VCA Animal Hospitals
reviews and complaints

I came to your hospital because I thought my dog had GDV which was a life threatening event that could have killed my animal. I trusted that a surgeon was on site by 8:30 AM because I was told this by your office staff. The surgeon arrived at 9:45 AM. I arrived at 8:50 AM and I didn’t receive a diagnosis until close to 11:00 AM. By this time my dog could have died of GDV.

The $1,5000.00 charge on my credit card prior to any treatment plan was a shock to me. I have never gone into a clinic of any kind and had my credit card charged prior to any therapy. The treatment consent I signed is misleading and I suggest that you reword and draft a new one stating the "minimum charge" to be $1,500.00. I am very familiar with contracts and the "deposit of $500.00-$1,000.00" is inaccurate and misleading. A “deposit"is defined as something that is refundable. Clearly you did not have legal counsel draft this paperwork. Please inform your patients of the actual procedures that the animal will be receiving and have them sign an"informed consent"to proceed. I feel this is a reasonable and a customary practice at most Vet and emergency Vet Clinics.

I was not informed of any treatments that my dog was receiving. I can now see that a X-ray was completed at 9:06 AM, at that time you could"clearly see"that the dog had ingested too much food and this"was not GDV."I however was not informed of my pets condition even after asking your staff"several times to have the Vet call me."At one point the staff I asked rolled her eyes at me! It wasn’t until my vet called did you actually reach out to me. Then I was told my dog “raided the pantry” and needed a $15,000.00 treatment. I find this to be an astronomical amount of money for this procedure. Im also am 100% sure this would have killed her. She would not have come out of the anesthesia due to prior experience when having her spade as a young dog. I was not given any other options or at home treatment advice as well.

I took her home called another emergency clinic who were open until midnight and had them on standby if she developed worsening symptoms. I walked her every 2 hours until midnight to stimulate blood flow and digestion, I withheld food for 24 hours and I gave her only boiled chicken with rice the following day along with Gas - X 125 mg, she received this twice 6 hours apart. This AM I reintroduced a 1/2 portion of her normal kibble and have removed the food container which she raided to the garage where she cannot get access. She is back to her old self today thanks to my own research.

If you are “only in this for the money" and have "no compassion for human beings or their beloved pets" I suggest that you and your staff find a different line of work.

Brought my dog in for surgery, "surgery went well", said all tests for cancer came back negative and is happy and healthy. fast forward 3 months later my dog is now dead, tried to schedule an appointment after surgery because he wasn't eating, vca Weymouth refused to even see him. eventually got an appointment a month later then to be told he has lime disease, and his kidneys have failed and have holes in them leaking out protein. they told us to leave him at the hospital for a few days to flush with IV fluids, picked him up 2 days later, to find two giant orange ticks on him, one on his neck and one on his chest.

when talking about options the vet was very rude, bothered to be working on animals, told us we could euthanize him right now.

Never will I ever bring another pet to Vca Weymouth an absolute disgrace.

hope you sleep well at night.

I have been going to New Prospect animal hospital, Jackson, NJ since they opened. Before that I went to Ocean County animal Hospital for over 15 years.

I took one of my dogs to see Dr Mitchell in May 2022. The fee for the office visit was $66. Tuesday 6/22/22 I took another of my 3 dogs in for her year check up. ONE MONTH LATER I GET CHARGED $92 FOR THE OFFICE VISIT. At least you could notify people you are going to charge $26 more for an office visit. I really like Dr Mitchell but I am so mad that you would do that I am going to have to move my animals to the Vet 1/2 mile down the road who charges $68 for the office visit. I'm going to have to tell all the my friends who I have told to go to New Prospect animal hospital what you did. I'm sure more will have to leave. Shame on you. Jacqueline Stark, [protected].

On march 10th my wife and myself took our very sick cat Koji to the VCA in fountain valley, Orange County. Before they would do anything to assess his situation I was told I would need to pay a $1000 dollar deposit. A short while after this a doctor spoke to US with a laundry list of procedures they may or not be able to do and my cost to cover anything needed including surgery would be another deposit of $4487.90.

They kept him for two nights and after a conversation with one of the vets looking after him we decided to let him go on the second day he was with them. I was expecting to receive some communication with a breakdown of the cost of services’s he received but the never sent anything. It’s pretty simple really, I was charged a total of $5487.90 and I wanted to know what I’d been charged for because I know for a fact that he was just being monitored for the two days.

