VCA Animal Hospitals
reviews and complaints

Took my dog in to have a seriously raw, infected paw checked. The line staff is nice, but, obviously, it is ***seriously under vet staffed***. More time on signing estimates, getting chart notes from 7 years ago than seeing my dog. It is obvious their bottom line is more important than customer service. Next time I will try another vet who is open late; there ARE others.

I didn’t like how the receptionist from the company www.vcahospitals.com spoke with me and she refused to provide help to my dog. I arrived to them and started to tell the receptionist that my dog had an infection and I needed to get help as fast as possible. But she started to yell at me and told that I needed to call. Also she tried to call to the security, and I have no idea why. I was calm and asked only for help. Stay as far as you can from them.

People, be aware and don’t use the services from the company www.vcahospitals.com. I used their services, when the doctor found out that my dog had the cancer. He made useless operation, which cost me a large sum of money. After that he told me that everything was ok, but it wasn’t. My dog dies after couple of weeks and I have no idea why. The doctor is awful and their services are useless, so be aware and better avoid them. I wonder if there are other people, who had the same experience. Let’s share views about this website.

I am the last person to write a bad review or an official complaint, and it has taken some time for me to do so in regards to the last two experiences I had with VCA in Alexandria, VA. But after hearing from others about similar experiences they had with the above facility I felt that it was time.
1. I took my dog into emergency in 2012 for vomiting blood. They checked her out and discharged her. An hour later I was back with her projectile vomiting blood. I can fully understand a wrong diagnosis. We are all human. But what I can NOT accept is the fact that the vet did an ultrasound that was $580.00 and it was not preformed or read by a radiologist. Yet, they still charged me for it! I had her transferred to VCA Southpaws and had an incredible experience. They did have to redo the ultrasound due to the mistakes made on the previous one.
2. My mother brought her dog in last year for breathing issues. The vet diagnosed him with congestive heart failure WITHOUT running any bloodwork and relied solely on the films. They kept him for two days and we transferred him to the HOPE Center where he was properly diagnoses with Bordatella! By that point it was far too late to save him. And the worse part was that he had received his Bord shot the week before at VCA Alexandria. It turns out that he received an immunization with a live virus. Actually, the worse part was that when we called VCA Alexandria to ask them for help with what we should do (a second opinion from our dog's primary vet) they said, "Sorry but he isn't in our care anymore so he is no longer our patient." We had no words...in utter disbelief! I will never set foot in that hospital again and instead make the 20 minute drive to Southpaws or 40 minute drive to Pender.

Do NOT go to this place. They are definitely for-profit, greedy folks who do not care about the outcome of the treatment they provide. I wish we would never become their customers in a first place.

Our eight year old Scottish terrier started to limp and we took him to this hospital. Dr. Averill suggested a simple X-ray test of his leg. During X-ray procedure our dog was hurt so much by Dr.Averill that he could not step on the foot anymore. Then we were told that he needs an operation because now the ligament was torn completely. We agreed again. In a conversation about complications of operation we were never told about dangers of anesthesia. Dr.Kenney performed an operation. Our dog died 4 weeks after operation due to the massive liver failure caused by anesthesia. We didn't get any support from the hospital: they right away referred us to the emergency care. Doctors told us that our dog liver was probably not normal from the start. However, he never was diagnosed in this hospital with liver disease and all his blood tests were showing normal levels of liver enzymes before operation.

We are absolutely devastated: we lost the best friend.

We will never come back to this place and will make sure no one else does.

Brought our pet [censored]tzu of 14 years here because she was slowing down and eating less, but still active and healthy. The money hungry vets charged us 80% up front and prescribed an appetite stimulant to her that gave her two seizures the next day and killed her. They never verbally or in written gave us any disclosure of the possible side effects and acted like it wasn't their fault. I demanded to see the manager the next day he was extremely rude and would not give an explanation. They have many cases pending for malpractice from the state and have no compassion for your pet. I lost my beloved companion Rhani because of their negligence and malpractice. These people should not be in business, somebody please shut them down before they kill any more pets.

My dog has a severe itch that was getting worse and worse. She was loosing hair and full of open wounds. Dr Aronson at VCA animal hospital misdiagnosed her for six months. All they wanted to do was pump her full of needless medication that was making her condition worse. They said it was a staff infection so gave a very expensive shot for that. Then they gave me an anti itch medication that was 60.00 for 15 pills and she stayed on it for 5 months. Then he said it was probably an allergy and wanted us to have expensive allergy testing and change her dog food. We finally went to another vet and they tested her for mange. The doctor said in his 40 years as a vet he has not seen so many mites on the microscope slide. She was infested with scarcoptic mange. By now it was in my house and causing all of us to itch as well. We all had to be treated. All it took was a 30.00 test for mange! I had said two months earlier that I thought it looked like mange. I was just dismissed my the doctor. They are just in it for the money not to care for the animals. I will never go to a franchise vet again.

