Vca Canada Vancouver Animal Emergency And Referral Centre

I called this place a few nights ago because my new dog had been having diarrhea with some streaks of blood in it and I was concerned. At first the receptionist was calm and asking a series of routine questions like it was no big deal, but as soon as she found out my dog was adopted fairly recently from Taiwan her entire tone changed instantly to hysterical panic. She was convinced that my dog could have parvo, despite having been fully vaccinated and tested weeks ago. I tried to calm her down and ask her what other symptoms I might want to watch for and she told me there could be no other symptoms and that I should bring her in right away. I looked it up after we got off the phone and found out that in fact there are other symptoms more primary than diarrhea. She would not have a calm, reasoned conversation with me about what else could be the cause, and she made the whole thing so much more scary that it had to be. It was completely unprofessional of her to behave that way, and frankly, the assumptions that a dog from Taiwan must have been inadequately vaccinated and must be harbouring contagious disease is very problematic. This is not the kind of experience I want to have when I call an emergency vet hospital late at night. I will never call them again, let alone use their services. I took my dog to another vet the next day and it turns out she's ok, just reacting to stress and a food change. He gave me metronidazole to help the GI inflammation and she's improving already. Read Less

Leon my lemon dog has something going on every month. The team at Vancouver Animal Emergency has been nothing but great to him. He was in such good hands at the recent visit we had to have when he ate a steak bone and it got stuck in his stomach. Dr. Sue Ford and her team is great. Read Less

I brought my cat in on a Sunday after he fell from our second-storey banister. Yes the vet is expensive (not much choice for vets on Sundays), but it was worth it. The vet, vet assistant and receptionists were all very professional and caring. We did wait more than an hour, and the vet did a thorough exam and explained every option and the diagnosis in a compassionate manner and in plain English. I'm hoping I don't have another visit to the emergency vet but if it happens, it would definitely be back here. Read Less

I brought my cat in on a Sunday after he fell from our second-storey banister. Yes the vet is expensive (not much choice for vets on Sundays), but it was worth it. The vet, vet assistant and receptionists were all very professional and caring. We did wait more than an hour, and the vet did a thorough exam and explained every option and the diagnosis in a compassionate manner and in plain English. I'm hoping I don't have another visit to the emergency vet but if it happens, it would definitely be back here. Read Less

I have been to VCA 4 times. Three for emergencies (one nail ripped off, one severe infection, and one episode of raisin eating) and once for a consultation on how to treat an adrenal mass. Three of the four visits have occurred over the last two months. On all four visits the service was EXCEPTIONAL. The staff and doctors are all very kind and patient. They listened to and answered all of my questions (and sometimes I have a hard time shutting up). They presented me with a variety of options and I never felt up-sold or pressured into spending money for spending's sake. Two of the four times I opted for less expensive procedures and I always felt supported in my decisions. They gave me ethical (in my opinion) treatment options and let me decide. Once I decided, they supported me in making sure my pet obtained the best possible outcome. This is an emergency facility so you do have to expect to wait a while sometimes. Just because there aren't a lot of people or animals in the waiting room doesn't mean the doctors and technicians aren't working hard in the back rooms. This is also not the cheapest treatment your pet will every get, but I don't regret spending a single penny. They were far more straight forward with me than my vet has ever been, and they were always up front with what I was going to be charged. Most importantly to me, everyone there seemed genuinely interested in making sure my dog received the best treatment and care. EDIT, December 3, 2017. I was walking my dog this weekend and one of the staff members came up to me and asked me how my dog was doing. I didn't recognize her and was confused at first. Then she explained that she worked at the ER and recognized us. How cool is that? They must see tonnes of people but this staff member still recognized us and took the time to see how my dog was doing. I am even more impressed now. Read Less

I cannot recommend this facility highly enough. We took Moose in on Friday night thinking he had stiff hips, but an xray revealed a much more serious problem. The staff at all levels were extremely compassionate and professional and made recommendations for us to spend a final 24 hours to spoil him, which we did. It was the hardest time but also a blessing. When the time came, the staff set up a private room for us and gave us all the time we needed to say our goodbyes. They made sure we were as emotionally prepared as we could be. The vets and nurses were sympathetic, efficient and 'low key' the whole time. Moose left us relaxed and peaceful, surrounded by five of his favorite humans. I hope that most peoples experiences here will have a happier outcome, but from what I saw, if you are going through a highly emotional time with a pet, then the people here are ready to help you through it. Read Less

