Leesburg Veterinary Internal Medicine

Brought my sick dog in multiple times who was losing weight and not eating, but the doctors had no idea what they were doing and the receptionists were rude and unprofessional. The first time I called in to the LifeCentre, I was directed by a rude receptionist to go to another ER, and she would send me the list of alternative ERs, but she never sent it to me. When I took my dog into the LifeCentre to get checked out, I was told by another receptionist to go to Annandale (about an hour away) even though the wait room was completely empty. I eventually was able to get my dog into the ER there in which the head of the ER Dr. Erika Friedrich saw her and had no idea what was going on with her. But she was insistent on keeping my dog in the ER for some time so they could make $4800 off us with no guarantee that an IM specialist would see her! We said we couldn't afford that, so she sent us home with a few medicines and some generic instructions after we paid $1,629 for her terrible medical care. Fast forward 2 weeks later and our dog is getting worst. We have no choice but to take her again to the ER, and of course Dr. Erika Friedrich is there to see her. Same thing once again, she doesn't know what's happening to my dog, but she gives us medicines that don't work and also a bill of $1738 for her terrible examination and medicines. We were also met by a rude Dr. Sienna Church who didn't seem to care about our concerns and just wanted to get back to whatever work she had in the back. After continuously asking for an Internal Medicine appointment as soon as possible from the rude receptionist staff, we were finally granted one on 1/16 to see a Dr. Robert Justin who was no better than Dr. Erika Friedrich. After doing his clueless examination he sent us home with some more useless medicines, generic instructions, and a $575 bill. He also mentioned that she does not have long to live and insisted we do an endoscopy. After agreeing to do the $6100 endoscopy, they scheduled it for 5 days later instead of asap. Well the inability of the IM team to schedule the appointment earlier even though they said she doesn't have long to live, didn't help our poor baby because she ended up passing away 2 days before the endoscopy. We rushed her to the ER the morning she passed away but they were unable to do anything other than give us another $500 dollar bill for their pathetic "life saving" efforts. This place is filled with rude receptionists and clueless doctors. Everyday we saw pets passing away there, and the staff didn't offer condolescences to any of the parents. They really need to do better.

If I could give less than one star it would be appropriate. I came here with a very sick doberman named Romeo. He had been diagnosed with wobblers via an mri from a vet neurologist. He also had pancreatitis, & had eaten carpeting & as a result got an obstruction. He had obstruction surgery at another vet clinic & had a post surgical stroke. I was doing everything possible to rehabilitate & to help heal my dog. That is when I came to see Dr Lister for the pancreatitis that had been previously diagnosed. Dr.Lister did the usual work up that I had expected, & nothing unusual stood out. Dr. Lister informed me the my Romeo had IBS disease & not pancreatitis. She prescribed new medication & a follow up scheduled. This went on for a few visits until one of the new medications gave Romeo explosive diarrhea. I made another follow up & at this visit I requested blood work to be redone. I was told it wasn't time for new blood work. Medication changed again & told to make a follow up. I had enough & wanted my dog to get a second opinion. I took Romeo to the hope center & saw one of their internal medicine vets. They ran new blood work & did a complete new work up. The hope center through the bloodwork discovered my dog has diabetes & a pancreatitis flare up. Romeo is a diabetic !!!! He has a freestyle Libre & gets insulin twice daily. The pancreatitis is being treated properly as well. He is doing amazing & is a out of pain. Dr. Lister did not care about the health & well-being of my dog. She did not listen to me as a pet owner. My poor dog has had so many serous medical problems happen. I came to Dr. Lister & this practice for exceptional vet care & could not have been more let down. Romeo does not nor never had IBS disease. He had undiagnosed diabetes. He was diagnosed with pancreatitis from a regular vet that Dr. Lister said he dis not have. Romeo has pancreatitis & diabetes that usually do accompany each other. I called & spoke to the receptionist for Dr. Lister & told her of the new findings from the hope center. No one has ever called me back. No surprise The entire time spent with this Dr was a waste of my time & money. I am happy that I went to another vet that is knowledgeable, & helping my dog live a better quality of life.

We are very grateful to Dr. Lester and her professional, skilled team for the exceptional care they gave our dog, Oliver, from late February until mid-October. Because of an emergency clinic visit in late February, Dr. O’Donnell at the AECC, Leesburg, wanted Dr. Lester to do an ultrasound on Oliver’s spleen as there was something suspicious. Dr. Lester identified a nodule that she then advised we monitor over the coming months. At first there were no changes to the nodule size except in April there were now two. However, in August one nodule had doubled in size. Dr. Lester was concerned and recommended Oliver to VSC, Leesburg for surgery. His biopsy determined sarcoma and his cancer is being treated. We look back on this experience and realize if it hadn’t have been for Dr. O’Donnell in AECC and then Dr. Lester’s quick response in August, we might not have Oliver with us today if these masses had ruptured. Again, a special thanks to the VCA IMed team.

My cat has been going to the Internal Medicine department for about a year now. I’ve had nothing but positive experiences here. Lisa, Michael, and Dr Justin are all extremely friendly and very knowledgeable. They genuinely care about my best buddy. Edit Nov 2024: I just wanted to come back and shoutout everyone at this hospital. My cat had a relapse and we thought that he was donezo. Every person on staff was extremely helpful. Dr. Justin gave us confidence that our little dude has a long happy life in front of him. I could not imagine taking my cat to another vet. We love it here.

We needed to have an Ultrasound done on our cat & Leesburg Veterinary Internal Medicine was highly recommended. Now I can see why. Everyone was very nice. Dr. Lester & team did a great job & thoroughly explained everything. Pricing was fair. Facility was nice & clean.