VCA Animal Specialty Group

I never thought I’d be back here so soon, but at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, my dog suddenly yelped and went into cardiac arrest. She had no history of heart issues—just sudden heart failure. I rushed her to VCA Animal Specialty, and they took her to the back right away and did everything they could. Sadly, she had gone about 15 minutes without oxygen, and it was too late. My girl was gone. The staff was incredibly kind and supportive. They let me sit with her for as long as I needed and treated her with such dignity and care. They held her remains until I could arrange a private cremation. A team member carefully brushed and clipped her hair, wrapped her gently in a soft bag (no trash bags here), and laid her in a small coffin adorned with flowers. Losing her so suddenly was devastating, but the compassion and respect shown by the staff brought comfort during one of the hardest moments of my life. Again I am forever grateful.

The VCA team is incredible. Over the years, they’ve been with us through some of the most difficult moments, and their compassion and professionalism never falter. We’ve never felt pressured in our decisions, and the level of care they provide—especially during end-of-life situations—is remarkable. When we’ve had to say goodbye to our pets, they ensure the process is as dignified and loving as possible. From giving us time to say goodbye to the way they prepare our pets for cremation, they handle everything with utmost care and respect. The flowers on the transport box are such a thoughtful touch, and they never use anything impersonal like trash bags for remains. They even follow up with a heartfelt card, which is so meaningful during such a tough time. VCA is a true class act, and we can’t thank them enough for the care they’ve provided to our furry family members. If you’re looking for a veterinary practice that prioritizes compassion, respect, and professionalism, VCA is second to none.

A huge thank you to everyone at VCA for our experience with them. Our cat was experiencing an emergency around midnight, and we took him here hoping for the best. The staff were all so kind and helpful, despite him being very scared and thus not on his best behavior. They talked us through everything they needed to do and made a bad situation better. He made a full recovery thanks to their help. Plus, really appreciated that the waiting room had Harry Potter and Bob Ross videos playing to calm us down. Not cheap but what emergency vet is? Thank you for helping our boy when he needed it. ❤️

2 days ago my dog had obvious wounds with foreign object stuck on his left eyelid. It was past 6.30pm so I brought my dog straight to VCA. The front desk and nurse were polite and attended to my dog quickly. I described to them both what happened and they could see there was a foreign object in the corner of my dog's eye. (Picture 1) My husband and I waited for 2hrs before we were brought to a waiting/ examination room, and continued waiting for a while before the doctor's assistant arrived. She sounded as if she has not been briefed by the nurse who brought my dog in, and asked us in detail again as if she has not seen my dog's wound. She asked questions like "you think it's a thorn?" Apparently during this time the doctor was examining my dog and we thought that the assistant was just helping out with the paperwork. She then presented us with 2 treatment options, one that costs around $350 and the other $750. The former treatment includes examination, treatment of the laceration and antibiotics. The latter treatment included sedation, additional tests to see if there was any scratch to the cornea, and different antibiotics for the scratch if any. My husband and I discussed on the cost and effect while she was present, and we even asked/ said that the thorn looks like it only hurt the surface, we did not have pet insurance and would like to go for the $350 treatment. Both doctors did not share what is the severity of the laceration, nor provided their strong opinion on the treatment plan. And we assumed that the doctor had properly examined and treated our dog for the laceration and removed the unknown foreign object stuck in the eyelid. We were also given the option to have a cone. Our dog was then discharged at 10pm. It wasn't until 11.30pm when we took a close-up view of the eye and realized that the foreign object was still there, and we quickly called the clinic and even sent them pictures. The front desk put another doctor on the phone, and I asked her to "please kindly zoom into the photos" but to my surprise, she told me that all the other doctors and herself didn't see that there was anything. What looked like a foreign object to us was probably a scab from the laceration. (Picture 2) Since they insisted it was nothing and that the first vet that saw our dog during the evening had cleaned the wound and confirmed there was no foreign object anymore. I informed the doctor that I would go to our regular clinic the next day instead of bringing my dog back to VCA that night. At this point we were just pissed by the lack of service and care, irresponsibility, and rudeness, and felt that they were purely sharks, basically made us pay $300 for antibiotics and wondered if they had actually examined the dog. And guess what? We were not hallucinating at all. At the point of check-in at our regular clinic, the nurse/ doctor's assistant at our regular clinic did a prelim check and agreed that there was something. The doctor also confirmed and informed us that our dog has a deep cut that was through and through, and needs to undergo surgery to remove the foreign objects and may need sutures. It's THE ONLY treatment option. After the procedure was completed the doctor informed us that they removed 2 thorns from the left eye, and another 2 thorns from the arm. (Picture 3 & 4) Discharge paper from VCA said: "Tonight we recommended giving sedation to ensure that there was not any residual material in the wound as well as testing for trauma to his cornea." Despite that there was obviously at at least 1 foreign object in the eye, they did not treat it and told us MULTIPLE TIMES it was nothing. We are lost for words and extremely upset at VCA, please avoid this clinic if you can.

