Vca Castle Shannon Animal Hosp

I am so thankful that the VCA people are there when you need them. My Boston Terrier was having difficulty breathing in the middle of the night. VCA employees were so caring and professional. Yes they required me to pay them. It may be a little expensive, but they are there when every other vet is home in bed. I have a lot of money, but only one dog. Let's not forget that they are running a business.

I took my dog to them dying in the middle of the night when you're faced with a life and death situation and you have no other options .They want $101.00 just for you to walk in the door that doesn't even include any necessary tests to be done. Let alone any treatment they might need.The staff is very cold and do not have any compassion for a living being.Its very sad and disturbing to be faced with the choice of coming up with $500-$1000 on the spot or watching your dog die before you. I do not suggest anyone take their pet there and have to go through what me and my family went through.

thank God for the vca and especially suzanne mullings!!!
she saved my cat and her five kittens when others recommended euthanasia. the entire staff was so caring and extremely knowledgable. i don't even have the words to express how much they did for me and my kitties. thanks to them they are all doing great and the kittens will soon move on to good homes. to everyone who worked the graveyard shift on tuesday may 20th 2008, you are all angels and my family sincerely thanks you.

I thank goodness for this hospital and the wonderful people who work there. They saved my dog and my brother's dog. The staff truly seems to love what they do and where they work. It saddens me to see others say they had bad experiences there, because everyone I know not only goes there but also tells their family and friends to go there, and all have nothing but good things to say about the staff, the management and the care.

I have taken my dog to VCA Castle Shannon for almost 16 years. Recently, the service and knowledge level has greatly declined. The staff at the front desk have little to no knowledge. They are rude and non-compassionate. My dog has food allergies and must eat human food to survive. I explained to the vet that he eats beans, potatoes, yams, etc. She asked "Where in the world does he get his protein?" She did not realize that there is protein in beans.

I had to explain to the Medical Director what my dog's medication was used for and correct her on the name of the dog food for allergic pets. She told me my dog's blood work was normal except his albumin is low. She neglected to tell me that the albumin is critical and we need to urgently find the source of the problem because he is starving to death even though he eats voraciously. Instead, she told me my dog's life was not threatened. I only realized the seriousness of his condition when I explored the internet. I went back and told her he was starving to death and she then agreed.

They charge a biohazard fee even if your dog does not get an injection or even touched by the vet. The tech said everybody pays that but couldn't explain why and then said it was for cleaning the place. But the place is filthy.

Furthermore, you can hardly ever get the same vet and they don't read the charts, so they repeat mistakes in medication that were made before unless you are on the ball and alert them.

The most suspicious thing is that they will not take blood or give your dog a shot in front of you. They take them down the hall. What are they doing with the animals???

I would avoid this unsafe place for animals that charges an outrageous amount of money.

I just can not believe how this place is ran! They always seem undersatffed and it takes forever just to be seen! I agree to the other posts the counter girls are rude and unknowledgable. The vet staff is slow and seem unhappy, I just can't believe how this place is ran!

I have been going here for many many years, my pets are older now as well am I and we don't want to sit in an uncomfortable waiting room and watch a kid movie twice in a row. What I don't understand is why every year it gets worse and worse. The staff is new people almost every month why? I swear they get dumber and dumber. I would like to know why such a nice place has gone down hill so much in the past few years? I would switch vets but I'm just to old to change now.

My 4 month old puppy Shih Tzu was eating his puppy food extremely fast and ended up choking on a kibble. I noticed him gasping a little, he urinated then his tongue turned white. I could tell he was still breathing but it was extremely labored and he wasn't acting his usual hyper self. I wasted no time and rushed to the nearest emergency vet.

When I arrived to Castle Shannon VCA it was completely packed around 5PM with not only normal scheduled patients but emergency patients as well. I was very disappointed in the vet tech who came over to inspect the puppy to determine if it were a "true emergency". She told me my puppy was "stable" and he seemed to be fine since his tongue and gums returned to the normal pink-ish color. She then proceeded to tell me that it would be a minimum wait of 3 hours. We left.. which was partially our fault. But I trusted the vet techs decision that the puppy was stable, even though I knew he wasn't acting like the "normal" pup we had grown to love.

