VCA Lakewood Animal Hospital

Reviews

• AC

  Angela Carr

  4 days ago
  2.0
  Two stars just because the nurses and the second vet were great, but the first one nearly killed our cat. Our healthy 2 year old cat was in obvious pain. Our regular vet was closed so we took him to VCA Lakewood. The first vet said based on her observation she thought he had saddle thrombosis, there was no treatment, and our best bet was humane euthanasia. She said she would run glucose and lactate tests that would tell her if her diagnosis was correct. She said the tests confirmed her diagnosis and to prepare for euthanasia. We called our son and daughter to meet us at the hospital. Sobbed our eyes out, held him, pet him, kissed him, said our goodbyes then pressed the button for them to administer the euthanasia. A different vet came in, apparently there had been a shift change. She had the euthanasia needles in her pocket and mentioned this would be the most humane route since treatment could mean a life time of pills. "Wait What! There's a treatment option?!" she said it depended on how advanced things were. We asked if we could monitor him over night and take him to our regular vet the next day. She said yes, and before we left she noted that he seemed to have some control of his back legs so maybe we caught it early (usually this causes paralysis) Next day we took him to our Vet who felt his stomach, said he seemed constipated, but agreed that his back area was tender. He did some tests and xrays.... and guess what? Turns out our cat had been bit on the butt and was constipated (likely cause it hurt to poop). Antibiotics and laxatives and he's fine. After reviewing the test results from the first vet, I'm not sure how she came to her conclusion... his glucose levels were elevated everywhere, and his lactate was only slightly elevated in one leg. If it was thrombosis the back legs should have had much different results. Seems she had already made up her mind before even running the tests. I'd be interested to see if MURDERING PETS is a trend at the end of her shifts! Thank goodness for the second vet who unintentionally gave us a glimmer of hope and GOD BLESS Dr. Casillas at Pet Lovers Animal Hospital for providing thorough, excellent care.
• RR

  Rocio R

  Dec 31, 2025
  2.0
  Regular service is okay but.... I paid extra on the insurance just to get my dogs dental cleaning... They made an appointment and called me back and said the date that they gave me was overbooked.... I told them that I had 2 weeks off of work and I specifically made the appointment for the dental cleaning to ensure I was going to be at home to drop him off and pick him up without taking time off from work..... They said they were able to do it as an emergency on New Year's Eve... I advised them that I was hosting that day and it was very important for me to be back home on time to welcome my guests for new years eve.... They said it was fine. I can drop Benny off at 7:00 a.m. and he would be out in the afternoon.... I called them at 2:20 p.m. and they said he was just going under anesthesia.... Which means they lied to me and now it feels like they just wanted me to pay for the extra dental cost which is another $800.... This will be my last year with this insurance and pet group .... I didn't get an apology over the phone and they just said " they were about to call you and give you an update ...(7 hours later ????).... for any dog parents out there, we all know how stressful. It is for our pets to be in kennels for 7 hours.... + Whatever time this dental cleaning is going to take and the recovery.... I'm attaching my call log to show that they've called me... To change the appointments from the original date.... and expect me to be there on time and confirm my appointment but when it comes to them... I still have to call them to get an update on my pet.
• MA

  Maria Ayala

  Dec 28, 2025
  1.0
  If you really care about the overall wellbeing of your pet, DO NOT COME HERE. Not only do they overcharge, they don’t treat your pet. My cat originally had a fever, she did not get treated for the fever. I had to pay 3 thousand just for her to get an ointment but no medicine or antibiotics were provided. Not only did they not treat the fever, she was progressively getting worst, I had to go back and pay an additional 4 thousand so they can run more tests for her. Mind you it was just a fever. Not only that, but the staff are so rude and disrespectful. Please don’t come here. I eventually had to take her to a regular vet, where I paid a quarter of the price they were billing me for, and she got treated right away. Please support small family owned veterinary hospitals, where they not only care for the wellbeing of your pet, but will actually provide treatment to your pet. (Plus look at the other reviews.)
• TG

  Tania G

  Dec 13, 2025
  1.0
  Review based solely on cost. took my cat in for an injury and the visit alone is $200 and the total cost if i preceded with the evaluation, "evaluation only" and no treatment $1200... Biggest rip off!! and mind you, this eval was after hours of waiting! only 1 vet on staff. Friday night. Left and went to local vet next am and cost $500 and thats the eval and treatment.
• LR

  Lola Rennt

  Dec 10, 2025
  1.0
  I Hope and pray you never have to take your pet to an emergency hospital most of all this place! My pet had a horrific accident and needed attention asap. This and Crossroads were the closest emergency clinics to my home because unfortunately my regular vet was already closed. I had heard terrible things about Crossroads for many years so I knew I wasn't going there and hoped this place would fare better and boy was I wrong. First thing they do when you get there while you're distressed about your pet's situation is try to get you to purchase these $1500+ packages before finding out what your pet actually has. There's another option where you chose not to purchase any of the ridiculous $1000 packages and you only pay for a basic emergency exam which was like $200 so we chose that because it seemed like the most reasonable and common sense and also we wanted the vet's input on what they recommend we do before we spend further. Well now I know choosing that option and not any of the $1000 packages offered upon arrival makes them pretty much ignore your pet and not take you seriously. I don't think they did a good checkup for the emergency exam. First thing the vet says when she sees us is bring up how we didn't purchase any of those $1000+ packages and then downplayed the severity of my pet's illness and prescribed some overpriced pain meds that I had to give her at home because they gave her nothing in the emergency room and also these were meds that i can usually get for half the price at my regular vet. Ended up spending approx S300 that day. The next morning my pet was visibly worse, I immediately took her to our regular vet and he couldn't believe what they missed in the emergency exam at the VCA and my poor furbaby actually had severe problems and was dying. The only humane solution was to put her to sleep meanwhile the VCA vet acted as though there was nothing major going on with my pet so my poor furbaby spent a good extra hours being in unnecessary pain. I've had pets all my life and had been lucky enough to never have to use a pet emergency afterhours hospital until now which was a sad experience seeing how some want to quickly take advantage of those in a vulnerable situation. The facility looks nice and is clean. The staff was friendly but the prices and the service was not good at all. Beware of this place! Judging by other reviews looks like some who did purchase the $1000 emergency package still weren't satisfied with VCA's service, ripping people off without getting the job done. I have other pets so I will search for another Emergency animal hospital just in case I might need it in the future but this time I will do extensive research to make sure my pet's get the care they deserve if needed and not have ridiculously high prices. Good luck to you all. I wish you and your furbabies the best. RiP to my sweet baby, you deserved better in this cruel and ruthless world. You were so loved and I will always love you. Until we meet again.

Frequently Asked Questions About VCA Lakewood Animal Hospital