VCA Highlands Animal Hospital

We arrived at Highlands and the woman at the reception desk, who by the way was lacking in even the most basic of human traits such as kindness, caring or compassion, told us that it was "a matter of availability" and that no one could help us. I found this statement odd since one of the vet's (the administrator) was standing in his doorway sipping his coffee. Apparently they take their coffee breaks very seriously at HIghlands because he never offered to help us. Anyway, the soul-less receptionist then suggested that we take Jezebel to Virginia Tech, I told her Jezebel would not last long enough to get there and she then told me that she had an opening the next day at 11:45. My response to her was "if she won't make it to VT, how the Hell will she make it until in the morning. What she said next was priceless...she said "do you want the appointment or not?" Jezebel took her last breath a couple of hundred feet short of my driveway. I guess her tiny little body finally just gave up.

VCA Highlands in Abingdon VA has the same pricing issues already mentioned but, in our area, they have the most expertise and best-equipped facility around for small animals. And, Dr. GINA ROBINSON is a "bull dog" when it comes to diagnosing. She also has no hesitation about consulting with other vets or referring to Virginia Tech (or UT) if that's necessary. Our dog loved her so much he let her stick a big needle in both sides of his chest to withdraw fluid without anesthesia - twice! Sadly, even with advice from VT professors, she kindly put him to sleep and cried with us - we love Dr. Robinson!

The doctors and technicians at this hospital give great care to your animals, however, they are VERY expensive (especially for this area) and I get the feeling when I call to check on my "babies" that they're just giving me the standard answers ("Oh yeah, Fluffy is doing great! No problems here!") to get me off the phone (note: I do not call often, only when leaving my dogs there for longer than 3 days and only one phone call then). I called once on an extended trip to see how my two dogs were and got the standard answer (see above) and when I asked if they were both eating well, got the whole "Oh yeah, like horses". Well, I know that's not true as one of my pups never eats when he's being boarded. I feel like my babies are just numbers. I also feel like the employees are told to scrape every nickel and dime out of their clients possible. I realize that veterinary care is not cheap, but I feel that this hospital is over the top and does extra tests that are unnecessary. On two occasions, I have taken one pup in with problems, and have found the solution to the problem myself on the internet after the vets had run numerous tests with no results.



Overall, the staff is nice, and I feel that my dogs are well cared for, however, I pay a HUGE price for it and usually end up cussing under my breath as I leave (albeit with a healthy dog).