As a 20 year pet owner in sonoma county I have had a mix of experiences here, some good some bad, some incredibly expensive, some affordable. Today I was there for five hours and all my dog got was an exam.. Dr Goldfarb only offered me the most expensive diagnostic options as a starting point and no in between treatment options. Treatment like this is one of the reasons I took a break from coming here a decade ago. I am incredibly disappointed at being quoted 1600+ for non emergency diagnoses after waiting ao long and no treatment options in between. Today was incredibly frustrating and horrible. I was no way in hell going to leave my dog there with people who left us waiting for five hours, we can do better observing him at home and bringing him to our regular vet who actually cares about his health. I will say other doctors like Wingate, Slater and Schaffer and Olson have been great in the past. Read Less

Last August my 10 month lab Trigger impaled his rear leg on a metal fence panel and suffered a fracture to his femur. I rushed him to our vet in Petaluma, who performed initial x rays and confirmed the break, and informed us that he was in need of immediate surgery. They contacted VCA, whose receptionsit told them they could operate on Trigger the following day. Upon arrival at VCA, Tuesday August 29th, the first technician told us the soonest the surgeon could see Trigger would be Thurs. the 31st. Trigger would spend the next 2 days in a kennel. We couldn't understand how they could make him wait, and when we pressed it, we were told multiple times "It's not a life or death situation, it's just a broken leg, he can wait." Wednesday night I asked about surgery scheduled the next day. An angry technician snapped back, "You were never told it was Thursday, it has always been Friday." So Trigger waits ANOTHER day. When we finally meet with a surgeon, Dr. Ree, she tells us she's been on vacation! So they've lied about why he had to wait. Surgery is finally done on September 1st, after which I recieved a call from Dr. Ree. One of the first things she asks me is, "Did he impale himself on something?" I responded yes of course that was the original injury, the reason for our visit. To which she replied, "Oh THAT'S why I found so much hair and crud in his leg!" Are you kidding me? NOT something you want to hear from your dog's surgeon, AFTER surgery. He arrived at their hospital with obvious puncture wounds, VCA themselves note these in their own reports, and write that they stapled them closed! She then goes on to tell me that because this was an open fracture, that they "did not know about," Trigger's risk for infection went from less than 7 to greater than 20 percent. When I asked if operating on him sooner would have made a difference, she told me it would not have, which I still cannot believe. There's no way that sitting in a kennel for 3 days with such an injury was not detremental to my dog's health. Over these days, we receive several estimates, each day that they make us wait it increases. The first one being between 4 and $6,000. The final number Dr. Ree gave us was a "discounted" $8,000. Ridiculous. We picked up Trigger the day after his surgery, and refused the 8,000. We asked to speak to a manager and were not allowed to. We end up paying a total of $7,000. In their discharge paperwork they sneak in that they didn't know he was impaled! Did not sign this lie. We asked if he could stay for his leg to stabilize and his swelling to decrease, a technician pushed us out and told us "It'll be safer at home because there a lot of sick dogs here and it will raise his risk of infection." This was after he'd been sitting for days in their care with an open fracture, but operating on him sooner "wouldn't have made a difference." We leave with Trigger, whose leg is swollen beyond belief, not casted, not wrapped. A technician helping us to our car even says, "normally we would cast this but his leg is so swollen." Maybe because he sat in a kennel for 3 days? After 3 stressful weeks of sedating and carrying Trigger by sling I notice something wrong. I take him back to our vet, whose x rays show that the plate VCA put in has SNAPPED. His leg is broken again. There's now been so much trauma to his leg, we make the difficult decision to amputate. All the while, we never received a single phone call, email from VCA to follow up, never to check in on Trigger, even after they were contacted about the second break. VCA did not treat Trigger as soon as they should have, and when they realized their fault with the open fracture, they tried to cover their tracks by sneaking into our discharge paperwork that they were never told the details and then washed their hands of us. My dog's mobility is now changed for life. If they had been honest with us in the first place how long he would have to wait, we would have taken him elsewhere. If they even stabilized his leg before they sent us home, I feel that my dog could still have his leg. Read Less