The thing is no one wants to tell me and it’s pretty clear that they don’t want to tell me. During the consultation they worked me by scaring and then giving false hope knowing full well they couldn’t save him. It breaks my heart to think they were just prolonging his suffering to get money from me! I shared my

Experience on Yelp and VCA asked me to contact them which I did and they never replied. I shared my experience on the BBB website and was ignored there.

This is NOT how a transparent company operates, they give nothing in writing, no treatment breakdowns, ignored my requests and have misrepresented their intentions online. Its upsetting that they’d lied to me even after telling them I was unemployed and was paying with my savings. AND this is the bombshell; The Vets all receive commission on top of their earnings, how’s that for motivation

My dog received blood work on the weekend- Saturday and I received a call on Monday that my dogs blood accidentally mixed with another clients blood and was told another sample was needed. Initially the staff wanted me to come in that day of, however I explain that my dog has already eaten and the blood work wouldn’t be accurate as I was previously told that he needed to fast. The staff then was rude and was like okay then come in at 8am tomorrow. I attend the appointment at 8am and had to wait 45 minutes for my dog to be seen. This is extremely unacceptable as my work is not impacted by an error VCA staff made.

I took my doggie to the Tacoma Washington VCA on June 6, 2022 for an urgent care visit due to severe itching and discomfort. His regular Spanaway Washington clinic is closed for some reason. Anyhow, we checked in and they had me pay for the exam up front. While waiting I seen 3 dogs leave the exam rooms and only one re-enter in an hour and a half time frame. Finally another dog was brought in, and my dog is still waiting and suffering! I had enough of this, and told the staff to refund my money and we left to find a Veternarian who would provide service and not just take money and tell you to wait! I hadn’t a doubt a doctor was available to exam my doggie, but didn’t, because he didn’t have an appointment! Ridiculous! VCA is terrible at really caring!

VCA- Veterinarians Care (NOT for) Animals

Jan. 12th @ 12:36 pm I called VCA Advanced, Hannibal, MO to request some additional anti-nausea meds. for a ferret (Alice) who had been nauseous for

weeks & Cerenia (injectible) was my last hope & worked. My exotic vet. Sue sent some home as I rescue ferrets...have for 15+ years.. I also requested a referral to an animal chiropractor as Alice seemed to injure her back/hind legs.

In Dec. Dr. Sue said she would be taking a promotion with VCA & leaving the clinic but would be available for emergencies when she was home.

I did NOT realize that Sue was now gone & nobody at the clinic said she was gone...they knew she was my vet.

The 1 year graduate from vet school could not handle these 2 requests & I was asking too much! When I got to the clinic the ferret has now developed SQUIRTING diarrhea. I asked If Sue coulds see Alice. Both issues can be fatal for an already emaciated ferret. I was told NO the (inexperienced) vet would NOT see her & I was only given 3- 24hr. injections of Cerenia since Megan had (would) not see Alice to give more meds.

Next week I received ALL my animal records & told I'm NO LONGER a client!

A CLIENT for 20+ years! PAUL & Hannah SHAME on you!

These Vets NO longer care about animals!

GO TO SOME OTHER VET CLINIC! VCA could CARELESS!

WHAT about the 5 ferrets, 5 cats & senior dog who has always been a client here? NO ferret vet within HOURS!

NO Exotics vet in HANNIBAL, MO anymore!

The manager at burgess animal hospital, Cambridge ontario, Canada is unprofessional and lacks the insight to effectively direct the staff as they are often absent. The manager did not inform me (client) that I would be seeing a different/unfamiliar vet.

When I change over to Vetsource per VCA suggestion. I have one problem after another. Somehow the initial order wasn't filed incorrectly. I have two Newfoundland; both need a 100lbs heartworm and one need 8-25lbs and one 25-50lbs. And there lays the problem. Today I was informed the VCA Tucson Vet cancel Janet and Jane prescription for the 8-25lbs and 25-50lbs for being the wrong size.

Vetsource email me the 8-25lbs and 25-50lbs submitted to VCA 5/6/22 for refill.

Today I was informed the order was cancelled.

Wetsource email me also the two 100lbs was submitted to VCA 5/9/22 for refill status unknown.

Is what is going on revenge for bad review, of them at 22nd St, Tucson VCA wants me to move on to another Vet?

