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November 2023 by Sarah Swim
Back in March, Dr. Marshall (from the Manchester location) discovered our cat was in end-stage heart failure during a routine HCM scan and jumped into action to have my cat admitted, stabilized and put on medication. This location helped her through that episode and she made it another 6 months with us and we are beyond thankful for that extra 6 months they bought us with her. Her first stay I was given updates and photos through her hospitalization and you could tell they really cared and knew how much she meant to us. Our last visit was no different - while it was unexpectedly and so sadly our last day with her, they were so kind and compassionate the whole way through. While the last thing you want to hear is that there are really no further options, I’m glad they were the ones to tell us that. They handled it with such grace and made us feel as comfortable as they could considering the heartbreaking circumstances. You can feel the love, kindness, and genuinely flow through this place. Thank you so much for caring for our baby.
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November 2023 by Jessica White
Everyone I interacted with at this location and at the Manchester location were kind, patient and empathetic.The team discussed my cat’s condition and presented me with options to continue. I opted for the surgery.Dr. Yarnall called me after my cat’s surgery to give me an update on her condition and an overview of how the procedure went. The staff called me the following day to give me another update and arrange a pickup time.They were thorough and patient going over her discharge papers and made sure that any questions I had were answered.It can be incredibly expensive having a sick pet and this was no exception. They made sure to give me an estimate beforehand and gave me time to review it before making any final decisions.
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November 2023 by Masha
My 9/9.5 yr old orange tabby suddenly went into a heart failure episode (heavy and sudden deep stomach breathing - he never had any health issues prior to this). We rushed him to VSS West and they cleared the fluid from his lungs and stabilized him. It was a very serious situation but he pulled through. The doctors, vet technicians, and other staff were very professional and considerate. I would highly recommend this hospital if your pet is having a serious health emergency. Thank you for saving Kip.
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October 2023 by Elizabeth Moody
Horrible and unprofessional. Front desk staff told me to come to the door, but then they were too busy chatting and sitting on their cell phones to open the door. As I stood waiting at the door more than 10 minutes in 105 degree August heat, my dog passed away in my arms. Then they tried to upsell me 25$ for a box to carry him home in. Vet was sweet, and she profusely apologized for her staff…but…..stay away from here
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October 2023 by Jennifer Landt
I've had to bring my pets here on a couple different occasions. Every time, the staff has been incredibly caring and sincere. It comforts me knowing we can take our pets here in an emergency. Does it cost money? - Yes, but it takes money to keep these services available and to keep good staff. Are there long waits? - Sometimes, but that is to be expected when they are triaging pets. I had to have one of my fur babies euthanized and I cannot thank that vet enough for how comforting and kind she was. The vet we recently had was great too. He gave us full transparency and made sure we had all the information to make a decision. We were able to bring that fur baby home on the mend. Thank you to VSS West for all you guys do. You are VERY appreciated.
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October 2023 by lily jackh
Stay away from this office if you can. I have had a lot of pets and emergency clinic visits throughout the years…but none were as horrible as this clinic experience. The lack of care and compassion for a suffering animal due to front desk staff’s bad attitudes was unimaginable, and created so much more trauma to the emergent visit…veterinary office’s objectives should be dedicated to the compassionate care of animals…this office needs to be reviewed by their corporate owners and change up some horrible staffing…was such a negative experience I wish I could give them zero stars.
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September 2023 by Elaine Beach
We live in Columbia, but unfortunately no vets here are currently seeing emergency cases past 10pm. Our cat showed signs of urinary obstruction so we had to make the trip to O'Fallon at midnight. Thankfully we lucked out because VSS-West was great. It's a nice building in an easy to get to area. The veterinarian examined our cat on arrival and laid out the treatment plan and cost estimate up front. Our cat ended up staying that night as well as the next night with an indwelling catheter. VSS even called a vet hospital here in Columbia to ask if they'd take our cat so we could get him back to Columbia ASAP. However, when I called the place in town they were going to charge a LOT more money to take him so it made more sense to leave our cat in O'Fallon and return for him on discharge.In summary: fast, professional, communicative, and affordable. If we have a late night emergency again and need quick care I'd feel confident taking him to VSS!
