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July 2020 by Amanda Estep
Dr. Teter and Ashby Herd Health Services were quick to respond to my call regarding my sick calf. He explained everything he was doing and why. Gave clear follow up instructions.
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April 2020 by Natalie W.
My 4 year old beagle mix Charlotte began having multiple medical issues in 2019. After tests were completed at my regular vet - Caring Hands in Alexandria, they thought she may have a liver shunt. I was referred to VCA SouthPaws for ultrasound and ultimately had a consultation with Dr. Balogh. During the consultation, he provided me with multiple options including prices and probable outcomes. He was very genuine and answered all the questions I had. I chose to go forward with surgery as I felt that would lead my dog to the best shot at a long and healthy life. Dr. Balogh performed the surgery and crazy enough also found and removed a blockage in her stomach. She recovered wonderfully and is now a happy and healthy dog. Now, 7 months later, her recent blood tests are normal. I am so very thankful for the thoroughness Dr. Balogh provided.
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April 2020 by Beverly E.
First....right upfront....they are very pricey. However, they are WONDERFUL. The vets are knowledgeable and compassionate. You and your furry friend get friendly, personalized treatment. The rooms are unique- they look more like a living room instead of a vet exam room. My dogs were calm and unafraid in that setting. I could go on and on about how happy I have been with all the visits over the years. My friends that have had to take their pet there have had wonderful experiences, too. Get pet insurance in case you need to take your pet there. At least you will get a check for some if it in the mail.
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March 2020 by Julie K.
When I started going here for neurology I thought it was great. But now 6 years later the place has gone so far downhill, you really should just start your visits somewhere else. Maybe for emergency they're okay. But for specialists they're just the worst. They cancel and move appointments all the time. I asked for my dog's files so I could go somewhere else and was shocked at how incomplete they were. They've lost bloodwork results for my dog. The past two visits both times they've given incorrect doses of medicine. You only see the actual specialist for about 2 minutes. I've complained a few times and nothing seems to happen. No one there communicates with each other, no one ever knows what's going on. I really really hope they improve.
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February 2020 by Adrienne B.
I can't say enough wonderful things about the care that my cat received at VCA SouthPaws. Having recently moved to Northern Virginia, I hadn't yet found a new vet. So when my 18 year old kitty had a sudden stroke-like event on a Sunday afternoon, I went into panic mode. SouthPaws was the first place that I found that was open, and I'm so glad we ended up there. She ended up having to stay for two nights, and eventually we put her down. But she received excellent care from Dr. McGee and the entire staff there. They were so empathetic and patient with us as we went through this gut-wrenching time. They let us visit and/or call and check-up on the little girl as much as we wanted. They explained everything very calmly, and we never felt any pressure to move forward with expensive procedures...they presented us with all of the options, including the financial implications, up front and let us be the decision makers. Was it expensive? Yes, but so would any emergency medical care be, especially when you're staying for two nights in a facility. I am so grateful for the wonderful care Dr. McGee gave our kitty, and honestly, the care that he gave my husband and I as he guided us through the difficult process of deciding to let her go, including sending a sympathy card after we left. It really meant a lot.
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January 2020 by Suntrice Duckett
Very spacious area.
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December 2019 by Lily S.
Highly recommend you bring a friend with you who is neither emotionally nor financially invested so that you can have an advocate in the room to ask questions when you're too overwhelmed by the sheer stress of it all. I spent about 1.5 hrs in the exam room. Out of that, I got about 6-7 mins of Dr. Hoch's time. Another 10 mins w the nurse. I wish I were joking. Frankly, I would have happily (well, that's relative) paid the $225 consult fee for an email exchange where I could have had everything in writing and some time to digest and consult friends/the internet and make a better informed decision about Rosie's treatment. Instead I spent over and hour sitting in a cold room w paper thin walls w my dog stressing out doing nothing. The construction outside the door was a nice touch. (See attached video). I wont bore you with the details but it took about $2000 (in addition to the $1000 already spent at my regular vet that referred me here) and several visits to come to the conclusion that there's nothing wrong with my dog and the fatigue she has been exhibiting is likely due to her being older than her rescue initially aged her. I waited a while to post this review because I wanted to be sure nothing more serious started happening and at this point I am confident that VCA/Dr. Hoch didn't have my (or my dog's) best interests in mind. She recommended that I do more extensive x-rays (~$800) than what my basic vet provided and if that didn't work....wait for it....CRACK MY 13 LB DOG'S CHEST for a lung biopsy. Yes. I wish I were joking.
