VCA Regional Institute for Veterinary Emergencies and Referrals

Reviews

• KJ

  Katherine Johnson

  6 days ago
  5.0
  The vets and staff at VCA River took excellent care of my Golden Retriever, Brinkley, in May 2025 when he had an emergency surgery to remove a GI block and then again in January when things took an unfortunate turn and we lost him. They are very thorough, compassionate, thoughtful and caring. I would recommend taking your pet here in any emergency situation. We live an hour away, but its worth the drive. Thank you to Dr. Smith, Kat, I'm sure I'm missing someone. One last thought, they actually react in an emergency. It was very impressive!
• JS

  Jenna Sullivan

  Feb 19, 2026
  1.0
  Oh the regrets I have for taking my sweet boy here. On 2/4/26 I brought in my 14 year old dog, he was very lethargic and having trouble keeping his eyes open. After receiving a diagnosis of an eye injury, Dr. Heidel suggested a kidney panel to see if his kidneys could handle pain meds that she recommended. The pain meds were an opioid injection, ketamine injection, and an additional anti-inflammatory that we were supposed to start later that day. When they returned him to us, he was almost completely unconscious to the point where he couldn’t hold his head up or stand. They warned that he may be “a little sleepy”, but this was beyond sleepy, and I was immediately extremely concerned for his well being. I returned with him about 5 minutes later after he lost control of his bowels, with blood in his stool. We expressed our concerns and they immediately brought him back and sat us in a room where we waited for over an hour with no communication. When my partner finally went out to ask if we could get an update, the employee at the front desk went to check and came back to tell us that he was “resting under a warm blanket”. A few minutes later, Dr. Heidel returned and told us that he was a “lightweight” and they had to “reverse the medication” twice, which she compared to narcan. She then said it would be 30 more minutes, that 30 turned into another hour. His state was not getting better, that’s how heavily he was dosed. My concern is their lack of attention to the state they returned him to us in, and the fact that he was already extremely lethargic when we brought him in. Why would they dose a small, elderly, already lethargic dog with opioids and ketamine? To put it plainly, he was overdosed and returned to us in an alarming state. If we didn’t return, I don’t think he would have survived. So basically I paid $400 for my dog to get overdosed, and then they had the audacity to charge for the narcan. We have never had an experience like this at any vet. So close to something tragic happening, absolutely no help to his condition, so much negligence, and lack of communication and care from the staff. The only exception were the employees working the front desk. They were very kind.
• JH

  Janelle Hoskins

  Feb 16, 2026
  1.0
  It has taken 2 months for me to be able to write this review. My heart is still shattered by the loss of our baby, Khloe. While I will Spare the details, our baby spent 3 weeks on/ off at VCA River. I got to know a lot of the staff/ Dr’s. The front desk is a special group of people, very kind thoughtful. Dr Daws, Dr Holford are stellar dr’s . Dr Kenzi Wattenburger/ Dr Heidel need to be removed from the hospital. They don’t care about your babies or fight for them, only care about being right. Dr Kenzi had the nerve to tell me she was an advocate for my baby, respectfully no your not - I am! I believe if my baby wasn’t in the care of these 2 dr’s I would be holding her tonight. Please don’t let these two dr’s touch your baby. If they are working load them up and take them somewhere else. If your baby can’t walk on all 4 legs, eat and drink, use the bathroom with no issue they assume there is no quality of life . Both of these ladies should not be practicing in vet medicine. They Lack compassion, education, empathy, patience, kindness. ** since I can’t reply back to their response. There is a huge difference is having a conversation with me privately to offer condolences vs ACTION against the dr’s responsible for the loss of my baby. Please dont think your response shows care and compassion, commitment to the care of animals. Your organization should be ashamed of not only your response but the investigation that you offered no feedback to me .
• JP

  Jason Phillips

  Feb 16, 2026
  5.0
  My dog recently had to be put down because of immune mediated thrombocytopenia, and the staff at VCA RIVER took the best care of him during his final days. I could tell from every interaction I had with each staff member that they all care very deeply for every animal and do whatever they can to make them feel better. The costs associated with any emergency vet are always unpleasant, but their transparency in pricing helped me make the necessary decisions to try to save my dog. I would highly recommend VCA RIVER to anyone that runs into an emergency with their pet.
• BR

  Becca Randolph

  Jan 28, 2026
  5.0
  I had to come here to get my diabetic, older cat help late last night. She was having a lot of pain and urinary issues. The staff here went above and beyond to take care of her, to be informative, and help her get treatment. They got us in & out in under 3 hours. Less than 24 hours later and she's doing way better. I can't thank them enough.

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