VCA ASEC

VCA ASEC saved my bulldog's life! Splash had an obstruction thanks to her habit of exploring the world through taste. She had abdominal surgery requiring multiple incisions in her digestive tract at another hospital, and it failed and ruptured internally on the third day of recovery, sadly not utterly unexpected. The contents of her stomach and intestines were leaking into her abdomen, making it septic. The other hospital discovered this whilst I was visiting, confessed the needed surgery was beyond their capability and sent me to VCA ASEC. I'm so glad they did! Only an hour and change later, board certified surgeon Dr. Sroufe arrived and completed what he later told me was a "pretty gnarly surgery", removing unviable tissue, resectioning her intestines, cleaning out the infectious goo from her abdomen to put poor Spash's digestive system back together. Splash had an extremely long recovery time in hospital, several weeks. Her poor insides had been through a lot and stomach motility had stopped. She regurgitated (something very familiar to bulldog owners), aspirated, and caught pneumonia. She was in and out of the oxygen cage and required a GI tube for feeding and aspiration of fluid build up in her very slow tummy, and for a while an abdominal drain. She was on IV meds for darn near everything. For a while, she was on IV fluids, but then had edema and needed treatment for that; another familiar thing to the breed. It was ages before she was out of the woods. Each and every step of the way, for days, the team was kind, compassionate and patient with both her and us. Doctors Tovar, Spurlock, Regalado, Ixtlahuac, Judge and Ong all at one point of another took care of Splash and communicated with us in person or over the phone. Tovar, Spurlock and Regalado made a point of calling us with updates once and often twice a day; they would even take time to keep Splash with them around the hospital, to ensure she was able to keep her emotional state up. Both my husband and myself were always made welcome on our daily visits to see Splash. Each visit, the doctor on shift would come and fill us in and answer all our questions. We always felt they cared about both us and Splash. If we called, someone would ALWAYS call back within an hour or two. The techs and nurses were also amazing. They were invested in doing the best they could for Splash and helping her survive and live. They even took time to pet her and comfort her. When she was able, they took her out of her kennel for play and walkies. Everyone she passed when I was there would greet her by name with a cheerful voice. The total care for her entire time there was expensive. That's around the clock board and care, medication, oxygen cage, food, IV placement and replacement when the vein blew (which is a fact of life; eventually, you need to move to another vein.) repeated scans throughout her stay such as x rays and ultrasounds and blood/fluid tests to see how her recovery was progressing, treatment for edema, and more. Critical hospital care for much of the month of July. This is not unusual or a rip off of any sort. We have no pet insurance, as bulldogs are expensive to insure, and that's what it cost. The finance department were very clear about charges, and gave us a high and low estimate, letting us know that anything not used would be refunded or used as credit for the next period we pre-paid for. They were patient as we did our best to gather funds from our savings, credit, and eventually a GoFundMe. They worked WITH us to ensure we could continue, as everyone could see she was fighting and not ready to die. Without them, I would have lost the sweetest dog in the world! Now she is home and nearly back to herself, playing, snoring like a bear and demanding treats and butt scratches.

Not sure why this place has such low reviews. We had a great experience here & are grateful for the care the staff showed our kitten. He went in for surgery because it was believed that he had an obstruction and when they opened him up, found that the obstruction had passed. I think the adrenaline of things causes your mind to go through the what if’s, but the staff and care team at VCA ASEC made this whole situation as easy as possible. While in the beginning the surgeon was near certain he required surgery, we never felt coerced or pushed to spend an astronomical amount of money to save our kitten. I felt that everyone here was as transparent as they could be. I also appreciate how responsive they are. While we nurse our baby back to health from what turned out to be a minor surgery, they’ve answered every call and every question in a kind and thoughtful manner. They definitely deserve more praise as they made what could have been a much more traumatic situation, as easy as possible.

We drove all the way from Bakersfield for our 1 year old dachshund who was attacked, we appreciate all the VCA ASEC staff that took care of Koda. Dr. Spurlock she was extremely professional and she really cared about all the animals that were under her care.

