VCA Northwest Hills Animal Hospital

They are reasonably priced, they have friendly staff and they work on the weekend.   Overall they are fine and they treat the animals well.

The vets tech helper was either new at the job or just not very good at her job. She took my cat away for a blood pressure check up and then brought him back explaining that it was not in the free well check up and did I want to pay $25 to have it done. The other services offered were teeth cleaning, blood work and other shots for around a total of $1,000. Even tho I refused the services at the time, they keep sending me postcards saying that the work needs to be done. Also, the tech did not give me the rabies certificate and I had to call to have one mailed to me. The cat's name was not spelled correctly on some of the records. Upon leaving, I was given a welcome bag which included items for a dog. 

I had called on the phone and thought that seeing the most senior vet would help - I had yet to find a vet at VCA who actually seemed to care about the pet's health rather than how much money they could get. 

When I went in I was told (despite reassurances over the phone) that the vet I wanted to see was "busy" and would I see another vet?Also, their reception staff are very rude and completely un-interested in you or your pet(s)…not a good way to start with a sick pet.

The vet that did see my cat talked the talk and tried to appear caring. (Not the case.) I was told the cat would need to go to the emergency vet overnight because it was a life and death situation. I was told my cat should have oxygen on the journey by car to the emergency vet.Instead of preparing my cat for the oxygen, the vet actually left at 6.00 pm (because it was her time to "clock off" and left the most rudest technicians I have ever encountered to prepare oxygen delivery for my cat.An oxygen chamber is an air-tight container for cats into which oxygen is fed. They decided not to let me borrow an oxygen chamber (maybe they did not have one which in itself is incredible that a vet treating emergency problems every day does not have a proper portable oxygen chamber. What they did was take masking tape and attach a mask to my pet carrier (half of which is made up of gaps and vents to allow visibility and air-flow. In addition the oxygen tank was not even working. When I complained (but only to the technicians because all the vets had promptly left either at 6.00 pm or before about the set up of the oxygen tank and that it certainly was making no positive difference to my cat, the whole group of ragged technicians insisted that they were providing "state-of-the-art" service! What a joke! When i got to the emergency clinic they could not believe  that a professional vet service (actually very expensive) did not have or would not provide a proper oxygen chamber for my cat. The very next morning instead of going to VCA I had already decided to choose another vet and have them take care of my cat and they could not believe how unprofessionally VCA had behaved. I have always had issues with VCA from the very beginning when I adopted two stray cats from Austin Humane Society. VCA offers to see adopted pets from Austin Humane Society for free!! But don't let that fool you - they don't care about pets only money -the free offer is their attempt to get customers for life so a first free consultation is their carrot - don't' be fooled though. They are very expensive, gloss over their charges and try to bait you to spend more money while having very little interest  in the pet's actual health. 

My friend also adopted two cats from Austin Humane Society and they are constantly scratching their ears. A different vet from VCA saw them and told her on more than one visit that there was nothing wrong with the cats. She then took the cats to another vet who confirmed that each cat had an infection in their ears!The end of the story for my beloved pet is that she had heart failure and a blood clot in her leg and had to be put to sleep. I will never forgive VCA for the part they played in my cat's unnecessary suffering and her death…and the nasty taste in my mouth from having used them in the first place. 

I'm new to town and had used VCA in another state. After checking with VCA Northwest Hills we had my dog's records faxed and thought we'd found a vet in Austin. They only had the opportunity to trim my dog's nails - between the first & second trim they managed to temporarily misplace the records. When I called because my dog needed immediate attention for another matter on a Saturday morning, they seemed very exasperated. It is understandable that all their appointments were booked but they knew I was new to Texas  would not even suggest where I might call to get help. Fortunately I was able to find a vet and now my dog has a vet in Austin.

Update: I took my dog back to the vet when he got sick.   I did see the vet quickly and she did prescribe medicine for my dog.    He did get better.   I've raised my rating because he was well taken care of, but I'm still concerned about the professionalism of this clinic.   Each time I ask a question, I receive a different answer.    Although I'm happy that my dog was taken care of in this instance, I still don't have confidence that my dog is getting the best care available.

I was surprised that on weekdays there are no appointments, only walk-ins.   I was concerned about this because I would really like to have one vet who always sees my dog and if there are no appointments, then how could I regularly see the same doctor?   Turns out not to be a problem, because I probably won't take my dog there again.   The front office staff was very nice and I suppose the wait wasn't that long.   The problem started when we got taken back to an exam room.   This room was open on two sides and my dog was upset that other dogs were continually walking by our room to go to the treatment room.   Although the vet tech was very nice to me, neither she nor the vet seemed to be very interested in my dog or his well-being.   The vet did not seem to have answers to any of my questions but asked the vet tech for answers.   I expected as a new client that I would be asked lots of questions about the health of my dog, but there were none.  The examination itself seemed quite superficial.   My dog had two different sets of tests and I was told two different times that I would only receive a phone call if there was a problem: "No news is good news."  So when the phone rang two different times and it was the vet's office, I assumed the worse.   Turns out, although they say "No news is good news," they call anyway.  To me that was very unprofessional and confusing.  It seems the only similarity between this VCA Animal Hospital and the one I went to before is the format of the bill.   If my dog has a problem I'll bring him back here, but next time he's due for a check-up and his annual shots, I'll probably take him somewhere else where I have more confidence that he's getting the best care.

I really like the staff and the doctors at this vet, but the prices seem very high to me. I've been taking my dogs there for a while, but the prices seemed particularly high for this visit, and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary done.

Dr. Kelly is very good with animals and was very sweet to my dog. I didn't like some of the other staff as much although everyone was nice enough. My dog was always afraid of going to the vet and Dr. Kelly did a good job with calming her down.

We have been using them for over a decade off and on and they are very good. They are a little pricey, but I think any vet is nowadays. You can just walk in or you can make an appointment. The techs are very nice and the vet is very knowledgeable.

They have always been very good with my dog and I am very comfortable going there for service. They have very good hours and the Vet's here are very compassionate and patient with the animals. I trust their work completely and I plan to continue to work with them.

They put my pet on liver medication and he is doing just fine. The Vet there is wonderful and has the best bedside manner of any vet I know. I have been taking our pets there for over 20 years now and have been please with their service.

Drs. Kelly, Buell, and the rest of the staff have saved both of my cats on several occasions. They are thoughtful and truthful and very, very skilled. One of my cats just turned 20 yrs. and I credit his longevity to the awesome care he's received from this clinic. I highly recommend NW Hills Pet Clinic!

OVERALL, MY DOG WAS TREATED VERY WELL AND APPEARS TO BE RECOVERING VERY WELL. THERE ARE NUMEROUS TECHNICIANS AND DOCTORS AT THIS FACILITY, SO HE WAS PROBABLY NEVER WITHOUT CARE!