I would like to send a heartfelt thank you to the doctors, technicians and staff who helped with my little Rosie who's been through a lot over the past month. Your kindness, patience, expert knowledge, compassion and guidance have helped us to deal with some rather serious issues. Rosie just had surgery yesterday and is home recovering now. The phone calls and updates from doctors who made the time to keep me informed as to what was going on along the way was greatly appreciated. She was in very good hands and for that I am thankful. Keep up the excellent work! Read Less

We brought our 12 year old boxer into the clinic after midnight this past Saturday night after she suffered two seizures. The level of compassion, caring, and understanding that Dr. McLagan showed us was beyond measure. Losing a beloved pet has to be one of the worst things imaginable, but she helped our baby girl find comfort in those last moments with us. I can't thank her enough for that and for taking such good care of her. Read Less

I had the same dismal experience as Lynn Linton did (see review 1 year prior). I brought a small brown bat in with a witnessed injury. The bat was flying at early dusk when a crow slammed into it, tearing its wing. The bat fell to the ground, unable to fly. My son placed a long piece of wood near its underside and it hopped on, clinging to the end of the stick until we could place it in a box for transport. No one touched the bat. No contact. The animal had a tear in its wing but no other visible injuries. No unusual behaviour. In the box, the bat clung to a ledge and remained quiet. The Burnaby Wildlife shelter was closed and recommended on their phone line to take injured wildlife to the Vancouver Animal Emergency Centre. When we arrived at this clinic, the nurse / receptionist appeared annoyed. She did not ask us any questions about the animal. I tried to explain that the bat didn't appear ill prior to the injury. I offered to pay for its medical care and she said "Oh no, we don't treat wildlife. Burnaby Wildlife picks them up each morning. She never asked me one question about the bat or exposures, and it was clear to me that they would "euthanize" it immediately. Her mind was made up, and the fact that I was talking-to her at all was an inconvenience. I had the sense that if there was no money involved, there was no interest. A Public Health physician phoned me in the morning to tell me that the bat was most likely healthy and had been been euthanized to send for rabies testing. I told the physician that nobody had come into contact with the bat, and the doctor said that no further follow up was required. If the woman at the front desk had taken 30 seconds to listen to me, and had any interest or compassion for the animal, or my son for that matter, this animal could have been taken to the Wildlife shelter and been cared for by an animal caregiver who had been vaccinated for rabies, with no risk to the public. I have an overwhelming sense of remorse for taking the animal to this clinic. Read Less

My experience at this hospital last night with my 1 year old dog was quite terrible. After researching the particular doctor we had dealt with I have decided not to share her name as she is a brand new graduate and feel as though it is unfair to slam her so early on in her career and perhaps her lack of experience is why we had such a bad experience. My dog ate a a rubber ball and began having bloody stools and foamy vomit. When we arrived they seemed concerned although my dog was in good spirits, still hydrated and quite energetic. We took X-Rays to see what sort of blockage we were dealing with and the severity. This took many many hours and my dog seemed to be improving over time. She was no longer vomiting and her bloody stools were becoming less and less often. When she was in the "emergency" area of the hospital my partner and I were taking shifts watching her through the window of the emergency room doors. They left her tied up to a post for about 3 hours with no treatment. I understand that it is a triage system and they were busy with other patients so this is not where my problem lies. My problem is that this new doctor could not give us an answer on what they were seeing on her X-rays and failed to provide us with even a theory. She stated "it looks suspicious in this part" and continued to say she didn't know what the problem was. Although she didn't know what the problem was she kept pushing different drugs for us to try on our dog. She wanted to put her on an antibiotic even though there were no signs of bacterial infection, she wanted to put her on an anti nausea medication even though our dog had stopped vomiting many hours prior and showed no signs of nauseousness. We asked for further information on why she felt these drugs were good for our dog and she could not provide us with an answer. At this point we felt as though our dogs health was no longer a priority and it was about trying to get more money from us. When we asked them to forward her X-rays to our actual vet and said that we wanted to take her home for the night and get a second opinion in the morning the doctor lied to us and told us that she had just cleaned up a massive pile of our dogs bloody diarrhea and she advised keeping her over night for another $1000. Little to her knowledge my partner and I had been watching our dog the entire time through the window of the emergency room and we saw that not only had she not been vomiting or passing bloody stools while in there but she was not being watched by anyone. The doctor had flat out lied to our faces. Enough was enough so we left and asked them to forward her file and X-rays to our actual vet. Fast forward to this morning and no one had sent our vet anything. We had to request it for a THIRD time this morning and when they finally sent it, they didn't send half of her file and sent old X-rays that had not been time stamped. Our actual vet couldn't make sense of the X-rays as they had not been sent properly and although managed to figure it out, had to waste time putting things in order. Our dog is fine now and just as suspected our actual vet confirmed that all the suggestions made by the previous vet at the Vancouver Animal Emergency were unneccessary. So in conclusion, if you have an emergency and absolutely have to take your animal to this clinic, keep in mind that they are unorganized and inexperienced and their suggestions may cost you more than it needs to. Read Less

