VCA Emergency Animal Hospital & Referral Ctr. — Local services in San Diego

It really is a tremendous shame that one of the few 24 hour vet hospitals in the area has such terrible customer service. I can only image the nightmarish situations they encounter so I have a ton of sympathy (and honestly gratitude that they are open for 24 hours for the furry friends); and yet. The experience dealing with them could not have been more horrible.

The pros: -When you call they pI k up straight away and we’re quick to recommend to come in -They promptly took my pet to the back for a look when I arrived even when I was still filling out my paperwork

The cons: the tech who came out to get a diagnosis completely talked over me the whole time, kept cutting me off after they asked a question and very clearly demonstrated they were not paying attention one of the nurses/receptionists came out after a bit to inform me that my pet did not have any urine obstructions which was the fear. She was so sassy “that’s good news and flipped her hair” 20 mins later I asked for an update and the other much more friendly receptionist went back to check and said “the doctor thinks there is an obstruction”. Huh? The other one just said she was told there wasn’t. The first one chimed in “well it can change” The nice one continued by saying that since he had not peed it was likely he did have an obstruction. (Facepalm) I had literally JUST told the tech earlier that he did pee, 3 times less than an hour before I brought him in. So the nice one goes back again and reports back there is no update and that he’ll probably have to stay over for several day and have surgery. At this point I have whiplash. I have yet to speak to a doctor and it’s quite clear to me this feels like a play to dial up services that cost a boat load of money.

After another 10 minutes of excruciating discussion with me just trying to understand what to expect here (should I stay, should I leave?) with no less than 5 times being told that “this is an emergency room and I should not expect quick service” I decide to go as I am reassured that I “will be called by the doctor directly”

3 hours later I get a call, and it is not the doctor. It’s the assistant who has no idea what’s wrong with him and is suggesting some pretty serious procedures. It’s clear she is frustrated with me as she is not at all explaining what to expect for anything I am describing. Oh and the first 5 mins of the call she has me repeating everything i had already told the tech.

So finally I get her to speak in specifics and of course I want to know prices. To which she says I have to talk to reception for that. Admittedly I am frustrated by this point which is not helping matters but she was pretty rude and says we’ll call you back later. She refuses to transfer me to reception.

I’m still waiting for this next call and what I can for sure expect is inflated prices and a lot more attitude.

Again, this is a terrible shame. The maturity of the staff is not high and no doubt this is how they treat many customers.

So as I am writing this I get a call from yet another staff person who takes me on a roundabout journey through a million services they want to do on him. He’s cagey about the price. Claims he sent an email which I still have yet to receive. And quotes me a price of 1000-2000. After more discussion and me explaining to him logically how these services make no sense (to which he agrees) he says. “I need to go ask the doctor if this is okay”. Excuse me this is my pet. He puts me on hold and comes back to say the doctor says that’s perfectly fine and my new quote is 800-1000. What the… are you kidding? That is basically the same amount and I removed X-rays, sedation, urinalysis and more.

Honestly this place is a total scam. Unless you pet is bleeding or on their deathbed you are better off to give them TLC until you can see your real vet.

Edited——wow I just read the other reviews on here. My experience for sure is not unique. Take your pets here with extreme caution and only if you have a big checkbook....

I would give zero stars if I could, and I usually laugh at people who say that. We brought our cat in here after speaking with our regular vet because she had extremely pale gums, nose, and tongue and the vet was concerned about blood loss or anemia. When we handed her over in the emergency room, they said it would likely be half an hour to an hour before the vet spoke with us and we could either wait there or leave. We waited there for around an hour and a half before we had to leave, and the whole time no one spoke to us other than to tell us they had to sedate her, which I understand but any kind of update would have been helpful. We left and finally, close to four hours after we initially brought her in, received a call from the vet. The vet proceeded to ask us the intake questions we filled out all over again and when we asked if she was still looking as pale, the vet said she "hadn't looked" then put us on hold. When she came back she said her nose looked pink now but anemia might be a concern, which is why we brought her in in the first place, but that they couldn't tell us any more without sedating her further because she was still being difficult, but further sedation might cause "sudden death." At this point, I looked at the online reviews and found the plethora of bad experiences people had with this place, so for that and other red flag reasons, we said we would just pick her up. We went back in to get her and my partner received a call saying she might be bleeding because she hurt herself trying to get out of the cone, so our cat walked out of this place more injured than she walked in- and you are telling me she was sedated and coned and you still couldn't manage an exam to check her gums? They handed us a piece of paper saying "diagnosis: possible pale gums" and charged us $400 for that. No blood work, nothing more than "possible pale gums." We walked out with her and she is so sedated she can't walk without wobbling, so I can't fathom how with a cone around her they couldn't manage to even check her gums. I was able to check them and confirm that within half a second after we left. My partner and I have agreed we feel that if we'd allowed them to sedate her further, she might not have survived, and we would never go back here. I wish I'd checked the reviews before we'd taken her in, because I likely wouldn't have taken her in if I'd seen them first! We are just happy our cat made it out of...

nightmare. BEWARE condescending , rude had vet intern there 6 months w/o ever seeing "attending" as always would in human hospital but intern vet never informed us was new intern. My daughter's Service dog, Canine Angels Companion for Independence had hot spot under right ear, & right eye problems but intern vet treated ears primarily, sedated 96lb mellow dog to shave him on hot spot and check ears, but 5 hours later dog could not walk, just kept falling down . young vet Never checked eyes as requested. The bill was off the charts alarming , but attitude of Kimberly, customer service, was just offensive, so condescending. she could care less & treated me age 65, attorney, who has had 17 dogs in life, like I am stupid. Kimberly had ZERO care for the dog or the owner. just get money & push customer & their pet out the door. Invoice concerned me, too many contradictions. Intern Vet didn't know if service dog male or female! told Kimberly want to speak to the vet directly to understand these 5 medications and the bill. Kimberly said well you have to wait hours so get comfortable. However Reina, the only outstanding customer service individual in this VCA mission valley back to ask doctor if she could meet with us quickly.

I shared I thought it important she had been up front about her very new vet/ intern status with us, she said why would I do that ? Her name was not on invoice, another doctor, never met, was on invoice. Dog was like knocked out drunk when brought him out. unacceptable. dangerous for him & me driving home. BEWARE , really...