VCA Arboretum View Animal Hospital

Reviews 4

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Christine V

The front desk staff is generally sweet and some even recognize my dogs when I bring them in which is a nice touch, BUT I have finally brought myself to give this place 1 star because of the outrageous charges for tests and medicine, the over-priced check-ups and the condescending tones and carelessness of a few of the vets here. One vet actually rudely asked me "where did you even get this dog?" - As if I hadn’t been taking him here all 6 years of his life. That same vet then proceeded to tell me my dog needed another multitude tests (anal glands check, and an eye check for some issue that he was supposedly born with, that has never been brought up before), when he was in for a simple re-check for something completely different. This visit was supposed to be $42 and ended up being $346. I felt like the vet was just trying to sell me things and using the worry I have for the health of my dog to do it. Of course, she insisted I follow-up with her in a few weeks where I was then followed to the register by her vet tech who waited at my side until he was sure I had booked another appointment with her. Needless to say – I cancelled that appointment and rebooked with another later on. To say the least - I feel like this place is all about the money $$$$$ I will say, Dr. Grey is an outlier in the terrible experiences I’ve had here lately. He is one of the ONLY vets that I would recommend seeing if it is necessary to take your pets here. I felt like he genuinely cared about the health of my dogs which is way more than I can say for a majority of the other vets here. I’m not one to write these reviews but my last straw is that my poor dog has now had a paw infection for over a month, I have brought her in twice since it started, which resulted in over $700 in fees for check-ups, tests, medicine, etc. They still cannot figure out what the issue is, where it came from, or what can be done to help her– they’ve done a scope of the infection, gave me two different pills for her to take, and two different ointments and her infection has still not improved. They said come back in a few weeks and we’ll do some x-rays to make sure nothing is broken, and my first reaction is if you think that this is something that serious, why would we have not done that sooner? I’ve since taken her to another vet in town and learned most of what I’ve been doing for her, was never going to help her. At the new place she got a full check-up, saw a specialist and is scheduled for a follow-up appointment this coming Monday for a whopping $120 which I happily paid as it came with the love and affection of a caring vet who actually wants to figure out what is wrong with her.

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steve palella

We have been Dane owners for 20 years. We have dealt with bloat on several occasions and are very familiar with the severity and consequences. All our animals are pexied. We have recently moved down to the Downers Grove area. Our Senior Dane bloated and the last place we took him didnt open till 6pm. Another place we called didnt even know what a pexi or tacked meant so we came across Arboretum. My wife called ahead to let them know a Dane with bloat was inbound. She was met at the door and they immediately took our boy upstairs. I got there shortly afterwards. So far so good. Then it starts, the sales pitch and up selling. We knew what needed to be done but they continued to push blood work, scoping, biopsy, etc. He is a 10 year old Dane. He had his checkup not long ago. We know his health better than our own. They sedated and tubed him to release the gas. We gave him 2 gas x pills on the way to help minimize bloat. So I was really shocked when our assigned Vet said she had to have a radiologist look at the X-ray to see if surgery was needed. First, shes a vet, its why she went to school and we are at a "specialty" clinic. If you cant read a simple bloat X-ray, then youre in the wrong profession. Second, being that he is tacked, the stomach was not flipped. He was no where near bloated enough to cause any necroptic or dead tissue. Basically, I felt it was just another up charge. The level of care he received was excellent. The staff was all professional. And I never had a lack of faith in our vets ability, or the techs working for her. I am put off however about the hard push sales tactics, which are painfully obvious to anyone that is a seasoned pet owner. Being new to the area, our other place being closed, and driving with a bloated animal, we kind of fell in to the Arboretum. Today we are more educated and better prepared for next time. We will not make the same mistake again. Good facility, our Vet was good. Just the combination of being over priced with hard sales tactics put us off. Our boy did make a full recovery.

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A Private User

I cannot believe there are any negative reviews on this site! I recently had my miniature poodle here, and felt as though she was in the best possible hends she could be in. Yes, these services are expensive--that is a well known fact about any pet needing specialty services--thats why there is pet insurance (that we never think we would need) but think about it--what would these tests cost for a person without insurance? I of course did not have pet insurance, but did not feel that my total costs of $1400 were unreasonable for my dog being in ICU for 36+ hours, multiple medications, constant ECG monitoring, fluids, blood work as well as constant personelle monitoring (which I witnessed for myself). Dr Nieman, the neurologist was absolutely amazing. He personally gave me updates on my dog throughout the day while I waited 6 hours in the waiting room. He personally took me up to the ICU where my dog was (although they usually do not allow anyone besides staff up there) and waited with me while I visited with my dog for what could have been my last time seeing her. We waited until morning to see how she did, and after a suspected stroke and heart attack my little miniature poodle is just about back to normal! Contrary to what the post below says, the office works with chase bank to open a 24 month interest-free account. The receptionists are more than willing to help set this up. Everyone I met in the waiting room throughout the day was very satisfied with their pets care here and I would absolutely recommend this wonderful animal hospital to anyone needed specialty treatment for their pet.

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Kimberlee Ziga

My beautiful Bernese Mountain dog Bella had a tumor on her paw. I was referred to the VCA oncologist from her vet over at Elmhurst Animal Hospital. This is such a heart breaking time for anyone to go through. Sometimes we only hear half of what they say, because our emotions get in the way. We spoke with the oncologist (sorry, dont remember her name). She was very patient with me answering my ten thousand questions, very thorough and took her time with us. A couple days later we had the appointment with the surgeon. Dr. John (will not even attempt his last name!) He was superb! He also spent all the time we needed with the consult. Thoroughly discussed all options, possibilities, risks, etc. He was very down to earth and understanding. He understood, this is our baby! He took Bella into surgery to remove the tumor. He called me when she was waking up from anesthesia, explained everything he saw, recovery time, meds she will be on overnight, etc. I had the best experience ever under the circumstances with this place. Staff was incredibly friendly, from the front desk associates, to techs. Thank you Ashley for taking such good care of my Bella! I am still awaiting pathology reports, but I have the confidence, when they receive them, I will get the phone call. In the meantime, Im still praying and believing God for a benign report! Thank you to all the awesome staff here!! You made the worst experience much easier to go through. I know my baby was well cared for.

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