I took my dog in for his rabie shot and walked out paying $100. They said he also needed a bordetella vaccine also. $40 for both and $60 for the tech to feel his heart rate. My dog was in there no more than 3 minutes. That calculates to be $1200/hr. Is this criminal or what? These VCA's need to be investigated. People who cherish their pets like their own children but are forced to pay these ridiculously high prices for absolutely nothing is criminal. Shut these places down.

I'm sobbing as I'm writing this. I have never been more disgusted with people as I am with the people working at VCA Berwyn. I had to put my dog to sleep two days ago and, needless to say, it was one of the toughest things I've ever had to do. I took my Chica to her regular vet to do so (NOT VCA) and the doctor and tech were sympathetic, considerate, and kind...they cried with my mom and I.
Fast forward to today, which might very well be the worst day of my life. To give a brief background, I feed stray cats in my area and one kitty actually let me bring her inside my home...this is now her forever home. Turns out she was pregnant and delivered her babies a week ago, 5 beautiful babies. One baby took a turn for the worse last night so at 2:30am, I woke my mom up to bring the baby to the emergency room at VCA Berwyn. I knew the baby wasn't going to live, but brought him to the hospital to get confirmation and to do anything in my power to try and save him.
I asked to go in the examining room with the kitten-The answer was no. I asked to speak with the doctor before anything was done-The answer was no. The kitten was whisked away from me and I didn't see him for another hour and a half. I consented to fluids being administered through the vein...the doctor could not find a vein and put a needle in the kitten's BONE. The doctor, after quite some time, came out, told us she had done that, left us for another half an hour despite our requests to be with the kitty (knowing the rapid decline in kittens, I wanted to be with the kitten if it should die), then came back out with a sheet with the figure $1000 on it, the amount it would cost to do testing. She then added that the chances of the kitten surviving at all would basically not happen and she would recommend us taking the kitten home. I was livid. Why put the kitten through the torture of putting a needle in its bone? Why not let us be with the kitten? Why was everything taking so long (we were the only ones in the clinic)? THERE WAS NOT ONE OUNCE OF SYMPATHY IN THE DOCTOR. Everything she said, she said with a generic tone.
She left us again and my mom and I waited and waited and waited. Finally, a receptionist came out and I asked her for my kitten. She said, "Oh, well you know the kitten is not doing well." Umm...yes, I know that very well, do you not see my bloodshot eyes? I asked for the kitten again, saying I wanted to bring it back home to comfort it while it passed on and to try one last attempt to feed it. She said, "Well, we're going as fast as we can. You also need to pay before you can get the kitten. Oh, and by the way, the kitten isn't swallowing. If it's not swallowing, it's not eating. If it's not eating, it's going to die." Again, all said with a generic tone and a condescending air. It took everything in my power not to resort to violence.
Admittedly, I lost it and asked that she just hurry up, I have a dying kitten to comfort, a kitten I love very much. She took my money, slammed, yes SLAMMED my change on the desk, then strode off to the back. FINALLY, the kitten was brought to me...THE STORY DOES NOT END THERE. She handed me the box with the kitten inside and a piece of paper to sign. The paper was a release form, stating I was NOT going to do what the doctor had recommended. I refused to sign it. She got the doctor. The doctor said you have to sign this as you are NOT doing what I recommended. I said did I just imagine that brief, cold conversation we had where you suggested I bring him home? The doctor and the receptionist BOTH jumped on me, saying that they are trying to save the kitten and that by me bringing him home, (I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP) I am going to ALLOW IT TO SUFFER. The tone this time was pure condescension and [censor]iness. I stormed out.
I brought my poor little baby home, tried to feed it, gave up as he wasn't swallowing, and held it and talked to it about all the catnip and playmates he would have in heaven. I told him that his mother really loves him and that me and my mom love him too, but he's just not meant for this world. I told him that I was so sorry. I held him for a few minutes after he took his last breath and sobbed onto his little face. I just buried him with my doggie a couple hours ago, with a little cross to mark the spot. I have never been so heartbroken in my life.
The doctor's name is STEPHANIE ORZYP. Please, don't bring your animals here. It's all about money at VCA Berwyn. I don't usually write reviews, but my kitty deserves some action. Take care

We recently boarded Satori at your facility and I am extremely disappointed at the lack of care and arrogance of your staff, in particular your office manager.

Your fee gouging is not a good business, delivering up surprises and pushing services that were not required.

The office manager was belligerent and argumentative when all I wanted was to pay your inflated bill, get our dog and leave.

Only after returning home did I discover the incompetence of your staff to attend to the basic needs of Satori during her brief stay. When she got out of the car she immediately urinated as if she had not done so in quite some time. Over the next two hours she had to keep going back outside to urinate and defecated a total of 5x.

Her usual pattern is to defecate 1x - 2x daily so it would seem she had not done so in several days.

Given this issue and the attitude of your office manager, I cannot see ever using your services again and certainly not for boarding.

