I just want all pet lovers to know that VCA's first concern is the dollar. Their second concern may be the pet. Their charges were about 65% higher than anywhere else.
I was out of town when my dog became ill. He was taken by my pet sitter and father to VCA in Aurora because she was told that they could do an ultrasound on Saturday and they had 24 hour care.
As it turned out, they, as two others my family contacted, was not able to perform an ultrasound until Monday.
Once I returned home, I went straight from O'hare to VCA.
I was allowed to visit with my dog.
I was then given an estimate of further charge.
This place is like the used car salespeople of pet care.
They told me on Sunday evening that the current charges were $380. and presented me with an estimate of $1417- $1771 of additional charges. They told me I need to update my deposit. I was under the impression there was no deposit.
I agreed only to the ultrasound due to the fact if the tumor was in his liver, there was nothing more that could be done. There was no point if having further tests if I had to euthanize him. The new estimate was $617 - $771. With these amounts a 50% deposit would amount to approximately $537. They charged my credit card $509.
Once I was home my father said they initially gave him an estimate of about $1800. He did not agree to anything other than immediate care, so he was required to leave a deposit of $236. Now they have $745.
On Monday when I picked him up they told me I owed another $339.66. I discussed the charges and ended up paying an additional amount of $319.30, telling them I did not want the medication from them, I would get it at my vet or Walgreen’s. My Dad asked why I paid the additional amount and I told him it was like the car dealer that doesn’t give back the keys to a trade in until everyone has tried to sell the car and the financing. I was under the impression if I didn’t pay they would not give me back my dog. I was also wanting to get Sam to my vet to explore my options.
VCA wanted to give my dog a pain patch that would last 72 hours for a charge of $100. Since I still did not know if I would have to euthanize him, I did not see the point.
I called another VCA that 24 care starts at $60. He was not consistently monitored. Medication was additional. There “room” charge was $103.75 for a 24 hours period. The Arboretum in Downers Groves was $23.10 per 12 hour period. At that rate the total room charges would have been $115.50. VCA also charged another room charge when he was first brought in, total room charges $359.40. They are approximately 65% higher on all charges.
When I picked him up they had him on a lease, I returned it assuming the leash belonged to VCA. I have now been told it was the pet-sitter’s leash. I spent almost $1100 there and they will not spend $3 - $5 to send it back unless I pay for the shipping. The VCA is 110 miles round trip from where I live.
When I was there Sunday evening a woman brought in a dog having a seizure. Before looking at the dog and saving or stabilizing, the dog she was told is the minimum charge will be $300-$500, then asked if that was ok or if she would like to euthanize the dog. My Dad said the heard the same thing and was told the same thing. Nothing would be done without a 50% deposit. I feel there are a lot of people out there losing there pets due to the astronomicalcharges at VCA. With a care bill of $621.30 and the rates at VCA, the care and pain meds should have cost about $ 217.35 plus the ultrasound of $345.00. They also charge a fee of $98 to read / interpret the ultrasound.
When someone has a very sick or injured dog, which is a family member to most of us. It seems at that time the VCA 24 hour care is the only place available. And they just take advantage.
The surgery, at my Vet went well and the pain patch Rx was filled at Walgreen’s for $41.39.
Yesterday we had a very bad experiance with VCA Central Ave, Ontario, California.
My sweet little dog was sick and we took her to VCA we wanted to do the best for her so agreed to leave her there for the night.
We went home and looked properly at the list of treatments they were going to give.
One of many shots was a shot for $ 78 we looked it up on the internet and couldnt find this medication, we looked up another shot and it was Pepcide AC.
We decided to go get our dog.
My daughter called VCA and told them to please have our dog ready we were pulling out of the treatment and taking her home.
We got there expecting to pick up our dog,get some of the $600 deposit back and leave.
They shut us up in room and we waited.....I got fed up and went to ask where my dog was ...please bring her out.
They refused to go get my dog till we had talked to a vet and told me to go back to the room.
Just then the vet showed up and my husband went to talk to him,I stayed in reception and begged for my dog,they refused to give her to me.
I was very afraid they had done something bad to her,so I became louder and refused to go back in the room with my husband and the vet.