VETS AT VCA ASG HAVE BEEN SUED FOR IMPROPER SUPERVISION OF INTERNS. I HAVE ALSO FILED A LAWSUIT. If you're a pet parent who wants the best treatment possible for your pet in a time of crisis, I recommend going elsewhere. If you bring your pet here for emergency/critical care, IMHO you should expect - to never speak with the vet who is making treatment decisions about your pet - to have an intern with less than 3 months experience, who cannot make treatment decisions and says that they are tired, and have had a really long day, as the vet managing your pet's care - that medical records will not be updated in a timely manner which may lead to missed doses of medication, treatment delays, poor treatment decisions, and possible complications - you will likely never really know what happened to your pet, bc the records will not be thorough or accurate. CONCERNS RE DR COLLINS, INTERNS, for every Pet Parent to be aware of before seeking emergency/critical care at VCA ASG. We brought our dog in for emergency/critical care due to elevated kidney values. - we asked repeatedly to speak with the "supervisor" Dr Collins - she never spoke to us - we agreed on a treatment plan with intern Lombardo on Sunday am (at the time, we did not know she was an intern) - treatment plan was changed without our consent - Again, we were told he was doing well and improving about 24 hours after admission. We came to visit him, and in our opinion (3 ppl), he was objectively worse than when he was admitted. He was struggling to breath. He was incredibly disoriented. We asked the front desk to page a doctor, and intern Lombardo came out and seemed (in my opinion) bewildered and unsure of what to do. - when we asked for confirmation that he was being given his regular medication which reduces reflux we recall intern Lombardo saying that it was not given, b/c her supervisor decided on a different plan. When we requested that she give the medication we recall her saying that she could not, because Dr Collins was NOT in the hospital and she couldn't give him medication without Dr Collins approval. We asked her to call Dr Collins, we recall her saying she could not reach Dr. Collins. - I called later that evening to confirm he'd been given his medication - the vet on duty indicated that ONCE AGAIN, HE WAS NOT GIVEN HIS MEDICATION AS AGREED and it was not written on his chart, so she would not give it to him. Intern Lombardo had not completed notes about treatment plan prior to leaving for the night. - the following AM, Mister was put into oxygen as soon as Intern Lombardo arrived "as a precaution". It seems improbable that they just randomly put a dog in oxygen for no particular reason. Furthermore, when his pulse ox was taken after he had been in oxygen for some time, it was lower than normal (one can only imagine what it was before he was put on oxygen). - I asked to see him (I recall I'd previously been told I could see him in the am), and was told I would have to wait until lunch time. After the agreed on time, a tech came to tell me that I would not be allowed to see him as agreed. Shortly after, I recall I was asked 3 times, by 3 different VCA employees, to update and sign a DNR. - When I saw him later, I noticed his cone was tied so tightly, HIS CONE WAS RESTRICTING HIS BREATHING. An assistant checked the cone, and immediately removed it - he had aspirated on his cone. As soon as the cone was removed, he gasped for air, it was heartbreaking. Mr. Mister was never the same after he returned home. He stopped using his buttons to communicate, he stopped barking for 2 months, he wouldn't go down stairs, and was very sensitive on his right side. Months later during an x-ray with another vet, we found he had multiple broken ribs likely due to trauma, which he did not have on admission to VCA. Before bringing your pet here for emergency/critical care, read up on lawsuits against them.