Veterinary Neurological Center

My review is not really complete as my situation is ongoing but I based on the way I was treated, I feel like I’m on good hands. I know neurological issues can be costly so I’m hoping for the best. Dr. Plummer wad very nice

These are some of the most caring professionals I’ve ever met. And I would like to give an especially big thanks to Dr. Greatting. The people at this office do not care about your money, they care about your dog. You can go there with confidence that they will not try to talk you into anything you don’t need.

I took my miniature Schnauzer in for an accurate diagnosis of what is causing his balance disorder. It was of sudden onset. Having had an excellent experience at VNC in 1997 with Dr Levesque who no longer sees patients but is the founder of VNC, I had my regular vet make the referral and Baxter saw Dr. Plummer. The doctor had to do an MRI to rule out a tumor, stroke or deep inner ear infection. He was able to give us the good news these were not the cause. It is a vestibular syndrome found in older dogs that should remit in a couple of weeks. That was the best possible outcome. If Baxter does not back to normal, excepting the head tilt, the doctor wants to see us back. Dr. Plummer has a kind bedside manner and thoroughly explained the MRI scan. He handled Baxter gently and spoke to him like a little kid. :-) Sam, at the front office was wonderful! I wouldn’t hesitate to refer someone to a doctor here.

Two of our dogs are patients here. The responses and care of the front office staff and the vets have been nothing less than sensational. Nola sees Dr. Evans and Pepper T sees Dr. Knowles. Pepper T, a 5 pounder, has a seizure disorder due to a traumatic brain injury. He has been in several times. They show nothing but patience and interest for him and his condition. I would recommend them without reservation. They are terrific. And the charges for office visits, etc. have been extremely reasonable. Nothing unnecessary or unwarranted has ever been recommended.

I brought my pug to see Dr. Plummer in April 2014 after receiving a referral from my regular vet. Please note that I am not leaving this negative review because of the pricing — I wouldn’t expect a neurological veterinarian to be cheap. I also cannot say that the office staff was unfriendly — in fact they were wonderful. My negative review is simply due to Dr. Plummer and the service my pug received from him. Kaluha (my pug) had lost feeling in her back legs, she was still able to walk but her reactions were just very slow & it was getting worse as time passed. She was also beginning to have difficulty feeling when she had to poop. When I bought her in to see Dr. Plummer he had started by first ruling out degenerative myelopathy which I appreciated because I’d hate to think I paid $ 3,000 for an MRI when a $ 300 test could’ve proven it was this disease all along. However, that test came back negative so the only other option was go through with the MRI. It’s fair to say that I wouldn’t pay this much money for an MRI unless I was also ready to pursue surgery resulting in another $ 3,000. However, in making the decision to continue with surgery I wanted to be sure that this would help her gain function in her back legs. Dr. Plummer could not guarantee that she would regain function but she wouldn’t get any worse & that was a key point in my decision making. Maybe this surgery wouldn’t bring my Kaluha back to the way she was but I knew she wouldn’t lose complete function so I went through with the surgery. Kaluha was given steroids after her surgery and I certainly didn’t expect a quick turnaround but after 1 month and seeing her still struggling I called & asked Dr. Plummer why we weren’t seeing any improvement. He put her back on the steroids but this still didn’t help at which point I was starting to believe she would be that «unlikely possibility of never regaining function». This was upsetting for me but the purpose of the surgery was that Kaluha would not get worse. Well Kaluha has gotten progressively worse since her surgery in April. Now she can’t even feel when she has to urinate! Worse yet, she can’t hold herself up when she has to urinate so I have to hope that I am near & can hold her up so she doesn’t get stuck in it. I brought her back in to show Dr. Plummer that she has gotten worse & he couldn’t figure out why this would happen. In fact he told me that it is now time to consider getting her a doggy wheel chair because of her deteriorating condition. He had absolutely no intention on trying to determine what went wrong after I paid $ 6,000 for a surgery not for a guarantee that she’d get better but for the peace of mind in knowing she wouldn’t get worse. He told me I could pay for another MRI to see what’s going on… another MRI?! Oh but he was kind enough to offer a 50% discount on this second MRI! Now I guess the only thing I can do for Kaluha is to watch for when I start to see her have signs of pain so that I know it’s time to put her down. The only thing I received from going through all of this is knowing that I tried everything I could for Kaluha even though Dr. Plummer gave up after he collected his fee.

