Noah’s Ark Veterinary Center

If I could give negative stars I would do so. The vet (woman) that treated (I use that term very loosely) my dog had the worst demeanor I have ever seen. She has no idea what she is doing. Gives unclear directions and does not follow up as promised. She gave meds without providing full or proper direction. My dog is terminally ill and in discussing options with her she was rude and condescending. Not sure how she made it thru vet school. I would never go back to this place for any reason

Three days ago I took my elderly (14+ yrs) dog to the vet at Noah’s Place after he became I’ll during the night. The vet, a woman, diagnosed acute pancreatitis after extensive but reasonable labs. She worked up an «estimate «of about $ 450 for his labs & treatment of IV fluids & meds. She said it may require 2 days of treatment. She dodged his prognosis, saying mild pancreatitis is not too serious most of the time, then reluctantly admitted his case was serious. She kept getting his age wrong despite multiple reminders. Before I signed the estimate I had to make them remove unmentioned & unnessary expensive tests. When I picked him up & paid, I was informed he needed another day of treatment for an whole new set of charges! That night we thought he would die but he hung in there. I got more uneasy about going back there because the vet & receptionist had been cold & detached throughout, became rude when I hesitated about costs, & I felt uneasy about going back. I took him to a different vet & was horrified to be informed that he had a GRAPEFRUIT sized tumor in his belly & needed to be put out of his pain immediately! HOW did the vet at Noah’s miss that in a 21lb. dog? Noah’s has gone completely downhill & I caution anyone who thinks about going there. (Dr. José left the practice earlier this year per a staff member.)

Terrible service. Admin Staff is Rude. No professional bedside manor. They do not offer payment plans and prepare to overpay. I had two cats in for a simple declaw surgery and one came back with a cast on because he «scratched the cage». Um no. His paw was obliterated. Looked awful. No way he did that to himself. Plus it cost $ 1000 to declaw 2 cats because they force you to buy expensive medications (with no lower cost or generic alternatives) and other added services that aren’t necessary. Oh plus they don’t tell you the bill until after. And they have no way to care for your pet over the weekend, so if your pet has intensive surgery on a Friday morning they make you take him home that day.

I started taking my dog here when I moved to harrisburg. On my 1^st visit they were very kind I took my dog in because he was developing a bald spot on his back and kept itching. A male vet who’s name I don’t remember saw us he was very informative and helpful. He put my little guy on some medicine that cleared it right up and stopped the itching he was back to being a happy dog. However I was not as happy. When I went to pay for the visit I used care credit as I was only 20 at the time working two jobs and didn’t have a lot of money to pay out of pocket. As soon as I handed the woman at the front desk my card she immediately changed her mood and was short and rude to me. I brushed it off. About a week later I got a card in the mail saying I forgot about an appointment. I called to see what was up the woman demanded I bring my dog in for shots or face charges for breaking state law. my dog was already upto date on his shots. I had my previous vet transfer his records and even checked to make sure they had gotten them. She still demanded he needed at least one shot so reluctantly I brought him back in. The front desk staff again was very rude and made me feel uncomfortable. The vet I saw this time was a woman she was very rough with my jack russell when holding him to give him this shot then demanded I set up an appointment to have him neutered immediately which I did want to have done anyway so they worked up a quote… of almost $ 450 my jaw dropped. I told them I’d have to wait until I had the money and they told me the quote was only good for 30 days so I HAD to schedule before I could leave and that it shouldn’t be a problem since I pay with credit… I was so offended by this that I turned to leave right away and have never been back. This was over a year ago now so the reason I am posting now is because I have recently come to find out they are part of the SNAP program where I could have had him neutered for $ 100. I guess because I pay with credit and I’m young they figured they would try and get as much money out of me as they could. Talk about a bad taste. I don’t recommend them to anyone in fact when people ask me for recommendations I tell them ANY WHERE BUT NOAH’S. It really is a shame for that nice male vet I saw the 1^st time. He was great.

