Westford Veterinary Emergency and Referral Center — Local services in Westford

My bad experience seems to be in line with all the other 1 star reviews. Brought our 3 yr old cat in for urinary blockage. Already had diagnosis and started care( meds) at our regular vet. However regular vet was hesitant to perform the catheter procedure as sometimes the kittys potassium levels can crash after and they dont have oncall staff 24 hrs to monitor. Fast forward bringing kitty to westford. Our vet called ahead and got high end of quote $3000 to witch we are told the only way it would even come that close is if kitty needed bladder stone removal surgery if catheter treatment doesnt work. All starts off well except they want a $ 2250 deposit " just in case the other surgery is needed" lets all not forget we are in the middle of pandemic and they already have our beloved pet in office and refuse to release him or start any work until deposit is given so luckily we just sold a car to make ends meet ( namely rent) and hand over every penny to vet thinking if all goes well and no bladder stones we will get refund ( fyi NO ONE likes to give money back so i should of seen this red flag. Anyways kitty stays overnight no bladderstones so only catheter. Get morning call from night doc kitty is doing so great urinating on his own so much so he peed out his catheter about 4 hrs early may be able to puck up sooner than later. Fast forward 4 hours new day doctor came on and seen kitty had peed on his own and so much so he peed out his catheter early by a few hours.. Day doctor proceeds to replace catheter for approx 2 hrs to keep kitty a whole nother day only to find out after re removing catheter he is no longer irinating as much on his own.. ( shocker right i mean who wouldnt pee great after have a catheter removed then replaced for a coupke hours only to remove again. Come to find out 4 other different 24 hr vets charge approx. 750-950 for catheter procedure ( if not bladder stones removal surgery) finally im told the following day cat still not urinating as much as he did when he peed out his catheter and i can either pick him up by 10am and get a whopping $11refund of my $2300 or let him stay for monitoring and possibly a 3rd catheter to reopen from all the irratation of the multiple removal and placements since he was doing well after the first placement and had a large enough volume of urine that common sense now tells us the day doc merely reinserted to get a higher balance so they could than proceed to charge us quadruple what amy other 24 hr emergency vet would charge. Bottom line if you want quality care that takes your beloved pets best interest in mind over money ang greed DO NOT bring them here. They will o ly drain your bank account to get your pet well then figure out how to change their health from 100% better to about 40%better just to keep those charges piling up. I have obtained 4 seperate written estimates for same procedure from 4 other local 24 hr vet offices and Westford jacked up invoice and will be filing with the Attorney general a complaint for price gouging during a pandemic and questionable business and ethical practices along with same complaints to the BBB... This type of price gouging is unacceptable they take full advantage of peoples love and attachment to their furry family. These people should be ashamed of themselves and shut down for doing this to people. And before you ask why we went there instead of a more reasonable priced 24hr vet remember the high end estimate was supposed to be if our baby Yuki needed Bladder Stone removal.. Oh and they already had or baby before they gave price and refuse to release them without treatment and mind you they come out and get your pet you are not allowed in the office during this pandemic and as they hold your pet hostage they refuse to treat until you give them that hefty deposit so you either leave with no pet and they let them suffer or you hand over your bill money right then and...

My husband and I can not rave enough about this facility. Their FIRST concern from the very beginning was always the well-being, pain management, and quality of life for our beloved dog Cleo.

On December 9, 2015, our precious Cleo was admitted with fluid and pain in her abdomen accompanied with an extremely high fever. She was 9 years old and never had any major health issues so this was a complete shock. To make a long story short and without going into to much of procedural details, she required immediate surgery. The surgery revealed a life threatening situation that we were completely unaware of inside our Cleo. She never showed any signs of pain or discomfort until the day she was admitted. They saved her life. She wouldn’t have lasted another 12 hours without but she was sadly diagnosed with histiocytic sarcoma.

Cleo had a rollercoaster of a recovery where, on any given day, we thought she was going to take a turn for the worst. Throughout this painful process, the doctors, techs, and the staff at the hospital were nothing short of amazing. We must’ve called them 10,000 times and they patiently answered every question we had. There was a stretch of time when Cleo had to be readmitted and we decided to stay overnight with her. They were so supportive and understanding while we camped out in one of the visiting rooms. It was during this time that we could really witness how much they care about their patients and their families.

