VCA Apache Animal Hospital

I feel like vets and mechanics operate with basically the same level of ethics. 90% of them are business focused and trying to make money off of you and will resort to whatever means necessary (emotional manipulation anyone?) to do so. The other 10% are honest, decent human beings that will charge you a fair price and educate you on what is best.
VCA Apache falls somewhere in the middle. They were very friendly and concerned for my cat when I brought him in for a suspected snake bite. They treated both me and him with respect and care and wanted to offer the best solutions possible to take care of him. They were clean, professional and very tech savvy.
That being said, they brought out a $ 700 estimated care plan– just for that appointment. I love my cat but we simply don’t have that kind of money available to spend on him. In other news, did you know that a blood test for a human costs about $ 30? At VCA they were charging $ 180 for one and $ 120 for another. I declined both as well as the $ 50 pain injection they offered. I also feel a bit like my concern and emotions were used against me a bit because I did wind up getting the THREE doses of pain meds for $ 77. My husband is a doctor and his response to that was that he would never even offer such an expensive medication to a patient in similar condition. While my kitty’s paw was tender, he was putting almost full weight on it. There was no need for that. Furthermore, I was charged an additional $ 25 for walking in without an appointment (for a snake bite– during normal business hours… with only one other person in the office to be seen). I walked out with a final bill of $ 280 and after a few doses of antibiotics my kitty healed fine. For what was ACTUALLY needed if I had known a bit more, I should not have paid more than about $ 150– at THEIR prices without the «upsells».
Finally, my disclaimer– in all fairness, I have not talked to VCA myself to complain– so they have not had an opportunity to answer my concerns. I simply don’t have the time and the bottom line for me is that if I have to fight to get a fair price I don’t really want to do business with you anyway.

Best vet in town!!! I have nothing but great things to say
. Extremely helpful with our dogs move to Hawaii and provided us with everything we need to make the trip painless and easy!

Too many clients and not enough staff in my opinion. Not able to accommodate for appointments, and there’s always extended delays (up to 30 mins) and routine boosters then took an additional 45 mins to do. ‘Warranty’ appointment for my kitten could not be booked within the time frame due to unavailability on THEIR part, so I was told that they would cover it out of the usual time frame, as it was THEIR issue. Then today I was told that I would have to pay, as there was no record of that conversation… And not only was I told this, but also in the most unprofessional and aggressive manner that I have ever encountered here in Sierra Vista. This place looks fancy, and to give credit where credit is due, the counter staff are lovely… But the service is expensive and poor. My husband had suggested moving our dog to Apache for convenience, however we will now be moving our kitten to Coronado… Less bells and whistles, and more love and professionalism. If I could have given 0 stars, I would. Good riddance!

The best place in town they have great deals nice place good people they helped us military come here love this place great deals u have to check out this place if u want the best your your furry friend.

TAKE YOUR PETS ANYWHERE BUT HERE!
Simple, honest business practices would have saved you from this review VCA.
We recently adopted two kittens from the Sierra Vista animal shelter. The shelter has an AGREEMENT with this animal hospital to cover ALL of the adopted pets medical treatments and shots… provided you take your animal in within the specified time period. However, after taking our new kittens in for their first set of shots, they told us to schedule an appointment for the next set. Which according to the animal hospitals AGREEMENT with the shelter ARE INCLUDED in the adoption fee. My wife, having dealt with this vet previously, and having been told one thing only to later be told another, asked the counter staff THREE TIMES if that appointment was within the specified time frame for it to be included in the adoption AGREEMENT. The counter staff responded «Yes, absolutely IT IS INCLUDED with the adoption AGREEMENT and WITHIN THE SPECIFIED TIME FRAME». However, when my wife went in with the kittens on the day and at the time of the scheduled appointment, she was told by the staff, «I’m sorry, the AGREEMENT ended yesterday. The charges today will be $ 240.» When my wife balked at this situation, the vet acted as if their hands were tied and then proceeded to put the blame on us for not scheduling the appointment sooner. If you remember, I stated earlier my WIFE ASKED THE COUNTER STAFF THREE TIMES TO MAKE SURE THAT THE APPOINTMENT WAS WITHIN THE SPECIFIED TIME FRAME and was told each time «YES».
This vet has NO ETHICS or MORALS and shady business practices. Even if the counter staff had made a mistake, the vet SHOULD HAVE HONORED THEIR AGREEMENT.
After this ridiculous exchange with this vet, I did some research and discovered that I can purchase the medicine from Tractor Supply. VCA Apache wanted to charge me $ 240 for these shots. I bought the medicine from Tractor Supply for $ 7.50 per kitten.
STAY AWAY FROM THIS VET! THEIR PRACTICES ARE DESPICABLE AND THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES.

