VCA Animal Hospitals

DO NOT BRING YOUR PET HERE..
On December 10th we took our 11 year old Chihuahua into the emergency care at VCA Aurora because she was drinking excessive water and was unable to keep it down and also had not eaten over 24 hours. She is also on seizure medication. We arrived at about 9 pm, we were happy to see they were not busy.We explained why we were their and they immediately took her back to an exam room for evaluation. Nearly an hour passed and they came out and got us from the waiting room and brought us back to an exam room, where we waited until Dr. Michael Houfek came in to tell what needs to be done . He said the concern was that she was dehydrated and one of her pupils was enlarged leading him to believe she may have a brain tumor or cancer or she may have had a stroke. He then presented us a treatment plan saying she would need blood work, her kidneys and liver checked as well as an ultrasound and MRI that would would have to wait until Monday, 3 days later, she would also need to be hospitalized for 48 hours. the total estimate was well over $6000.00 which they would need half to start the treatment. Michael Houfek also said the other option was to euthanize her because in his words" she will not be the same dog as yesterday "( we brought in a lively dog who was dehydrated, and all of a sudden she is deteriorating this quick, I don't buy that ). We asked that since she is dehydrated that they start her on fluids, Michael Houfek was very negative and said that she is declining and that would not change the outcome. At this point no tests were run, the only thing done was a catheter was put into her leg. He then told us her glucose level was 80 and said her kidneys and liver may be failing. We then asked if we can do the basics, blood work and urinalysis so that we may have a better understanding of what is going on with her so that we can make a determination of what our next steps may be. We then asked she be put on fluids at which time Michael Houfek said they will work up a new estimate, we again asked to have fluids started and he left the room obviously annoyed. Another 45 minutes has passed, during this whole time we have not seen our dog, as she was somewhere in another room. Now Michael Houfek sent in a young tech to go over the new estimate nearly $3000 ( although very high priced I am not complaining about the cost, I was just trying to get some answers with the least amount spent so we can make a decision on our next steps.) We asked again if fluids have been started because before Michael Houfek left the room earlier we agreed that he was going to place fluids under her skin to help with the dehydration. Now 1 more hour has passed and he sent in an older woman holding our chihuahua away from her body and said that the doctor wanted you to see the condition she was in, to us she looked very scared all we kept hearing from them is she will not improve but at the same time they keep pushing the treatment plan, this tells me they care nothing about our pet and they only care about how much money they can get us to agree to. Before the tech left with our dog again, we had asked again why the fluids have not been started before she was able to leave we stopped her and said we would like to see her receive the fluids and to get Michael Houfek into the room to do it. ( after over 3 hours emotions were starting to take over ) At this point we were there over 3 1/2 hours and still nothing has been done except a catheter was put into her front leg. We had already agreed to the blood work and fluids so we can take her home. Michael Houfek was very negative the whole time and my emotions got the better part of me, at this point Michael Houfek ordered us out of the building. As I was walking to my car I noticed the catheter was still in my baby. I went back in to have it removed. I brought my dear lively Chihuahua to the emergency room because she can not keep water down and that she had not eaten over a day and we left about 4 hours later with a pet that looked 10 times worse then she got there. We then decided to go straight to Plainfield Animal Hospital, while in route our beloved Mercedes had passed away. ( we certainly hope they did not do anything to harm our baby. The last statement Michael Houfek said to us was to get out of the building I have other patients who have approved treatment. ( maybe a HIPPA violation). The only reason we came here was it was much closer than Plainfield. Boy oh boy did we learn a lesson. I DO NOT RECOMMEND anyone to come here due to the unprofessionalism displayed by Michael Houfek. We honestly believe that the inaction of Michael Houfek by not giving fluids killed our dog. DO NOT BRING YOUR BELOVED PET HERE.