Crossroads Animal Emergency - Norwalk — Attraction in Norwalk

Summation: Shysters of the first degree. Crossroads Animal Emergency feeds on the emotions of animal lovers and instills fear from a position of authority with the ultimate goal of squeezing money out of you. Crossroads is the most disgusting establishment I have ever experienced. Completely devoid of ethics, honesty, and full of nothing but greed. Truly, they should be out of business. Anyone else who has experienced this awful place PLEASE file a complaint with the California Veterinary Medical Board (google it, you can file a complaint online). Also note the positive reviews appear fake and have few other reviews to their username. Read all of the horror stories the negative reviews detail here; based on my experience they are no exaggeration. Just thinking about this place gets me worked up and reminds me how low some people can stoop for a buck.

Full review of my experience:

I regrettably visited this emergency vet when my 5 month old kitten got a cut and needed stitches late at night. My kitten seemed fine and in good spirits, no blood was coming out, but I was obviously concerned since her skin was open with a ~2 inch cut. The first warning sign with Crossroads was when I called to get an opinion on the risks of waiting until the morning (6hr wait) or if I should take her in immediately. They made me fearful, "we really can't say anything unless you take her in", without asking any questions or listening to me. Fair enough, I'll take her in. I love my cat to death and I want her to live a long life. No need to risk her life for some sleep.

I take her in. Before I even sit down or sign my name they take my cat into the back. No place I've been to has taken my cat away like that. Not only that, she's taken to the back and the room my friend and I are taken to isn't the same room as my kitten. I'm getting a very strange vibe. This is more notable considering the experience at the hospital I eventually took her to where I carried my cat into the exam room, took her out of the carrier myself, showed the cut on her stomach myself, and stayed with her the whole time until I left her with the vet.

Back to Crossroads: Within 10 minutes of being there they have 3 different people talk to me and they all talk with hushed inflection as if it's a dire situation. Their play on fear did work on me.They tell me it will be $1500-1700 for the surgery to give her stitches. I was stunned, but as my mind was racing I reasoned that if that's what it cost, then fine. They're the authority, I don't know anything about animals or injuries. I should trust them to not gouge me in this difficult situation, who would do that when we all just want to care for our pets? Well, this place gladly gouges people. Luckily my close friend was there and convinced me to tell them that I can't do it because I don't have the money, because I really don't. My friend also picked up on the bizarre vibe of the workers there too.

We told them we can't afford it, so what are the risks of taking her home and waiting, and how can we make sure my kitten is okay for the next 5-6 hours? They offer ZERO advice or recommendations, they go straight into describing severe infection, skin peeling back and rotten to the point of being unable to be sutured, as if that is what my kitten faces if we don't pay up. Fear. Nothing but fear and lies is what they gave us. We said we wanted to take my cat and go. The creep leaves the room and comes back a few minutes later, like a timeshare salesmen and shows us a paper with a reduced price. $1200. What is this insanity? This isn't a negotiation, I don't want to do business with you, give me my cat so I can go. And why wouldn't you offer the lower price in the first place if you could do it for that much?

They hold my cat hostage in the back until I pay $75 just for the visit. More greed. I kept an eye on my kitten until morning. She got the surgery elsewhere that day, I picked her up & paid $510 and she recovered in a few days to perfect health.

Please don't submit yourself to this horrible place. Find...

when my chiweenie's belly was hard and expanded, had blood in the stool and had a yelping fit, we looked for an emergency vet on google and found crossroads. the staff was very friendly and caring (at first), the facility is clean and seating area is comfy. the staff was patient as we explained the symptoms: hard expanded belly, bright red blood in stool, and we explicitly told them he has a history of back issues. that's all the positive. now the negs... (the wait was very long, which they said was due to a critical case they had, but after reading other reviews, it seems making you wait a long time is part of their psychological tactics) my dog was taken to the back and examined there, which i would have rather had done with me in the room just to be sure it was thorough. the dr then suggested we do xrays, blood work and urinalysis.. which i understand is standard... but we have limited funds, and since he was drinking and eating and not lethargic, we decided to just do the xray first and go from there. the vet then went to the back and came back to tell us about the xray (without showing us the xrays), said there was no obvious blockage, but there wasnt much else they could conclude from just an xray and strongly suggested blood work.. suggested so strongly she came off as a condescending pushy jerk, like she was trying to make us feel bad about not being able to afford the extra tests.. she might have just been on the trailing end of a long shift, but that kind of attitude made me feel like they just cared about getting more money out of us. we have 4 dogs and have had a lot of experience with greedy vets and know enough about vet medicine to know that since it wasnt an obvious blockage, it could wait til the next day when we could see our regular vet. so the next morning we went to our regular vet... and after looking at the xray for just about a min, he told us the whole problem. yes, he has a back injury, and could clearly see the vertebra that were damaged, 3 points near the tail have significant compression, one is almost completely compressed... that causes my doggie pain when he poops, so he doesnt evacuate completely, which caused constipation and gas... (he showed us on the xray the compressed areas and all the gas pockets which were very clearly visible, if the crossroads vet missed this, they need to go back to school)... the straining from the constipation caused a blood vessel to burst and that was the blood id seen in the stool. he gave us rimadyl for his back pain, and told us to give him gas x for the bloating. we wouldnt have been able to find the problem without the xray, so thanx to crossroads for doing that.... but they definitely didnt need to do blood work or urinalysis to find the problem. they either were withholding the information about the compressed vertebra and gas to force us to do the other testing, or their vets just arent educated enough to figure out this very simple problem. this experience just adds to the reasons why i would travel a thousand miles to get to tags a1 in santa clarita to see their honest vets. in case of an extreme life threatening emergency, sure, get your pet to any facility that can help, even if they're greedy bastards. crossroads' estimate for xrays, blood work, and urinalysis was almost $600 (just the visit and xray was almost $300) , and then there would be a cost for whatever treatment they would have recommended and boarding costs to keep him there for 'observation'. the cost at my regular vet for the consultation and medication was less than $100, and problem solved. **and now that i have looked through their reviews, the positive ones are mostly vague and seem fake... i hate how places like this take advantage of distressed people who love their pets. this is the reason why at hermon dog park's yappy hour we often have pet education seminars with honest vets to go over basics. we need to be educated so we dont get screwed over.

