VCA Clackamas Animal Hospital

Reviews 3

AL

Allison McCormick

Horrible and traumatic experience. A few weeks ago we noticed our cat, who was pretty chubby, wasnt eating as much. After noticing that she was also starting to hide more we realized she must be sick. We took her in to VCA Woodstock and they took blood and urine to test for kidney infection. She showed some elevated bacteria so they gave us antibiotics and subcutaneous fluids to administer for the next several days and they gave her an appetite stimulant. When we brought her home, she did seem to have a bit more pep, but by the next day she was bad again and really still could not eat. We took her in 2 more times one the next four days as she continued to decline and showed no improvement with fluids. On the last visit they did an x-ray. They sent it off to a radiologist at Clackamas who thought it could potentially be pancreatitis. I made an appt for the next day for an ultrasound to be sure. Unfortunately, yesterday morning she was doing so badly we knew we needed to change the appt for euthanasia. My 9-year-old daughter wanted to be there because she was so close to our cat. From the minute we arrived it was off. they had no record of our appt. When they took our cat out of my daughters arms they said they would bring her right back with a catheter in so we could be with her when she passed. 25 minutes later a very cold vet walked in and asked strange questions about our cats aggressiveness. She was never aggressive and was actually listless when we brought her in. Apparently she bit a tech as they were shaving her. The vet went on for 20 minutes about how serious a rabies can be. I told her there is no way our cat had rabies because she never went outside. She said that she wouldnt bring our cat back to us unless she was muzzled or sedated. This was very upsetting because thats not how you want your loved ones last minutes to be and you want them to know you are there. The vet didnt care. My daughter was sobbing. I demanded they bring our cat back and said we would take her to the clinic that knows her. It took me demanding it several times before she finally left to get the cat. she brought her back in a cardboard box with holes and said "do NOT take her out of this box." She also tried to block the door until I promised to. I just wanted to leave and get my daughter out of there. She knew she couldnt hold me in the room and finally let up. When we left through a back door she showed us to she slammed it behind us. The folks at Woodstock were kind and sympathetic about all the trauma, but said we couldnt have our cat back to bury her because the vet at the other hospital demanded the county test her brain for rabies. That means taking the head. It was the most horrible experience. I never imagined my daughter would have to witness so much trauma on the hardest day of her life. I recommend you pick a place that has more sympathy, understand and bedside manner than this place.

KR

Kristina

My husband and I found a kitten last September hiding under a wood pile in our backyard. It was 4 weeks old and barely a pound since it had tapeworms and round worm. We took him to VCA since they were close and had a kitten care package. At that time we were going to wait till it weighed more and then give it to the Oregon Humane Society so he could have a home. After falling for him we decided to keep him. It was becoming annoying AND expensive when the kitten would get tape worms once a month on the dot. I have worked at a vet clinic before and I know from experience that, that just doesnt happen. The vet we saw at VCA was nice and helpful. All my pets had flea medication and I was using VCA flea medication on the new kitten monthly. One day I noticed my other cat got them too. So they were both put in the bathroom to be quarantined. I called to get medicine and was told I would get a call back real quick. Since I sit animals for a living, I NEEDED the medicine NOW. The anxiety I felt trying to get the medicine so I knew the worms would go away was crazy. I grabbed a tapeworm and drove to VCA and handed it to them in a zip-lock bag. Finally then they said they would give me the pill. THOSE things arent cheap and by then it was probably my 4th or 5th time buying it. Then the staff at the counter had the nerve to try and blame me saying that maybe the flea medication that I was giving my other 2 pets wasnt good enough. Ive NEVER had worms or a flea problem before I brought this kitten in and now they wont go away? Even though I bought single doses montly from VCA, that day they told me it would be cheaper to buy a 6 pack and it came with 1 free. I SPENT OVER $120 on that. Just to make sure that everything would be ok and return to normal. Well a couple months went by and I noticed that they had worms again. I was pissed and outraged. My husband then told me that we couldnt afford it any longer and I had to take the kitten to the Oregon Humane Society. The day I went to take him to the humane society I was sad and giving him love. I decided to look through his hair cause I thought I saw something. He had several fleas. My other older cat and dog had ZERO. The flea medication I got from VCA was for kittens/cats 5lb - 15lb. The kitten was 9lbs. I SPENT OVER 120 ON FLEA MEDICATION that didnt even work on top of the fact that I had to keep spending money for the pills. I will NEVER see them again, specially they were trying to tell me that there flea medication is way better and is always changing and is updated to stay on top of fleas that get immune and that it must be my fault and my flea medicine on the other 2 pets. I had to get rid of my kitten because of them...

DA

Dan I

Its been 30 days that our precious Sophie died as a results of the high Amplodipine dose treatment prescribed by this clinic staff. Not a single day we can forget the event and daily look back with great sadness how our cat trusted us and we trusted the clinic hospital team that missed critical signs/parameters and the risks of Amplodipine associated with liver, heart, and the the most fatal one that it could lower her blood pressure to critical levels. She active/independent up to few hrs before her death when she walked around the house w/o our help and climbed to her pagoda with ease at 11:30pm. The clinic will never understand what Sophie meant to us and I dont expect them to. She wasnt just a family member for us she was a key one for 15 years and gave us unconditional love and support in extremely difficult and stressful times. Among all the pets we owned in our life time she was unequivocal the most special pet we ever had. Its hard to believe/understand w/o spending many hours detailing her personality, inside and outside beauty. We did expected the clinic staff to take the most careful considerations when prescribing a treatment and when coming back to test her again to find that she had much lower blood pressure it should have raised an alarm level in the clinic staff that something isnt right. When we called to talk with the staff about concerns with her possible low blood pressure the staff should have requested an immediate BP test at the clinic/hospital. These things you can not play with and leave it to another day/week etc. and requires fast response. Also the BP tests should be free and should not require an appointment ! need to make these easy for owners and the pets. We asked for an inquiring by the executive level on VCA practices across US to make sure this and similar risks will never, ever bring a similar catastrophic result and that a weekly blood pressure test is done on all pets on Amlodipine making the weekly checks mandatory not optional !!! When its optional it leaves the incorrect impression that the pet is not in immediate danger. Yes, she was 15+, had an herniated liver and a murmur but these where not diagnosed as immediate life threatening conditions, Amplodine can develop into a life threatening condition in some cases base on several doctors we spoke with in the last 30 days. Why the doctors (4 we dealt with) didnt knew that ? We hope that our beloved cat tragic end and our immense pain that we go through 24/7 will not go down in history as another banal incident in the veterinary service and urge owners to take note of this clinic lack of professionalism and not trusting them with your pets life.