VCA Animal Hospitals
Reviews and Complaints

VCA Smoketown, Pa diagnosed our 14 year old jack russell with high liver enzymes and gall bladder levels extremely high after senior blood test results for 300 dollars.

They recommended a medication formula for another 100 dollars which we followed daily no other testing was done and were told to come back in a month.Fourteen days latter we had to put our precious pet down.There was no compassion from Smoketown!VCA is in it for the almighty big business dollar.We received more concern and compassion from the oncall vet at our local PETS emergency center then we did of our vet of 14 years!

I am pissed because I made an appt to have my cat fixed with an office visit the same day and my daughter took the cat at 7am and I am was supposed to pick up my cat after work. Then they said they were over booked and could not do the surgery after she got there and made up a story that because he had his shots, they couldnt do it. They knew he needed shots. They also overcharged me for cleaning his ears. The office manager in claremont ca lied to me. I will never go back to vca because they lie and overcharged me

I have a constipated dog and took him to the vca. 2 days and $2100 later I still have a very sick and very constipated dog. They didn’t do anything except run a bunch of tests, hold him for two days, increase charges, and administer two enemas a day. The things they were charging for were ridiculous! $85 dollars to administer shots. Not counting the price of the medication that was being given. $40 for an iv dispenser rental. That’s right; they charged me a daily rental fee on the bag holder for my dogs iv. Unacceptable.

This was one of the worst experiences of my pet owning life. I feel used and fully taken advantage of. I will forever and always recommend against the vca to everyone I meet from here on out. Greed in your moment of weakness is their business plan.

To everyone on this board that is defending vca, you are foolish people not to be taken seriously. If you think their service is kind and compassionate and fairly priced, you haven't been to a good vet. They charge if you want to stay in the room when they put your dog or cat down. Outrageous!
Do your pet a favor, find a private vet, not a corporate owned money making false pretenses coldhearted facade of a veterinary therapeutic practice.

I warn you, stay away from vca if you love your pet.

I am so frustrated with pvca pacific avenue animal hospital. They have been great with my two dogs. But today was the final straw! I have never rarely complain about the people or the vets but the price and the place is something to worry about. How frustrating is that... They no longer accept care credit? They never sent a letter out to warn the customers. They never called or left a message in regards to the change policy. How unorganized is that?!?! Just imagine how I didn't have the money to pay for my vet bills and was depended on the care credit to take care of that... But what if? Thank god I had cash! When I came in to have them express my dogs anal glands.. Of course that cost money (26.70) and then when I asked the vet tech, if I can come in to see how they do it since its so expensive, mind me.. I work full time, school full time and to go to pvca is very expensive. It is frustrating that you want to trust pvca because you love your animals and you would do anything to give them best, but when you pay a large amount of money and then to go back to the vet tech area where animals are being treated? Is beyond me. There is blood on the freaking floor, table, handles, its not alot but smears... Mind me, I work in the medical field, whether a consumer comes in and checks out the place or a vet doctor... Wouldn't they care enough about the place? To at least clean the god damn place? I did mention that there is blood, I might of been rude... But to understand that my poor babies are being treated in a dirty place and its crazy price... Is beyond me! Make up your mind. I will discontinue going to this facility. I would rather go to another cheaper place that really do care about cleanliness, good customer service, price-friendly!

I had been taking my cat to see the vets at vca berwyn for several years but the quality of service took a sharp decrease in the past two years.in particular, I had a vet who claimed she'd checked my cat's blood pressure before putting him on a medicine for anemia... A week later my cat went blind from an hypertensive crisis due to high blood pressure and when I talked to another vet they could find no notes of this blood pressure check having been done at all. And this blindness could have been averted had she actually checked his blood pressure before putting him on the medicine.

My advice is to stay far far away from vca berwyn. They used to be good but now, there is a lack of quality care and compassion which was most evident when I was trying to say good bye to my cat (several months later after his hypertensive crisis) before having him put to sleep and the receptionist kept running in to talk about money and fees.

I went into the local vca because my dog was not eating and vomiting bile during a time when my regular vet was out of town for the week.

The vca vet tried to sell me several items which were estimated to cost $600-$800+ and this would simply get the dog feeling "comfy" and allow for a single blood test which carried no guarantee of any diagnosis. The vet must have taken some sort of class on selling "value added services" as I felt as though I was on some used car lot. Asking what could I spend today and informing me of credit options if necessary. They just tried to sell me so much which I didn't need. A $60 injection of tagamet and another of $75 for essentially pepto-bismol.

What a rip-off.