Extremely disappointing, misleading, and heartless care, would not recommend I am extremely disappointed and heartbroken by the care my cat received at VCA ASEC. My girl was running a dangerously high 105.9°F fever, yet despite the urgency, it took 12 hours just to collect a simple urine sample. I brought her in around 6 PM. The intake and initial process alone took nearly three hours. After finally seeing her around 10 PM, I trusted them enough to leave her there overnight, believing she would be closely monitored and treated promptly. Instead, they had nine full hours and did nothing meaningful. Blood and urine were drawn only at the very last minute, and antibiotics were administered after significant delay. My cat remained in emergency care for two days with a fever reaching 106°F. I then received a call stating: “Her fever is still high, the tests didn’t reveal anything, and she now needs another blood draw to test for infections,” which of course meant additional charges. My question to the doctor was simple: Why did it take so many hours to draw blood and urine? These could have been done earlier, antibiotics could have been started sooner, and her fever may have been brought under control. If infection testing was necessary, why wasn’t it done on the first blood sample? The doctor had no explanation and went silent. On top of this, VCA ASEC failed to disclose upfront that they do not carry blood for cats. This critical information was only shared after I had already approved and paid for blood-related tests and procedures. I was then told they would have to rely on a donor who might arrive after a day or more and even that was not guaranteed. This lack of transparency directly delayed my cat’s treatment. Throughout the night, her fever was never controlled, and no one could provide clear answers. It felt like care was based on guesswork rather than a clear medical plan. Delaying antibiotics in an emergency hospital is unacceptable. What made this experience even worse was the complete lack of compassion. Every conversation focused on cost warnings instead of whether the treatment would actually help my cat. Test after test was pushed without allowing time for medication to work or observing her response. The staff appeared robotic no urgency, no empathy, just business-driven decisions. I was also charged an internal medicine consultant fee, yet no new information was provided. Both shifts repeated the same details nothing new, nothing helpful, and certainly nothing that justified an additional charge. After already paying nearly $4,000, I question why this was not included in standard hospital care. Years ago, when I first adopted my cats, this hospital was compassionate and ethical. Doctors genuinely cared, avoided unnecessary testing, and treated us with kindness. That culture is gone. Ultimately, I lost my girl. The care felt incompetent and poorly supervised. The primary doctor caring for my cat was an intern, and no experienced specialist stepped in when it was clearly needed. The so-called internal medicine system felt like a billing exercise rather than expert consultation. The overnight team appeared to simply wait for the morning doctor instead of taking decisive action. I want to be clear: this review is not about the cost of care. I would have paid anything to save my baby. This is about poor medical judgment, lack of urgency, lack of transparency, and lack of compassion. I also emailed the person in charge requesting answers and accountability. I never received a response. That silence speaks volumes. At this point, this experience feels like a money-driven operation rather than a place of healing. I never imagined I would say this about a hospital entrusted with the lives of our pets. I feel used, unheard, and deeply disappointed. I will never return and strongly warn other pet parents to be extremely cautious.

Mixed Experience - Communication Issues Dr. Chow is knowledgeable and thorough in her diagnostics, which I appreciated. However, there were significant communication problems that caused unnecessary stress and financial impact. I approved a treatment plan and scheduled my cat’s procedure, but on the morning of the appointment (after medicating my cat and clearing my work schedule), I was told there would be an $800 additional charge due to a scheduling mix-up on their end. An extra ultrasound that Dr. Chow planned to do as a courtesy was never mentioned in my treatment plan, emails, or any prior communication. I had to cancel the appointment and lost income from rescheduling work commitments twice. No preparation instructions were provided beforehand, and I wasn’t given informed consent about procedures being added to the plan. I understand specialists have busy schedules, but clients need clear communication about what procedures will be performed, associated costs, and proper preparation instructions before the appointment day. The expertise is there, but the administrative coordination needs significant improvement. I reached out and never got any response back from Dr. Chow or anyone in admin/reception. I only got a weird reply after telling my regular vet what was up as she recommended them and her wording exposed that she spoke with the specialist and was told I should be appreciative of the courtesy Dr chow was providing even though I was never made aware or gave consent of said procedure until on my way to my original appointment. I’m going back to Dr Bianco at MASH.