They tried hard to shut me up,but still would not bring out my dog. I said I would go get her myself but a woman blocked my way.
I continued to beg for my dog.
After about 25 minutes the vet told the woman to go get my dog.
Poor little dog came out looking *stoned* but they said she had not been given anything.
We got a little over $300 of the deposit back and they refused us any medication for her.
Tomorrow the hunt begins for a new vet.
This is the second time we have had a bad expirence there.
The first was another dog who had a lump on his leg with no testing they wanted over $1000 to remove the lump.
I had a feeling the lump might be an abbcess so we treated it ouselves and my feeling was right. The abbcess was gone in three days.
They would have put our dear dog through so much pain and misery for nothing and then put a lot of money in their pockets.
I should have learnt about VCA the first time. I will never trust a vet again and always be ready to do my own reseach on vets and medications.
2. Written by Informed consumer, on 23-05-2008 18:43
This is stupid. Health care is expensive people! The hospitals have to purchase this stuff and just like any company, they have to mark it up to make a profit. If you would do a little more research you would find in most situations that the going cost to treat an animal is about the same and just like for anything, the more specialized the care (cancer, imaging, critical care) the more expensive it will be. If you are not sure about what you are getting yourself into, ASK QUESTIONS! I ask my vet a million questions about anything they want to do and they are more than willing to sit down and answer them. Yes, my vet is expensive but if I did not have health insurance, my own medical treatments would be insanely expensive. It sounds like you guys are the one's that are more concerned over money than your animals health!
3. Written by A concerned cat lover, on 25-04-2008 03:14
I didn't like the vet who checked my cat - she was very cold & inhumane, I could tell that she was not there for animals. AND, I agree, VCA is a rip-off. My old vet merged with near by VCA so I didn't have choice when my cat was acting up in the middle of the night urinating all over. When I brought her there first thing in the morning, the vet who checked her physical told me that my cat needs to get internal check-up. She did not tell me what was wrong, though. Worried, I agreed to do that. They checked both blood & fecal but nothing was found, so they suggested me for x-ray, I agreed that as well. Again, nothing was wrong except that her heart is slightly bigger than usual. At this point, I was already charged $47.50 for consultation, $98 & $4.48 for fecal check, $62.65 for sedation when doing X-ray, $123.60 & $58.50 for X-ray & consultation, total $394.73! I concerned my baby's life but didn't have any $$$ with me, then one of the nurse suggested me for signing up a "care credit" telling me that "it'll be instantly approved". I didn't like the idea of getting a credit card like this way but again, this may be life-threatening for my baby, I agreed to do so for the sake of my baby. Then, this vet suggested me doing more exams such as ultrasound, EKG etc, for observing if anything is really wrong, saying "well, we don't know for sure if she'd be fine unless we check more". Well...HELLO?? Didn't you tell me nothing is wrong with my baby after all these?? I already disliked the idea of my baby unnecessarily getting so much exams. Since I already know that she didn't have urinary tract or any other problems at all, she should just be released. I declined for further exams as who knows how much they'd charge me for nothing? I told them I'd "observe her" but may bring her later on which I didn't. Thank god my baby's been fine eversince - turned out that she was just excessively spraying as neighbor's cat was approaching to our door more than usual, that was all. I'll never bring my baby to VCA again!
The anesthesia that they use is called Sevoflo and is very expensive. It is the same kind that is used in human pediatrics. VCA also uses a lot of state of the art monitoring equipment and uses surgical assistants. Smaller hospitals usually use cheaper but not as reliable Isoflo or halothol as their gas anesthesia. They also do not normally use monitoring equipment as they do not get their money's worth from the equipment from the few surgeries they do a week. Their monitoring equipment is a tech on standby to check for a pulse on a regular interval. I have worked for both large chain hospitals and small hospitals in my career and knowing what I know what I know I would rather pay a larger hospital more for better care.
I totally agree that they are a rip off!!! They charged us $1200 to remove a blockage from our cat's urinary tract. Of that, $594 was for anesthesia alone. None of the other vets I called said that's a justifiable charge. I would strongly recommend against them if you have other emergency pet care options
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