Dekalb -Gwinnett Animal Emergency Clinic Inc

Write a Review770-491-0661

that was really a bad review!

i liked dr kero, personally

their charges are high, that is why they are there all night etc

she gave us some pretty realistic advice, even if we just went to the regular vet later to follow most of it

we also went to dr biddle at the sandy springs place, Animal Emergency Center , and he was very good - he spent maybe 20 minutes outlining care plan - for the regular vet, and didn;t even charge

i really recommend them



the tucker place, they were ok, but i did sense they were in business to make money too, maybe for corporate overlords, who knows, they didn;t get mad when we said we;d have the blood test done for 1/3 as much at the regular vet, they just said be sure to do it





wle

DON'T GO HERE! We had a nightmarish situation yesterday with our 3 month Siamese cat, Liam. He started acting sick 3 days ago, by Friday night he was refusing to eat or drink, and throwing up. By Saturday he was not moving around too much. We thought it was the napkin he'd eaten apparently Friday night and threw up Saturday morning. He was not better by yesterday (Sunday 9/16/12) so we took him to VCA Dekalb-Gwinnett Animal Emergency Hospital.

I was under the impression that they were top notch because of their ratings. Sadly, I didn't pay attention to the dates. All were from a few years ago, before it became corporate VCA hospital. As soon as we entered, the attitude was cold. The one member of the staff who seemed caring, a tech, disappeared as soon as she took us to a room. The attending vet tech and Dr. Kero had zero people skills and little compassion to our situation. No one had any sympathy for the unnecessary costs of their care.

They did X rays and it wasn't the napkin. Turns out he had eaten a twist tie and it was lodged in his stomach! Surgery was the only option, we were devastated. Already we were paying the initial $108 plus $221 dollars more for a protein check and X-ray to a total of $329. They brought out their estimate for surgery (we'd been waiting at the hospital now for over 4 hours) and both of us started to cry. They wanted almost $3,250. We are early 20s, my girlfriend is a student and I am an actress, so like any other normal family, this is an exorbitant amount of money. Of course, in our emotional state, we thought we were going to have to go into our savings to pay. It was either have the surgery, or Liam wouldn't make it for long. Luckily we thought to call our vet and they recommended Animal Emergency Center of Sandy Springs for their excellent care and much lower costs.

We left VCA Dekalb-Gwinttett Animal Hospital and rushed Liam to Sandy Springs. We called on the way and when we got there we were met with waiting attendants and calm reassurance. They waived the emergency exam fee after hearing our situation with VCA and used the X Rays we brought to proceed with his care. Their estimate for the same procedure was $1400-$1500! We paid $1486 total, almost $1200 less than VCA's LOWEST estimate. That was including his overnight, the surgery, and his medicine for recovery. The range VCA gave us for the SAME procedure was $3250-$3900! I can't believe it is legal to have a practice like this! Dr. Biddle at the Sandy Springs location has the same emergency vet board certifications that Dr. Kero at VCA has and worlds more warmth, compassion, and friendliness. We decided on surgery there as prices were in line with our vet and several other local vets. Liam had a successful surgery at 11pm last night. With the way it was stuck in his stomach (tie was already lodged in his pylorus), doing the surgery then saved his life. When I picked him up this morning, he was already well enough to transfer home instead of our vet. They did an amazing job.

He has another 2 weeks of healing but he's a lucky kitten they said, he'll be okay. I hate to think what would have happened had we not been able to pay, or found another option. We would've somehow come up with the money, as I'm sure others would, even if they don't have the means. VCA Dekalb-Gwinnett Emergency Animal Hospital is cruel in their ethics, maybe good in their care, but ANIMAL EMERGENCY CENTER OF SANDY SPRINGS is JUST as competent, we paid less than half the price, they are so much more reasonable and caring. They were a superior example of what should be expected in animal ER care, I won't go anywhere else. I hope this helps prevent others from going through our situation, or other unfortunate ones. Don't go to this hospital, it's not worth your emotional toll or break in your finances. I can't recommend Animal Emergency Center of Sandy Springs enough, they saved our kitten's life, and our financial sanity.

