VCA Boston Road Animal Hospital

Reviews 3

TA

Talya Goodman

Worst experience I ever had at a Veterinary Hospital. My b/f and I had a cat that was very sweet and affectionate, and quite suddenly came down with a heart condition. He was really the best cat weve ever had, or we would not have gone through such great lengths to try to save him. Generally we go to North King Animal Clinic, which is a great place, the Vet there is straight forward, helpful, and does not try to nickel and dime you. But, there was a very good specialist we began to go to at VCA. She was smart, and really cared. However, when my cat passed a clot, I was forced to go to VCA even though the specialist was not there at the time. He could no longer feel his front paw, so they put him on blood thinners and sent him home. A day later, her passed the clot to his whole back half----due to the blood thinners. I rushed him back to the hospital. He was throwing up violently, and was in a lot of pain. He was the nicest cat in the world, and almost never made any noise throughout the months of procedures we put him through to figure out the heart problem. He would let us feed him all of his meds without struggle, but suddenly he was crying in pain. They made me wait for an hour without seeing anyone. I just sat in the waiting room, my heart breaking with every cry he made. Finally, I got up and demanded to see someone. I dont normally do this, but it was a little over an hour by that point and I thought the cat was going to die in agony in the waiting room. So, they took him and refused to let me go with him. Then, they sat me in another room for a half an hour with no one saying anything to me. Finally, a doctor came in and said that the clot had moved, which I already knew. He never introduced himself, and after saying that one sentence to me, simply left. I got ahold of the specialist on the phone, and she was very sympathetic and told me they would likely have to put him down. After waiting another 20 minutes, the doctor came back with a sheet for me to sign to put my cat down. I asked if there was anything else we could do, and he said, "well, looks like you missed an appointment, maybe we could have done something then." At that point, I was shaking with rage. We had spent thousands of dollars on this cat, I had gone to several appointments every week for months to the specialist to other doctors, and we had him on all kinds of medications. I NEVER missed an appointment. To which all I could say was, "excuse me? Ive never missed any appointments." Then he flipped the page and said, "Oh, I was looking at the wrong chart. I guess I could set up a plan for your cat, but it would be expensive..." Since, we had already spent so much money on the cat, I thought it was strange that he would say this to me. I told him to do that, and he sighed dramatically like I was wasting his precious time. Eventually he came back with a bunch more paperwork, which showed us that even if we spent tens of thousands on the cat, it would just prolong his suffering and there was almost no chance it would improve his situation. If the Vet had explained to me the situation, he would have saved himself the trouble of crunching the numbers. So, we were forced to put our cat down. Ive had cats my entire life, and Ive had to put many of them down due to cancer, old age, various other illnesses, but I have never had an experience like that. The Vet was so callous and lacked any understanding or empathy for the situation. I will never go to this hospital again, and I recommend that everyone else should steer clear.

KR

KR Bob1

I have a 4 year old Great Dane. He was chasing a squirrel through our neighborhood in Back Bay. He jumped over some piles of stuff in our neighbors backyard & must have caught his sack on part of the pile. He had a 2" laceration that was bleeding pretty bad. Im a medical doctor, so I was trying to control the bleeding while my partner called the vet. Atlas was not having any of it with my hands near his package & kept yelping and biting at me when I was gently holding the gauze. Our vet had just closed and they do not offer after hours emergency services. They recommended that we go to VCA. Normally, thats not our part of town, but Atlas needed immediate care & the blood was getting everywhere at this point. We got to the hospital and were greeted by a fabulous young lady at the front desk. She saw the blood all over our clothes & thought we had a bigger accident than it was. She was able to get us into a room quickly and the vet arrived to assess the situation. He was able to see that the slice on the scrotum was not serious, but deep enough to slightly expose Atlas right jewel. Since hes a pb and we breed him, we need to protect his assets. The procedure took a little longer, but we were made comfortable while we waited. The bill was a bit higher than expected, but it was well worth the expense. We didnt get rung up for extra charges as others have commented. Atlas wound up staying overnight to heal up and we enjoyed a very nice dinner at Del Friscos. The next day, the same young lady was there to greet us and said that Atlas had done very well overnight. He didnt look like they beat on him or that he was stressed out in any way. Just so you know, Atlas is a very physical dog and loves to play rough. Its not uncommon for him to knock people around & he gets it right back. He has a lot of fun & may have learned his lesson. If we ever feel that we are in that part of town again, we would surely stop in to greet the staff again. They helped us as much as we would expect and the experience was satisfactory. Atlas has been able to resume his breeding duties, but his squirrel chasing days are over. Were looking to build something more contained in our yard that will allow him to chase some animals without the hazards of our neighbors rubbish. I mean, who throws away a Plasma Premium and Santa Cruz Tallboy in the same trash cycle?! Its like going to an evening party wearing a black suit with a blue tie. Crazy!

RA

Rachel Cosker

My French Bulldog, Ellie was recently seen and treated by the staff at VCA Boston Road Animal Hospital for aspiration pneumonia. My mother and father had brought her in, during the blizzard on 3/14/2017. My boyfriend and I were stuck in Detroit, MI trying to return from vacation. I needed to reach out and thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving my dogs life. I was an absolute wreck, for the fact that she was going through this, and that I couldn’t be there with her, but my mother reassured me that she was in the very best place possible- and she really was. From the beginning bringing her into care, to the very end- the communication, professionalism and outstanding medical ethics displayed in your facility was excellent. My mother was allowed to visit her in my absence- and the staff was welcoming, telling her how much they loved my Ellie. (That itself was so good to hear) I probably spoke to 4 different physicians throughout her stay, and every question I had, and any information relayed to me was consistent. I requested my vet in Vermont stay in the loop, and the information exchange between both facilities was seamless, which helped on my end SO much. Finally, Ellie was discharged with a detailed care plan, and I felt very supported taking her home to start her outpatient treatment. I know that we still have a rocky road to her being 100%, but I know without a doubt that I wouldn’t be able to hold her in my arms alive - if it wasn’t for the wonderful medical staff at VCA Boston Road. For that, my family and myself cannot thank you enough. I would recommend your services to anyone tenfold!