We brought our Sadie girl here (female boxer) to be checked out for her legs. Based on her symptoms Dr. Plummer pretty much had an idea of what she has; degenerative myelopathy. Instead of having us go through extremely expensive MRI’s and xrays he suggested that the most cost effective plan would be to genetically test her for Degenerative Myelopathyuch first. This only cost a coUple hundred compared to the thousand or so it could have cost for tests that probably wouldn’t have led to a diagnoses. It’s nice going to a vet that understands how expensive things can get and give you options. To us it showed that they care for their patients more than bringing in another dollar.
Dr. Plummer had a wonderful bedside manner. He was sincere in his concern and examined her thoroughly, testing her reflexes as well as her eyes. He basically checked her from head to toe. He personally called me to break the terrible news about Sadie’s positive test results for the disease. I felt he truly nOt only cared for Sadie and was saddened by her diagnoses but he also had concern for us. He let us know if they’re was anything we needed we could always call or come in. He even offered to do check ups on Sadie over the course of her diseases progression.
The staff is also very personable, friendly and caring. Also another Unilocaler commented on the expensive tests but anyone who owns pets knows how expensive veterinarian care can be which is why Pet insurance is available but also this office accepts Care Credit cards which for us was a lifesaver. If you’re worried about cost apply for a Care Credit card. Plus they’re not only good at vet offices but also at dental offices, eyes doctors, imaging and more.
Overall this is a fantastic office with wonderful staff and vets who love their furry patients as well as their humans. If We ever need their assistance in the future for Neuro vet care we’ll come here first.

The staff here really took excellent care of my chihuahua. Dr. Knowles is great and the entire staff is always so friendly! Took my dog here for an MRI which is expensive, but thankfully I have pet insurance which covered 90% of it. He stayed there over a weekend and they even let me come in on a Sunday when they were closed to come in and visit him. I’m in here twice a month now until he’s completely healed and I am so thankful for this place!

My dog Scooby has ruptured his discs 4 times, but only requiring surgery twice. Both times the doctors and staff were very good and caring. Scooby’s surgery was expensive, but worth it. The back surgery they do there on herniated discs is like a miracle, I recommend it if your dog has this problem. I am so grateful for their care (most especially to Dr. Schissler who is very kind) and so grateful there is a vetrinary neurologist in Phoenix. Your pet will be in good hands here.

I had my reservations at first but Dr. Knowles really tried to help my boy. My 12 year old Great Pyrenees lost function of his hind legs and was treated for polyneuropathy, after a week of treatment the doctor herself called to see how he was and wanted an MRI of his spine to make sure she didn’t miss anything… sure enough he had 2 herniated disks! Unfortunately they found pneumonia and started treatment. We had to take him to a 24 hour hospital early in the morning and even with knowing Dr. Knowles would be on vacation for a few days she still kept her direct phone on to keep in touch with the emergency veterinarians! Not to mention the staff I dealt with was amazing and a special thanks to the business office for all of their help!

I’m writing this review because when my girlfriend and I were trying to find somewhere to fix our dog I wasn’t sure I was going to go here bc of some of the Unilocal reviews.
Yes, it’s ridiculously expensive to do testing and operations on your pet, but it’s like that ANYWHERE you go. Yes, they are a business and keeping a team of friendly helpful staff and knowledgable doctors is not cheap, they make money off if their testing and surgery. Like any other center of this type.
Our dog Betty woke up paralyzed one Sunday morning at my girlfriends moms house in AZ we got in the car and drove out from LA as soon as we could to get her to see someone. We were recommended to go here from another very knowledgable vet in Arizona. From the beginning the staff here was nothing but helpful. They fit us in the same day to see someone and were so kind through the whole process. They needed to do additional testing on Betty bc X-​rays were not showing something out of the ordinary to explain the paralysis. Let me note here though that we didn’t ever feel the doc was pushy about doing the surgery. He have us the statistics of her walking again and explained other options for treatment if surgery was going to be too expensive. We decided that if they found she had a bulging or herniated disc, which he suspected, we would do surgery.
The price tag was huge for us but the staff helped us every step of the way through applying for care credit for half and then setting up a payment plan through them for the rest.
Betty is now on her way to full recovery and it had everything to do with this place. I told myself if this worked out I would write a review about the WORK they do and our experience of the staff, instead of complaining about the price.
Thank you everyone from the bottom of our hearts for giving Betty her legs back! Don’t think twice about taking your pet to this place. Yes, they might need to run tests to make a diagnosis but you are in great hands.