Took my dog to vca for follow up after a fall, we mentioned that she was losing hair. Vet gave her meds to treat a yeast infection. After numerous follow ups and lots of money spent for a month, we took the dog to the hospital to get more help, since vca wasn't answering any of our questions, nor was the infection getting any better. After a month of disappointing treatments and meds that gave my dog pancreatittis, we found out that the so called yeast infection - was actually lymphoma. A far cry of difference for diagnosis. I'm not happy with vca - they are clearly out for $$$ not to help your loved pet. I'm very disappointed - this is the 2nd vca that we had issues with from 2 different states. We will NOT subject our pets to vca for future treatments.

The experience was horrible. I waited 30 minutes in line to pick him up. They are always short staffed and the customer pays for it. They charged me a few dollars short of $800 for roughly 7 hours of care. I'm not a vet, but I knew it was highly unlikely that they pumped 3 units of IV fluid into my dog in 7 short hours. I questioned this and the Apache staff reluctantly agreed that they only used 1 and offered to refund those expenses. There was medication I paid for that was never given to him. I had to point that out for them for to agree to a refund. After 30 minutes of debate, I was finally refunded $92. I returned home only to find more discrepancies, so I returned the next morning. The office Manager MARY got downright nasty with me, telling me I disrespected her vet and the rest of the staff by not wanting to speak with the vet when I picked up my dog. That woman should never be employed in a position that requires customer contact. A person in that position should never raise their voice at a client or display hostility. This was unprovoked.

I had to call the corporate complaint department for further assistance. A short time later, I got a call from a contrite MARY apologizing and offering another refund of $100. Long story short, this place is a rip off. I identified nearly $200 in charges that I shouldn't have paid for in the first place. Those are only the ones I identified. Were there more overcharges? They charge too much to begin with. The total cost of services rendered should have been less than $400 (in another unnamed vet's opinion).

Lastly, the attitude displayed by the vet I met with was pretty much "pay the price or put him to sleep". That should tell any pet owner what they need to know about VCA Apache. In my opinion, they don't care about the animal, but only how much they can gouge the owner. My dog is doing well. That's only because I got decent care at another hospital thereafter.

Upon adopting a 3 mo. old kitten from the local shelter, I took him for his first visit to the VCA vet close to my home. All was well even after his first shot, until they used what seemed like an airgun for his second shot. It was really loud and even made me jump. It also made his tiny leg bleed a lot. They then gave me an estimate for his next visit. They wanted to see him in 1 month, they wanted to do a stool sample and a blood test, give him another set of shots and 3 mo's of Revolution.
The thing is...the pound already tested and treated him for worms, etc. They already did a blood test, but the vet said it wasn't done at the pound. They quickly flipped through the paperwork and said "it wasn't done and it needs to be." So long story short, the estimate for the next visit was $220. We didn't go, as he's an inside only cat so I wasn't worried.
6 mo's later, he shakes his head from time to time, so I take him back to the vet. He must have had flash backs because my sweet little cat turned into the tasmanian devil and wouldn't let anyone but me touch him. I did hold him so they could give him his booster shots (not with that damn gun again) and they were able to determine he didn't have ear mites, but that was all they could do. They gave me an estimate for anesthetizing him to look in his ears, along with blood tests (even though the vet said the results wouldn't be back before she did the procedure), stool sample(!), and no matter what they do to your animal, they manage to tack on a $6 hazardous waste fee. The total estimate was between $550 and $641!
To heck with that. I took him to my usual vet (which I should have done to begin with) and the charge to anesthetize him (yes, he hates all vets now) was $140! FIVE HUNDRED dollars less than the VCA vet. AND my usual vet was at least able to get an ear swab from the cat, before the cat was done being nice.
VCA vets must work on commission as both times I went to that office they tacked on ridiculous fees for unnecessary procedures and tried to get me to sign the estimate as quickly as possible. Absolutely ridiculous. And to top it off, I have a cat that will need to be anesthetized for even basic procedures because some idiot thought they could use a loud gun on him to give him a shot. Who the **#$(@#&** does that to a cat?! I never should have let the vet do that.
DO NOT go to a VCA vet!

I am not one who usually complains, but this was, quite possibly, the most horrific experience I've ever had with a vet.
My Beagle was 16 years old and one day his poor body just started failing. He completely lost any interest in food, lost his vision, lost a ton of weight and could barely stand up.
I knew what I was in for as I was driving to the hospital, ..knowing full well that we were going to have to put him down.
It was an emergency visit, so I knew it was going to be a bit pricey, ...it started at 150.00 for the visit, ..then they tried to talk me into a weekend long array of testing that was going to run over 5000.00. I asked if after the tests (not treatments, mind you), ..he would regain his vision, ..leg strength and have any sort of quality of life, ..the doctor said "probably not".
I told her that the only decision I could make was to put him down, ..it was the kindest thing I could do for him. She replied, "Well, sometimes people can't afford these tests, they have to do that."
I took all of my control to keep from punching her. I told her to get the papers I needed to sign, and get the shot, ...because we needed to do this. When all was done, I went to the counter to pay my bill, ...over 800.00, on top of the emergency visit.

I left there telling the people in the waiting area to run as fast as they could away from that place.

All of my dogs since then, go to Angell MSPCA hospital, ..all car is pricey, but they take such good care of their patients.