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VCA Regional Institute for Veterinary Emergencies and Referrals

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VCA Regional Institute for Veterinary Emergencies and Referrals
VCA Regional Institute for Veterinary Emergencies and Referrals
(23 Reviews)
> Get Phone Number & Directions
2132 Amnicola Hwy Chattanooga, TN 37406
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Consumer Feedback

(23 Reviews)
Service
4 star average for Service
Environment
4.5 star average for Environment
Expertise
5 star average for Expertise
Staff
4.5 star average for Staff
Recommended
4 star average for Recommended
Value
4 star average for Value
I brought my dog here about 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately, she passed away very quickly. I expressed that I would like for her to be cremated. I was given a booklet with options for cremation arrangements. I selected and paid $130 for an urn for her remains to be returned. I called asking why her remains were not ready to be picked up. The employee stated that the communal cremation was selected and I did not want the remains returned, simply stating “sorry”. There was not even an offer to refund my money considering services were not rendered.
It was painful to lose my dog so suddenly and unexpectedly. It is a lot more painful knowing that she has been discarded thanks to the mistake of the incompetent employee of River.
I hope that no one else experiences this pain. Do NOT trust this vet with your pets remains or care.
by Dale Tillman xxx.xxx.226.93
September 06, 2022
STAY AWAY!! AVOID!! There are way to many honest Veterinary clinics around to be scammed by this place! Geesh, where do I even start? Buckle up it is a long story... Ill start by saying that they will likely respond to this review with some garbage like, "we are so sorry that you were not satisfied". Or, "we would like to reach out to you regarding this complaint", blah, blah, blah... Well, they are NOT sorry and they dont want to hear from you. My wife called them to discuss their dishonesty and they not only lied AGAIN on the phone, they(Nicole I believe is her name) said that they would NOT discuss it further! WOW!!! So here is exactly what went down and you can be the judge on whether (VCA River City VCA River VCA RIVER - Regional Institute for Veterinary Emergencies and Referrals) is dishonest or incompetent... We took our dog in for what we though was a snake bite. Upon arriving we were told wait while the vet looked at the dog. After about 30 min we were called into the exam room and was presented by the vet her estimate for "the whole 9 yards"(her words) of treatment for snake bite. This included the anti-venom treatment along with laser treatment, hyperbaric O2 chamber treatment, antibiotics, pain meds, etc. She presented an estimate for $1846.21 -$2307.76. Again, this is for snake bite treatment plan. The vet called later that day and said that she now does not think it was a snake bite. She asked if the dog had been burned... What?? There is an oozing wound that I can see that is some type of bite and Im not a Dr... We told her no chance of a burn. She said that they would continue to evaluate it but would need to collect an additional(we already paid a $400 deposit) $1000 dollars to do so and that it was critical that the dog continue treatment. We paid the extra $1000. We were called the next morning with the prognosis of a bite of some kind and there was dead tissue that needed to be removed from the bite area or the dog would die. The vet stated that it is in depth procedure that would cost between $3000 -$5000 MORE! We told them that was not feasible financially. Their response was we have payment plans available! We told them we would be by to get Rugar to take him home to say goodbye or to another vet. When I went to get Rugar they told me that I owed another $479 for a total of almost $1900! I asked for someone to go through the bill with me because it was a lot of money so they had a tech come out and say, "we estimated $1846.21 - $2307.76. so we are within that estimate"... I said that estimate was for snake bite including the very expensive anti-venom. She was outwardly frustrated that I was questioning the bill. She stated that even though they didn not need to do the anti-venom treatment they had to do other stuff like pain and nausea meds... I said, so basically you are going to make sure you are within the estimate whether you did any extra or not... Of course they nickeled and dimed it until they were between their numbers...I Luckily we took to him to an honest vet for a second opinion. They looked at the records sent over by VCA and took a look at the dog and said that the entire procedure should not be more than around $900(worst case) and that is coming back several times to get re-bandaged. They did did the procedure that day and called and said that it was not nearly as bad as VCA had stated and they only had to take the surface layer of dead tissue and he does not even need to be opened up. Turned out to cost us $401 for the procedure at the honest vet! VCA River was going to do the same thing and charge us $3-5,000! VCA was going to let us take our furbaby home to say goodbye because we could not pay $3-$5,000... It boils down to either Doctor incompetence or dishonesty.(maybe both) They have not heard that last of this complaint. Look for it to be in a local publication soon along with BBB, Google reviews, Yelp, etc and hopefully some regulatory board will soon be looking into their practices.
by Andy xxx.xxx.7.254
August 30, 2022
Unfortunately the outcome was not what we hoped for,my baby boy received great care and comfort. they were not in it for the money. i can not recommend them enough
by jane m stevens xxx.xxx.116.21
December 28, 2021
the staff there are very caring and really care about your pets well being
we are very appreciative of their compassion and knowledge
we could not ask for any better care and treatment for our dog or for that matter for ourselves
they have been very patient with all the questions we have ask and with us showing up twice a day for them to give our Gizzmo DOG his meds
by mike/gizzmo xxx.xxx.157.183
June 24, 2020
Wonderful, caring people. I took a cat there years ago, and you can tell the staff truly loves animals and isn't in it for the money.

More recently one of my dogs got out and was hit by a car. I rused her to RIVER, and although it seemed she was gone, they still tried to resusitate her. My little sweetheart didn't make it, but I was overwhelmed by the kindness of the staff - they even gave me a little card with her pawprint, and put her body in a box, ready for burial.

I wouldn't hesitate to remonned them.
by Honeybun xxx.xxx.138.46
June 03, 2017
THIS PLACE IS AMAZING . THEY SAVED MY DOGS LIFE. DOCTOR BRASWELL AND DOCTOR HEDIGER ARE WONDERFUL. THANK YOU SO MUCH
by Michelle D xxx.xxx.13.48
March 08, 2017
I'm giving this only 1 star because there are a couple of people that are friendly and concerned about animals. I would NOT recommend this place to my worst enemy. I have never been anywhere where my pet has been treated any worse
by Brenda xxx.xxx.187.69
November 16, 2015
Worst staff.. We waited for 55 mins while the wait staff just chatted about nothing, they were rude and over priced! DO NOT GO THERE!! Horrible service..
by Jessica xxx.xxx.55.206
June 30, 2015
Wonderful stFf great with animals as well as humNs
by Smokey xxx.xxx.230.217
January 09, 2015
super nice and compassionate.
by pugmom xxx.xxx.68.165
December 04, 2014
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Map and Directions
2132 Amnicola Hwy, Chattanooga, TN 37406