VCA A Breed Apart Animal Hospital

Reviews 6

ST

Stephen Stubbs

A Breed Apart Animal Hospital is an appropriate moniker for this business. The Dr and the front office staff are all about the BUSINESS of upselling, bait and switch and down right defrauding potentially any customer who unwittingly walks in the door. I am 53 years old and this is the first review that I have ever written online. Let me describe exactly what happened when I went there. I adopted a 6 month old kitten from the Pasadena Humane Society (btw, a fantastic organization that my mother and I support monetarily every year). When you adopt from Pasadena Humane Society, you receive a Healthy Start Certificate for up to $250 worth of services at participating VCA Animal Hospitals. Even though "A Breed Apart Animal Hospital" is listed on the Healthy Start Certificate as a participating partner, they WILL NOT honor it. As a matter of fact, the front office staff refused to take it from me. They also attempted to redefine the term "complementary" into fee-for-service. To make matters worse, they tried to convince me that the Pasadena Humane Society sold me a kitten that was infected with internal parasites and that a battery of tests needed to be performed. I had documentation from the Pasadena Humane Society that showed my kitten had no internal parasites. So why they would lie about it is a mystery me. During the Dr examination she/he did find that my kitten had a mild case of conjunctivitis but did not send me home with medicine for it. This I found extremely disturbing. Why make the pet suffer and put my family at risk. Conjunctivitis doesnt cure itself and is highly contagious. The Dr also pushes Science Diet Products (I bet she/he is on commission). I am an advocate for pets and animals of all kinds. So I reported my experience to the Pasadena Humane Society. I have also filed a complaint with the regional VCA for LA County and I am actively participating with these worthy organizations. Bottom line...STAY AWAY FROM THIS BUSINESS if you love your animals and use any of the other listed VCA Hospitals on the Healthy Start Certificate.

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A

A Private User

Were new to the area, so we brought both of our dogs in for a visit, to establish ourselves with a new vet. We used the "free initial exam" coupon from the web, and our bill was still $175. Both dogs are healthy, had recently had dental cleanings, were current on shots, etc. One dog has been itching and biting, so that is what prompted us to schedule a visit. Well...by the time we got out of there, we would have spent well over $500 on treatments, had we obeyed all of the recommendations. We did cave in and buy the special shampoo to bathe their feet in 3x a week, due to some slight brown funk on one toenail of each dog. Little did I know the special shampoo was $31.24 until after I paid the bill. We still havent cracked it open, and Im tempted to try to return it, simply because Im not convinced that two dirty toes justify the expense and aggravation to the dogs to try and wash their feet with it three times a week. Out previous vet never mentioned anything wrong with their little toes. And one of our dogs only has two teeth, and a broken (soft) jaw, due to abuse before we rescued him, and the vet said we should pull one tooth, because it was crooked. The poor little guy only has two teeth...and its not bothering him - we will absolutely not pull it! Hes been through enough already. I will continue my search for a new vet in the area. This is not the one for us.

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JA

Jason Hollinger

After reading all the negative reviews, I couldnt let this go... My friend and I have been going to this VCA for 14 years. They have been extremely professional and compassionate thoughout, especially during the decline of our dog Tigger with degenerative myelopathy. Dr. Allsup came to our home when we finally had to put him to sleep. And -- this is not your average vet! -- our first doctor Dr. Sostrand drove all the way out from Santa Barbara (where she works at another VCA now) to be with Tigger on his last day. And recently Dr. Allsup brought our other dog Molly home for us after a procedure. The staff all know us and Molly on sight and are very friendly and professional. Our only complaint is that we often have to call in multiple times to remind the staff to fill prescriptions. And yes, they do often find unexpected things, but read the test results yourself -- they arent making this stuff up! They just report the facts and make recommendations. You are very welcome to "take them under advisement" and decline the various recommended expensive medications and treatments. Theyve never pressured us into doing anything we didnt feel comfortable doing. If they are frequently finding more things than other vets... then just maybe its because they are more thorough than other vets!!

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Judy Lee

Bottom line: My mom felt that they discriminated racially against my mom and was just so unprofessional in how they treated us. Our appointment got cancelled because I was out of the hospital with my dog due to the fact that she was barking a lot EVEN THOUGH my mom was in the hospital waiting for our name to come up. The receptionist said that "they never called our name, yet they cancelled the appointment" -- umm what? My mom felt that was in part to the fact that she was Asian and that from her appearance it was obvious that she couldnt speak English therefore speak for herself. Thats why they put us on the bottom of the list and had us wait an HOUR even and we STILL could not see a doctor afterwards. Im pretty sure the receptionist was not racist, but to have a customer be so offended to the point where she did -- thats unprofessionalism. I dont care how busy you guys are, treat your customers right. The fact that youre busy and cant keep people in line AND call customers name when seeing a doctor just reflects on how poorly staffed you guys are. Also, by the way, your shots are way over priced. If the quality of the service was better, I wouldve forked the extra money for those shots, but Ill never come to this hospital and never refer anyone to this place.

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LA

Laura S

I had the scare of my life at 530am. My bunny Kirby is my everything and my regular vet opens at 9am. So I needed to see a rabbit specialist... The only one that was open was at 730am at VCA A Breed Apart. Dr. Allsup is a rabbit specialist and was so great with my little boy who had stasis - gas. They wanted to do xrays and quoted me which was a lot cheaper than my regular doctor - Dr. Kanfer at Exotic Animal Care. So I agreed. Honestly the care was great! I spoke to Dr. Allsup and described everything with me and even gave me copies of everything. I like that. She even said shed forward the stuff to Dr. Kanfer for follow up. Now Im considering switching doctors because the price is great, the service is great, and its close to me and my work! Dr. K is great but the price is just tough. Parking: they have their own lot The whole emergency visit, meds, iv fluids, two types of xrays, and meds came out to $257... Which for an exotic animal.... Itd be a lot more.

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A Private User

My 8 weeks old puppy need shots, I went to this place because neighbor said Dr. Sostrin is good. The front desk quoted $14.95 for the Thurday vaccination clinics, so I took the puppy. First visit ended with $100+ because they gave her a heart worm shot, and flea prevention ointment, plus $5 for disposal of "waste equipment", which I later on found are the needle and syringe they use for the vaccinations. For her 12 weeks vaccination clinic shot, the technician took the pup to the back, brought her back and instead of $14.95, charged $34, saying that SHE gave the shot. I made further inquiries, Instead of paying $150 for the full complement of vaccinations:DHPP, Bordello, rabies etc over the four months period, I would be charged $60 for next shots, and then even more the last time, with the addition of the rabies. It would come to close to $300. They told me the higher charges are because "we use the good stuff". Who are they trying to fool ????????????.

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