Boundary Bay Veterinary Specialty Hospital

Maple Nightingale

*Take your pet here if they’re having an emergency!* If I could give 10 stars, I would. Everyone at Boundary Bay / AEC is competent, understanding, responsive and kind despite having one of the most difficult jobs in the world treating suffering animals, and helping their emotional parents, daily. Thank you all. You are quite literally heroes. Our senior male cat has been having gastrointestinal and urinary problems and has been here multiple times in the last few months, after showing signs that he was in discomfort and we weren’t able to get him in to see our regular vet immediately. We were always counseled thoroughly on what courses of action could be taken and what the cost would be *before* expensive treatment was provided. All of our many questions were answered transparently and with kindness. A BIG special thank you to Dr. Johnson for helping our cat Mogget and explaining to us exactly what was going on every step of the way. We appreciate you so much. Yes, there will most likely be a wait time - just like in a human ER. You can also call ahead and ask about wait times. From my experience, your pet is assessed and will be provided care according to the urgency of their problem and the urgency of other pet’s problems who are waiting for care as well. Yes, they require payment on the date of care provided, as I can only imagine they must do in order to ensure they can afford to continue to provide great care and also pay their excellent staff. The staff and website are both very clear on this detail, and can counsel you on options such as CareCredit in order to help pay for your visit if you’re in financial difficulty. If you’re worried about how to pay, ask them to walk you through the options. They do not offer payment plans in-house. They will provide you with an itemized estimate of how much expensive care will cost before providing it in order to make sure you are aware of the costs. For a longer visit, they have you pay a percentage of the *lower* total estimated bill as a deposit, something that once again is absolutely justified for the level of care they’re giving. The cost of an initial daytime emergency visit for a cat is around $125 (additional medications/exams/care add onto that). Please take your animal in if they’re in obvious discomfort! By the time pets show it to us, it’s time to take it seriously, as I have learned.

May 8, 2023

Hannah Benway

We brought our 5 month old puppy into the AEC after our family vet told us we needed to go. We were told by our family vet that she had fluid in her chest cavity and we needed to take her to a specialist. Once we got there she was treated with the most love and care. Dr. Jagger was amazing at telling us what was going on and the treatment plan. Dr. Jagger told us she had a herniated diaphragm and all her stomach organs were in her chest cavity. She said our puppy had a 75% chance of surviving the surgery but couldn’t speak for the surgeon. The next morning we got a call from the surgeon telling us the about the reality of the surgery and how she REALLY was doing. We made the hard decision to put our puppy down because a 50% chance of survival was not enough to put her through the trauma of surgery and not knowing if she would even survive general anesthesia. When we got there to say goodbye, everyone was so kind and patient. But the doctor that came in with our dear sweet Lulu decided it was a great idea to make us second guess our decision to do the humane thing and help her live a peaceful life. The vet said, “well she happy and wagging I just need you guys to know that there is a CHANCE she might become the normal Lulu again”. That phrase has been ringing in my head ever since 2 days ago. I would NOT have opted to put our sweet lulu down if there was medically a better chance that she would survive. I refuse to put a dog through unnecessary trauma because they wanted to try to fix her congenital issues. My moms a nurse and so is my dad and we KNEW it was the best for her. It was not okay to try and make us second guess our decision to help our puppy have a good loved way out. We miss her with all our heart and it felt like they were trying to convince us to pay the $8,000 surgery over letting her say goodbye peacefully. Please don’t make any animal parent second guess their decision. Overall, our experience was great.

Sep 15, 2023

Aimee Roque

Started our holidays off pretty badly when our Brownie boy ate some rat poison. We didn't know what to do or where to go? Called the hospital and the receptionist was very helpful. We ended up taking Brownie here and he was very well taken care of, staff and vet are very caring people. The bill was very reasonable too!! Thank you 💗

Aug 1, 2022

Julie Anderson

The caring and love from the docs to vet techs, are amazing❤️ They listen. They explain in terms anyone can understand. True lovers of animal care.

Jul 28, 2023

MC Stoll

Entire staff was professional and caring. Took our dog in at the last minute when she was in pain and we were staying overnight in Bellingham. Reasonable wait time considering the last minute appointment. Our dog was well taken care of and much more comfortable after her visit. Clean friendly facility.

Nov 6, 2022