I brought my cat in from an urgent care clinic, at their insistence, as he had a potential blocked bladder. The estimate was 6-8000.

I couldn’t afford it. They flushed his bladder and sent him home with antibiotics.

He didn’t get better.

I took him to Tufts animal hospital in Walpole, who agreed with the treatment plan that VCA proposed- but their estimate for the exact same service was 1700.

That difference I’m price could have cost my cat his life.

This is not the first experience like this I’ve had there.

They managed to rack up 12,000 treating two of my animals charging my care credit. I had to refinance my house to pay it off, as care credit charges 29.999 % interest .

To out absolute greed over an animals life is despicable.

We brought our kitten in for follow up services on March 5 2022 and she was seen by Dr Ochiai. We dropped her off around 7 AM. Dr Ochiai called my wife at 9:27 AM and proceded to speak with her.

-Dr Ochiai spoke very fast, like she was in a rush to do other things

-Used medical terms that a normal person (with no medical training) wouldn't understand

-Got upset and yelled when my wife asked questions because she didn't understand certain things.

-Decided to take it upon herself to administer a vaccine we had turned down and placed on our bill

My husband took my dog to get spayed, 10 month old boxadore with no other issues, aside from pimple on her face. The bill was $1000. We did labs and it was $280 JUST for labs when Companion would be $89 dollars for preoperative labs. I'm so stupid to not have called, to not have run form that parking lot for $1500 dollar expense for a routine neuter that cost less than 400$ everywhere else. This is unethical. I cannot believe the swing in cost it makes zero sense. I was in Portland vs Beaverton you think $1000 extra dollars by neighborhood.

I paid $135, plus other fees for a total of $275 in 2019 for my other female at Companion. They don't take appointments and it's hours to sit there waiting but how can it be that much more to just confirm that I have an appointment. I took my now passed boxer in 2013 and his puppy package was 400$ including neuter, to a VCA hospital in Portland on Woodstock.

My dogs teeth were extracted with sedation and it was $1200 at this same clinic — which is not a routine procedure so I understood this. This is outside the standard of practice fees. It's price gouging during COVID. They need to be upfront with cost well before you are sitting in parking lot and I wasn't the one taking her so I didn't see that cost.

This same clinic pre pays stool samples. I've paid for 4 likely and never got the poop in the door because I'm a functioning adult. DON'T Pre CHARGE. My cat was put down, and three days prior they PRE CHARGED me for the cats urine. I'm an idiot and should have waived this off. WHO CAN THINK WHEN THEIR CAT IS DYING.

My dog has been a patient at the VCA Weymouth for 11 years. I called for a sick visit as she has been limping and whining. I was told they were booking out till the end of Jan. I explained the Dog was in pain and they told me I could take her the emergency room. I did that on 12/4/2021 and it was a nightmare. My dog is not dog friendly and I made the mistake of bringing her in with me. I had no idea of the high traffic of dogs that would be coming thru. After two hours I approached the desk and asked if they had any idea of how much longer it would be. Kiren snapped at me This is an emergency room, we can't tell how many people are going to come in that are serious! I replied that I did try to get an appointment but they are booking out till Jan. Kiran said ya well everybody bought pets during covid, and what do you want me to do! I said can't you see if you can squeeze her in with one of the other Doctors, not the emergency doctors. She screamed at me THERE ARE PETS DYING HERE! Then after 3 hours they finally take Aztec back, of course after taken a lab that came in and hour after with the same problem my dog had the women over to me and was applalled at what Kiren had just done and we chatted. So now they are intentionally putting me in the back. Then the Dr calls after 3 hours and they really can't examaine her casue she to tense, but they think its. HMMM perhaps if you saw her in a timely manner and didn't stress her out she wouldn't have been so tense. My dog was tramtized, she came home and threw up. Worst experice ever. The VCA should service their existing pets instead of taken on too many!

Hello I would like to know why VCA will not pay a living wage to its staff. I have been waiting for my pet to be seen by a veterinarian for a week and they expect to see my pet sometime next week(11/24/21). So my pet has to wait 2 weeks to be seen by his doctor! I have been a client and at one time an employee of this particular establishment for 5yrs. This is not how the staff, clients and their patients should be treated. Pay the staff what they deserve and you will have a fully staffed clinic and many clients happy to visit your hospital. This is frustrating! I am tired of hearing about the conditions surrounding VCA hospitals and now experiencing this problem; where my pet who is sick can not see his primary doctor. This is atrocious and this company needs to prioritize it funds to go to the staff instead of using it to buy up hospitals.