Over the course of 2 1/2 weeks, Cleo must’ve seen just about everyone who works there. They all fell in love our our sweet Cleo. They not only did their best to make sure Cleo was comfortable, they also did their best to comfort us through our pain. There are far too many instances to recall every single one out so here’s just a sampling: Upon seeing us back for a recheck shortly after the surgery with very worried looks on our faces, Marcelo, despite being there 2 hours past his shift, took the time to sit down with us to calm our fears. Every time we saw Dr. Kircher, she would sit right on the floor with us and Cleo and carefully go through every detail with us while showing us the utmost empathy. Erin spent an entire day yelling at the lab that was running behind on Cleo’s biopsy report and got them to rush results back on that very day. Diane spent forever chatting with us when we stayed overnight. There are FAR too many other examples to list here--they are a special group of people.

One day before Cleo was scheduled for her first chemo treatment, her little body gave out and went into renal failure. It was Christmas day. We made the impossibly difficult decision to put an end to her pain. She hung on for us for one more Christmas morning that we will forever treasure. She passed away peacefully in our arms.

After Cleo passed away, they showed us even more compassion, if that’s even possible. They took her away gently on a stretcher and talked to her as they did so, calling her a sweet girl. They sent us a bouquet of flowers at home and a card with personal messages from everyone there. Marcelo and Shannon made a donation to a charity in Cleo’s memory and bought her a citrus tree to plant on top of Cleo’s ashes. The humanity that they showed us was truly overwhelming and made a cruel time just a little bit kinder.

We will forever be grateful to the staff for the extra 2 1/2 weeks that they gave us with our sweet Cleo. Even though we would’ve wanted longer (forever), we can’t imagine how much more painful it would’ve been had we not had that additional time. We treasured every minute of that time. Thank you Westford Vet Emergency and everyone there. You are the best. RIP Marcelo- Forever in...

On this past April 29th, my wife and I took our beloved male 17 year old cat named Hobbes to our normal vet as a follow up to a diagnosed urinary tract infection as we observed Hobbes walking around our house, squatting and trying to urinate. Our poor boy was unable to do so.

We immediately drove to Westford and brought our boy into the emergency area and informed them that our vet had referred us for emergency services and what our vet had told us might be the cause of Hobbes emergency. Additionally, both my wife and I informed both the technician and attending Veterinarian of what our Vet had told us regarding the obstruction AND the concern she had regarding Hobbes breathing, especially due to his advanced age.

After taking Hobbes in for evaluation, my wife was told by the attending vet (I had stepped out to grab an iced coffee and was not present at this time) that Hobbes did indeed have a blockage that required surgery. Both the vet and the technician involved mentioned that it was unusual for a cat the age of our Hobbes to have a blockage, but that there was a 90% chance that he could recover from surgery. Neither the attending vet or the technician mentioned anything about the breathing diagnosis, other than it was most likely related to the obstruction. Due to our emotional state, neither my wife or I asked about the breathing issue and chest x-ray recommended by our vet. Myself, personally, thought that the x-ray had already been done or would be done prior to surgery.

After we signed the appropriate documents, Hobbes was taken into surgery and we left Westford Emergency Veterinary Hospital.

Approximately 1 hour later, I received a phone call from the attending Veterinarian, Dr Hughes, that the surgery was successful, however, during a post operative examination and some sort of scan/test, they discovered that our boy had a mass in his lung that they felt most likely was a cancerous tumor. The news was devastating to me and I was completely shocked. I did not understand why the chest e-ray had not been conducted prior to surgery.

I realize that the obstruction was very serious, but clearing the obstruction through surgery is a very expensive procedure with no guarantees, and if the hospital had conducted the chest x-ray prior to surgery as requested by our vet (and us); we would have at least had the proper information and data to make what would have been the most wise course of action, euthanasia.

That morning we went and picked up our boy....we took him home for about an hour, just to spend a few moments together as a family. We then took Hobbes to our preferred vet to be euthanized.

The issue that I have with Westford Veterinary Hospital is that they did not follow ours or our vets instructions. Had we known about the tumor, we would never have put our poor boy through a procedure which was both costly and invasive, and eventually led to needless pain and suffering for our boy.....and needless emotional distress for me and my wife.

When I complained about the service provided, I was told that it is was not standard procedure to check into any underlying conditions other than the obstruction until after surgery had been performed. Personally, I feel that, as the Westford Hospital tech and doctor both stated it was not usual for a cat the age of Hobbes to be experiencing such a blockage, it was malpractice to not have performed a chest x-ray. As consumers, we rely on the expertise of professionals, and I feel as though we were cheated and that unnecessary additional emotional pain and suffering resulted from this...