At first glance, my Unilocal buddies may be thinking «Finally! She’s put the lid on that can of crazy and adopted a new pet! Too bad it needs a neurologist.» Well, no I haven’t. That shows you what my list of unfinished reviews looks like. So here’s my review from my August 2011 visit. Rest assured, it was so traumatizing I can accurately remember the pertinent details.
After my kitty suffered a severe seizure, losing her eyesight, the emergency clinic recommended a neuro consult as they were unable to pinpoint the cause. So we loaded up our already deaf, now blind, and extremely pissed off family member into the car and headed from one hospital to another.
The facility is in an odd industrial area, but it was very clean and the staff friendly. We were greeted promptly and had a minimal wait. Suzi was first thoroughly examined by an resident. She was minimally cooperative, but he was good with her. He then took her to another room for a second examination by a neurologist, Dr. Evans. We were not offered the opportunity to accompany Suzi, but we were not exactly at the top of her list anyway. Following Dr. Evan’s exam, he did meet with us to report his findings. His best guess was a brain tumor, but in absence of an MRI, he could not be certain. We discussed treatment options; however, as she was already 19, I was not willing to consider surgery or radiation. He suggested a course of steroids which could reduce any swelling causing the blindness.
The only thing preventing me from a 5-​star review was the topic of the MRI. While I did not feel pressured, I was encouraged to move forward with it for a definitive diagnosis even after I expressed concern over her age and current weakened state following the seizures. I asked if the MRI were positive what conservative treatment was available. The answer… a course of steroids, the same thing if it were negative. I fully understand it was their obligation to communicate all available diagnostics and treatments available, but I also understand that I could have easily been swayed to spend $ 3000 just for peace of mind in my case.
The steroids did appear to help as Suzi’s sight returned and she had 3 more months seizure-​free. Dr. Evans’ best guess diagnosis appeared to be accurate, as she did exhibit additional symptoms pointing to a brain tumor just before we euthanized her. I would not hesitate to trust this facility again should the need arise.

While this hospital may be far to reach for those who live north of Phoenix, it is worth the effort to drive there. The highways easily get you there, with easy entry to the front door. We were greeted by 3 nurses at the front desk, and although we had hastily arranged the visit, the doctor was available to us on time.
Dr. Levine met with us for nearly two hours to make such a difficult assessment seem easy, but to make sure that our small 14 year old dog was comfortable and acted at ease — making for a better diagnosis. While we were hoping for good news, the assessment showed a possible brain tumor on the right side, that would continue to progress.
Watching our dachshund’s coordination fall away for only a few weeks before the visit we knew it was not going to be good news, but we definitely felt Dr. Lavine’s care and compassion for our dog.
Over the past few months Dr. Levine has continued to monitor and care for our dog. He immediately followed-​up on the seizure reports we filed, and took great care in making sure we understood, compassionately, what to expect next. His technical knowledge and social intelligence is well appreciated.
Everyone is super intelligent and caring at this specialized veterinary hospital. I can’t say enough good things about their care for my dog and my family.

Dr Ashley Bensfield is absolutely awesome. I was recently referred to the Veterinary Neurological Center by my vet when my dog became very ill. By good fortune, I was assigned an appointment with Dr Bensfield. She was super knowledgeable and observant. She had a wonderful «bedside manner» with both my dog and me. Her skills in making preliminary diagnosis and an explanation of alternative causes inspired confidence in her abilities. It provided understanding of the situation which was a relief after many days of uncertainty and confusion. Unfortunately, after a subsequent MRI, my dog’s condition was determined to be the worst of the alternatives, which was critical and irreversible, and he was summoned to doggie heaven way too soon. It gave me great comfort to have Dr Bensfield as a resource at a most difficult time.