VCA Del Lago Animal Hospital

I couldn’t be more disappointed and frustrated with how I was treated today by the receptionist, Erica I believe, when I called to ask about options for a quality of life appointment for my golden retriever. She displayed zero compassion and sounded incredibly judgmental. I can’t imagine bringing our other dog back for any reason. Too many veterinary options in the area to put up with being treated so poorly. We were seen same-day by another vet who treated us so well and was warm and compassionate about our dog’s condition. These situations are hard enough - no one needs to be treated poorly through the process.

It is with a heavy heart that we write this review. Our 10 yr old yellow lab Ringo has been coming here since he was a pup. He is the worlds healthiest dog and never had any health issues. He developed some lymphomas that were nothing but fatty tissue. We took him in to get them removed and they noticed a rotten tooth that was extracted. He was doing great for several weeks then suddenly went downhill fast. He developed what they think are neurological issues and became very droopy and lethargic. We have spent several hundred dollars more with no diagnosis as of yet. They now want him to do a CT scan as he continues to decline rapidly. He has violent sneezing attacks that are causing bleeding and his head looks like it is caving in. He also cannot close his jaw and can't chew or get water into his mouth as result. Del Lago was purchased by VCA which is a nationwide conglomerate who we are very suspicious of. I have read reports of the medical industry injecting Pathogens into patients to get them on the treadmill of sickness. If you think the industry tries to make patients well think again. There is no money in healthy patients. We are taking our dog elsewhere for a second opinion. We do not believe Dr Marcus has any knowledge of the harm she may have unknowingly caused but we caution anyone from using these conglomerates for the care of their animals. There is No logical explanation as to why our dog has suddenly become so ill. We are doing a 2 star review to give Del Lago the benefit of the doubt.... I have attached a photo taken just a few weeks of Ringo whose head muscles have absorbed into his skull. He is completely deformed and this happened as result of the procedure done by Del Lago as again he was the healthiest dog you have ever seen. We are at a complete loss and are speaking to an attorney that specializes in veterinary law as this is completely unacceptable and very sad.

Dr. Marcus and her staff are amazing. She caught cancer in my dog early which allowed us to have some extra time with him and I’ll be forever grateful to her for that. They have also helped us with our extensive paperwork and vaccine schedule for our other dog when we moved to another country that was quite strict about what pets are let in.

I appreciate Dr Marcus and the staff more than I can say! It’s clear that everyone there really cares about the well-being of the animals. Dr Marcus discusses all of my dog’s health details with me and I trust her judgment when it comes to the best diagnostic and treatment options. She worked with me on testing options to still make sure my guy was taken care of since his needed repeat visits made it challenging financially. I don’t know what I would do without them!

Came here last week because my dog was very sick. They got him seen right away. Unfortunately, he passed away but the compassion from the vet team in our time of grief was unmatched. They worked with us on price and even gave us a last 2 hours with him where we were able to take him to get chicken nuggets. As much as it hurts that he is gone, he went to the greatest animal hospital in AZ and his last moments were beautiful.