VCA Animal Hospital
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we go to VCA here ..i dont know how it is in other states but the prices arent double here..they are actually cheaper than alot of private vets ...but as i said thats here in hawaii
we have been happy with them this far and its been 2 yrs...we call for appts and you can always make an apt with "your " vet or who ever is available the day you need...either way
but i DO understand you wanting to stick with your own vet .. VCA here is open 7 days a week form 6 am - 10 pm and 24 hours for emergencies..
we have been happy with them this far and its been 2 yrs...we call for appts and you can always make an apt with "your " vet or who ever is available the day you need...either way
but i DO understand you wanting to stick with your own vet .. VCA here is open 7 days a week form 6 am - 10 pm and 24 hours for emergencies..
They are a major corporation and I think the quality of practice depends on the individual vet you see. It is not much different then the Banfield places inside PetsMart, they to are large corporations.....The only down side I see on this is that the doctors that work there are placed on a production number just like with many other company's, they then have quotas and charts and graphs of individual doctors and the sales they produce, the number they see, the amount of drugs dispensed and then the number of product items (food, flea stuff, shampoo), the yearly or quarterly bonus that the vet gets is based on the amount of sales. It seems to make it more like a commission type thing.
I was offered a job with Banfield a while back and researched this "corporation" thing a little more then I had in the past with that job offer. Needless to say I turned it down....Somewhere along the line I think you lose an aspect of practice if you are more worried about meeting a quota of some kind.....
That is one of the reason Banfield offers the "program" they have for clients. It is to keep you coming back for shots and check-ups each 6 to 12 months and alot of times you are getting extra things that your dog does not really need...along with the newest and greatest flea med, food and shampoo that has come out....
Now most of this I have said regards Banfield and if you ask around you will get some people who say they like it and others who say they dont.....It is the same way with VCA........You dont make your own decisions in alot of ways diagnosis and treatments, you are told by someone else what the VCA protocal is.
VCA purchases animal hospitals and will only purchase a hospital that does at least annual revenues in excess of $1,000,000 (yep that is million)
They are the largest "chain" vet hospital there is! The last report I saw on them said that they have over 250 million dollars in profits a year....
I would never work for them......and the issue I have is like your vet said.....who wants to be dictated to by someone who is in an office in California...The other thing is that the "head people" at the corp office, they are all business men, not a single one of them is a Lic. Vet....
Anyway...that is my 2 cents of what I know.........
I was offered a job with Banfield a while back and researched this "corporation" thing a little more then I had in the past with that job offer. Needless to say I turned it down....Somewhere along the line I think you lose an aspect of practice if you are more worried about meeting a quota of some kind.....
That is one of the reason Banfield offers the "program" they have for clients. It is to keep you coming back for shots and check-ups each 6 to 12 months and alot of times you are getting extra things that your dog does not really need...along with the newest and greatest flea med, food and shampoo that has come out....
Now most of this I have said regards Banfield and if you ask around you will get some people who say they like it and others who say they dont.....It is the same way with VCA........You dont make your own decisions in alot of ways diagnosis and treatments, you are told by someone else what the VCA protocal is.
VCA purchases animal hospitals and will only purchase a hospital that does at least annual revenues in excess of $1,000,000 (yep that is million)
They are the largest "chain" vet hospital there is! The last report I saw on them said that they have over 250 million dollars in profits a year....I would never work for them......and the issue I have is like your vet said.....who wants to be dictated to by someone who is in an office in California...The other thing is that the "head people" at the corp office, they are all business men, not a single one of them is a Lic. Vet....
Anyway...that is my 2 cents of what I know.........
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5,691 Posts
ooo let me add this...sorry its early here...
this is Hawaii...a 40 mile wide island...not alot of vet choices..the military vets have stupid hours....we wanted something that fit better with our schedule...
*** BUT if i had more of a choice...i would most DEFINATELY go with a private vet...NOT VCA....i miss the small offices that your vet knows your animals by name....etc
but we dont have alot of choices here unless you speak fluent filippino 8O which i dont lol
you have to go with how you feel...we havent had issues with VCA BUT we also havent had any MAJOR issues either...jsut routine...if i was to have a MAJOR thing with the dogs...id bet we would be treated like a number..
this is Hawaii...a 40 mile wide island...not alot of vet choices..the military vets have stupid hours....we wanted something that fit better with our schedule...
*** BUT if i had more of a choice...i would most DEFINATELY go with a private vet...NOT VCA....i miss the small offices that your vet knows your animals by name....etc
but we dont have alot of choices here unless you speak fluent filippino 8O which i dont lol
you have to go with how you feel...we havent had issues with VCA BUT we also havent had any MAJOR issues either...jsut routine...if i was to have a MAJOR thing with the dogs...id bet we would be treated like a number..
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