With no change in his behavior or breathing we returned 3 hours later and were seen immediately. This time by a vet who I was VERY pleased with. It turns out my puppy, due to choking, started to develop fluid in his lungs. They kept him over night in oxygen therapy and nursed him with antibiotics and such as needed. What happened to my puppy was very serious and the vet was extremely understanding and helpful throughout the entire process. They let me call to check on my puppy at any time throughout the night and the vet even personally called me the very next morning. I truly believe they saved my puppies life.

As for price, I was quoted $850-$1075 which half of, needed to be paid immediately for service. When I returned the next day to pick up the puppy, the bill was actually only $687 all together. Much less then what I had expected.

In conclusion the vet tech I dealt with could of led me to believe my puppy was ok. I was very very unsatisfied with her judgement. I also think that they are understaffed with emergencey vets, which is a problem when it's a 24 hour hospital. But in situations as such it is hard to determine true emergencies when so many people are there. And sometimes you need to (as a mommy/daddy of an animal) go a step further in regards to the treatment of your pet.

Bottom line, the vet DID save my puppies life and I will be forever grateful to her and this facility. If they realize something is a true emergencey they will do everything in their power to help.

I was actually looking up reviews for another hospital and came across this.

I have been to this hospital before and it was great, but things have really gone down hill since. If you get in at the right time you get in and out , But if you get in at the wrong time it's just terrible. I know it's a emergency hospital and they can get very busy and crazy, but shouldn't the staff be trained to handle what's going on when this happens? There always seems to be new faces behind the counter and the service is usually poor.

If you ever been here or Met Vet you'll see they're about the same. They both have poor service and high prices. If your looking for a Vet for regular visits don't go to either. Try South Hills they're close and much nicer to deal with.

Just my opinion

I have been going to VCA Castle Shannon for a few years and I have not had a problem with the front desk or doctors. This place is not only a vet office but also an emergency hospital. Yes, sometimes you might have to wait around to be seen or get your medications but life threatening emergencies of other people's pets do come first and the doctors have always spent quality time with me and my pet.

People need to realize that regular vet offices who don't have emergencies get you in and out in record time. All of the times that I have been at Castle Shannon it has always been busy.

If anyone is considering to go here, don't let the bad reviews stop you.

I new Castle Shannon was there for many years and was always known as a "great" hospital. What I want to know is what happened?

I went for the 1st time since 97 and it was terrible, the front girls were rude and unfriendly. The tech guy was just plain nasty! He didn't even speak professionally he used words such as "ain't and axe you a question" I know it's fun or whatever these days to speak jive but this is a business!

The doctor was a male as well and he didn't speak to me like that. He was actually not to bad, just kind of rushed and stressed it seemed. The bill was almost $300 for a visit and the service was poor. My pets will be going elsewhere from now on.

I recently moved to the area and was looking for a new vet for my 3 pets. I found VCA Castle Shannon online with a $30 off visit coupon. I took my 1 pet because she's older and I wanted her to get a simple check up after the move. When I called to make a appointment I was hung up on, then when I called back put on hold for 7 minutes. When I was finally answered The lady named "Cindy" said I would need to make a appointment with a certain doctor because I was new and most of the doctors were slow and "not so good". Ok so that really made me not want to book, but I did since it would be $30 off.

When I got there I stood at the front counter for 5 minutes before anyone even acknowledged me! Then I had so papers tossed at me to fill out. I promptly did so and took them back to the desk. The girl said to just leave it she'd "get it in a bit" so after watching it sit there for 15 minutes I asked when I would be seen? The girl said "oh your up next have a seat" and walked away. I just couldn't believe it so I left without even waiting to see what the doctor would be like!! The staff here is unfriendly and unprofessional don't waste your time like I did!

My 15 years as a client of VCA Castle Shannon Animal Hospital have been nothing but excellent. Yes, like any business, you sometimes see new people, but they seem to only hire ones that truly care about animals. I know several of the management staff, and they have always gone out of their way to be helpful and friendly. I have been there for routine visits, emergencies and even to put my dog to sleep. I have nothing but good to say about all the staff, and highly reccommend this hospital to everyone who asks my opinion.

This place has awful customer service. We had a sick bird that needed immediate attention. They were able to fit us in, but there was a snowstorm going on at the time and it took us forever to get there as the roads were terrible. Due to this fact, we were quite late, and they were very rude to us for being so. The vet was not gentle at all with my bird and really didn't seem that knowledgable when I asked questions. Overall the vet and the tech were quite unprofessional. I felt that the service was overpriced as well. We'd never go back here again.