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January 2022 by Tracey S.
Well, I just can not say enough about every employee at VCA. I brought a very ill cat there, the caring and show of love and support from these people was unbelievable. After 2 weeks, my Luffy had to cross to the rainbow bridge, I could not go due to Covid, they gave him a feast, sent me pics of how much love he was getting, and cried like he was their cat. The vets are so caring. I received updates constantly. Kelly is the office manager whom has a heart of gold. Every one is just so amazing, thank you VCA, to all of the staff, you truly are amazing, caring, people, that know how to do your jobs with heart. If you want your pets to be cared for by people that truly care, go to VCA. Love to you all at VCA ,and thank you from the bottom of my heart, Tracey Sheehan
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May 2018 by Katy B.
Lola and I arrived at VCA due to an emergency allergic reaction without an appointment, before the office was even open. Despite not being an emergency facility, we were see seen nearly immediately. Dr Reicher and the entire office staff were calm, cool, collected, and brilliant.
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February 2018 by M D.
There are good and bad things about VCA Lakes Region. The bad things are generally surrounding the "corporate" nature of VCAs and the way they staff their office. It's not what we want in a relationship with a Vet, so we are going elsewhere. But I'll give you an honest assessment of what we experienced here and why we are moving on. The Good VCA Lakes Region is very good at communications. They use technology in a good way. Texts as reminders for appointments and updates on the status of your pet. Scanned records ensure that the file is never lost. A pic of your pet when you first come so they know what your pet looks like. It's clear that they keep great, meticulous records on your pet. Your first wellness visit is free. Just go to the website and print out a coupon. I believe the office visits cost $59, so that's a nice savings. If you have multiple pets, you HAVE to bring them both to get the free visit(s). And these are wellness checkups...NOT for emergent problems. Nice staff. I found everyone to be kind and compassionate. The Not So Great There are a few 'permanent' Vets at this clinic (e.g. Dr. Guest). However, most of the clinic is staffed with per-diem Vets that are there a day or two here and there. You get who you get, unless you insist on seeing a particular Vet. Then you could wait WEEKS for an appointment. Not great. It's corporate franchise, subject to corporate rules. And it shows. When we went in for a dental emergency, they came out with a price list. Yeah. Okay, it's good to set expectations, but... With my dog's dental emergency, the expectation was set that she would need the highest level of dental treatment. One Vet told us that ALL her teeth needed to come out, and she'd need MULTIPLE dentals to do this because they couldn't keep her under anesthesia that long. When we went in for a follow-up, another Vet looked at her teeth and said she was fine now...to watch her teeth. Huh? The inconsistency made me question whether the first Vet was advocating revenue vs advocating treatment. Finally, the last straw was that we did have an emergency with one of our dogs. First thing Monday morning, we went in with our dog. The office did NOT have a Vet in until 11 or 12. What???? It's Monday morning!!! They referred us to another Vet at Interlakes Veterinary Hospital (Meredith) where our dog got excellent care. Which is where we will be taking our dog from now on. I want to build a relationship with a Vet just like I build a relationship with my own doctor. At VCA, you get who you get or wait weeks to see a Vet. It's almost like going to Convenient MD for pets. So, if that's the relationship you want, VCA is an adequate choice. Otherwise, go find and build a lasting relationship with a Vet in another clinic. I gave VCA three stars because they do care and do provide decent care. But it's not the place where I want to take my dog in the long term. RESPONSE TO VCA: Thank you for your response, but we feel that your practice is not what we want for our animals. We want to build a lasting, trusted relationship with a vet and office. We had several encounters with your office where the answer was, "sorry, but we're constrained by VCA corporate policies." Again, I feel that your care is adequate, but the corporate constraints, the contract vets, the "if you want to see this vet it's a 2-week wait," and the lack of vets on staff during normal business hours is not an acceptable experience. We found what we want at Interlakes Veterinary Medicine and Dr. Julie Jacques.
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October 2015 by Susan K.
I'm writing an update on my earlier critical review. They did call with an adequate explanation, and even offered extra services. It turns out that the vet that treated my dog was a visiting vet and I guess you cannot blame the owners of the clinic for that. Phoenix is now 'hot spot' free and we are keeping a close watch to make sure he stays that way.
