VCA Animal HospitalsReviews of vcahospitals.com

The consultation (second opinion) I received did not shed much light on my dog’s condition from what I already knew from my own research or from our primary veterinarian who suggested this referral. Moreover, two previous veterinarians failed to make a correct diagnosis which in the end delayed treatment for our dog. The consultation was expensive $277 given the complexity (not complex) of the issue being consulted on plus additional x-rays with a final bill over $800. I have found that there is not much difference in these specialty clinics. The paradigm for treatment is the same and suggests a “group think” mentality without any creativity, innovation or intellectual curiosity in investigating repurposed drugs. I wonder how many veterinarians actually engage in continuing education to offer patients an alternative to the standard of care: cut it out, radiation and chemo poison. It’s a battle between the somatic mutation theory vs the metabolic disease theory of cancer. Not impressed with either the human or veterinarian medicine available nowadays. Our dog is being treated outside of expected protocols and despite the delay in treatment she is making steady process and we are optimistic she might be able to beat this. Perhaps others have found success with these specialty clinics for their pets, but we have not given our timeline that spans over 6 months of inadequate investigative examination and care to arrive at a proper diagnoses given her breed, age and propensity for cancer. It would have been helpful had this been brought to our attention earlier so preventive screenings could have been performed.

They are always personable. Cost seems way high. Neutering was over a thousand dollars and did not include sedation to remove staples 10 days later. I don’t mind paying more for better care, but it did not seem that way. We took our baby home and 8 hours later, he still isn’t himself. Praying it is temporary. Bringing him to us when he was still sedated was traumatic. His tongue hanging out weird and him wobbling around scared the crap out of us. Bed side manner with Parents should count too!

The location Is Falcon Road in Lower Burrell, PA. This past week we made an appointment to put our cat down which, we didn't take lightly. My husband has been going to this veterinarian for our Pumba since 2006. But he has been taking his dogs and cats there even before this...just to give you some context. So when we went to put him down we were told it was the law he needed to have a physical since he has not been seen in over a year. I advised the vet and the tech that that is not a law & the vet stated it is policy. This one cat has been going to this office since 2006. There was no need for a physical that was less than 15 minutes and cost close to $100. And that doesn't Include the cost for the euthanasia. If you can go somewhere else that won't rack you the coals you should. The techs may be nice and the vets may know what they are doing but at what cost to the owners. To require an examine after being a patient for years is uncalled for.

I'll be fair and brutally honest in this review. My experience was at best mixed. I found 1 doctor that truly understand both animal and owner. She gets a 5 star review from me. Initially they tried to charge 2550$ for a surgery to my cat. When I told them it was way out of line, loudly, they brought it to 1150. Amazing why didn't they do that right away? Cause they are located in a rich area and prey on the wealthy not balking at their prices. Keep in mind this is a 24 hour animal hospital. I had no choice during the emergency. The front office staff was non responsive at times or completely out of touch. 1 receptionist after seeing me 6 times, asked if I had been here before. The initial staff for treating was mixed, from very slow to good to very good. First night 17 hours waiting, and people went in before me even after arriving later. The rest of the wait times were ridicules, even 2 hours just to pickup. Really? They picked and chose who got treatment first. They told me repeatedly, they do not take appointments. Last day there a lady walked in with a dog saying aloud she had a 9:30 appointment with a doctor, She went right in. Six weeks later he is recovering home still with an exposed wound but it is healing. total approx 3300$ later. My local vet is also a VCA Animal Hospital but non emergency. They are very good at animal care and owner concerns. I personally think the hospital needs better communication and more reasonable prices for everyone. Towards the end of continuing treatment, they did work with me more, financially bending a lot, letting him stay till I got out of work to pick up, I appriciated that. I believe the doctor care and treatment there was very good, the rest that goes along with such an experience like that could have been handled much better. And if you say you are a first come and first serve treatment, then do it.

I was able to get my dog in the same day, that was great! My dog had inflammation in his ear. The vet required him to undergo be sedated to clean and inspect his ear. In the past 40 of owning a dog, we used ear drops to treat ear infections. This method produced 420.00 dollars worth of cost and did not include the recommended follow up visit of 139.00! This is ridulous to charge so much when simple ear drops and sending home an ear cleanse could have saved me so much money! The vet refused to sell me cleanse for the future once this cleared up for future preventative measures. This clinic is all about making money and I do not recommend them for this reason.

I cannot recommend VCA Alameda East Hospital. We had a very sick little doggie there for on and off two weeks and they could not diagnose the problem, and really had no suggestions other than cardiology screen. They claim on their recorded message they have all diagnostics including cardiology but they do not have cardiology specialists. We went through four doctors during this time and only the last one Dr. Millar kept us up to date and admitted he was stymied. We wasted so much time and money with them We went to CSU veterinary hospital and it was too late and will always go there next time and never to Alameda East. Oh and Alameda East is really good at updating their estimates for care, seems like their priority is running the bill up as much as possible..

$360 to induce vomiting in my dog. Ouch. Definitely a for-profit company owned by Mars and they are charging whatever they can get. I saw a quote in a stockholder meeting where the rep said that they hadn't seen any price resistance at all in their customers. Good news for the stockholders, bad news for their customers. I finally gave up my dog for adoption.

Brought my dog in after his front leg mauled in fence by dog next door. Told to wait over 2 hours. No doctor at 24 hour vet. Total crap. Asked for pics of the injury under the bandages and was told many times "yes". Still no pics to this day. Sigh. Doctors were very nice and I think they did a pretty good job. Bandage change for my small dog was just over 60 dollars each, twice per week.