My 5 Year old dog who was energetic and her usual self suddenly stopped eating and was not being herself, so I took her to the VCA of Delaware Valley Hospital where she was looked at by the Dr. who could not even see and he diagnosed my dog with Pyometra, explaining to me that she needed x-rays and blood work which I approved (never once did he ask about what I feed my dog or did she eat anything new) and if he would have asked me about the food I feed my dog, he would have known that My dog was eating Pedigree (which was recalled for salmonella) and that I had been giving her Vita Life Chicken Jerky (which is suspected of causing Kidney Failure) he then scheduled her for surgery the next day at 8:30 am, and when we got her there they accepted her and about 10:00 am a different Dr. called my wife and explained that my dogs kidney levels are bad and that he would have to giver her fluids and keep and eye on her (never once did he explain that he was not equipped to give my dog the proper treatment, but after billing me an additional $499 that we would have to take her to a 24 hour hospital that HE recommended, I expressed my anger to him that he Got over $1000 from me and my dog is still sick, well I took my dog to the Cares Hospital (not the one he recommended) and the Veterinarian there told me that after looking at the X-ray’s (the same ones that the Dr. from VCA Gave me) she determined that my dog did not have Pyometra and that she has Kidney Failure and that the best we could do to stop her from suffering would be to euphanaize her (I was not prepared for this and it was the worse experience in my 43 years on this earth). My complaint is that the 1st Dr. who looked at my dog should have been able to diagnose that she did not have Pyometra from the sample he took from her (he used a glass plate and got some fluids from her cervix and said he will now look at it through a micro scope) and if he would have asked me about the food I feed my dog This Dr. could not even read the estimates that he was handing me, he had to hold the paper within 1 inch from his eyes, so how in the world was he looking at sample he took from my Dog. I believe that once the 2nd Dr. looked at the blood work that he knew she did not have Pyometra, but even though he knew that he could not provide the care my dog needed (he said this himself to me) that he would give her some fluids and watch her Kidney levels, before he could do surgery for the Pyometra (I believe he wasted valuable time and charged me an additional $499 for his services) only to tell me that I needed to take her to a 24 hour clinic, He did not even have the decency to come out to meet me when I picked her up from his office to explain the condition my dog was in. I will never go to this vet again, he should have asked me what food my dog was eating (with all the dogs getting sick from it you think this would have been the 1st thing he asked me)

VCA refused to accept their coupon for $30 off since my brother and I share the same last name: he's a client and so are his cats. I paid for 1 of the cats visits to that hospital and I was magically ineligible for the discount even though my printed coupon had not disclosed any such ridiculous rules about referrals.

VCA lost my business but I found a place SUNRISE ANIMAL HOSPITAL that is MUCH more affordable for vaccines and office visits. Sunrise was friendly, welcoming and I expect my experience will be much better than VCA's when I take my cat to them tomorrow.

Shame on VCA for silly rules and poor customer service. How do they expect to gain business if referred clients are exempt from coupons?

Pets and pet owners deserve better care.

VCA is a monopoly in the emergency care of pets in off hours. They run a 24 hour care center with inexperienced staff at crucial hours when regular vets are closed.
Their fees are outrageous depending on the state you live. They started in CA and have bought out practices and ER's for cash. A c section runs about $3600.00 as quoted in CT.
They are NOT a true ER as they always have to call a "surgeon" for surgery as the vet on staff is too inexperienced for surgeries. They pad the bill as though the pet was human, loose many lives and also put down pets as their fees are too high for the average person.
They have refused service to people without cash or a check. They will sometimes insist on spaying an animal after a c section.
There are no regulations as to fees charged and they have ripped off MANY people. They are the only game in most towns, they take advantage of everyone.

My dog was at home chewing a rawhide when we noticed that she started to choke on it. We opened her mouth and could see the rawhide but when we tried to get out we couldn't because it was lodged so tightly in. Our dog was having a hard time breathing. My wife put her in the car and was rushing her to the vet who is only a few minutes away and is the closest animal hospital to us. I stayed behind with a much shaken up 7 year old and called the vet and explained what was happening and that they would be there soon. I thought that way they could be ready. I was told by the evening manager Sarah that they wouldn't see my dog because they didn't have any appointments left for the day. I told her that it was an emergency, my dog was having problems breathing and she told me again they wouldn't see her. She then tried to refer me to another VCA hospital 30 minutes away. I again told her that my dog was choking and was having a hard time breathing...thinking she must not understand this was an emergency. That my dog wouldn't make it the other VCA hospital that it was too far away. She told me she understood this but they still wouldn't see my dog. I was so upset I hung up the phone. I told this woman no less than 6 times my dog was choking and having a hard time breathing and she kept telling me they wouldn't see her. My wife decided to go there anyway and demand that they treat our dog. Luckily as she was getting her out of the car she coughed it up.

Aside from the obvious what concerns me is: How does someone who works at a vet turn away an animal in an obvious crisis? And yes this hospital is large with multiple vets and able to handle situations like this. Another concern is they told me to take her to another VCA hospital 30 minutes away when about 15 minutes from there was a pet emergency hospital. They know about this hospital because the vet used to be one of a few in our area that took turns working there at night before he sold out to VCA.

When we called back to speak with the vet we were told we couldn't speak with him. Sarah also told us that it was their protocol to send clients to the other VCA even in an emergency situation like ours. Not to send them to a non VCA emergency hospital. How is this right? We were also told had we just showed up they would have assessed our dog. Even though on the phone we were told they wouldn't treat her. So our response was so we shouldn't call you to give you a heads up we should just come in. The woman just laughed. I thank god that our dog was able to cough it up on her own because in the confusion created by Sarah at VCA our innocent dog could have died all because VCA is greedy and there staff obviously doesn't put animals lives first.

I went to the VCA in Berwyn, IL - 2845 S Harlem to get some emergency care for my dog. My yorkie-poo was very ill and emitting black ***/throwing up/lost weight. He was diabetic and I explained that I had recently lost my job, and had problems getting his meds. So, after telling me the fee was 130.00 just to look at him and I was not able to get the care credit. She that the Dr would look at him and let me know. The Dr. examined him and said take him first thing to the AWL and that she had dehydrated him on the house. I asked if there was anything to be done. But she restated to take him ASAP. I left and I took my TK home and he died a few hours later. I had him 11 years! Had spent over 350 just to get a diagnosis prior and to be treated like that. I begged them to help me. HA! I guess all this rights for animals is just a bunch of hooey.

I would have paid the money as I was getting my money that Tue. But my dog had to suffer because I could not pay the astronomical fee, especially since they are one of the few places open on Sunday.

I called back after he had passed to see the reaction and? What I should do? And I was told they had funeral/cremation if I wanted it. What I wanted was some care for my friend, not bury him.