I have a cat with a history of FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease). He's been evaluated for this several times at our usual vet's office. He will develop straining with urination, low urine output, multiple trips to the litter box, blood in his urine. His labs have always been negative for infection, crystals/stones. Thankfully, the symptoms will typically resolve on their own. It's believed his unusually high anxiety likely causes this to flare, but some extra love and affection for a few days calms it right down.

When I returned home from work on Friday, 11/5/21, my cat was hiding under the bed (something he never does), and when I called out to him he had a moaning-type meow that alerted me something was wrong.
Once I got him out from under the bed I could tell his abdomen was distended and he was guarding this area. He began to flex like he was trying to bear down to urinate, but he couldn't produce anything.
My vet's office was closed for the evening already, so I took him to VCA hospital as I feared he had a urethral obstruction, which I know can be lethal to cats rather quickly.

When we got to VCA, they took him back to an exam room immediately based on his symptoms. I'm sure it's their Covid protocol, but I was not allowed to go back with him.
I had to provide a history to a tech that called me on my cell while I was still in the lobby.
Soon after, a vet called me to go over the history again and provide me with their recommendations following their exam, which did confirm an obstruction.
I was never informed what was done to confirm this.

They recommended he be admitted, have an indwelling catheter placed, and wait a few days for the inflammation to resolve before removing the catheter.

I agreed to this and was told a tech would call me with further instructions.

I'm still sitting in the lobby at this time. I was never offered to see my cat again, wasn't told to leave, stay, anything. There was no coordination of care.

A tech calls me a short time later stating the 3 day estimated stay/treatment plan will be $3100 and I must pay 100% in full immediately, or my animal cannot be treated.
I asked if there was some sort of payment plan I could set up as this was a much larger cost than I was expecting. I was told no, a payment plan is not an option, despite their "hold music" on the phone stating "ask us about our payment plans."

I paid the money and left to go home.

The first vet that took care of my cat, Dr. Leto, was great. She called me with updates 2-3 times over the next 12 hours or so to let me know they had a catheter in and his urine was bloody, but they were flushing his bladder and giving him fluids, so he was comfortable. His kidney values were slightly abnormal, but that was to be expected in this situation. They would be doing an x-ray soon to rule out kidney stones. They'd be doing a urinalysis to look for crystals or an infection.

Any time I called for an update on him after that I was only able to speak to a tech that gave me updates like "he's doing fine."

I had informed one of the techs my cat doesn't do well with the medication buprenorphine as it makes his back legs give out and he won't eat if he takes it. She stated she would inform the vet.
I later found out they continued to give him this medication the entire time he was in the hospital, and this was also one of the medications they sent him home with upon discharge.
I was charged for medication I asked not be given to my cat, let alone sent home with him.

I finally got a call from a vet on Monday, 11/8/21, Dr. Compton, who stated they had removed the catheter earlier that morning, however, he wasn't urinating on his own since it had been removed, so they assumed he re-obstructed.
She recommended placing a catheter again and starting this whole process over.

I told them this was not an option, I can't afford to keep repeating this process with no guarantee it would resolve the issue, and my cat's anxiety, with being in an unfamiliar place around unfamiliar people, would probably ensure his symptoms wouldn't improve while there.

The vet informed me this was the recommendation, if I didn't wish to proceed with this, the other recommendation was euthanasia.
There was no compassion or empathy at all. She spoke to me like she was reading her grocery list. It was sickening.

I asked for him to be discharged so I could take him home.

She said they could do this, but this is not their recommendation.
It's like I was made to feel guilty for wanting to get my cat out of that hell.

When I arrived at VCA an hour or so later, the front desk rep, Rhonda, was extremely rude. I stated I was there to pick my animal up. She took my information to access my account and simply stated "you owe us another $250."
I asked what for and she stated "a medication and a urinalysis."
I informed her I had been told that was part of the cost I'd already paid, so I didn't understand the extra cost. My animal was not in the hospital for longer than 3 days, which is what I'd already been charged for.
She very rudely stated "Would you like to talk to somebody before you pay, or what?"
I told her I wanted to get my cat the hell out of there as quickly as possible, so to charge my card so I could leave. I was done with this place.
I even apologized to her if I had come off rude. I was in tears almost non-stop since being told my cat would need to be euthanized if I didn't follow their treatment recommendations. Her response was an "mmhmm."

