VCA Valley Animal Medical Center Emergency Hospital

Reviews 3

ER

Erik Miranda

Came to this VCA location despite everything i hear about VCA staff not truly caring for animals well being and there services being unreasonably exspensive. My terrier mix ingested 18 ibuprofen pills and had not been showing signs of being affected by them.All other vets had already closed and this was the only location that was still open and was 24 hours.So i find myself here where upon speaking with the lady at the front desk they are already telling me it would be cheaper to put her down rather than seek care. I came to this terrible place to try and save my dogs life. I would have stayed home and let her die in comfort if that was the case. So I get talked into applying for carec redit and I get approved and both the females that are part of the night staff seemed to be excited ,money makes these people move.They then began to weigh my dog and get a room ready for us. After speaking to the veterinarian and waiting for them to prepare bloodwork and have me call a poison control center, that charged me 65$ to tell me nothing, I begin to get restless and concerned. Leah ,my dog, seems to be uncomfortable and continously is barking. The assistant also makes a comment that she is like that because they took her temperature when they weighed her using a thermometer for your butt and is laughing when he says this. I begin to think to myself am I really going to trust this creep with Leah? Hell no!! So I tell the lady at the front desk with glasses that I no longer want to seek care using your vet . The vet would like to speak to me ,Im sure to try and convince me to spennd money there but send his assistant to tell me and not himself. Leah at this point is barking at the assistant who enjoys the discomfort dogs get when a thermometer is in there butt.He starts to tell me"" this is a hospital your dog cant be barking like that" and tells me to "you have to tell him no" "yank his leash" and trys to show me how to yank a dog so it hurts the dog. I give the guy a look and start to leave he then says "your going to leave?" "are you serious?" . I reply "your complaining about my dog" "So yeah Im going to take her outside." "Im coming back" . He says "your not telling it no" You have to tell them". Before heading out the door I stop and firmly tell him "Dont tell me how to take care of my dog". "Are you serious" he says I then walk out and return to my car where my family is waiting and I say lets go. The following day I took Leah to my local veterinarian hospital in Desert Hot Springs where they immediately began to give her care when i walked in the door withtout even verifying I coukld afford it. They even went as far as too stay after hours with Leah to make sure everything was going well. This is the care you expect when your dog ,who is as much a part of my family as my 15 year old sister is, is in critical condition. Bottom line VCA is all about their money and isnt nearly as proffessional and caring as other places in the desert valley. I would go here only if it meant life or death otherwise steer clear of this chain of vets.

A

A Private User

We took our puppy in after he was having severe diarrhea for more than 24 hours; I called first at 3am and the prompt, friendly tech listened to what was going on and suggested I make an appointment for 8am (the earliest they offer "normal" appts) as my dog was not bleeding or in pain, lethargic, etc. He kindly told me that would save me $80 off the top, and since we all know vets can be very expensive, I was appreciative that he was so honest. We made an appt and were there at 7:55, we were taken to a very clean exam room that was relatively quiet. Our normally scared little boy was relaxed and comfortable in there (always cries at the vet normally, but not at all this time!) Our tech came in at about 7:15 so a little wait but not bad and you can fill out your paperwork while you wait. He was very gentle and reassuring to both our dog and us, and always let us know if there would be a wait for a test result (i.e. "Ill be back in 8-10 minutes.) The vet, Dr. Murphy, could not have been nicer and more gentle with our puppy. He diagnosed him with worms (bleh) and gave us medicine and walked us through everything we needed to do in detail, we never felt rushed. He also noticed that our dog was partially blind due to an eye defect, and recommended an excellent pet ophthalmologist to help us deal with that. Our bill was not as bad as I was expecting, about $360. The nice thing about this place is that they give you a breakdown of the costs before they do anything, and Dr. Murphy asked us what our budget was - he would only do what he thought was totally necessary because were poor newlyweds! And, lets face it, the vet is never going to be a $50 visit, so just prepare yourself (and dust off that emergency fund or credit card before you go.) Obviously different vets have different personalities, but we were very pleased with Dr. Murphy. He and his staff didnt blink an eye when our dog peed a gallon all over the exam table, hehe.

EL

elsa villagrana

This is a terrible place for any pet owner. Please stay away as YOUR PET COULD DIE as a result of their negligence and incompetence. On Monday evening, I took in my pug of 7 years old due to him swelling up from his rear, complications when attempting to go potty and infection around that area. He was fine on Sunday, so I knew right away this was an emergency situation. I could not get same day appointments with our regular vet or other vet clinics in the valley. I scheduled appointments for Tuesday but decided to visit this 24 hour pet hospital since it was clearly an emergency situation. They told me he was overheated and the swelling would go down over time. They charge me $165 for the visit and told me we could go home. The next morning, he did not look any better and the swelling became worse. I had my first scheduled appointment on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. The new place I took him to, told me that he had an enlarge prostate and had become infected. His bladder was full of urine and was about to explode. He could have died if I waited more time to take to a vet. He needed an emergency surgery to remove the fluid from his bladder and glands. He stayed overnight. The clinic called me today that they could not perform surgery on him and the best thing to go is put him down. His prostate became over inflamed due to the electrolytes injected by the VCA. He did not need any more liquids. This cause his prostate gland and abscesses to rupture. If he would received proper attention on Monday evening by VCA he possibly could have been saved. Now our family lost our beloved pet. I have to tell my five year old son his dog has to be put down. Please avoid this place at all costs.