VCA Bay Area Animal Hospital

Reviews 7

SE

Sean Wigglesworth

Ok. Vets are great, informative, and listen to your concerns or questions. Very friendly staff. Do NOT go here if you have a tight schedule (every appointment runs 2 hours, Ive literally sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes after the appointment because we werent able to pay until they did paperwork, every time.) That would be OK, except that they apparently have a policy of not authorizing Rx requests from online pharmacy stores (1800PETMEDS). This is apparently written down somewhere, however not one person felt mentioning that when we brought in our dog for fleas. We are fighting fleas, and they are forcing us to either buy their off brand meds (ComboGuard, which funny enough is a generic AND TWICE AS EXPENSIVE as the name brand meds online) which we dont want because it isnt the medication we are trying to get filled. Their reason for not authorizing faxed in Rx? They cant verify where the meds come from... Im sorry, but its just not OK with me that you are obviously steering us towards your pharmacy. All you do by forcing us to mail in the physical Rx is delay treatment and make our lives harder AND more expensive. I get why they say their meds are cheaper: youd have to overnight anything you needed that week if you dont want to buy from them. ADD TO THAT: Their records arent company wide. I tried to stop by the closer VCA at the very beginning and was told wed be treated like new patients and they would need a day or two to transfer records. So to close, the VCA is like a franchise for animal treatment. No one location is connected to another past the name and basic policies. Sorry VCA, but you lost our pets today, and I wont be recommending you.

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Mary M

Ive been taking my pets here for 14 years. The staff are friendly, and its always easy to see a doctor because they have more than one doctor working at the same time. Sometimes you can get a same-day appointment. But also, if you dont have an appointment, you can still see a doctor as a walk-in. They always have one doctor working who handles walk-ins. You might have to wait a little longer as a walk-in, but I rarely have had to wait extremely long times as a walk-in. Also, they are open longer hours than other vet offices during the week, and theyre also open on Saturday and Sunday, which is really convenient for me. Before I started going to VCA Oakland, I had two vet offices that I used. I remember how hard it was with those other vets to get a same-day appointment, plus they often closed early, and werent open on weekends. With animals, you cant always predict when they need to see a vet. Being able to see a vet ASAP is very important to me, and thats the main reason I go to VCA. In addition, the vets here that Ive seen are really good. This might sound like a walking advertisement, but I really appreciate that I have a place to take my pet that has realistic hours that accommodate my work schedule. Dr. Bynum is a great doctor and she is so respectful of my pets and us as clients. You can tell she really loves animals and knows her stuff.

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Jasmine Garcia

I came here recommended from my brother to bring my dog here! I never planned to write this review but I feel like I should warn someone else if they are ever put in a situation like how I was. I went in with my dog who was not moving his hind legs. Completely gave out on him. I was told by the doctor that he had a spine injury which was common in terrier breeds. I also was told that I needed to put my dog down who was only 1 year and a half at the time if I didnt get a $11,000+ surgery with in the next 48 hours. They said he had no chances of recovering from his spine injury. But they never did an X-RAY to examine any damage. Everything I was told was by just seeing him from exterior. HOWEVER, after ignoring the doctors "advice" about two weeks later he was back on his feet and two months later he was back to his happy and running self like if he never had an injury! I feel like I was almost pressured into putting him down and Im happy I never took him back to get put down because I would have lost a perfectly healthy dog who I was told would have no chances of walking!

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BR

Brad Paulus

Great Staff, Great Docs. Very busy practice. Make sure to crate your felines, as everybody is one big happy family in the reception area. Fee schedule is a little on the high side, to cover all the features of the practice, but worth it. Basically a spin-off of the original Broadway Pet Hospital. Weve tried several of the other Vet Clinics in the city, though they had a more personalized practice, they couldnt provide breadth and depth of VCA with its vast network of resources and Docs. Remember they DO NOT HANDLE TRAUMA CASES, you have to either go to Berkeley or San Leandro VCA hospitals. Weve used VCA San Leandro for a Hit and Run case, again excellent care. VCA is like Kaiser Permamente, you either "love them, or hate them".

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DA

Dan Toone

They seem to think you have all day to wait to pay your bill and leave after visit. Not the first time Ive had to wait to pay my bill when I can see they have my file right there in front of them. I was told to go sit down and they would call me when my file was brought up. I HATE being LIED to. Nothing pisses me off more. A half an hour later I walked out and called them on the phone. I was told my file was NOW ready. I went back in and there it sat, right in the same place. They wanted me to sign in again, so I had to call them from the inside of the office and say I was at the counter and if they werent going to take my payment I was leaving and not paying the bill. Ridiculous. Im done with this place.

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GA

Gary Karr

In the saddest of circumstances, the VCA Bay Area Animal Hospital took good loving care of us and our 18-1/2-year-old cat, Winston. Dr. Ramos walked us through the various treatment options for Winston as his kidneys seemed to be giving out and she gave tender and thoughtful support of our decision to let Winston go. She was a true professional with a very wonderful human side to her, and the staff treated us equally professionally and carefully, and all on a Sunday morning nonetheless. I hope anyone reading this review does not have to visit VCA in the same set of circumstances, but whether you do or not, I feel confident you and your four-legged loved one will be in good care.

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SH

Shannon Seek, BSc, CPCC, CPO

8-9 months of preventable Kitty drama at $200-500/mo++ for the "homecare" version (hospital = 5 figures). They forgot to have us give subcutaneous fluids + syringe feedings to ween kitty off of dry food, after the first UTI "unblocking" --leading to the deadly Fatty Liver Syndrome. Then, offered $3500 penis removal when it was a diet issue. The last straw was not having UTI medicine on hand at the last surgical "unblocking" and forgetting to order it for 4 days (and, a Vet screaming at the top of her lungs when we expressed our concern). Luckily, we had extra from a previous request. Kitty okay now. Human still recovering.

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