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December 2019 by Sara N.
I wouldn't recommend Dr. Nancy Bromberg, who has proven to be incompetent and unethical. She has damaged our dog's eye after placing a lens that did not fit into her eye-twice- and cutting it to make it fit. The lens could not stay in place and was moved around a few times damaging her retina because she has unusually small eyes for her breed-this is what the doctor said on the first visit. And despite her knowledge of our dog's congenital problems, she still risked her eye with this decision. She did not inform us about this detour during cataract surgery. After, when confronted with the disastrous result, she said she had informed us about the risk of using the wrong lens. Dr. Bromberg only mentioned the risk of glaucoma during the first visit and when talking about lenses, she never mentioned the size or whether she had what she needed for surgery. We would never have authorized surgery if we had known that she did not have the right lens. We would have waited. What's worse is that the hospital has cleared her from any wrongdoing! A doctor who does not take responsibility for her actions should not be allowed to practice. A hospital that does not take responsibility for its employees should not stay open. The damage caused to a healthy part of the body cannot be reversed and we will pay for it until our dog dies. This is unacceptable!
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November 2019 by Dillon S.
I feel absolute regret that I did not follow my gut instinct and discontinue coming here while I still had a chance. I care about my shi-Tu who is of advanced age so much that I actually was blinded by the con that is Dr. Brongberd (spelling) and company in their "Ophthalmology Department". I will not go into a rant on how they squeezed $1,500.00 out of me with false promises and sideways diagnosis. Let me put it to all the readers as simple as I can...My dog is blind and they gave me every assurance in the world that "if I go ahead and get this diagnostic test, and then this..." that my baby's gift of sight would have a chance of being returned to him after battling accumulating cataracts over the years. So I was shocked to come home one day and receive this long rambling message from this Doctor on how we missed an appointment and how "much money I cost her for abusing her time". I was floored, absolutely floored. But, there had been signs along the way. Upon trying to unravel this mystery (monetary), the good doctor said that she was "releasing" my dog from her care. Naturally, I knew that this was crazy, but indeed wanted to know why she actually believed that there was some appointment scheduled on this particular day. And certainly after almost two grand had beennspent, I better not miss an appointment. That would not be a good investment on my part. The short version is that she "knows" it was this week and not the following week, as the practice manager would later confirm, is because she is on vacation for the Jewish Holiday. Well, that's just lovely of course and everything, but in truth my dog was being 'released' from her care because he was never a candidate for cataract surgery to begin with. You really have to do your homework guys in these situations, and a SECOND opinion made all the difference. And to wonder, how dare someone actually try and convince me to believe that an 18 year old shi-tzu is really a viable candidate for surgery. Turns out the only one who was really blind was me...
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October 2019 by Natalie F.
I am very fortunate to have met Dr Sheaffor, the oncologist at Southpaws in charge of treating a stem cell tumor in Miranda, my beloved dachshund. In thirty years of dealing with vets for every illness imaginable at dozens of vets in the D.C. metro area, I realized I had very low expectations for vet performance, which ranged from downright execrable to pleasantly mediocre. For years I considered myself lucky if my dogs survived treatments with a minimal degree of harm done. I am thrilled to have finally met someone who can address a health issue with a laser-like lucidity and insight, able to explain every aspect of the issue with clarity, profound knowledge and empathy. I am sorry I have not known of Dr Sheaffor before, losing so many dogs to inept and indifferent practitioners.
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October 2019 by Vicki P.
Amazing care for our chocolate lab, who had oral cancer and required an extensive surgery. Dr. Balogh was able to remove all of the cancer and reconstruct her mouth beautifully. He and the rest of the surgical staff were amazing through the whole process. We knew our pup was in caring hands and are so thankful for them!!
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October 2019 by Dave U.
We've had a traumatic summer with the cancer diagnosis of our dog. Our local vet referred us to the specialists at SouthPaws. From our initial visit to the ongoing chemo treatments we have experienced the best of care. We have seen Dr. Knoekles in Neuro and Dr. Brehm did our dogs surgery. Both were excellent, communicated constantly and showed empathy every step of the way. The techs and front desk staff went above and beyond. The waiting room has 2 areas: one for cats and one for dogs. The patient and family rooms are cozy and inviting. There's lots of care at this place. I would not hesitate to recommend this facility to anyone seeking specialty care for your pet.
