VCA Northwest Veterinary Specialists

Reviews 3

AN

Anne Jochen

We brought my dog in to NW Vet Specialists very early in the morning, like 3:30am, after she had her first ever seizure or "brain event". During the visit it was determined that she was also suddenly blind. She was obviously distressed and wobbly. As we sat with the doctor discussing options - the most serious of which was euthanasia - the very loud floor buffers started up. It freaked her out, she became more agitated. As we mulled over the hard decision to put her down, the buffer distressed all of us. The saddest part was that once we decided to go forward with euthanasia and we were walking back to the table to do it, the floor buffer was louder than ever in the room right next to us. I was crying and I said to the Vet "That is very loud." The Vet, who was about to administer euthanasia, said "Oh its floor cleaning night!" Really? My dog is about to die and there is no thought that the floor buffer should be turned off for quick few minutes? If I had not been so wracked with grief and despair because I was about to lose my beloved old girl, I would have told them to turn the buffer machine off... for LESS THAN 5 MINUTES... thats about how long it took. As the euthanasia happened, the Vet and the Vet Technician had to yell over to each other for the injections and instructions. They couldnt hear each other. My dog was visibly upset... and then they couldnt find a vein, so she was stuck multiple times (I dont blame them for this, but for any being to endure this pain - human or canine - to be afraid, distressed, and stuck with painful needles - ALL WHILE A LOUD MACHINE IS GRINDING AWAY right there... well that is just wrong. Wrong. To put a dog down while it so loud that those administering the euthanasia cant even hear each other talk... well just imagine how unnerving that was to my poor dog and me. It is not the way to go and I am sorry that I chose NW Vet Specialists to take my dog. Note: I understand that the cleaning crew is hired on an hourly basis and they have to do their work while they are there -- and this hospital is a 24 hour operation so at some point "the cleaning must go on". But as far as I could see, we were the only patients in the house (other than the dogs in the kennels) and we were putting a dog down to DIE. Would LESS than 5 minutes have caused such a problem for them to halt the buffer? Would their books have suffered that much? I think not. I am terribly disappointed with this hospital and sadly I will not return. I have brought 2 sick dogs into their care for years... as far back as 2007. My last two visits in the last 6 months (including this one) were awful. This was my last visit and I will tell anyone who wants to know what happened to us there.

AL

ally Cannard

My dog died at this vet in June 2016. A couple days before bringing my Border Collie to this vet she has started exhibiting loss of function in her hind legs. Her regular vet prescribed her medicine and told us to get her help if the conditioned worsened, it got much worse over the next day and the morning of the 12th she had completely lost function of her hind legs. Being a Sunday, we took her to the VCA emergency vet, they told us she either had spinal cancer, or a slipped disk. They told us the only way to know for sure was to do an MRI ($2,500) and Xrays ($500). I am not wealthy, so this money had to go on carecredit, but I would do anything for my dog and the vet knew this. A few hours later we get a call from the vet saying that it was only a slipped disk! With surgery she would have an 80% chance of walking normally again, so of course we agreed to do the surgery, we were so relieved that she would probably be alright! Four hours later we get another call from the vet basically saying "Sorry, we opened her up and it turns out it is spinal cancer. She will probably never walk again and even with chemo she will only have a few months to live." We had to make the heartbreaking decision to euthanize her right then while she was still under anesthetic 20 miles away, she would have been groggy and in pain if we woke her up just to say goodbye again. We didnt even get a chance to say goodbye or be with her when she passed away. If the vet had properly diagnosed her with cancer she wouldnt have gone under the knife, and we would have had a chance to say goodbye in person, give her her favorite foods and be there with her as she passed. When we came to collect our beautiful dogs body we were given a $6,000 bill. I may be old fashioned, but I dont think they should have charged us for the spinal surgery that we only had done because they misdiagnosed her. If a carpenter measures your kitchen wrong, he shouldnt charge you for the cupboards that dont fit. I dont know how hard it is to tell cancer from a slipped disk on an MRI and Xrays, but we were told without a doubt that it was a slipped disk before we agreed to her surgery. I would not have had a problem paying for the office visit, emergency vet fees, the xrays and MRI, but to charge us for the surgery that they misdiagnosed us for is wrong and greedy. So I am now stuck paying off a $6000 bill as I mourn my dog. The worst part for me is that I didnt get a chance to say goodbye, the last time I saw her alive was when they took her in to do the diagnostic MRI...

YV

Yvette Krueger

Do NOT trust Dr. Haraway! Dr. Amy Haraway greeted my daughter when she brought in her sick puppy. Her first diagnosis was that her dog had cancer. Yes, from looking at the dog, Haraway was sure that he had cancer and a $4000 MRI was needed to determine how to treat him. My daughter called me immediately and put me on speaker phone to listen to the doctors explanation of the cost for the MRI. When I asked about other options, I was told there were no other options. I asked what the Neurologist thought and Haraway told me that the Neurologist hadnt even seen the puppy yet. I suggested that we discuss treatment options after the Neurologist had an opportunity to evaluate puppys symptoms, and that we shouldnt speculate without medical evidence. I did let her know that I was not appreciative of her speculating. My daughter was first told that she would be away from her dog for only 30-40 minutes. It was 3 hours. After the Neurologist did their consult an estimate was brought to us. Tara was sent into our waiting room and we had a few questions on the estimate that Tara wasnt able to answer. I think her lack of knowledge made her agitated, so I suggested that we might need to ask the questions to the doctor and that we would like to see the puppy. Tara said that they dont usually do that until the estimate is taken care of. I asked her to get the doctor. When Dr. Haraway entered the room, she exerted her dominance and let me know that if she was going to continue treating our puppy that I needed to start respecting her and her nurse (Tara). I WAS NEVER AT ANY MOMENT RUDE OR DISRESPECTFUL... even after Dr. Haraway tried to coax me out of money for an MRI that wasnt necessary and again not even when she made an incorrect false diagnosis that puppy must have cancer upon walking through the door. This is the Dr. That will be looking after our puppy for the night. We felt extremely uncomfortable leaving him and if it wasnt for the severity of the visit, would have taken him elsewhere. We also continued to get dirty looks from the nurse Tara for the rest of the evening.. and again the next day when we were able to pick up our puppy. Dr. Haraway was not professional, she did not show dignity or ethics when treating our puppy. and Tara was immature , irrational and was lacking the skill set needed to answer any of our questions. IF YOU GET DR. HARAWAY ASK FOR ANOTHER DOCTOR.