Vca Lakeside Animal Hospital

Made appointment to get our cat his routine shots, been here an hour and 15 mins before being seen. Several other pets came in after and left before we were even seen. Given the excuse there was only one doctor in. So why take an appointment when you don't have the staff to take care of it. At this point I have to say I do not recommend this vet, unless you have plenty of time to waste! Read Less

Very expensive. They must take classes titled "never let a customer get out the door for under $100"! They up the price on everything. Rx especially. You will spend over $100 I am betting. That said its nice that there is hardly any wait cause lots of vets work here. One thing I don't like and they probably learned from the vet's training manual along with how to charge more, take the owners pet away. The always take your pet away from out of sight to the back, treat it then bring back to talk to you. Look at the picture. Nothing in the exam room cause the do it all in the back. Makes me feel like I abandoned my pet. Read Less

Everyone here at VCA hospital are amazing. My pets have never liked going to the vet until I started going to VCA. I would recommend this place to anyone who cares and treats their pets as their own babies. They are so caring and always friendly. Read Less

We have brought several pets here over the years. Whether it's an emergency visit or just a routine checkup, the folks here always provide top notch service and care; we know our babies are in good hands every time we walk in. Read Less

Staff is always nice and I was even on the plan they had. The only thing I don't like is they limit you on the number of office visits you get. They should really increase that on the puppy plan especially. Read Less

This place needs to get their act together. I took my dog in for a heartworm and thyroid test. A week later they call and say they won't refill his thyroid pills because he hasn't been tested. I went specifically for that and talk to the vet about it before and after they took my dog in the back. Now I have to have it all done again. Last year they either didn't give or forget to write down that they gave him one of his essential shots. We found out 6 months later when we tried to board him for the weekend and it wasn't on his paperwork. Ruined our weekend trip all because this place can't keep track of their records. For as expensive as this place is I expect a much better job. Read Less

Myself and my wife would like to thank the staff for being sympathetic and sensitive to the issue of the euthanizing of our German Shepard Helga on 24 Jan. She was diagnosed with inoperable anal cancer and was in pain. The staff was very respectable. I would endorse this facility highly to any animal lover in need.Thank you so much ,We will miss her so much. Greg and Sharon Lockard Read Less

My dog became very sick very fast. Due to a death in our family. We were unable to drop everything and get him help. 3 hours later we abandoned our family and took our dog to vca. He was very sick and did not make it. I felt as if money was the factor in how this was addressed. My bill is paid in full but I don't know in my heart what would have happened to bedo if I didn't have money and didn't get approved for pet care. I feel I would have been sent home. I feel this is an area of concern. Wars more important money or the health of an animal. My family member. Read Less

All of my experiences with VCA Lakeside have been great but this Saturday they went above the expected. I unfortunately arrived 15 minutes after closing. However, Tara Stephens saw me through the doors, greeted me and was able to get the prescription I needed for my dog. That saved me a return trip the following Monday and more importantly got my pet's treatment started that much sooner. It's that kind of attitude and service that I truly appreciate. Thanks again! Read Less

If I could rate zero stars, I would. We brought our cat to this place because she was acting like she was dying - wouldn't eat, drink or even get up to greet us. We took it very seriously, and ostensibly the staff at VCA did too. They were quick to get us in a room and talk to a doctor. They ran tests on the cat's urine and blood. The only abnormality was the glucose levels were a bit high, but they explained that this is normal in a cat that is ill and/or stressed. They gave her an antibiotic injection and told us they would call us later in the day to give us an update. They never called, so we stopped by to see what we could learn. They told us at that time they thought it would be best to have the cat stay there for the night so they could monitor her (turns out noone actually stays there overnight). They kept her overnight as we all eagerly awaited for the results from the urine sample they had sent to a lab. The doctor suspected there was a bladder infection related to undiagnosed diabetes, which is why the urine sample was sent off. This struck us as strange since she had already told us that the elevated glucose was normal for any cat. We took her word for what it was, being the professional and all... I stopped by the following afternoon after we called and found out they had given her some insulin and she seemed to be responding well to it (her fever had dropped some). When I got there I was expecting to speak with the doctor, but when I approached the counter asking about my cat they only asked me "So, are you going to buy the insulin?", basically expecting me to pay up front without ever even hearing from the doctor that the cat had been diagnosed as a diabetic. I pretty much had to demand to see the doctor first. I talked to the doctor who had decided that our cat was a diabetic, even though there was no sign of bladder infection, and the glucose levels in her blood had never actually been abnormal for a cat under stress (doctor's words, not mine). She had just decided it was diabetes, and we were going to give the cat two insulin injections a day for the rest of her life. Our cat was still not eating or drinking water, but the doctor assured me the insulin was effective and that this was the reason for her extreme ailment. We brought her home and she seemed to be just as bad as she was, if not worse than she was before. She still didn't want to move, would not eat or drink. We did as the doctor ordered and gave her the insulin injections. Every time we gave her one her condition seemed to worsen. We eventually did some research on the issue, and to our surprise giving any animal insulin when they are not eating will eventually kill them. We couldn't believe the doctor hadn't told us that. We then began to question if the cat had diabetes at all. We stopped giving her the injections and watched her quickly get better. We brought her to a different animal clinic the following day. This veterinarian confirmed everything we had been thinking. He was shocked at the incompetence of the doctor not telling us to refrain from insulin injections when the cat is not eating. He also confirmed for us that this was not diabetes, and that he wasn't sure how the previous doctor came to this conclusion. He noted that the lab results from VCA had shown high white blood cell counts, which indicated an infection of some kind. He prescribed a simple round of antibiotics. The cat is doing great. We had the blood glucose levels tested a week later and they were good (not diabetic). $800 later we still don't know what the cause was, but it certainly was not diabetes, nor a bladder infection. DO NOT BRING YOUR ANIMALS HERE. They didn't take any time to communicate with us when they obviously should have. Their prices were outrageous, and they would not budge one cent, stating that corporate sets the prices and they are based on competition and not the value of actual services rendered. The doctor's incompetence would have cost our cat it's life if we hadn't grown weary and done our own research. Read Less

