VCA Bay Hill Cat Hospital — Local services in Dr. Phillips

I have been an extremely satisfied customer at Bay Hill Cat Hospital for many years. I have five cats so as you can imagine have spent a fair amount of time at BHCH. Every single visit the staff goes above and beyond my expectations. They know all five of my cats by name and they also know their individual personalities and quirks. Occasionally I've had to board one or two of them and I know they are always getting a lot of great attention. In particular one of my babies, Zeus, was a little selective about who he wanted attention from and Sara was his favorite. She is so kind and sweet and would take pictures of Zeus cuddling in her arms for me. Sadly, shortly after Christmas, we discovered Zeus had heart disease. It was shocking for me as he was barely six years old. He was prescribed medicine which prolonged his life an extra few months. During this time I would occasionally have a panic attack and bring him into BHCH without an appointment. They were always so kind and immediately would take time to check Zeus out and to reassure me. Sadly Zeus became worse and mid March I knew it was time to let him go. Dr. Avok along with Sara, one of the vet technicians, came to my house so that Zeus's last memories wouldn't be the scary drive in the carrier to the vet. I had never had to experience anything like this before and Dr. Avok and Sara both went above and beyond to explain the process and comfort me. I was able to hold my baby boy Zeus in my arms, wrapped in his favorite blanket, sitting in his favorite spot on the couch until the very end. In spite of the emotions I was feeling I was so happy that Zeus's last moments were is a familiar place and in my arms. Dr. Avok and Sara sat with the from start to finish and continuously consoled me. Afterwards they did not rush me at all and I was able to spend some time holding Zeus and talking to him, telling him how much he had been loved. When I was ready to let him go Sara took him from me as though he was a new born baby and reassured me that she would take extra special care with him. Afterwards, I received a very kind card with a personal note written by each of the staff at BHCH as well as a card with Zeus's paw prints. I have never been more touched in my life. I will be a forever customer of BHCH and I know that my four fur babies will continue to get exceptional care as well and top notch customer...

On 1/13/23 I went for my cats annual visit. I noticed I started to itch and burn on my legs towards the end of my visit. I got up from the wooden bench and saw clusters of what looked like ticks and clear bugs. I told the attendant and shined my flashlight on the bench and we saw them move a little. There were various clusters. I asked for alcohol pads to help. When I got home, the marks started to burn and I called them to say I was bitten by what looked like ticks in their exam room. After speaking with the manager, she confirmed that the doctor picked one up and saw there were blood inside one of the bugs, and they were bedbugs, and confirmed that I was indeed bit, but stated pest control had been there and sprayed, which would explain why the bugs were barely moving while somewhere, still actively moving. They must’ve been slow down by some pesticides, but not all of them dead. I told the manager I do not have bedbugs, because I would have noticed, but the fact that they were various clusters on that bench and they were out in the daytime, you could see that they were possibly slowly dying, but there were some still moving. I told them I did not experience any type of discomfort until I was there at their facility and now it’s progressively getting worse I asked them could they do anything on their end since they are at fault. The manager tried to not accept blame after confirming everything thus contradicting herself. If someone was to ever bring bugs somewhere, they’re wouldn’t time to have created nests etc within 30 min; the estimated time I was there. Never had a bad experience until today nor I was expecting to have to spend additional money today now on myself to get treated after my cat was treated at their facility with bed bugs. Be careful...

(EDIT: The office asked me to reach out but never responded even after I followed up, which to me makes the response from the clinic seem VERY disingenuous). This office is very compassionate and kind, BUT there were two separate instances of plain incompetence when it came to my cat's health, one of which proved to be very dangerous. The first instance was when my cat came in with small bloody wounds and scabs, which eventually turned out to be a case of fleas resulting in intestinal worms. The vet completely missed this and attributed her issues to allergies. I looked past this due to the fact that I greatly appreciated the calming and peaceful environment for the cats (also, mistakes happen!), however: The second issue is when my cat came in with textbook symptoms of an anal abscess; fever, lethargy, missing fur, not eating (I hadn't known the signs until after it ruptured at home a day afterwards), and the vet completely missed this, sending me home with no diagnosis. The office was unable to give her an IV or do an X-ray either. This abscess surely had to have been close to rupturing during my visit, but my vet took her temperature in her ear instead of anally, where maybe it would have been noticed and could have been drained in a sterile environment. I ended up diagnosing my cat on my own and giving her the proper treatment after the fact in both cases (which is not what I expect to do when taking my cat to professionals). I am sad to say I will no longer be coming here. The entire staff is kind and gentle towards the animals, but kindness cannot make up for incompetence, especially when it comes to the health of your pet. I firmly believe my cat could have been properly diagnosed and treated if this vet provided proper exhaustive and detailed...