I BROUGHT MY 4 Y/O JACK RUSSELL, GRACE, TO VCA ON THE ADVISE OF ANSLEY VETRINARY CLINIC SINCE THEY DID NOT HAVE THE FACILITY TO RUN CERTAIN BLOOD WORK. GRACE HAD GOTTEN INTO SOME KIND OF TOXIN THAT WE HAD NO IDEA WHAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN. SHE WAS A VERY SICK LITTLE GIRL. WE LEFT ANSLEY MEDICAL TO GO STRAIGHT TO VCA WITH IV AND BLOOD WORK IN HAND AFTER I HAD PAID THEM $282.00 FOR THE TREATMENT SHE ALREADY RECEIVED. ONCE I GOT TO VCA AT 5:00 I WAITED UNTIL 5:45 WHEN THE RECEPTIONIST/TECH WAS NICE ENOUGH TO LET US IN OUT OF THE RAIN. FROM THE MOMENT I GOT THEIR IT SEEMED AS IF THEY WERE JUST FOCUSED ON COST. ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THE RECEPTIONIST POINTED OUT THEIR FEE JUST TO BE SEEN WAS $108. WELL LONG STORY SHORT THE TECH CAME IN AND I VOICED A CONCERN THAT I ONLY HAD A LITTLE OVER $250 CASH WITH ME AND I KNEW THAT I WOULD HAVE TO TAKE HER TO OUR REGULAR VET THE NEXT MORNING AND I HAD BEEN SEEN IN ANOTHER CLINIC THAT SENT ME WITH BLOOD WORK THAT NEEDED TO BE CHECKED ASAP TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON. SHE STATED SINCE I HAD BEEN SEEN AND REFERED THERE THAT I WOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY THE 108.00 EXAM FEE. ONCE THE DR. CAME IN HE HAD AN ESTIMATE OF OVER $850.00 WHICH BASICLY WAS TO KEEP HER OVERNIGHT ON AN IV SHE ALREADY HAD STARTED AND FLUIDS SHE WAS ALREADY ON. AND TO RUN BLOOD WORK ON HER THAT WAS CRITICAL TO HER CARE (WHICH I HAD BROUGHT WITH ME SO THEY COULD RUN) THE COSTS OF SOME OF THESE TESTS WERE MORE THAN WHAT A HUMAN LAB WOULD CHARGE FOR EXAMPLE A CBC FOR OVER 100. COSTS 25.00 AT A WALK IN LAB.

JUST BECAUSE THIS CLINIC IS AN EMERGENCY CARE CLINIC THEY ARE GOING TO GOUGE THE PET OWNER FOR EVERY NICKLE THEY CAN NO MATTER WHAT SACRIFICE THE PET HAS TO SUFFER. WHERE IS THE COMPASSION IN THIS? ONCE THE DR FOUND OUT I ONLY HAD $250. HE SAID THAT I SHOULD JUST TAKE HER HOME BECAUSE THE BLOOD WORK WAS GOING TO BE OVER $250 AND TO NOT BOTHER IF I WAS NOT GOING TO SPEND MORE TO TREAT HER. I WILL ADD THIS THOUGH, HE CAME BACK IN THE ROOM AFTER GETTING US READY TO DISCHARGE AND SAID THAT WE CAN GIVE HER SOME SUB Q FLUIDS AND A SHOT FOR NAUSIA BEFORE YOU GO SO SHE WOULD BE COMFORTABLE TILL IN THE MORNING, BUT IT WILL BE $150.00 FOR MY BILL. OF COARSE I WANT MY BABY TO BE COMFORTABLE SO I GAVE THEM $150. TO GIVE HER 250 CC'S OF IV FLUID SUB Q FROM THE IV FLUID SHE ALREADY HAD AND I HAD ALREADY PAID FOR AND SOMETHING FOR NAUSIA AND THEY'RE REDUCED EXAM FEE OF 40.00. I GOT TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BECAUSE THEY DID NOT WANT ME TO LEAVE WITH ONLY PAYING $40.00 FOR NOT DOING ANYTHING FOR HER. THEY WANTED AS MUCH OF THE MONEY I HAD BEFORE I LEFT AND THAT WAS THE ATTITUDE THAT THEY EXPRESS WHEN YOU GET THERE. DESPITE THE FACT THAT MY POOR LITTLE GRACE HAD TO SUFFER.



GRACE MADE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT AND WE WERE AT HER REGULAR VET THE FIRST THING THE NEXT MORNING. THEY STARTED HER BACK ON THE IV FLUIDS GIVING HER SOME POTASSIUM THAT SHE NEEDED ACCORDING TO HER BLOOD WORK ($55 TOTAL) ALTHOUGH SHE STARTED TREATMENT SHE HAD A SEIZURE AND PASSED AWAY.



SO MUCH FOR COMPASSION AND HELPING A SICK OR INJURED ANIMAL... YOU BETTER HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARDS, BANK LOANS AND BORROWED MONEY WITH YOU IF YOU EVER GO TO THIS PLACE. THEY THINK SINCE THEY ARE THERE 24 HRS (WHICH THEY ARE NOT) THEY CAN CHARGE OUT THE NOSE FOR EVERYTHING TO TAKE A B/P ON MY DOG WAS 55.00 COME ON GET REAL FOLKS! IT'S GOUGING AT IT'S WORST. THEY PRAY ON YOUR EMOTIONS AND TREAT YOU LIKE YOUR 2ND CLASS IF YOU CAN NOT AFFORD WHAT THEY RECOMMEND. ALL I WANTED DONE WAS TO GET BLOOD WORK AND THEY COULD NOT EVEN DO THAT BECAUSE THEY'RE OVER INFLATED FEE WAS 3 TIMES THE NORMAL VET FEE FOR SAME SERVICE AND THEY ALSO CHARGED ME FOR FLUIDS THAT I PAID FOR AT THE PREVIOUS VET. MY POOR GRACE DID NOT MAKE IT AND IT IS DIFFICULT NOT TO HAVE BITTERNESS TOWARDS THIS MONEY HUNGRY COMPANY THAT NEEDS TO RECONSIDER THE OATH THEY TOOK WHEN BECOMING A VET IN THE FIRST PLACE.