Took my precious Molly here for s/s of CHF. Within 1 hour the DMV (Craig Proietti) was suggesting Euthanasia. He was cold and only seemed to care wether we had the estimated $1500.00 to keep her overnight for O2 therapy, meds and to see a cardiologist. We applied for their care credit card and were denied. After that the WONDERFUL tech. suggested more options. Long story short....Molly is home with 2 different meds and is doing fine right now. Even if we have 6 months left with her, its better than putting her down. Only worried about money!! We are only giving 2 stars to the awesome tech!! A very nice gentleman with a beard and glasses. I wish I could remember his name. Thank you!!!
Imagine my disgust when we got her home and for the first time ever she frantically ran to our salt water pool, and with absolutely desperation began to drink the salt water.
We were double billed for her ICU care that day, and I was told someone would call me the following day to correct it, as the girl charging my credit card could no fix it (and of course no doctor could come out to correct it).
The knowledge of the internal medicine doctor improved my rating; the rest of our two separate ICU experiences were 1 star. Our dog, diagnosed with megaesophagus, arrived to the ER on Monday morning after not holding down any fluids for over 24 hours. She was diagnosed and kept in the ICU for hydration and observation. I was very discouraged at how desperate she was to have something to drink when we picked her up (she frantically tried to lick the rain off the pavement on the way to the car), as the primary goal was hydration. ICU care should have included trying to make her comfortable, but it was very clear she had no access to drinking water.
Our sweet girl died the following day. I wish I had kept her home for those days when she sat in Dogwood's ICU. It is ironic that we paid for "intensive care" without anyone bothering to do the basics like keeping her comfortable.
Several days later I was contacted by the office manager, Kelly, and she was very argumentative and rude. She told me an email was sent that outlined the costs. I explained to her I did not view the email, but I did receive a call to confirm the appointment and there was no mention of any of this. However, an email does not constitute authorization to service. She told me I was lying, and that her tech told her she gave me the cost on the phone and then said “well, I don’t know what you expect to be done the service was already performed” and then blamed it on my husband, for not saying something to the vet in the room. This is contradictory to what the girl told me when I talked to her the day of the visit, which was that a new tech had taken my appointment and clearly had not gone over everything. I asked Kelly why a pre-authorization sheet was not given to him and she kept going back to an “email was sent”. She kept saying their staff was really good at making sure customers knew the cost before procedures were performed, but no one did until the bill. Very rudely she said she would ask another manager, but she highly doubted anything could be done. I have worked in customer service for nearly 20 years and was astonished by how this woman was speaking to me! She called back several days later and left me a voice message with basically the same “too bad” info. I will NEVER be recommending anyone to this practice ever again or be visiting there myself! This is entrapment and downright fraud! How nice it must be to perform whatever you want on an animal without the owner’s written OR verbal permission and demand they pay the bill!
Our concerns were validated when we arrived to get her and we were told the antibiotics had unfortunately not been given because they were too busy (not a single other car in the parking lot), and we would need to wait another hour. Neither a doctor nor a tech ever came out to speak to us.
Still no one has called.
The sleek website and hospital like design drew us to Dogwood, but I sorely regret having made the choice to bring her here.
We were very grateful for the compassion that came from the staff. We were in a difficult situation with our beloved son who was basically dying. Twice in two days we were in the emergency room with him. The receptionist saw us and recognized us from the night before and immediately brought us to a room. The nurse also recognized us and knew that this was my son. The compassion on putting my son to rest can not be comparable. In the time of support the staff knew I was mom, my husband was dad. He was our son and was laid to rest with the comfort of the staff. I'm am truly grateful.
I've had to visit this emergency vet twice in the last year with 2 different cats & 2 very different reasons. Both times I was fantastically pleased with each staff member that helped us. Special thanks to Megan.
It was suggested that she go back in ICU. My husband called to speak to the doctor caring for her just after 5:00. We were told the day doctor had left, the night doctor & staff is looking after her, and someone would call us back. At 6:30 there was still no return call, no vet tech that could speak to us, no doctor available. When we finally spoke to the night doctor, he said he hadn't seen her since arriving for his shift, but assured us he would go see her then and begin her antibiotics. Our concerns began mounting over the lack of care being given in the ICU, and we choose not to let her stay the night.
However, due to my schedule and in order not to miss the appointment my husband had to run the puppy to the appointment. On his return, I find that the bill was over $640! They had booked the puppy for a $180 consultation and an echo-cardiogram and not a $35 consultation as I had requested when making the appointment. Upon learning this was NOT what I had scheduled the pup for he immediately returned to Dogwood. While there the girl on duty called me at work, which was very nice, and apologized that a new tech was helping them the day I booked my appointment and did not go over the cost(s) with me. I explained the conversation that occurred when booking the appointment. , as well as, had even the $180 exam been referenced I would have told the girl it was not correct and not what I needed to be done. My husband, having never been there before, had no reference to what was to be done to the puppy. He was merely running the pup their in my absence. At no time whatsoever prior to service was any pre-authorization sheet given to him, as it was during my 2014 visit. Had they done so he would have known something was wrong. She apologized and said they had a new girl working the day I called and that she would have the office manager contact me.
We returned at 10:00 Wednesday for the internal medicine appointment, and I was given a quote for thousands of dollars of care. Just like I would for any family member, I agreed to the care. What I wasn't told was that my dog's problem was irreversible, end stage disease, and these tests would not improve or prolong her life.
I recently visited my personal vet with a puppy and was advised to have the cardiologist listen for a possible murmur. Since I’ve used Dogwood before for this purpose, I contacted them, to schedule a consultation with one of their cardiologists to listen to the puppy. When making the appointment, I told the girl on the phone I wanted to bring in the pup and have the cardiologist listen to her. I explained it was for the same visit I had done two years prior with two pups costing $35/each. The girl pulled my account and referenced the 2014 visit I was referring to. She gave me the dates/times available and I scheduled the appointment for the following Thursday. That was the extent of the conversation.
Dogwood Veterinary Emergency Specialty Center is a US Veterinary Care based in Richmond, Virginia. Dogwood Veterinary Emergency Specialty Center is located at 5918 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23230, USA.
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