recommendation. In my view, this case involved poor clinical judgement, substandard surgical care, and failure to obtain proper informed consent — all serious breaches of professional standards. My dog was made worse by this surgery and suffered unnecessarily. Please be extremely cautious — I hope this review helps others avoid the same experience.