Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital

Reviews 3

CA

Carol Sluys

PLEASE READ this review. MY dog was attacked by a neighbor cat and suffered some eye scratches. It was Saturday evening and I was concerned that I should not wait until my vet could see him on Monday. I had had a very bad experience at ANOTHER 24 vet in Snohomish county and short of driving 50 miles, Pilchuck was my only choice. The reviews were terrible so I called after telling them I was coming and addressed the complaints and the tales of high prices. She told me the office visit was $90 and change. Honestly, thats maybe $20.00 more than my regular vet and I think he is pretty reasonable. Pilchuck has state of the art everything and to be viable that they have to charge for it but this was not expensive for Saturday evening at nine PM. The test I got was $38.00 instead of $28.00 from my vet. The meds I got were 25% more than my vet. So I did not think that was unreasonable at all... I got out of there with $150.00 ( inc tax) and peace of mind that Steve was OK. One notable thing is that I saw at least 5 staff in there as well as the doc I saw. Who knows who else was there. BUT I was there for more than an hour and in that time there were only three pets there ...I can promised you.. in the time frame I was there they lost money. My level of care was good..maybe even excellent. I had full confidence that Steve was being cared for correctly. All the staff was very very nice.. on the verge of being solicitous. I think they handled the matter of charges well... The OTHER 24 very clinic I went to required a $500.00 deposit on my Visa before they agreed to see my animal. So being told what my costs were up front and not paying until after my services were done was most reasonable. If I had one legit complaint it might be that the span of time seemed a little long at every step but I had no idea what else they had going on so I am going to give them grace there as well..One final word... my experience there was greatly colored by all the negative reviews. I was worried at every turn that they were going to tell me something extraordinary was wrong and they never did... so If I could have gone in there with no expectation one way or the other, I would have been even more satisfied and given them a rating of excellent. I almost feel I am unfairly rating them but I was nervous. So I hope that you read this review and take it to heart. When people complain about expense, #1.. you dont know what they think is expensive.. so give the vets grace there... and #2 realize for them to be there, when you really need them, costs a lot of money to maintain that facility. I hope this helps you feel more confident.

JE

Jeff Sherman

The rates and services for this place are totally out of line. We had an emergency with our cat that got ran over and Pilchuck was the only one available to help after hours. Little did we know what we were getting into with their outrageous pricing. We were out of town and our sitter was the one handling the situation. They told us over the phone that they werent sure hed make it through the night although come to find out it was just his paw that was broken, so thinking back they were fear mongering us for more profit!!! We gave them the benefit of he doubt due to the after hours emergency circumstances and although we believed they were taking advantage of our situation to "gauge" us. Nevertheless, after paying $1,000s (about $5000) for our cats emergency services, we were told to see if his paw would heal on its own over time. So we waited a full year to see how his paw responded and it never has healed since. Last week after a year of healing and no follow-up calls from Pilchuck we decided we need to get his paw either re-broken or removed completely because its hindering his ability to be get around. Even after our original bad experience with Pilchuck Vet, we wanted to take our cat to the same place he was originally taken to (Pilchuck) because at least they were familiar with the situation and we thought that after paying $1,000s but not fixing him that they would be considerate and do what they could for a fair price. They said they recommend amputation and quoted $1200-$1500 which we were thinking was high but thats the best they said they could do. So we scheduled the appointment for surgery anyways and then my wife took the day off work to bring him in on the day of surgery. At the last minute they started gauging us again, now saying it will be $1800-$2200 and were extremely unapologetic and round about it when my wife reminded them we were quoted nearly $1000 less originally (last week). If you can find any other resource to help with your animals I highly recommend going somewhere else. Its obvious that Pilchuck Veterinary does not care about the animals, they only care about he money and they will take full advantage of you in your weakest and most vulnerable moments. This place is totally unethical, they are fear mongers looking to make a quick buck and were now looking at our options to complain to the authorities for possible compliance violations.

CA

Catherine DelosSantos

Just over eleven months ago we had to take our beloved DDR GSD Aika in for an emergency. She had just turned 12 and been ill and off food for several days and was being worked up by our regular vet who does not have after hours care. Aika had gone down when we arrived home after work and was clearly suffering a great deal. My husband and I managed to get her cleaned up and out to the car by slinging her in a sheet. We had called ahead to let them know we were coming and they came out with a gurney to the car and took Aika inside. The doctor on call did a thorough emergency work-up and provided us with treatment options that were understandable and reasonable as well as her prognosis. Her outlook was grim and I did not want to put her through any other invasive procedures or other things that would increase her discomfort and that she would not understand and very likely not survive. The vet and staff were very supportive of our decision and kept my husband and me in their quiet room while they brought Aika to us. The vet administered medication while my husband and I held her and talked quietly to her about what a good girl she was and how much we loved her. The vet quietly and compassionately told us when she was gone. It was clear that she was no longer suffering and that the euthanasia was kindly and gently administered and not at all rushed. We were permitted to stay with her body as long as we wanted. We were courteously and compassionately treated throughout the entire experience including when we left and settled the account. They managed Aikas remains with the dignity she deserved and provided us with considerate disposition options including the return of her remains with a paw print keepsake. I have decided to take my next companion animal and our current protection animal to Pilchuck for all of our veterinary care needs based on the genuinely compassionate and considerate care they provided to our Aika.