My cat was brought out to me in a box and the tech handed me a bag of medications. She said there is a piece of paper in the bag which would tell me when to give him his next dose.
I asked what the medications were, what they were for, etc.
She said "I don't know, I was just told your cat was ready to go, so I brought him to you."

When I got to the car, I let my cat out of the box and he was filthy. His whole body was covered in a dirty, filmy layer, and his tail was matted with some unknown fluid.

When I got home, I opened the bag of meds, and found paperwork with information regarding his hospital stay.
It stated his urinalysis tested positive for crystals. There was even a written prescription in the bag for prescription food to help prevent this in the future. I was NEVER informed of any of this.
I was never informed of his x-ray results, nor was this on the paperwork. I'm still unaware of it's findings.

I still have no idea what the additional $250 I had to pay when I picked him up was for.
I was provided an itemized receipt, but it's all jargon and makes no sense.

I took him to my vet on Tuesday, 11/6/21, and was informed they don't believe much of the services my cat received in the hospital were necessary.
They certainly don't agree any mention of euthanasia was called for.

The treatment my cat and I were provided is ridiculous. I'm a nurse, so I understand contact restrictions due to Covid, but never having any face to face meeting with one of the vets to discuss/explain this emergent situation is uncalled for.
Not being offered to see my cat one last time before an unexpected admission for 3 days, with no explanation of what to expect, left me standing in the lobby, lost, not knowing what to do.
Being informed of the $3100 cost needing to be paid immediately, with no possibility of a payment plan, despite the hold music stating payment plans are available, is unethical.
Continuing to give medication I had requested not be provided to my animal, and sending me home with more, both of which I was charged for, shows my request was completely ignored.
Nonchalantly being recommended by Dr. Compton to euthanize my cat, then guilting me for wanting to have him discharged so I could bring him home, was incredibly poor care.
Having my cat given back to me filthy is just gross.
Never being informed of lab results, imaging results, etc., is negligent.
Having to pay additional costs upon discharge, with no explanation of the reasoning, is unethical. Especially in the rude manner in which it was handled, in my case, by Rhonda. If there were to be any added costs I should have been consulted prior to proceeding.

The financial and emotional distress this situation has caused has been immense.
I'm not sure what can be done to rectify this situation, but I'm hoping something can be achieved.

I appreciate your time and attention to this matter.

The vet, Dr Kalany has terrible bedside manners.On 11/3/2021 at 3:00 pm she communicates in a manor that was is curt, rude & entitled. Last year my dog had an allergic reaction to the heart worm medication prescribed by the vet at vca, and Dr Kalany
wanted to put her back on the same medication. I said no she's allergic to that .We went through that last year. Then in a very curt tone asked what heart worm med's was she on now. I said I can't remember the name & she said she needed to know. Well it should be in the dogs chart. She made negative verbal comments about her food, and wasn't knowledgeable about the company. Vca likes to sell you dog food from there practice as well as the heart worm medication which makes them more money. The dog had swelling on her anus. She asked if she had been rubbing it. I replied No. She said she would need to be rechecked and possibly sent to a specialist. I asked about her fecal glands could they be clogged. She said it's $45.00 to check that. If the dog has a problem then that could be an easy solution to start ruling problems out. She talked about an antibiotic, a specialist, and getting her rechecked. I said I can just go to my previous vet, they do everything and are connected with UGA veterinary college. She made a rude vocalization sound. And she made several rude noises like I'm not a very educated animal owner. 5 star price, 0 star service. her vet bill was bigger than my annual physical and I got a flue shot, pneumonia shot and a colon test. This is LUDACRIS! O... and if I was more than 5 minutes late it would be a $15.00 charge. I asked how long the appointment would be and I was told 30 minutes. It took 10. You won't ever charge me again because I will never return to an unethical practice. And she said it would be $15.00 dollars to trim her nails and I was charged $23.00. I could have taken the dog to another quality vet and would have received 5 star service with compassion for 50% or more less money. There are more scathing things I could put in this review, but honestly, you and your pet deserve much more. Just read further reviews... they are terrible. You can easily see a better qualified veterinarian for 1/2 the price . This practice engages in price gouging, no wonder the vet there is hands down worst vet in the universe.