VCA Animal Care Center of Sonoma County

Absolutely incredible staff and an exceptionally clean, welcoming facility. They took wonderful care of my Bengal Snow after he came in with an unexpected eye injury. We had no idea what had happened, but they acted immediately and rushed him back for treatment. Despite it being an after-hours ER visit, we were in and out within an hour! After a week of eye medication, Snow is fully healed and back to his playful self. Everyone was so kind, compassionate, and handled Snow with such care. I'm truly grateful for the outstanding service and support we received.

I have been sitting on this out of pure shock, but decided to post so other pet parents can be aware before trusting their pets to this provider. We brought our dog in to see neurologist Diccon Westworth for possible seizures and fly-biting episodes. Unfortunately, our experience was extremely unprofessional and upsetting. While I was trying to explain our dog's timeline and the symptoms we'd been observing, Diccon repeatedly interrupted me, which caused me to lose my train of thought and made it harder to clearly explain what was happening. He became visibly irritated with me -- even though the interruptions were coming from him. His tone was condescending and made me feel stupid for trying to advocate for my dog. Shockingly, when I mentioned the term "focal seizure," he said he didn't know what that was -- which is alarming coming from a neurologist. Things got even worse when he started making broad, judgmental comments about American dog adoption culture. He told me he "felt bad" for us for adopting a dog like our dog and said that in Australia they put dogs like her down for her condition. Hearing a veterinarian -- especially a specialist -- casually suggest euthanasia for a dog who hadn't even been properly diagnosed yet was horrifying. We spent $691.80 to essentially be told our dog should be euthanized. Our dog deserved compassion, patience, and actual medical guidance -- none of which we received.

When I first moved to Sonoma County this was an amazing place to take my pet. We have a Tomcat that is an escape artist and has gotten hurt over the years and late night or on the weekends there was no better place. Some months ago I went and there was a 4 hour wait and while it was a long wait I still felt we received quality care. Last Sunday my cat was bleeding and we could not figure out from where. I called this clinic and was told to bring him in and there would be a 2-3 hour wait. 7 hours later we saw a doctor and. 8 1/2 hours later we left the clinic with no real understanding of where the blood was coming from. There was a thought that it might be an abscess tooth but no real confirmation. As my cat who was in a cage sat and waiting it was clear that they are understaffed (one vet in house), the staff is not happy with the place they work and ultimately this clinic has deteriorated into a place that I would never take my pet again unless the emergency was so dire that we could not make it any further. If you are able to take your pet anywhere else, I would highly recommend that.

This review is a long time coming. My boy that was treated here by Dr. MacDonald passed away back in 2021, so it's slightly less painful to write this now. We live 5 hours north of this clinic and our regular DVM referred us to Dr. MacDonald back in 2016 when she discovered a heart murmur in our then 9 year old Aussie. For the next 5 years we made the trek south every 6 months to monitor his heart. The staff there was always so amazing -- warm, patient, compassionate, and knowledgeable. Dr. MacDonald is an incredible doctor and to this day I'm grateful that our boy was in her care. Not only is she a talented and knowledgeable expert in her field, but she is also one of the most empathetic and compassionate humans I've met. She understood my sensitive boy's needs and always allowed me in the back to help hold for his echo -- I will forever be grateful for that. It always made the whole experience so much less stressful on me and my dog. She was very proactive in her treatment protocol and always treated our boy like her own. When we first met with her, she hoped to get 1.5 - 2 years for our boy, and with her care we were able to get him another 5 healthy, happy years. We are forever grateful and thankful for Dr. MacDonald and the staff there. I hope none of our animals will ever need a cardiologist again but, if they do, Dr. MacDonald is the one and only doctor we will ever take them to.

Let me be clear the 3 stars is strictly based off the professionalism and genuine kindness from the Vet Techs as well as being accepted for the emergency visit when turned away by 2 other offices. If it wasn't for that this would be a 2 star review. I took my dog in for an emergency visit and after hours was finally seen by the vet. After no testing and only a physical exam, my dog was given a diagnosis that I was told she would begin to recover from in 24-48hrs and fully recover in 2-4 weeks. I was not offered additional testing besides an outrageous costly MRI. I had hope for my dog and went home. Within 17 hours my dog died in my arms. I feel let down in the fact there was no testing offered and I was given a simple prognosis that should have resolved with time. I dont feel the Vet thought it was an emergency and felt as we were treated with bare minimum care. No I do not want to be contacted by VCA for "apologies" or ways to make it "better". My best friend is gone and nothing can change that.