We had been taking our dog to Noah’s since we got her three years ago. At first, the service was excellent. The staff was very friendly and very kind to our dog. Dr. Jose was wonderful and our dog loved him. Shortly after we got her, she was diagnosed (by an ER visit to another facility) with colitis. Once again, the vets took very good care of our dog in her recovery period. Recently however, within the last year or so, the level of service at this vet has been deplorable! It is clear that something has changed within their management and staff and the way they do business. They no longer care about your pet but instead only want your money.
We recently had our dog there for a flare up of her condition. After waiting over half an hour (and there weren’t any patients there when I arrived) the vet finally came in. The vet I saw was one I was not familiar with. Dr. Chelsea seemed knowledgeable at the time. Boy was I fooled! She prescribed a wet food (a rather expensive wet food, which I wouldn’t have minded under normal circumstances) to be given with her feedings. It turned out that the food had a main ingredient in it that my dog is severely allergic to! The vet knew this, and prescribed the food to her any way! I didn’t think to look at the ingredient label seeing as how it was prescribed by a licensed vet who should know better. My dog ended up getting worse instead of better and when I called to speak to the vet she blew me off saying that she thought my dog would be ok with the food! I might add to this that we have recently moved out of state and I drove over 6 hours to take my dog to the vet who was familiar with her case and who my dog was comfortable with because we hadn’t found a vet in our new area yet.
After a week on meds, my dog still is not better. We are now taking her to a different vet in our state to have her seen. I called today to get her medical records from them (which are online). I called to ask how to access them and was put on hold for over 5 minutes which wouldn’t have been bad if the girl who answered would have actually felt like taking the time to answer my questions which she did not. After reviewing my dogs medical records I realized there were glaring mistakes in them and called to have them updated. After spending another 10 minutes on hold again, the same receptionist answered the phone and was very short and snippy with me. I simply said there were inaccuracies in my dog’s medical records that I would like to update at this time. She sighed heavily and asked what they were. I told her that my dog’s birth date was incorrect and she said «got it. good bye.» I said «Wait there are more.» Once again she sighed and said snobbishly, «ok what». I said her records say she is not spayed which she is. She said well where are you looking because ours say she is. I said well her online records show she isn’t. Could you please update them? She said no that she no control over that and hung up on me!
It upsets me that this place has gone down hill as much as it has. I was very very impressed with them when we first started going there. After my last few experiences which have left very bad tastes in my mouth, I will NOT be taking my dog there nor will I ever recommend this place to anyone.
If you love your animals, take them somewhere where the vets actually care about them and not your money!

I’ve been going to Noah’s Ark (AKA Noah’s Place) for over 16 years since we first brought our Shih Tzu into the family. Dr. Ertz was the owner at the time and he and his staff had always been welcoming and gentle with our little guy. Currently the facility is owned by Dr. Jose and another Dr. (I don’t remember her name). We are very fond of Dr. Jose as he had been the doc we’d seen in the past.
We’ve had good experiences over the years, however our most recent visit left a bad taste in my mouth. I took our little guy in for a check up. He has a growth on his paw that is causing him some discomfort. The doc who saw him turned very cold after I told her my concerns with her suggestion to have him ‘put to sleep’ for a very pricey operation to the tune of $ 1,185.00 to remove the growth. She was not open to any questions I had about laser surgery which would not have been such an invasive procedure. At the end of the appointment this doc demanded that we have our little guys rabies shots updated. When I told her my concerns in regards to his age and what effects it might have on him, she was rude and demanding saying that she cannot let him leave the facility without a rabies shot. I understand that rabies shots are a state law here in PA, but since he is so old we haven’t had him updated recently. He’s a very paranoid little guy who never likes to socialize outside of the house, so we aren’t concerned with him getting rabies since he is elderly, rarely outside and is never in contact with anyone other than our family.
Long story short, she administered a rabies shot and told me that it’s rare for dogs to have any adverse effects from the from the shot. Our poor little guy suffered from diarrhea for 2 days after that. If and when we need to schedule another visit for him, I will make sure that it is with Dr. Jose as we have had the best experiences with him in the past.

I brought both of my dogs here for check ups and to diagnose a cough. This was recommended by coworkers and the gentleman who installed my cable. This must be a busy facility as it was impossible to get back to back appointments for both my dogs within a reasonable time frame so I had to come in twice.
The vet that I used was very nice … I want to say it was Dr. Buchanan. The vet tech was also sweet and trimmed my female’s nails free of charge. With the exception of one woman, the reception staff was somewhat ambivalent and not that welcoming. I have issues with veterinarian centers that tend to over-​diagnose, over-​medicate and over-​charge for service and this tends to totally alienate me. There were definitely some unnecessary procedures and products that were recommended but it wasn’t overkill.
There are also boarding facilities here but they seemed more appropriate for the larger dogs. It was a separate building with individual outside dog runs. To be fair, I didn’t visit the inside but would probably not put my two Maltese there based on the doggy jail-​like conditions but I could be completely wrong. This is more of a personal preference.
Overall, an okay experience.