The clerks and assistants are friendly and caring yet the vet had me waiting despite me having an appointment.
After five hours, assistant came in and suggested we could go get drink/​lunch down the street, and offered to put dog in their back room boarding area.
Upon return 15 minutes later, we learn vet ran about $ 400 in test while we were gone… and is referring us out to a Tucson vet, who, just so you know, did not use any of those test results as consideration for treatment.
Wasted time, six hours, during pets painful encounter deter me from going back for other services.

Rarely give 5 stars. But this is the place to go for your pet if you love them like family. Their prices are definitely in line with other places. And for the reviewer who said they are more expensive, I wonder if she took into consideration that this facility has on site lab AND radiology equipment? That is super important! I am a RN and hold very high expectations. Surprisingly, they were met and exceeded. Dr Cruz was the vet we saw. The support staff was very caring. Its obvious these people love their job and their clients’ pets. Then I got two follow up calls checking on my dog the next day and wondering if I had any questions. One call was from the vet herself.

Before I start my story, let me say this in case you read no further: if you care about your pet and your money, you must avoid this place.
The back story: I took both of my dogs to Apache VCA a few months back to get the rattlesnake vaccination (which did not, by the way, help at all when my dog was bitten, but then I’m jumping ahead — sorry). Each went in a couple of times, and although one vet tech was rude, the other folks with whom I interacted were great.
This last Sunday, a rattlesnake bit one of my dogs. There is no emergency care in Sierra Vista during off hours (and that is INSANE!), so I drove her to Tucson, to Veterinary Specialty Center. (They are super expensive, but utterly fabulous.)
My dog stayed about 24 hours. I brought her home last night, and she was doing okay, but wasn’t taking her meds (bad taste). I didn’t want to miss another day of work, so instead of driving back to Tucson to ask for liquid meds, I made an appointment at Apache VCA.
The incident: Within two minutes of seeing the vet I was assigned (and whom I’d never seen before), I knew she had never seen a snakebite victim before. Not deterred by her own incompetence, however, and assuming I knew nothing about snakebites (which I do), she immediately started the hard sell. She tried to tell me how bad off my dog was because of certain symptoms she showed, and recommended several tests and other things «they» recommend for snakebite victims. I told her that the hospital gave me detailed go-​home instructions, and that the hospital knew of my dog’s condition before they released her, and the tests she was suggesting wasn’t among their post-​release recommendations. She became very, very rude. Three times she told me that my dog needed immediate hospitalization, and when I tried to talk, she overtalked me, and told me it was her responsibility to tell me what was best for my dog, and then I could decide whether to choose to follow those recommendations — and take care of my dog.
I got sick of it. I told her I was going to call the hospital from which my dog had just been released and get their take on this. Her body language said that that made her impatient and angry, and she told me she’d give me some private time and stomped out. I called and spoke to the vet tech at Veterinary Specialty Center, and told them my dog’s issues and why I’d come in to VCA today. She said she’d talk to the vet and call me back, and I asked the tech to have the vet call this vet.
About five minutes later, one of the vets at Veterinary Specialty Center called my cell. She told me that she tried to get a hold of the vet who had been treating my dog, but that the front desk told her that my treating vet had GONE TO LUNCH. I rushed out of the exam room and to the front desk, and they confirmed that she had indeed gone to lunch. I spoke to the calling vet, and she confirmed that my dog did not need hospitalization.
When I left, I told the front desk that I would never be back.
After her lunch concluded, I guess, the vet called my cell phone and tried to hard sell me on some additional procedures. The call dropped, and I wondered whether to call her back. She called me, however, and immediately accused me of hanging up on her. When I told her what I planned to do (which is what the Veterinary Specialty Center vet told me to do), she told me that I wasn’t doing what was best for my dog. Things went downhill from there.
Finally: In case VCA — or any vet or vet-​related person — reads this, let me give you some tips from a very discerning consumer of veterinary services:
1. Don’t pretend you know things you don’t, and don’t assume that I don’t know some, or even a lot, of information about my pet’s condition. When you pretend, it destroys your credibility almost instantly. Instead, tell me that you have not dealt with this before but are going to consult with someone to make sure we get things right (and then do so!).
2. Learn how to deal with people calmly and compassionately. Most people who spend their hard-​earned money on vet care love their pets, often like children. Thus, in this field, emotions can run quite high. I need someone who can help me sort through what’s going on and who actually cares about my pet and me.
3. Don’t — DO NOT — hard sell medical procedures to me. (For that matter, don’t try to sell them to me at all!) Your attempts to manipulate me into paying for procedures evokes disgust and anger, and destroys any trust I might have in you. Worse, for you, it means I won’t come back.
4. Don’t — DO NOT — try to make me buy things my pet does not need. Let me say that again: DO NOT TRY TO SELL ME THINGS MY PET DOES NOT NEED. It not only evokes the emotions listed in #2, it makes me *so* completely disgusted with you that not only will I never come back, I will begin planning how to let others know that you are the absolute wrongest place to patronize.