I have been going to Lakeside Animal Hospital for over 15 years and they have gotten me through every imaginable pet circumstance with skill and compassion. Very grateful for each of those kind folks!! Read Less

I couldn't have asked for a better place to take care of my baby when he was sick...I know they did everything they could to help him get better!! They will become our forever vets office!! For as long as we have animals. The staff that I delt with had the biggest and warmest hearts, and for that I'm very thankful!!!!Read Less

Dr. Sultemeier has treated my dogs for over 20 years. He and his staff have provided professional and compassionate service at all times. I have 100% trust in them. I had one pet who developed a severe illness that was life-threatening. The care he received from Lakeside saved him. I recently had to make the very difficult decision to euthanize my very elderly dog who was suffering from dementia. Dr. Sultemeir has treated this dog from the day I brought her home at 7 weeks. His kindness and compassion eased this extremely difficult time. I would never trust anyone else with the care of my pets. Read Less

It's so nice to know I can trust that my animals are being taken care of. Being someone who exhaustively researches my animal care, I hate trusting my animals to anyone else. I've argued with vets before over what to feed after they've recommended nutritionally terrible food (think science diet, etc). Lakeside has been a breath of fresh air. The vets are willing to discuss options and answer the questions I can't find good answers to and have been great to my exotic animals. We will start taking the cats here too. Read Less

This place is a joke. I've been going to them for two years. First, I brought my cat to see Dr. Walsh for what I thought was a cataract (he only had one eye) and because he could not walk straight. She insisted it was an eye infection. I had to pay for the visit and the eye medicine. She told me if his walking got any worse to call and bring him back. As he got worse, I called, only to find she was out of town for a week. Since no other vet at the clinic had seen him, and therefore none had anything to compare just how much worse he had become, I took him to an emergency clinic. Apparently, my cat suffered from hydrocephalus and had to be euthanized. Oh, and no eye infection: the cloudy eye was a symptom of the hydrocephalus. I went back to take my dogs, but I did not see Dr. Walsh. I began seeing Dr. Collins, who I can honestly say was far more competent. I scheduled an appointment to get both of my dogs spayed, and I SPECIFICALLY asked for Dr. Collins to perform the spaying. I even rescheduled when I found out he was not going to be there on the day of the appointment. I filled out separate paper work for both dogs. One needed her annual vaccines and parasite tests. I told them to do it while she was already there, and they agreed. The called me THREE TIMES during the procedures to ask questions such as "Are BOTH getting the pain medicine?" )Yes, I checked that box on both sets of paperwork) and "Are they BOTH getting microchips?" (also on the paper work.) They asked if I wanted the heart worm and stool tests for the dog who was due and for the second time I told them yes. When I went to pick them up, it was over $600. Fine, whatever, nothing I can do now. I paid. I then found out that not only had Dr. Collins NOT DONE THE PROCEDURE FOR EITHER DOG, but Dr. Walsh, the LAST PERSON I ever wanted near my animals again, had done one of the spayings, and a whole new vet had done the other. A few days later, I received a notice and a bill in the mail that they had done the heart worm test but had forgotten to charge me the $50, and they wanted me to pay. I consider this a fee for my inconvenience and dissatisfaction, and WILL NOT be returning. Read Less