PS, not nice to try to hide my review just because it reveals your bad practices. erase it again and...

DO NOT BRING YOUR PETS HERE IF YOU CAN HELP IT.

This was an AWFUL experience. I brought my 2 year old dachshund in here due to a urinary blockage. Xilo was in desperate need of help.

FIRST RED FLAG: They take your pet away from you right away. My little guy was obviously in a lot of pain, and he is often nervous and fearful around new people. I don't understand why we aren't allowed to see our pet after he gets checked in.

SECOND RED FLAG: The woman who came out to take him didn't have a chart, didn't even have a piece of paper! SHE WAS WRITING THE INFO WE GAVE HER ON HER GLOVE. I should have walked out then, but I was too worried about my Xilo.

THIRD RED FLAG: My dog was THE ONLY ANIMAL GETTING CHECKED IN. The workers REPEATEDLY asked me his name. OVER & OVER & OVER. I was obviously very emotional & upset. Maybe it's asking a lot, but they could have at least PRETENDED to care about my baby by peeking at his paperwork. But then again, maybe they threw away that info glove right???

FOURTH RED FLAG: When they finally call us to the back we're escorted to this weird empty room, with 2 chairs, but my dog is still no where to be seen. Dr. Buckle walks in and tells us in the most insincere tone how "they'll take care of our baby" then an assistant walks in to explain the coming bill.

FIFTH (It Keeps Going!): Said assistant walks in, and begins talking to us in a hushed dramatic tone, like he's pretty much whispering at us how the Dr. needs $670 worth of tests JUST to diagnose my dog. He tries to convince us we need ALL of those tests to make sure we know what's going on. We could not afford to pay that much and still get him treated. All of a sudden he goes to talk to the Dr. about how they could bring down the price. This goes on 3-4 times.

Are we in a negotiation??? WE ARE VERY UNCOMFORTABLE BECAUSE THEY ARE CLEARLY ONLY TRYING TO SEE HOW MUCH WE'RE WILLING TO SPEND.

SIXTH RED FLAG: When we tell whisper guy WE CAN NOT afford even the lowest option ($355) he sends in the vet. We tell her we'd rather check Xilo out and try to get a second opinion. We want to save him, not spend our already small budget on one X-ray. THATS WHEN THE EXTREME SHAMING, AND SCARE TACTICS BEGIN.

She tells us that if we take Xilo "without treatment" she will have to report us to animal control under California law. Because We were "informed he could be suffering". Then she goes on and on explaining how his bladder could rupture if it was a kidney stone causing the blockage and he needs to be diagnosed. Ummm OKAY. Who's the worse person? Me, because I can't afford your price gouging, or YOU Dr. Buckle, who have access to everything needed to diagnose/save him, but refuse because I can't pay you up front!!!

Then she tried to convince me I should put my dog down if we couldnt afford to diagnose him. Just like that. From 1 hour to the next I was supposed to give up on his life and kill him. Without even knowing what was going on.

They were 100% preying on our fear, worry, and love for our pet. It was clearly a mind game from the very start. We told her she could do what she wanted and call whoever she needed to call. We were taking him out of that place.

We left there with a $130 bill for the exam and one pain injection. We have no way of knowing that he even actually GOT the shot, and we weren't consulted about it either. Apparently another "CA law".

Obviously we didn't mind paying for that, he definitely needed it, I just wish I had actually SEEN it happen. But the exam was a total waste of money. They told me nothing of value.

This Place couldn't even be bothered to take ACCURATE NOTES from his visit. Attached in images you'll find the paperwork we received. 9/10/18?????? & XILO DIDN'T RECIEVE ANY MEDICATION??? Again, at least PRETEND to care.

My Xilo made it through the night, and was seen by the wonderful people at Bellflower Pet Hospital who worked with us instead of focusing on money. He had emergency surgery with them the next day.

I understand an ER is an ER. But if I were you, I'd try a different one...