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September 2023 by Tracey McDonald
We had to put our 19 year old boy Todd down. It was the hardest decision. I still cry sometimes. Todd had a strong heart and he was holding on for us. We just couldn't watch him suffer anymore. The staff was soooooo passionate and loving. They allowed us to take our time with our baby during the process. I have a heart for everyone there. Thank you all .
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September 2023 by Wynn Hinkebein
I have had two separate personal experiences with this location, plus my mother-in-law had to take our dog in while we were on vacation. We have seen 3 different vets at this location. This is a long review, but I feel it is important to give details. A few things to remember is that our pets can't talk to tell us what is wrong, so a vet's job is very difficult. Vet offices and vet emergency rooms don't get government subsidy to offset costs, so things can get expensive pretty quickly. Also, this is an emergency room for our pets, but and ER non-the-less. Just like a human ER, sicker and more dire cases will take priority over less critical cases.The first experience was with my mother's dog. She was not walking on one of her paws so we brought her in to see what was wrong. The doctor could have racked up the bill by doing x-rays, however, while he offered to do them, he told us he didn't think it was necessary since she probably just pulled something and needed to rest it a bit.The second experience, my mother-in-law had to take our diabetic dog in because she wouldn't eat and needed insulin. She reported that they were very sweet to her and our dog. Again, the vet offered to do an ultrasound to make sure there wasn't something happening with her stomach, but told her it was an expensive test and it probably wasn't necessary. She did choose to do it, and now we know her stomach is fine, giving us one less thing to worry about. Our sweet girl was hospitalized for 2.5 days while they monitored her blood sugar and gave her medicine and insulin. The doctor/technician called each day to give an update on her. When she was released, they gave her clear directions on how to care for her at home.The third experience was just a few weeks ago. A week prior to our visit, our sweet girl had run full speed into a wall/door jam causing her to fall and have a seizure. The day before we had to bring her in, she hit her nose on the sidewalk and refused to move after that. The morning we took her in, she wouldn't eat and couldn't get insulin. As a 12 year old baby, we thought this was it. When they brought us into a room the were very attentive to all the details of what had been happening. They took her back to do some blood work. The vet came to talk with us about the results. She gave us the option of hospitalizing her, or taking her home to care for her in her own environment. Thinking she had broken her nose, we asked about getting x-rays. She told us based on her evaluation she didn't think her nose was broken and didn't need to do x-rays. She offered to do another scan, either a CT or MRI, but that would be very expensive, and if they found something, it would likely be something we wouldn't do anything about at her age.I appreciate their being judicious in running tests and scans, their being upfront about the cost of the tests, and their being honest about it being necessary or not, letting us make an educated decision about how to proceed. One thing I haven't mentioned is that once we arrived and got into the building, the staff made sure we were comfortable, offered us coffee, hot tea or hot chocolate, and made sure we had everything we needed while we were there.This is one place you don't want to have to go, but if your fur-baby needs emergency care, this is the place you should take them.
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August 2023 by Natasha Baker
Staff was super friendly and fast at getting our girl in to be seen. She was VERY anemic. After about $600 in test and nothing (and another $800 later for a blood transfusion and a over night visit) confirmed we were told by Dr. Sarah Zufall that even if we did the blood transfusion, it would be a Band-Aid on a gushing water pipe and our girl would not be able to accept the blood. Her body would just destroy it. It would not save her life. It’s just a bandaid to buy her a few hours or maybe a day or two. We have to treat this as cancer until we find out otherwise. And if we were not willing to go the full treatment for cancer, that euthanizing her would be best. I asked if it could be worms, poisoning, sickness, Pavo, autoimmune, anything???(over and over and over) I was told it’s nothing from the outside she was positive and this is something her body is doing to itself that cannot be fixed unless I wanted to do the radiation and chemotherapy after we figured out what kind of cancer it was, and if it could even be removed. After our home vet strongly suggested the blood transfusion and then to take her home Dr. Sarah then again said in a nutshell I’ll do it but it’s not gonna help. I asked her to please call my vet (so she could explain what she was thinking bc Sarah said I don’t know why she is pushing the blood transfusion so hard) she said “No,but I’ll call your husband.” So she talk to my husband and long story short we did the blood transfusion took and took our girl home. Then followed up with her normal vet the next morning. Ran the blood test to check for clotting, ablood test to check for Heartworms, a blood test to check for tick borne illnesses, a blood test to check for rat poisoning, and lo and behold she has rocky mountain spotted tick fever and I was on antibiotics and she’s just fine!!!!!!! How’s that cancer for you? Thank God I didn’t euthanize on the spot as was suggested numerous times. Or euthanize the next day like she wanted to schld. Would NOT recommend this place!!!!!!!! Like I want my money back!!!,,,not for the visit, not for the blood transfusion, because those things are all warranted. Also not for the steroid medication they put her on but for the blood work that literally had nothing to do with what I wanted done. I asked for all of these blood test (that her normal vet ran) and she told me there was no need…so I went to my vet and it was literally what FOUND the issue!!!! Like why be a vet if you just wanna put dogs down? After leaving, and finding this out three days later from my normal vet, i did a better business bureau search on this place and read lots of reviews on yelp and google and fb aaaaand apparently “rude staff”, (which I did not experience at all) and “putting animals to sleep Willy Nilly” is what they are known for :( wish I would’ve known that $1000 ago, thanks for wasting my time and money.
