Affiliated Animal Care

Our 13 year old labrador retriever was diagnosed with cancer in June of 2012. At the time, we lived in Hampton, Virginia, and this was the closest canine oncology group. Travel to this location was about 30 minutes with no traffic, but, we had to drive through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel which could add between 30 min to 1 hour of travel time.
We met with Dr. Berdoulay who was absolutely fantastic. He tested our gal and gave us a complete list of options about her care. We chose chemotherapy and began the very next day.
The method by which they treat dogs with chemo is for the dog to be dropped off in the morning and they treat the dog throughout the day. The expectation is that the dog remain with them for several hours and the owners pick them up later. This posed a problem for us for two reasons. One, it was inefficient use of time to drive back home through the HRBT and back again; so we had to hang around Virginia Beach for six hours or so. Second, it was stressful for our dog who was exceedingly anxious at the vet. By the time we picked her up, she was a nervous wreck in addition to being sick from the chemo.
Dr. Berdoulay was understanding about this and continually suggested that we have an appointment time for our dog. However, the receptionist was not accommodating and would ignore this suggestion from the Doctor. We would be promised a quick in and out time for the treatment, but, when we got there, would be told it would be 5 or 6 hours. When I explained this to the receptionist for the second time, she was rude and dismissive, and informed me that if I wanted an appointment, it would cost me another $200 (in addition to the $450 or so we paid for the treatments). She said to me that that is just not how they do things there.
I found this process to be disturbing. Dogs with cancer, and their owners, are in a delicate place and some support for both would have been appreciated. When we moved to NH and finished our treatments with another oncology group, they allowed for appointments and we were not charged extra for it, so, their practice at this clinic is not typical.
While we loved Dr. Berdoulay and his choice of protocol for our dog, the delivery of treatment, and the rudeness of the receptionist, really put a dark mark on this place for us. I felt that a little more comfort is called for when dealing with the serious illness of a beloved pet. I would encourage them to be a little more considerate of this in the future.

We go to Dr. Brewer from Affiliated Animal Care every 3 weeks. We have been using them for 3 months. He is phenomenal. They're not inexpensive. They're very holistic, they're not rigid. Dr. Brewer talks through these things with you, he's very open to listening and responding. They're a 24 hour emergency service as well. They're just a great place.