VCA Lakewood Animal Hospital

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

My family was out on vacation and my shih tzu got really sick. We were out on vacation so we couldnt go to his regular vet. The incident happened on 8/13/2010 between 4am and 5am. So we searched for the nearest 24 hr vet hospital . This was the closest one we could find. Me and my husband took our dog Danco in (our dog was non responsive, his eyes were blinking with a head tilt and he could barely walk he showed signs of a stroke). So we brought Danco in. They immediately said he had a ear infection. Our two daughters were googling his symptoms while we were there and his symptoms match Canine Vestibular Syndrome. So we asked the vet if that was what he could possibly have. He immediately said no because he was too young. So they immediately decided that he needed to be put under anesthesia so they could "flush" his ear. It seemed like they were trying to do anything possible to get money from the situation. So we left him there and they told us to come pick him up at 6pm then they called us later that day and changed it to 3pm. So we went to pick him up he looked worse. Not that we were expecting a full recovery that day. He was druged up and still non responsive. They gave us a culture sample and advised us to give it to his reg vet. So we went to his reg vet the next day. We made sure we brought all of his medication that was perscribed and the doctor said there was no way that it could have been an ear infection with the way that his eyes were blinking. His reg vet immediately took him in and started giving him IVs. He stayed a total of three days and on the last day he was walking again and he was responsive with a 20% head tilt. Our vet came to the diagonsis of canine vestibular syndrome. Please dont waste your money on this vet your pet may be at greater danger then when they arrived. They will do anything to get your money. I recieved a call today "follow up" from one of there staff today is 8/19/2010. I asked for a manager to please contact me for a full refend. I got a call a few hours later he gave me nothing but excuses. He stated they would have gave him an iv but we said we needed to leave.... He then stated that he wanted to weigh the situation and call me back later in the day. This has been very devastating. We then did the research on this hospital and they have more negative reviews that positive. I believe in paying for services rendered but they didnt do there job correctly.

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FO

Foga Fiu

My sisters and I heard a stray dog being attacked outside of our house and seen she was badly injured so we rushed her to a 24 animal hospital and this was the closest that popped up. So we took her to this hospital and they wanted to charge us $3,000 for surgery,laceration,whatever they chose to have us pay for. I am a student so I have loans and a car to pay for to get to school and back. However, I wasnt approved for their credit which I tried to fill out to help the dog. Since I couldnt do much, I asked them if they can drop some charges to fix the actual serious problem of at least stitching her up since they said "shes not in any serious damage, it didnt puncture anything major" ..so after the doctor just told me that, the nurse came back in and said a whole different thing . Basically, they just wanted to keep adding exams after exams for no apparent reason. They knew all they couldve done was stitch her up since she wasnt bleeding out, it was just an open wound. They placed this poor stray dog in an insignificant category since it was a "stray" dog and not my own pet. How are we supposed to care and love for these animals if places like these care more about money? They couldnt even give anything for pain, something to help the dog. We ended up paying $202 for an emergency exam ..and that was about it .. Thank you for absolutely nothing ! The vibe in their animal hospital wasnt a positive one.I didnt feel any comfort from them whatsoever . Thank you to the nurses who looked like they wanted to do more but they couldnt. To the doctor who had no remorse for a stray dog, "Theres no better feeling then giving the absolute best service to any animal, even if it considers free service or giving the most accurate payment for the service, in which I honesty dont think you know anything of since I can obviously tell you love money". I basically carried the poor stray dog out of the hospital in the same conditions I carried her in with. DO NOT TAKE YOUR ANIMALS HERE!

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ME

Meg Land

A couple months ago, I came home from a vacation to my elderly dog extremely sick.. Her time was here. After going to a local extremely expensive vet here by my home in Buena Park, I remembered that Ive brought her here before. For previous emergencies and she was treated like royalty.. Anyways, I was a complete and udder MESS. I cant even begin to describe. Inconsolable doesnt even cover it. I ran in, crying my heart out, dog in my arms, they rushed me STRAIGHT to a room. They were on top of Everything. Extremely patient. Courteous. Compassionate. I sat in that room for over an hour before I let the doctor come in. And they LET me.. Once it was done... They allowed me to stay in that room as long as I wanted. I think I stayed over an hour holding her... I walked through that place with my face covered in snot. My heart literally shattering with ever tear that fell. Crying so loud. And they LET me. Didnt bother me, didnt try to help. They let me stew, which I think was best.. Picking up her ashes was easy peasy as well. They called me about a week later and they were there.. My ONLY dislike about this visit, was how the doctor mentioned the drug was what Michael Jackson died from... I know he was just trying to lighten the situation But cmon dude, a woman who is losing her dog after having her 15 years, doesnt want to hear that.. All in all. Im MORE than satisfied with this amazing place. And I plan to continue going there now that I have a new puppy to raise in memory of my Oreo :) Thank you all for your kindness you have shown me.

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ER

Eric Polk

Your pet will get good care here. The owner, on the other hand, should be ready for long waits, sales pressure, and guilt if you do not give in. We used to take our animals to Dr. Kennedy but when she retired she transferred her patients here. We took our cat who had a plastic allergy here once after Dr. Kennedy retired. She was able to treat the cat gor years with a cream and an occasional cortisone shot. VCA wanted us to do a huge battery of tests and expensive medications. We got the hard sell and disappointed tones when we said no. We now only use VCA for emergencies, which I did a couple of months ago when my dog started to have her back contract in could have been some sort of neurological problem. I went in at around 8:00 pm and checked in. I went to the waiting area and sat...and sat... and sat. Around 9:30, I took my dog out to use go pee and when I came back the receptionist said I would be in soon then asked what my name and the dogs name was. We were the only ones in the waiting room so it wasnt like we could be confused with someone else. She then got on the phone to page someone and the tech was very nervous and apologetic. The docotor prescribed a shot and was going to have the tech do the shot but then said he would do it so I wouldnt have to wait longer. Long story short: They never entered me into their system as being there and no one ever asked about why my dog and I were hanging out in their otherwise empty waiting room for 2 and half hours.

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