VCA Veterinary Care Animal Hospital and Referral Center

Reviews 5

MA

maritza kath

As a patient of the VCA in Denver (FAB VETS) and Sta Fe (bad experience there too), would not see my dog during an emergency on a Sat so we went to VCA in ABQ, I expected the ABQ EMERGENCY service was going to be good. all her records are there!! I had to drive to ABQ to see a newbie vet Dr Fernandez, out of Louisianna Vet school who was backed (ONLY ER VET ON A SAT) really??? He released after making her wait inside their cages with NO OXYGEN, which I kept on telling him she needed ASAP, I know her condition, and so should they since she had records in there. Finally way too late my dog was placed in oxygen, for about an hour, she NEEDED to stay overnight on oxygen, this is how the VCA vet in Denver treated her..... we drove back to Sta Fe and she was still in distress, THERE is NO REAL ER in this #%&! town, they send you to this ER Sta Fe ER clinic....that basically expects your dog to be OUT in the AM because they are closed!! Regardless of their condition!!! This caused my dog to die, right there when she was being removed from the oxygen to transfer her back to VCA in Santa FE!! WTF??? She had to be put to sleep right there when she was removed as we cried and screamed looking at our helpless dog dying for lack of good ER and vet care.. this town is vet hell. WHY did VCA in Sta Fe did not see my dog on Sat? knowing that it was an emergency why the VCA ER in ABQ did not keep her, and only had one newbie vet on site.....in Santa Fe, the so call ER throws patients out in the AM...she died when we needed to transport her to her regular VCA vet in Sta Fe.. What kind of caring animal lovers towns are these????

---

A

A Private User

We had the same problem with our dog as Lance listed below. Not eating, not drinking for days. We took our dog in on June 15 and we also had an exam, xrays, and an ultrasound done to attempt to learn the problem. Our dog also stayed at the hospital for 2 nights. Fortunately, with the extra hydration from the IV she began to pass large amounts of liquid bowel movement and we were able to take her home on June 17th. We found the staff to be very caring, helpful, and knowledgable. It was a very expensive ordeal, costing us $1700, but my experience shows that when you seek expert medical treatment you should expect to pay a price. We dont have a definitive answer to her problem, but she is better, and we are back on the road. We were given an idea of what the problem may be and were told that we may incur future issues if in fact she does have a digestive disease. Animal science is not an exact science! I used this search engine to find a good vet in Albeqerque since we were only passing through. I want others who are in our situation to know that this clinic is top notch and I would recommend them to anyone in need, just know it isnt cheap! One of the things that impressed me is that the doctor at VCA called my home vet to give him an update on our situation for follow up care with him in the future, she also gave us copies of all records and a disc with the xray and ultrasound results. All without my asking her to do this. She also told us to call her anytime within the remainder of our trip is we have any more problems for advice. Again, top notch, very professional.

---

TA

Tammy Walker

Last year, my dog (chihuahua) was attacked by a bigger dog (pitbull) and severely injured. Her intestines were outside of her body and she was in horrible shape. This happened on a Sunday and I knew that VCA was so expensive and I couldnt really afford them, but since I couldnt find another clinic open, I took her to VCA. I called on the way and they were waiting for us when we walked in. It was such a traumatic experience for our whole family as well as "Butters". The staff was amazing. Yes, it was VERY expensive. However, they worked with me and did EVERYTHING they could to minimize the expense while giving exceptional care to my beloved Butters. The next two weeks we were in and out almost daily trying to battle one complication after another because there was still hope. And part of that was because I couldnt let her go. I love my animals as if they were my children and would do ANYTHING to help them survive. With all that being said, the day came when we finally had to say goodbye. There were more tears shed that day for that little dog; she touched the lives of everyone there and they all loved her. I would never hesitate to take any of my babies there. While VCA Corporation may be an expensive business, (lets face it, ALL businesses need to survive financially) the VCA doctors are human and theyre top notch - you get what you pay for. I guess you have to ask yourself, how much is your pet worth? Mine are priceless...and so is VCA.

---

MA

Mark Holland

VCA is basically the Mayo Clinic of pet care. You wont find better trained veterinarians and veterinary specialists in New Mexico. Its also almost the only animal hospital in the state that is staffed with a vet 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. In an emergency it is the only place I ever go. One of my beloved dogs was hit by a car and had a horrible agonizing fracture of her front leg. I raced her to VCA in the back of my pickup and ran inside. Within five minutes they had her sedated, in traction and on opiates resting comfortably. They performed complex orthopedic surgery on her several days later and after a week in their hospital (with daily visits) she was released to me and lived out a wonderful life. Many other dogs of mine have been cared for at VCA. That said, the care IS expensive. VERY expensive. The dog I mentioned cost over $7000 for all of her care. Pet health insurance is probably something we should all have. Ive known several of the vets at VCA very well and some of them along with nearly all vets in private practice in Albuquerque dislike VCA-the corporation. Generally they feel that the rates they charge are excessive. I do not know how to judge that. I DO know that when it really matters, when a dogs life is at stake, VCA is where I go.

---

S

S Sanchez

I took my ferret in months ago and had close to 500 dollars’ worth of tests done and they could not determine what was making him ill. I left with antibiotics and pain medicine, he improved over the next few weeks but was not 100%. The vet had recommended x-rays and ultrasounds as our next steps and possibly surgery. This past week he started showing some of the same symptoms and they had become more severe. My ferret is already older and was obviously in pain and I knew what the next steps were. I made the hard decision to euthanize him and not have him suffer through more tests and possible surgeries. I took him in and after 10 minutes a tech came back and stated that his “problem” was very common among ferrets and was controllable. I pointed out his previous negative test results (he had already been tested for this) and ongoing issues. The attitude I received was shocking, the tech kept focusing on this one test and ignoring his other symptoms. When I said, I had made my decision she acted as if I was putting my animal down needlessly. The sad truth is she did not care about my animal and VCA was just looking to get more money from me by trying to give me false hope and putting a very sick animal through unnecessary tests.

---

---