VCA Capital Area Veterinary Emergency and Specialty

Reviews 3

JO

joyce hendricks

my 17 year old dog recently was diagnost with diabetes and it has never been regulated so it landed my baby in the hospital for three days. while the staff was very carring while she was there, three hours after discharge and spending more than three thousand dollars my baby wouldnt eat. i was stricktly told she had to have her insulin and other meds at a certain time and must eat a special diet only so she didnt become very ill again or worse, and if anything changes i am to contact them for further information, they also added that at any time i could call if i had any questions what so ever. well that didnt last long. when i called in a panic due to i couldnt get her to eat this food that they said she just loved there (and strangly enough a diabetic needs to have two controlled portions a day only and to never alter it or she will never be regulated so when asked apon discharge how much of the food do i feed her , the answer i received was oh, i dont know well i said how much was you giving her? the response was again i dont know...how can that be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how am i to give the same amount as they have been durring her three day stay so i can keep her on the same track n not go backwords when im told i dont know how much) i was told to try everything to keep her on her regimine. i made two trips to my vet to purchase one other flavor of the moist and the hard food version, but nothing more than licking the gravy, so after two hours of trying and way late on her insulin and antibiotic i felt as though i was going to throw up from the stress...didnt want to loose my baby and no money left, i called again for further instuctions. the tech was speaking fast and i was stressed and upset, i explaned ive tried everything and i cant get her to eat much of anything let alone her full meal to give her injection. she put me on hold to ask the doctor. i was told to skip tonights insulin and start fresh tomorrow and if i got her to eat, give injection but if she was just picking at her food to not give it but i didnt hear everything she said so i said wait...what ..i didnt hear you so i was then met with an irritated voice that said they had two emergencies that was hit by cars and she needed to go so if i still had questions she would be glad to call me later then took the time to reitarrate what i was to do then added, try boiled chiken and rice. it was now 930pm three hours after her injection time and no stores open for the chicken and rice and i didnt have the time to wait till later. while i can understand the importance of two emergancies, i just left there and spent good money and was told to call at anytime if i had an issue..well this was a big one and the compassion after discharge was gone..yes they are an emergancy hospital, so thats all they have is emergancies so why would they tell me to call at any time if they dont have the staff to deal with my 7pm insulin injection emergency(now 930pm) five hours after discharge...and how is this my fault to be spoken to in such a manor..this women has no business being there...they say they are there for you but even upon discharge when i was trying to get all the info right since she had four major issues at once i was being pressed to move it along. forgive me but when you spend that kind of money a person would like questions answered and not to feel as though the clock was ticking on your questions and understanding everything your loved one just went though let alone this is what you have to do to keep her alive...hellloooo...then take the time to make sure the owner is completly understanding and if you say call at any time make sure there is enough staff to deal with the phone and in house situations...so as of now my baby did not get her insulin and that is very harmful to her as they stated several times in discharge and in the paperwork..way to go vca caves on being there after discharge......ugh!!!!!

SE

Sean F

Not impressed at all. Brought my dog in for vomiting a week or so back. Vet came in with a "treatment plan" that would have added up to about 2000 had I done it all. Was concerned with a blockage so did an X-ray. I said no to blood tests and all the other tests they wanted to do. After the 180 X-ray fee and the "additional" 90 dollar fee for some expert somewhere else to read the X-rays again.... (never heard of that in my life... dont doctors and vets know how to read an X-ray?). Vet said it looked like a "soft blockage" and that her stomach looked "different". When I asked about possibility of a stomach bug or some other upset he shrugged it off as impossible. They gave her an injection of antacid and sent us home. But not before paying 500 bucks and knowing NOTHING more than when I went in. Next morning I took her to my vet... my vet looked at the X-ray they sent us home with.... said the X-ray looked normal. Gave her a shot to PREVENT her from throwing up.... not an injectable Pepcid but an actual medication to stop her from throwing up... gave us 3 cans of easily digestible food.... one more X-ray to be sure and we were out the door for 150 bucks and the explanation of a stomach bug that would clear itself up. No more throwing up and a healthy pup. Unless your dog is bleeding out or is on its death bed, avoid this place. They are predatory and are in it more for the money than anything else. They prey on a pet owners concern for their pet and gouge you in the process. Still baffled by how an X-ray costs 300 bucks when my vet can do it for 120.... and she can even READ it herself! Im still waiting for the call from caves telling me what the so called "expert" I paid 90 bucks to said. Even my vet said CAVES is ridiculous in their pricing. NEVER again will I go to that place.

CU

cubgirl

My dog was there a year ago and ran up a $2000 bill which was paid in full. He recovered from that incident and I thought the facility was pretty good. So today I took him back because he is limping after coming home from the Dog Park yesterday. His limp was getting worse so I wanted him checked out. I drove 30 miles to bring him to CAVEs. He was teetering on 3 legs while I fill out a form. I told her wed been there before and asked if she had our info in her system. Next, she wanted my birthdate "in case prescriptions were needed." I gave her my dogs birthdate instead. The receptionist desk is so high she never saw my dog or bothered to peek over her desk to look at his condition. I think theyre supposed to do that... its a preliminary triage. Anyway, while were checking in, a CAVEs worker interrupted us and started asking the receptionist about another animal. The receptionist abruptly just turned away from us and started talking about the other animal while we just stood there. I finally walked over to sit down and then called out to ask if we were done with check-in. I was told yes, we were checked in. After sitting a few moments I felt uncomfortable and decided to go ahead and leave. There are other places I can go to that might actually catch a glimpse of my dog and then complete the check in process. I understand this is an emergency place and maybe the other animal was an emergency. In that case tell the customer, "Thank you, were going to take care of your dog as soon as possible. Please have a seat and someone will be with you shortly," instead of just letting your customer hang there and feeling devalued. I vote with my feet.