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October 2019 by Colby S.
Like many of the other reviewers on here, I would recommend steering WAYYYYY clear of this place. The really unfortunate thing is, you only go to a place like VCA because there's an emergency and you're stuck going there. BUT AVOID THIS CLINIC IF YOU CAN. Here are some of the reasons why you should find another clinic: 1) No one returns your calls. 2) Specialists only work Monday- Friday. So if you have an emergency on a weekend, an expert will not be available. 3) Despite my dog being hospitalized for 3 days, no one called to ask how she was doing after being discharged. Not a single follow up. 4) $5,000 and no diagnose, no advice on future care, no follow up. I could go on for a long time.....
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September 2019 by Michele R.
We've visited VCA Southpaws several times with many animals. We are current clients of Dr. Schaefer for one of our dogs who has lymphoma. On 9/24/19, I called Southpaws ER about toxic vitamin consumption. The receptionist who answered our question about what we should do with, "I don't know," like we were inconveniencing her. We called two poison control control#s & didn't want to wait longer. After a 2nd call & her promise to have a chart ready, she had nothing done. I brought the paperwork out to her at the front desk. The doctor was there chatting with her. The doctor followed us into the room. She said receptionist gave incorrect weight, so she calculated toxicity levels incorrectly. Note that no LVT visited our dog and no one weighed him. The receptionist and the doctor were our only contacts at that point. The dr. didn't see reason for concern but stated it also depended upon whether our dog had digested the capsule already. We asked if it was appropriate to induce vomiting to avoid complications. She agreed. We had to ask her for possible symptoms & effects. She didn't offer. She replied that sedation, & our dog treated to induce vomiting. 10-15 minutes later, a staff member brought him back & left. W/in 30 seconds our dog collapsed sideways, & couldn't raise his head. I yelled, "What is wrong with him?" I tried to get him up & screamed, "What the F- is wrong?" My husband approached receptionist that something was wrong & to get the doctor. He was crying. She casually entered & stared at our dog. She's not an LVT but inept. My husband and I told her to get the doctor. She arrived. I yelled, "What the Hell is wrong with my dog?" Visibly nervous, she took vitals and stated the medicine an opiate & sedation is normal. I told her that this was not normal. I had to suggest, and ask, if it could be reversed. She affirmed that it could and she agreed to get the reversal injection ready and left the room. We were incredulous over the cavalier attitude of all involved staff, their inability to problem-solve, pay attention to our dog's condition & response, to offer feedback or useful information W/O prompting. Two technicians administered reversal treatment. Ten minutes passed W/O improvement. No one checked on him & no one stayed to watch him. I rushed out to the receptionist. I insisted loudly that she get the "f-ing doctor now!" I yelled, "What the F-- did you do to my dog?" One staff member stated, "If you talk to me like that I will call the authorities." My reaction was more than appropriate. I asked her if she wanted to talk about this there or in the room. This was the only way, apparently, to make someone respond to what they should have done prior to this. There was a uniformed police officer sitting in the lobby with his own dog. I should have openly invited him into the room so he could learn why he should not have his dog there. A practice manager and another tech entered. The tech confirmed reversal should've occurred in minutes.The practice manager stated that our dog's abnormal reaction sometimes occurs. They didn't communicate this. Clear explanation of treatment, & supportive care were NOT provided W/O our prompting. We are not certain if the doctor, who we are sure was newly licensed, made a dosing mistake w/ bad math or was inept. My husband is a PhD in mathematics and he was nervous about this doctor's lack of confidence around her calculations for toxicity and dosages, based upon her statements to us that she had to keep rechecking her math. We left with our dog drunkenly walking out a few hours later from a traumatic experience that should not have happened at all. The worst part is that I informed the practice manager that we wanted to talk to Dr. Schaefer about this event.
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September 2019 by Ana R.
Horrible experience my dog not moving painful back stomach i was rushed charged 450 to be given pain meds no xrays my dog has a lump on his stomach extremely painful i asked for the doctor to get back and check it . No the nurse said he was done with the exam and already moved to his next patient never came back Took my dog next day to another vet dog issues were stomach pancreas southpaws gave him pain and steroids which is not good I am so disappointed at Southpaws Terrible doctors!!! Expensive and they don't care about your pet is all about the money!!!!!
