VCA Rock Creek Animal Hospital

Reviews 4

EM

Emily Larson

My first visit experience - This place is excellent. The reception staff is absolutely understanding and accommodating. Yesterday morning, I made an appointment for my cat who had eaten a bunch of packing tape and had vomited a couple times and started dry heaving. By the time I got home from work, he seemed like he was doing much, much better so I called and talked with the staff about calling off the visit. We ended up cancelling - with no penalties to me. Well, I ended up calling back today because my boy was not doing so great once again and had not eaten anything (which is rare, hes kind of a pig). Without hesitation, they scheduled me a visit this evening at 8:30. I mentioned I would like to get in sooner if possible and to call me with any cancellations. I received a call about an hour after that and was able to bring him in right away! As far as my experience with the Dr...I feel extremely fortunate to have met Dr. Ellwood - especially as a cat owner. She really knows cats, has 4 of her own, and without hesitation she got to the point and stressed the need for x-rays out of what I perceived to be, her honest, personal concern for my cat. She even sent them to a radiologist for further examination to rule out whether surgery was necessary or not at this point. Within 30 minutes, the radiologist had called back and Dr. Ellwood delivered me very good news - but made sure to stress the chance that he still may need surgery if things dont get better and thoroughly explained to me all of my options. She fed him a can of food, free of charge, and we decided to order a subcutaneous fluid delivery. While the tech was performing this 10-minute procedure, Dr. Ellwood stopped back into the room 3 MORE TIMES to see how things were going with my cat and to make sure he and I were doing well. She was extremely thorough with post-visit instructions and even requested that I call back tomorrow to let her know how he is feeling. This type of care is hard to find. I am not the type of person to stress about how much things are going to cost, especially when it comes to my pets well being. A THOROUGH and honest diagnosis is worth sacrificing some of my hard-earned cash, and a proper analysis will end up saving money in the long run anyway. That being said, by no means did I find the services at VCA Rock Creek to be over-priced. Im so glad a family member of mine, who lived in this area decades ago, recommended this place to me. Thanks again VCA Rock Creek!

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LU

Luna Tec

Absolutely the worst. Completely chaotic. Untimely. They do not do what they say they will do. Incompetent. etc. Oh but theyre really "nice". Incompetent. But "nice". IF thats what youre looking for in a vet when you take your dying baby there for help. I took my little girl in. The vet said she was fine. I took her in a few days later again saying she is not "fine". They took x-rays. They told me they didnt know how to read them so they would have to get back to me with the results. They didnt call when they said they would. I called. I waited for them to call me back. Again I waited. (I waited an hour in the waiting room the second time we went in.) Finally they called me back. The vet, Christine Brennan, gave me a bunch of vet jargon. I asked her what she thought was best. She asked me what I want to do. I asked for my options. Again, I asked her what she thought, since she is supposedly the professional. She hung up on me. I called to complain. I asked for a number for corporate. They gave me another woman, unannounced, who also shortly hung up on me. I gathered from these unproductive interactions, that they were trying to cover their butts. They dropped the ball and now my little girl is on deaths door. And all they care about is being seen as blameless. Lets revisit the facts. Went for the first visit -- was told she was fine. That was not true. (She hadnt pooped in a week. Of COURSE she wasnt "fine"!) Went in days later for the second visit -- waited an hour for the vet and had an x-ray but was told they dont know how to read them so Id have to wait some more. Next day -- no call as promised and when I hounded them, as I had to, they hung up on me. Do they care about my little girl? Does corporate America care about ANYTHING other than the bottom line? No is the answer to both questions. Not my kind of place. If my little girl dies due to their negligence, I WILL sue them! If I were you, I would steer clear of this money-making machine. They dont care about your sweetie. They just want your money.

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ST

stacie sobiesczyk

If you love your pet DO NOT take them here. This is the lowest rating I was able to choose, I had a terrible experience at VCA on Sunday night. The lady at the front desk was very nice the only good part of the whole experience. We took our chocolate lab Daisy in late Sunday night, her leg started swelling all of the sudden, we checked in and that was fine then were brough back to the exam room by a very rude assistant to basically yelled at me for giving her buffered asprin which is what I was told I could give her. Then the Vet came in and was very nice at first though wanted to do a lot of different tests because he thought she had cancer, I was like are you sure it is not just an infection she just started swelling today, he told me no I highly doubt it is an infection, we opted for the pain meds and to watch it. We could not get an answer out of him on how long we should wait so we decided to just give it a day or two, then take her back if it did not go away. 2 days later she started bleeding out of the swollen leg so we called our normal vet to compare the prices, and of course Companion pet clinic is cheeper so we took her there, when we arrived we were told that it was a good thing we came in when we did because she had a severe infection and needed surgery to drain all the puss out of her leg, and if we had waited any longer she could have died, there was not any cancer it was an infection. Needless to say why couldnt this vet just take a minute to look and give her some antibiotics, I work in the healthcare feild so aM not obliviouse to signs and symptoms and it all pointed to infection, sudden swelling with redness and pain. If you love your pet DO NOT take them here.

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CA

Casey Brown

My outdoor cat spends her time destroying our property and this backfired one day when she cut her paw tearing at the base of the front door. The vet cleaned the wound and our cat got an x-Ray and antibiotic shot, and we were charged over $500. My mom told them at the beginning our limit was $300. He (the vet) didnt bandage it and she spent the next few weeks outside (we were not told to do otherwise). My parents had to dispute it and threaten court action to get it reduced. Surprise surprise she developed a bad infection, so we had to get it cleaned again and make visits almost every either week for an antibiotic shot, and recently we have been provided a liquid antibiotic to go with food that is supposedly stronger. If her infection and wound were so severe, why wasnt this used sooner?? Furthermore, while she is a generous person (not quick to charge extra for checkups), Dr. Elwood failed to mention that it needs to be refrigerated else it loses potency - my pharmacist father pointed it out. Our cat has been confined indoors, limping around with the cone of shame for two months. I wonder if anything will change. She has damaged a lot around the house but my dad didnt want her to suffer. On the other hand, we dont have a fortune to spend on animals. It couldve been avoided with communication and efficient treatment on behalf of the staff here. UPDATE After weeks of no improvement, we went to another vet and spent $170 on a culture of the infection and antibiotics STRONG ENOUGH to actually help. No thanks to Rock Creek Animal Hospital!!!!

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