What an absolutely horrible place! Beautiful building, rude staff. The receptionist was nice and only the receptionist. I have been a vet tech at a phoenix animal hospital for years so when I came down to visit my mom she wanted me to go with her to take her dog to the vet. We called around and VCA first said they couldn’t see us and then called back to work us in which was nice. When we got there the receptionist was nice but once we hit the exam room the experience went seriously down hill.Dr. Bennett-​Maas came in did a very brief exam and then had the tech come in with an estimate for treatment. When I told my mom she only needed to do a few things since we were only there for arthritis meds and that she didn’t need x-​rays the tech angrily walked out. We could here them talking about me through the door and complaining that I was advising her she didn’t need to do certain things. They then did the in house blood tests we okayed, came back in after about 35 mins and said the doctor would not prescribe the anti inflammatory medicine that we wanted because one of the tests was elevated and we would need to come back another day for more blood tests and urine tests. We tried to ask if they could send out the tests with the blood they had already drawn but the doctor litterally walked out the door and closed it while we we talking to her! They ended up refusing to do anything for the arthritis pain and didn’t even address the diarrhea the dog was having. I asked the doctor as she was walking out of the room what about the diarrhea and she turned around and she said «I guess I can give her something to plug her up», I asked about doing a bland diet and she said” that works whatever” and left the room. UNBELIEVABLY RUDE! They clearly were upset that I was a vet tech and I was letting my mom know she didn’t need to do everything they suggested. Checking out to leave they wouldn’t even talk to my mom, it was ridiculous! We were in no way nasty or rude to them. The only thing I said that was remotely confrontational was that I couldn’t believe that they wouldn’t do anything for the dogs pain. Needless to say my mom will NEVER set foot in another VCA hospital again ESPECIALLY VCA Apache!

We adopted a dog from the Sierra Vista Animal Control Center & this was the vet they recommended we take her to. They’ve been great to us. Their new offices are beautiful & all of the vets we’ve seen have been very sweet & loving to our dog. I think we’ll stick with VCA!

So, about four trips later, this is not my favorite place. Why, you ask? Every time I go, I am waiting for 20 – 30 minutes if not more, to ask a question, or to wait for my invoice, or to wait while they take someone with the same appointment time as I, ahead of me, though I arrived early. I was really happy with the doctor and assistants, but when it comes to organization and customer service, this place leaves much to be desired.

I have 3 dogs ranging in age from 12 to 2 years old and sizes from large to toy. They all get excellent care at this vet. Though sometimes the wait time even with an appointment has been long the staff is friendly and informative. They are very up front with their costs and have always provided a clear estimate prior to performing any extra services. The office is clean and easy to get to. They also provide boarding services and I had no issues the one time I have used them for boarding. But they do fill up quickly so plan in advance if you want to use their kennel.