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August 2023 by Kira Brennan
We had to euthanize our dog Izzy in the middle of raging thunderstorms so we had the place to ourselves. The staff was compassionate and kind and made our last moments with our dog very special.
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August 2023 by Kathy Wilson
My 8 yr old lab had major surgery last Fri and after we got home she would not sit or lay, this went on for hours. The vet that did the surgery doesn’t take emergency calls so my sister found VSS West in Winghaven. I brought her there and they were unbelievably kind and so helpful! Maggie laid down and hr or so after we got home and with their meds she has been resting all weekend. Thank you ALL for caring so much and doing the best for my baby girl. You truly are FANTASTIC!
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August 2023 by Regina M Barron Barron
Dr Rebecca Greer took great care of our Sammy today! He had a cyst that filled up and had opened up. This happened within a few hours so we thought we should get him to emergency care. Dr Greer treated him by draining the cyst, giving him a hydration treatment, and put him on antibiotics for an infection. He is feeling much better and acting like our Sammy Bear again. Thanks to Dr Greer, she's so caring & kind! We will go back here if we need care when our vet is closed.Thanks Dr Greer for taking such good care of our baby bear! Your the best! Regina a & John Barron
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July 2023 by Lauren Avalos Gonzalez
I waited for a while before anyone responded. I was going back and forth between taking my dog or not because he had a bad rash but wasn’t acting out of the ordinary. I left and came back because the rash got worse. When I called the lady was so rude. She said “we called and texted you multiple times”. I got one text (which I assumed was automated so I didn’t respond) and never received a call from them (so no I did not get multiple calls). I’m then put back on the wait list (which is understandable since I left and I had no issues with that) and waited for about 45 minutes before I called and told them I couldn’t wait anymore. The lady again was super rude when I asked for advice. She said she was not “legally allowed to give us any advice” and then hug up. I will be finding a different emergency vet and recommend others do the same
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July 2023 by Kimberly King
This has taken me quite sometime to post but my experience with this place is below 1 star. On May 28th, my 11yr old shih tzu was stung by a bee/wasp and had a severe reaction to it. Because of the day, clinics nearby were not open. This place was the first my husband found because I couldn't gather myself and was in panic mode. He called them about our dog and said they'd look at her. I drove 40mins from Florissant here, crying the entire way because my fur baby was in distress. By the time I arrive, I had to call them first to let them know I was outside and they took all of my info over the phone and said someone will be out to my car soon to get her. I'm comforting my dog as best as I can, holding and rubbing her thinking it wouldn't be long. 1 hour goes by an my dog is barely blinking, she has a slight whimper, her tongue turned purple and she started losing her bowels even more. At this point I find another emergency clinic that's 24hrs and take her there and they get her in immediately. She had to stay at the second vet clinic over night because she was in such bad shape. My dog couldn't walk she was so out of it. I've never seen anything like this ever so I was super scared and kept praying that my fur baby wouldn't die on me. While I was at the second clinic, this place finally called my phone 2 hours later, looking too help me now! I would NEVER recommend this place to anyone.
