I brought my senior cat in who was having trouble breathing and was not eating. I was able to get an appointment fairly quick and once I was there they got me in fast. Dr. Otero were very thorough on what was going to happen and the steps they needed to take in order for her to get some relief. The process was done in a timely manner. Dr. Otero was amazing! He was very upfront, detailed and knowledgeable about everything as well as extremely calm and loving to my sick kitty. He called to check in on her the next day and went above and beyond for her. Would highly recommend to anyone who is pet parent that wants someone who truly cares about your pet.
BEWARE of VCA West LA. Their ER team is not trained/knowledgeable. They have a Director in there who does seem to know what he’s doing, but they still assigned a brand-new grad to my dog, who is a high-risk cardiac patient, and she openly admitted she knew nothing about cardiac care to me. She couldn’t answer my questions, and when I questioned her abilities because of it, she was petty and put in my dog’s records that the “owner was untrusting of their care and kept asking questions and to see patient.”
Um yeah, that’s because ChatGPT was answering my questions while you went to the back to “find out” every time and then came back to me with the same answer AI did. Several times when she couldn’t answer a question, she’d get the Director; he’d come out and answer as if she had answered it already and I wasn’t understanding, and he was “annoyed,” like he had to repeat himself. Sir, you clearly had no clue she was telling me “I don’t know,” and she was clearly going to the back and telling him she had given me answers and that I wanted him to reassure me or something. Not the case. I found out she had just passed the vet board exam 10 months prior and clearly wasn’t ready to be on her own in a busy ER—at least not to be assigned to high-risk cardiac patients.
And don’t get me started with their Cardiology team. I brought my dog to the ER at 7 AM due to him fainting. They took five hours to check his heart. In addition, they refused to check him until I agreed to abandon his cardiologist he had for many years and transfer care to them permanently.
So let me get this straight… we come to the ER with a heart-related emergency, but the professionals you advertise you have (which I called on the way to ensure they were there) are refusing to check him unless I say they’re the only ones who will ever care for him and they request me to stop taking him to his current cardiologist before they’ll agree to give him emergency care? Talk about being obvious you just want all the money. Sad to say, I agreed to the care transfer just to get my baby cared for. I did agree to do his follow-up post-ER visit with them, but then they completely sat there and didn’t listen to my updates and notes on my dog and butchered his files—such as me telling them he had high BPMs since this June of 2025, and they wrote down he had them for the past 2–3 years. That type of thing causes issues for insurance.
Summary — They care about money, they will assign you vets who are not qualified for the care you are seeking, they will basically coerce you to switch to their care for more money, and they will not listen to you in your appointments and will butcher summary reports and put disparaging and incorrect summary notes recounting things you never said and things that never happened about the owner in the reports too.
The hospital administrator and Director of the hospital both said they’d follow up, and they did enough to fix the one thing in the summary report, but clearly didn’t care about the real issues at hand—which are the lack of actual care your baby will have when you take them there. Please, please BEWARE!
JR
Jaye Rogovin
Oct 30, 2025
It took me a month and a half to get a consultation with their in clinic dentist. He finally looked at my dog today and said he had some gum, disease and needed anesthesia and some extra extractions. I got a bid for the procedure and it was $7000. I am absolutely horrified.
SA
Sidal Alkin
Oct 19, 2025
Dear VCA Management Team,
I am writing to formally express my deep concern and disappointment regarding the care my dog received at your hospital during our recent visits on the night of October 18th and again on October 19th.
On the night of October 18th, we arrived at approximately 3:17 AM due to my dog experiencing vomiting and mild diarrhea. Despite explaining that this was an emergency situation, we were taken to a room and left waiting for about three hours with no treatment provided. During that time, my dog vomited at least ten times, yet no medical intervention was offered.
The attending doctor only came once, briefly discussed possible causes, and mentioned that a parvo test would be done—but the test was not performed until roughly two hours later. Despite the waiting room being nearly empty (only one other patient was present), we were repeatedly told—in a loud and rude manner—by the front desk staff member named Reaganne that the doctor was busy and could not see us. Her tone was extremely unprofessional, and she continued to shout and laugh loudly with another staff member, even as my dog was clearly in distress.
When she later entered our room to clean, she reacted to the smell by gagging loudly and continued to display a disrespectful attitude. Throughout this time, no medication was given, no fluids were started, and we were told the doctor was “not available.” Despite explaining that my dog was dehydrated and in pain, we were ignored until around 6 AM, when my dog finally received subcutaneous fluids and a Cerenia injection, after which we were told we could leave. No discharge instructions were provided, and we never had a proper follow-up conversation with the doctor.
Unfortunately, my dog’s condition worsened at home. Around 12:30 PM, he passed a large amount of bloody stool and had clearly lost about 600–700 grams since the previous night. We rushed back to the hospital around 1 PM, again asking urgently for IV fluids because my dog was extremely dehydrated and could not sit or lie comfortably. Despite explaining that the parvo test from the night before was negative, we were again left waiting for hours with no treatment.
After about two more hours, only a technician came to check vitals and told us we needed to wait for a doctor assignment before any IV fluids could be started. We waited roughly three more hours with no intervention. Only after payment was processed did the doctor finally examine my dog and confirm that he was indeed severely dehydrated and had low blood pressure—exactly what I had been trying to communicate from the beginning.
I do want to acknowledge Dr. Gabriel, who was professional, kind, and communicative. He kept me updated and treated my dog with genuine care. My concern is not with her,but rather with the unacceptable delay in treatment and the unprofessional, disrespectful behavior of the front desk staff member Reaganne.
My dog is currently hospitalized and under IV treatment at your facility. While I am relieved she is finally receiving the care he needs, I am extremely distressed by how long it took to reach this point. I sincerely hope you will review this incident carefully, take appropriate action regarding staff conduct, and ensure that no other pet owner experiences the same neglect and unkindness.
Thank you for taking this matter seriously. I would appreciate a follow-up regarding how this situation will be addressed.
TK
Takashi Kishine
Oct 16, 2025
Avoid this place if at all possible. This has been the worst experience I have had at a vet by far. They are heartless corporate entity that only and only care about money.
They were attempting to charge me $8,270 to diagnose the issue with my cat. This involved few blood test and some scans to be done in few hours.
I have been fortunate and have no difficulty paying this sum. However, the impression I got was that some of these diagnostics were not necessary. Including imaging that had already been done 2 weeks ago. When I pointed this to them they have agreed and said that it was a mistake and they will not need to do some of the tests that had been done.
Now this is the most important part, I believe that they were willing to subject my pet to full sedation to make extra money, mind you, that each time they do this, there is about a 10-15% chance that the pet will not make it.
I researched a little about VCA and found out that over the years, they had bought out many many independents Vet clinics, so much so that they have near monopoly in some regions and thus have the ability to push the corporate set price-gouging prices to pet owners who are distressed and in a difficult position where their beloved pets need the care of a vet.
It is a shame that money comes first with these people. I will be writing to my senators and state reps to look into the monopoly that is VCA, I urge you to do the same.