Capital Area Veterinary Specialists

The Dermatology team (Dr. Ramos and Dr. McInnis and the technicians) are the best! Sully (my 6 year old golden doodle) has been seeing Dr. Ramos for the last 5 years. In the beginning, he was absolutely miserable with his chronic ear infections and itchy/inflamed skin! Now after special food and allergy testing and being on allergy shots for the last 2 years, he has been able to be weaned off his shots completely and is so much happier and living his best life!! I couldn’t thank this team enough and if I could give more than 5 stars I would! 💛

posted: 01/20/2024

I called CAVS stating that I was given a referral to see a dermatologist for a rash. On Sept 12 we met with the internal medicine dr. He examined my cat, spent a lot of time in and out of the room so that he could call the dermatologist for advice. He suggested that we do an endoscopy of her stomach which would range $5-8,000. I asked how the treatment options would vary based on any findings in that endoscopy and was told the treatment options would be the same. I had originally thought to even ask this question bcause long term steroid treatment was offered as a solution to the allergies, but it would eventually lead to heart failure/diabetes. They changed the cat’s diet & gave us gabapentin. We were told that we should really see the dermatologist in person, like originally requested. The diet that was prescribed made my cat sicker. Lethargic, vomiting, & diarrhea worsened. Was told to go back to previous food. September 29 we met with the dermatologist & the rash had healed- was unable to ever see it. again discussed long term steroid use. Being that I don’t see heart failure or diabetes as a solution to allergies, this was again rejected & we were given allergy shots. At no point did they suggest waiting until her immune system had improved to start the shots. 3 week dose of steroids was prescribed & ear drop for an ear infection. Both did nothing. A week later i called again about the diarrhea-were prescribed antibiotics- did nothing. We started the allergy shots with no improvement of my cat’s health. After the 4th dose was administered my cat developed a rash around her eye looking similar to the initial rash next day I came home from work & my cats eye was swollen shut & had another rash on her mouth. Called Tuesday & was told to stop the shots/need to do another round of steroids. For the 3rd time I was given the option of long term steroid & endoscopy. The dermatologist said to come in for another exam & start a prescription antihistamine, specifying that over the counter would not work. I asked what would be done during an exam and she couldn’t give me an answer. She stated that we should do another food trial. My cats diarrhea is still so severe that she can no longer control her bowels. I was told that I would receive a call back in a few hours. Wednesday morning I was told I’d receive a call back in 15 minutes. 3 hours later I drove to the office and asked for a refund of the allergy shots & initial visit. I specifically asked for a refund of the 1st visit because I paid $300 to be told I need to see the dermatologist & not to give my cat any medicine. Finally received a phone call back from the derm. Was told that over the counter antihistamines would work just fine-weird that the story changes once I make it clear I won’t be giving them another $. I explained why I feel taken advantage of and that denying me a partial refund would validate this because they have only made my cat worse. I was told a refund on the allergy shots wouldn’t be possible because they couldn’t use them on another patient. I informed the dermatologist that I reached out to another vet office regarding the bad reaction & was told the shots shouldn’t have been started with my cats immune system being so bad. Dr said that dermatologists go to school for an extra 5 years, she’s very well trained, & the other vet has no idea what they’re talking about. I was told that a refund on the 1st visit wouldn’t be possible because the dr typed notes on the case & read her file? My cats eye is still swollen shut & she’s more sick than when I came to CAVS. I feel that I spent all this $ to make my pet sicker.Even before refunds were requested no further treatment options or solutions were offered. Do not bring your pets here. We love our regular vet & appreciate their honesty in that they could not handle this case. I wish CAVS had done the same.

posted: 11/08/2023

Doctors, nurses and receptionist staff were very nice and professional. Every step was fully explained and all questions answered. Our puppy (Tucker) had ACL surgery and everything went great. He’s on the road to a full recovery. Highly recommend!

posted: 11/09/2023

Our Pomeranian needed knee surgery. Crazy, the things we do for our fur babies! The bedside manner of EVERYONE was ABOVE & BEYOND. Rare these days. 3 weeks out & you'd never know he had surgery.

posted: 08/15/2023

I would like to share my experience and explain why I would NOT recommend bringing your pet to this business. I have an elderly dog who’s been having allergies pretty badly. My vet and I tried to treat the issue through antibiotics, steroids (which my vet adamantly told me never to put my dog on again because she’s high risk for diabetes), and Benadryl. None of these were long term solutions so ultimately I got referred to this business, after a different one was on vacation for holidays. I had assumed that I’d be taking my dog to get a skin test done to see if it was environmental or I will be letting my vet know not to refer anyone else here. The following issues are why First visit: several unnecessary and expensive tests that had just recently been done by my dogs vet (this business knew this) totaling in a little over $500. I could look past this alone even though I disagree highly with doing that to people. I had requested a few times throughout my visit to have my dog get the skin test to determine if this was caused by environmental stuff or not since we moved from out of state a few years ago and I felt this could be the cause. That request was refused, and I can only think the reason why was to drag out visits and charge me a fortune over time. I ended up without my knowledge until after this visit that we had being seen by a resident rather than someone of more experience which I would’ve requested had there been transparency about this. The specialist not only ordered these costly tests that there was already sufficient data on (my dogs thyroid being one of these tests), but she also prescribed my dog a very heavy dose of steroids. I argued with her for about 10-15 minutes about how I wasn’t comfortable and that my vet told me to not allow this for my dog, but I ultimately ended up saying “okay, I don’t get a good feeling about this but I will trust you” because I didn’t want to cause a scene or be treated like I was refusing to take every action to take care of my dog. They sold me a $140 bag of dog food so I could do a diet trial, and ultimately my visit cost me over $1,000… also the visit took OVER 2 HOURS which 95% of the time I was sitting alone with my 15 month old toddler in the exam room with me.. but I love my dog and that would be worth it to me to resolve the issue for her One week after the visit: my dogs been vomiting after each meal with me slowly trying to introduce the new food (75% old food 25% new), the steroids were making her shaky unable to move as well as usual and she had frequent accidents all over my house even right after letting her out to use the bathroom. At this point I was feeling like I just spent $1,000 for this place to give me a bunch of stuff that made my dog really sick. Even with this in mind, I gave them a chance to help rectify the situation. They told me to come in and that I could return the dog food. Here’s where I became so infuriated that I feel the need to share my experience and refuse to ever come back here. I had expressed concern to the receptionist that I didn’t want to come back there to be charged another small fortune and that I was concerned. I should’ve trusted my gut. My husband took the bag of dog food back for me and come to find out, that even though I was told on the phone I would be getting refunded for returning the food which was hardly used, the vet charged my husband $105 for a check-up for my dog WHEN MY DOG WAS NOT EVEN THERE all that happened was my husband went and returned the food and talked to the vet for maybe 10 minutes about what was happening with my dog. They didn’t have to speak Moral of the story is this place will take advantage of your love for your pet. Incredibly scummy vet, will look for any and every excuse to overcharge you even for services not provided apparently. I feel very taken advantage of in a way that I have never felt in my life by a business. Please find anywhere else to take your pets, this place doesn’t care and if things go wrong they will only take advantage of the situation to further gouge you

posted: 01/19/2024