We were referred to this hospital through two veterinary clinics in Kelowna where I live. Dr. Debbie James the Neurologist who was our dogs specialist was fantastic. She spoke to our regular vet prior to us seeing her and made sure that our dog was able to get in quickly for testing. Dr. Chambers went over all the options for testing to give us choices on what to do along with probabilities of what might be wrong. She was compassionate, caring, realistic, and very knowledgeable during a very upsetting and stressful time. All four technicians and the nighttime vet who helped our dog were also great! They were attentive, thorough and went out of their way to make sure our dog was comfortable and looked after compassionately. All the staff literally sat on the floor with me and my dog to speak to us and treat him. Yes, the testing and charges are expensive but the staff are highly trained professionals that take years of schooling. The equipment itself is also outrageously expensive. My recommendation for all is to buy pet insurance so at minimum you have some of your costs covered when your pet needs care. We did not have insurance but thankfully were able to afford the care needed for our dog. Read Less

My cat had a blocked bladder, i phoned ahead to let them know i was coming. The wait was quite long, especially with the fact that only 1 other person came in while we were there, which was for 4 hours overall. They were really caring and considerate, but since I can't afford 4k+, i had to regretfully opt for euthanasia. While I can't say it was a great time, considering the outcome, I went as well as can be expected. Really only complaint was wait time, got there 11pm and left after 3am Read Less

Very caring staff my dog got very sick and had to be put down I did not have all the money to pay the bill they waived the part that I could not pay it was very sad to have to put my dog down put but everyone was so nice and caring a big thank you to all the staffRead Less

Brought my dog in at 3am Sunday to emergency, they took a urine sample with the results due Monday evening. Called Monday no results, called tuesday receptionist will " call me back", called Wednesday " we're sorry we did not send in your sample and it is no longer good". Thankfully my dog is ok however there is no room for this irresponsibility. Read Less

If you need to bring a rabbit to an emergency clinic this is the one to go to! My 9m/o bunny started having bloody, diarrhea-type stool in the morning on Remembrance Day and I could not find any emergency clinic from the Tri-Cities to the Fraser Valley that would take her, as rabbits are considered an exotic breed. They took my case seriously and were upfront with me on the phone about how busy they were with emergencies this evening. I brought her as quickly as possible and they admitted her to be monitored by veterinary technicians while waiting for an available vet. I live too far away to go home and thus observed the professional, caring manor in which they dealt with their clients while I waited. They prioritized incoming cases well and updated waiting patients on the condition of their pets. After a two hour wait due to the busy night they were having, the vet thoroughly checked my bunny and was very kind, gentle, and PATIENT as my rabbit is very feisty. She recommended some options and explained the reason, benefits, cost of each recommendation. I never felt pressured to spend more money than needed and the total cost was very reasonable for a visit on a stat. holiday in the middle of the night. I am so thoroughly impressed with the care my rabbit received and the honest and upfront nature of all of the staff. Thank you VAERC!! Read Less

I thought they were great, offered less expensive (over the counter) options for a recurring issue my cat has. They were very caring, accommodating, and knowledgeable. 9/16/16 I had to go back last night for the same cat. The new clinic is amazing. Saw a different Vet - it was very busy with some serious cases . My cat was seen, got a great exam, super caring down to earth Vet - my cat is doing well today. Most affordable, caring ER Vet ever. Still 5 stars. Read Less

Unfortunately I had to take my beloved girl to the ER as she was deteriorating and euthanasia was sadly looking like the right option. Dr. Garcia was amazing and kind, along with the other staff, giving me lots of information and options. My cat was resting and purring on my lap, they inserted an IV and told me to take all the time I needed. Then they came in when I was "ready" and have her the lethal dose while she was snuggled on my lap. worst thing I've ever had to do. Dr. Garcia assured me it was the right decision, and that helped. She went peacefully. RIP sweet BurdooRead Less