VCA Raleigh Hills Animal Hospital

Reviews 4

AL

Alysha D

Let me start off by saying I am not one to complain or moan or write a review. But this place and the people that worked there ticked me off to the point of needing to inform any pet owners before going there. I have a French Bulldog puppy that I brought in at 9 weeks old for his second round of vaccinations. This is the first time he has been to a vet (with me at least) seeing that he got his first vaccinations with the breeder. To start off, the secretary was very nice. But she was the ONLY nice person in the entire building. Our vet was Dr. Rebecca Martin who I was informed had a specialty in French Bulldogs. That may be the case but she sure didnt seem like it. Both her and the woman working with her seemed like they had a script down to a T. The appointment took WAY too long, they were not friendly and quite uninterested in anything my boyfriend and I had to say. I am 24 and my boyfriend is 25 and these woman made us feel like the most unintelligent people when we asked questions. We may not be "old enough" for them to treat us with respect but it was flat out rude. They gave my puppy a dewormer, which I didnt know at the time can cause diarrhea and is not uncommon to see. Well what do you know, my poor puppy poos and it is very soft stool while still in the vet room. They then told us he needed medication because of his stool looking the way it did. Seems like a TOTAL scam to me. My boyfriend and I were furious at this point. They then started administering medications without asking us if we believed it was needed. After an hour and a half we finally get to take our poor guy home. But before doing so, we had to pay $185!!! Ridiculous. My cousin took her puppy in for second vaccinations and paid $21 and a perfectly nice and clean vet on the east side. Just ridiculous. I have still yet to hear back about my puppies stool sample results. Long story short, never going back there again!

---

D

D A

I was liking this vet office but for how much they cost and the level of care my pet received it is absolutely a waste of money. I called several times and brought my cat in multiple times in a short time span complaining and concerned because he was having episodes where he could not breathe. Every time I called they said it was nothing to worry about but if I Was concerned to bring him in. When I brought him in they looked at him for barely 1 minute and said he is fine and told me if I wanted to buy some drops for him I could. What kind of advice is that? I took him to another vet who within less than 1 minute and without even lookin at him diagnosed him with asthma and did an x ray to confirm. My cat has had asthma for several months and despite my several calls to this place worried sick about him. They were convinced it was "reverse sneezing" or he was just a kitten who was playing too much. Absolutely ridiculous to me that a professional who is being told a cat is having episodes where they cannot breath for 30-40 seconds at a time, cant figure out its asthma or even think to do an x ray or any tests to figure out what is wrong. I will definitely not be coming back here and I am extremely appalled by VCA and Banfield for bein so incompetent and careless with my cats life that even when they do multiple exams and literally get several calls saying he is having trouble breathing, they completely write it off and dont even bother to thoroughly check it through. They act like its my choice like what are you talking about Im not the professional if he needs something I will pay for it its not about what I want its about what he needs to live a healthy and happy life. Every vet I go to acts like his medical care options are a choice. Its not a damn choice its a necessity.

---

A

A Private User

Ive had a similar experience to those listed. They definitely are more interested in taking your money. Long story short, they insist that you get ALL possible tests...ultrasound, xray, bloodwork, urine culture, etc etc... I was told over the phone that it was an emergency situation (I had just called with a question) so I raced down to the hospital... just to wait. Finally they saw my cat and said that it should only take an hour for them to do all of the tests so just to come back then. 3 hours later I called them asking if I could come get my cat, and their response was that they hadnt even started with him yet and to just plan on coming right before closing. Just as I was about to drive back to pick him up, now 5 hours later, they called and told me that they still hadnt done any of the tests on him and that they were going to keep him overnight. Ridiculous!! So I guess it wasnt an emergency after all! They flat out LIED. This whole situation happened on a Sunday, so it seems that they just told me it was an emergency so that I wouldnt wait til the next day to call my usual vet. In addition, when they let me come pick him up finally, they told me that they still didnt know what the problem was and that theyd call me in the next couple of days to tell me the results of the several lab tests. Its been a week and I still have not heard from them. I feel ripped off and would never go back or recommend this office to anyone. I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 because at least the vet tech and vet seemed to like their job and care about my pet. The front desk, on the other hand, is NOT warm and welcoming, and act very condescending.

---

A

A Private User

It is definitely ALL ABOUT THE MONEY! They use your concern for your pets health to push unnecessary tests. Dr. Hille manually checked my dogs prostate and told me it seemed to be normal sized, but recommended a $150 ultrasound to make sure. She told me the ultrasound showed my dogs prostate to be 300% of normal size. I was panicked about my dogs health and opened up my wallet for additional tests and prescriptions. I was also concerned about Dr. Hilles competence - either she couldnt tell a dogs prostate was 3 times its normal size by manually examining it, or she couldnt read the ultrasound - maybe both. $600 and a pitch for more tests. A few weeks later when it was time for the follow up and more te$t$, I instead went to another vet who manually examined and x-rayed the prostate, pronounced it slightly enlarged, said it was common in unaltered male dogs of his age and nothing to worry about, gave me some pills and a bill for $60. This was a year ago and the dog is fine. On two previous occasions they did expensive, optional procedures (one of which could have seriously endangered my dogs life) without getting my approval beforehand. Behind the counter staff is wonderful, I think the doctors really do care about animals, but caring about animals and ripping off their owners are, unfortunately, not mutually exclusive. This pushing of unnecessary and overpriced tests and services is a hallmark of VCA hospitals.

---

---