VCA Briarcliff Animal Hospital

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They are a basic vet not a specialty vet. Every time we go, we spend a fortune there. I think for the anal glands, it cost $18.50, but Tucson, my dog, has medical problems and she is on prescription diet. We drive out of our way to go up there. There are closer vets, but I just love her vet.

We have gone there long enough that they know our dog. They love her and she loves going. We are always able to get her in and there is never a problem with space.

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The doctor at VCA Briarcliff felt she could not examine my dog without a muzzle. I have had big dogs for over 30 years and I see Veterinarians all the time. In all of my years, I have never had a doctor muzzle one of my dogs. This doctor took my dogs heart rate and claimed that it was 180. In a 110 lb dog, this would be very high. The doctor was insistent that my dogs heart rate was erratic and there was cause for immediate concern. I explained to the doctor that my dog had hurt his leg, that he was in pain, and that she had muzzled him while examining him so he could not pant and he was trying to breathe. My dog did not appear to be in distress. He was scared, and anxious yes, but I imagine that most dogs get a little excited when they get to the vet. I told her that i doubted his heart rate was that high. if I had two strangers poking at me while I was in pain and my mouth was taped shut, my heart would be beating rapidly too - but 180 was not correct. . The doctor talked about how I would need to get all the heart tests upgraded to STAT tests and pay an additional fee so that I would get the results within an hour... they told me if I did not pay the STAT fees, that even though the doctor would be there, that she personally wouldn't even see the results and that I wouldn't get the results until Monday. I inquired about a diagnostic ultrasound of the heart as an alternative to all of the other tests to rule out the heart disease. (This is the gold standard test used to diagnose cardiomyopathy, enlarged heart disease or ventricular issues.) The doctor agreed that the ultrasound would be a good test to do but she said that they would not do an ultrasound unless I did the blood work, and the ECG, and an X-Ray.
I provided the doctor with 7 years of records that indicated a very healthy animal with NO history of heart disease. I asked her to take his heart rate again and she did not. She started insisting that I needed to get an x-ray done to rule out this heart disease. She also said I needed a ECG immediately to make sure he wasn't having a heart attack. I told the doctor that I thought she was over reacting, she did not know the dog, or the breed for that matter. I did not agree with her diagnosis, so she told me to take the dogs heart rate at home. I agreed to monitor the dog at home and I said I would come back the next day if I needed to. This doctor and her assistant scared me, they really scared me. I was absolutely shocked that I had brought my dog in for a pain in his leg and this doctor was trying to sell me all these tests for heart disease. I told her that I did not believe that my dog was in heart failure and I asked her to give my dog something he could take for a few days for the pain in his leg. We asked for
(Rimadyl - doggy Ibuprofen) because he had had it before and it worked well for him.
The doctor refused to give my dog any pain medication unless she did blood tests first to see if he could tolerate it. (Even though his chart clearly stated that he had been on Rimadyl before for growing pains in his legs. I agreed to the blood tests. The technician came in to take the blood and she was not sure where she should go with the needle. The technician was searching through my dogs big furry paw and trying to find a vein. When I realized that the tech was struggling to find the vein through all the hair, I suggested to the tech that it would be a good idea to shave the small area where the vein was so that she could see what she was doing. Once the dogs leg was shaved a little bit, the tech could see the vein and get the blood. I was surprised to see the tech try to find the vein without shaving the small area of my dogs furry paw first. I have big dogs with furry, fluffy hair and I have always noted that the vets and the techs shave the front paw before they draw blood. This tech finally took the blood sample and arranged to have the blood sent out to a lab for analysis. They told me the results of the tests would not be in until Monday.
We were getting to leave and the tech came in to tell me the cost of the pain medicine. I agreed to the price (which was $30 above Pet med's price) and then the tech said that I should start my dog on the pain medicine right away. I then asked why they insisted on the blood tests if they were not going to wait for the results to see if my dog could tolerate the medicine. I asked for the doctor again. The doctor said that it was ok for the dog to be on the medicine for a couple of days without knowing the results of the tests...she said that she needed the blood test results for long term treatment on Rimadyl. i asked why she didn't mention that to me when I originally asked for the pain medicine. I asked her why she refused to give my dog any pain medicine unless I authorized the blood tests, but now she was telling me that it was ok to treat him with the medicine for a couple of days without the test results. The doctor did not have an answer to my questions. I reminded the doctor that we were not there for long term treatment, and that we requested pain medication for my dogs acute pain due to an injury. The doctor was clearly contradicting herself. My dogs records were clear. He had been given the pain medicine before and he tolerated it well. They were adding on unnecessary tests.
I was very concerned about the pricing of this whole visit. During the entire visit they were quoting me pricing for heart tests, cardioology specialist charges, blood tests, ECG's, Ultrasound tests....the costs they were quoting me were upwards of a $1000.. I was originally told it would be about $130 to see the doctor. My poor dog was in pain and I just wanted to get out of there, so I paid for the exam, the blood tests, and the Rimadyl. It was over $350 dollars.
Later that evening VCA Briarcliff called me at home to and quot;check on my dogand quot; and schedule the tests for the next day, After talking with the technicians several times on the telephone about all of these tests, the costs, and how my dog needed them immediately, they scared me into coming back the next day for an ECG and an X-Ray only to tell me that I arrived too late for the tests. (Truth is that they could not do the ECG in the office - they were planning on hooking up my dog to a telephone ECG so that a cardiologist vet in another city could read the results)
I showed up the next day prepared to pay for the STAT tests, and the ECG, and the X-ray. When I got to the hospital, they told me that i was too late and that I could not get the tests done. I could not believe it. They scare me to death, tell me my dog needs these tests immediately to rule out heart disease and then when i get there they tell me I'm too late. They claimed to have left a message on my phone for me to get in there before noon - I never received that message and they failed to mention any time conditions when I spoke to them personally at 10:30 that morning to tell them I would be coming in within a couple of hours.
After all of this, I am very glad that they screwed up the appointment time. I did not believe the doctor and i could never duplicate her results at home. I feel that they deliberately scared me and tried to pull at my heartstrings to get me to pay for tests that my dog did not need. I do not recommend VCA Briarcliff.
Just to be sure my dog was healthy, I took my dog to another Veterinarian for a 2nd opinion.
I had my dog checked out by another veterinarian on the following Monday. My dog would be needing a routine surgery and dental cleaning soon so I decided to have my dog examined and evaluated as a surgical candidate. I did not mention anything about the fiasco that had gone on at VCA. This 2nd doctor told me that my dog had a healthy heart - I insisted that he double check and make sure that he saw NO indication of rapid heart beat, no thready pulse, no labored breathing. I specifically asked about his heart rate, his pulse. Then I asked him if I could get an ultrasound just in case, p

The Doctor and Technicians were courteous, thoughtful, attentive and deliberate. The techs made an extra effort to secure our dog's records from his prior clinic in Houston, TX and the Doc actually took the time to read the records. Both the Doc and the Tech asked many questions seeking to understand the situation and listened carefully to the answers. They recommended a battery of tests, explaining the costs and reasons for each. Upon completion of the tests they made an initial diagnosis and provided detailed instructions, using prior medications where appropriate and adding where absent. They also suggested a diet change. The dog is responding well to the changes.
Overall, this was the most thorough, deliberate interaction I've experienced with a Veterinary Clinic.

Briarcliff Animal Hospital does a wonderful job. Each animal gets its own sleeping and running area. The facility is very clean, which I appreciate. I am very satisfied with them.