VCA Stoney Creek Animal Hospital

Took my puppy there for the first time this week. Horrible! I will not be going back! This place only wants to sell you over priced expensive products and/​or services, the doctor felt like a car salesman. She was snotty and demeaning because I had administered my own vaccines at home in addition to wanting to wait until my dogs first heat cycle before spaying (I grew up breeding dogs this is very standard). The front desk pushed their dog care on me (which i stated several times I was not interested). I 150% agree with the other recent comments, this place only wants your money. There are many different vet offices out there, don’t choose this one unless you don’t mind flushing money down the toilet.

All of the reviews on here are from 2013, so I thought I should give an updated one. Stoney creek is a great place to bring your pets, especially if you are first starting out with a new pup or kitten! The first time we went, we thought our two year old cat was sick. Luckily she wasn’t, but the bill added up because of all of the tests we asked for. However they had a payment plan that worked amazingly for us! Then we got a brand new puppy and they already had a plan set up for new puppies and she has been healthy and happy at an affordable rate! The only complaint I have is that the techs do not know much about the animals when you ask them questions, but the vets themselves are very very knowledgeable! P. S. Ask for Dr. Larson. She really cares about the animals and knows way more about them than the other vets in the area do.

Love Dr Whitlock. She is caring, and does her best to consider patient and client needs.
We had a cat in terrible condition. Pancreatitis with low blood count. She pretty much needed to be PTS. She let us take her home and try fluids and at home treatment even though what she needed was a blood transfusion. But that gave us time (just a few days), and let my family see how quickly she was becoming deathly ill. That was what we needed, and I appreciate that she let us have that, even though it was not her recommendation. She and the staff always treated us with compassion and love, and on of the techs even took my son to play so the cat, and us could have some quiet when we put the cat down.

Very unpleasant experience with this animal hospital. Our dog was having issues with his hind leg when we decided to take him in. The vet barely paid any attention to the things I was trying to tell her about the issue. Felt around on his hind leg and said «well I don’t feel arthritis, and he seems fine now». Of course I take him home and over the next two days he still can’t even get up.
The point that bothered me more than anything was that she examined him for probably under 5 minutes, said she didn’t see anything wrong, and then that she wanted to do exploratory surgery in his stomach. I’m sorry, she couldn’t even say what she thought the issue might be or if there was an issue and decided that the dog needed surgery?! I told her we definitely weren’t going to let her do that without giving us some more insight, at which point her entire mood changed. We asked if there was anything at all she could even recommend for the pain, and she refused to tell us anything. Literally said «If you aren’t going to let me do surgery then there’s nothing else I’m going to tell you.»
Really horrible and sad experience for me and my pup :(

NIGHTMARE! Horrible experience. Took my beautiful Golden Retriever for a groom & trim. They called to tell me they mixed up the instructions and SHAVED her to the skin, whole body & half of tail! When I went to pick her up, they gave me the WRONG dog! Thank God the other dog wasn’t scheduled for surgery! I had to go in the back to point out my now naked dog. The vet nor the owner, Susan Creager ever came out to apologize. My husband waited hour & half just to talk to vet, he never would come out. They don’t even know what animal they’re working on. They should have their license revoked. My poor dog won’t be able to be out in the sun until she grows some protection, she’s just tramatized now. Don’t know what they did to her.
This is the Stoney Creek vet in Whitsett North Carolina!

All we ask was for our dog to be groom and get one shot. They had the dog from 8am, we call at 12 and the dog was not ready. We call at 2pm and the dog was not ready. We went there at 4pm and the our dog was still waiting in a cage. Did get groom or however they did not give the shot yet. They finally gave the dog a shot. Home by 5pm. Way too long, for something so simple. We will never take our dog back to this place.

Some of the people at this business, I should’ve stressed business, believe with all their heart that they are doing what is best for the animals. Others are definitely doing what is best for the business at the animal owners’ expense.
When I called for a first appointment, for a stray I had taken in, I was clear about the status of the animal, (At least ten years old and living outside for those years.), I was told that the cost was two hundred thirty-​seven dollars.
My cat never saw a vet at VCA but did see a tech and a vet assistant. Mike introduced himself as Mike, no title, and I, naively, assumed he was a vet. The tech seemed to believe her hype but did not «whisper» to the terrified animal but held on very tightly until he was subdued.
Without mentioning money once, I was told all that they would do. Again, naively, I
watched him go and return fifteen minutes later and was told my bill was five hundred and fortyy-​four dollars. More than twice what I was originally told. The tech still didn’t «whisper» when she told me they didn’t charge to clip his nails, which I never asked them to, or was told they would do.
Just be aware that every effort will be made to get your money because you care for your pet. Listen, especially if someone «whispers» and ask questions about charges that will be slipped in. I have no need to do that. I changed vets.

My wife and I brought our animals here for over 10 years, even after moving to Stallings, we would still drive all that way. Recently after our oldest rescue passed away, we decided to find a new vet mostly because we had noticed that ever since becoming a «VCA» animal hospital, the prices have sky-​rocketed, and the service has dropped significantly.
When I say the prices are ridiculous, they are literally double for most basic procedures that you can get done at any vet office. If the prices are going to be that high, I would expect the service to match what I am paying, and that is certainly not the case. We always felt pressured into very high priced procedures, that when we turned down because of price, were snubbed off and looked down upon by the Dr and/​or Tech. That does not stand true for everyone working in the office, but the great majority.
I can truly say I believe this office cares more about money than they do about any living being, animal or human.
To top it off, and this is what pushed me to finally write this review, is a few days ago I got an advertisement for dog teeth care in the mail from VCA. On the front page in big bold letters is ” You can’t get dentures for Peanut” Peanut being the name of my deceased dog, who passed more than a month ago!!! As I am sure most dog owners can relate, they become a part of our family, and after 13 years, a part of you. With the passing still raw in the family with my wife and daughter, seeing our dead dogs name, being used in an advertisement, without our permission was disgusting.
The response from Stoney Creek??? Sorry that was sent from our corporate office in California, must have been done before our records updated. I don’t want your excuse of corporate sending something, when we started coming here there was no «corporate» in California.
All VCA cares about, yes they are known to me now as just VCA, the Stoney Creek we went to does not exist anymore, is the money.
Find a consistent vet, one who knows your animals, and is not trying to rip your wallet out of your pocket the entire visit.

I have been a client here for 6 years, and the quality has continued to go downhill, while the price has skyrocketed. I love animals, and I have rescued 5 dogs and cats. Every time I go to Stoney Creek, they try to force me to buy exorbitantly priced tests and medications.
Dr. Jill Pascarella is rude, condescending, and lacks any empathy for her clients. I literally left the office in tears today after she implied that I don’t care about my dog, because I did not want to pay for the same bacterial test that the dog has already had 4 times. She told me that I don’t listen, and stormed out of the exam room. This was after waiting 45 minutes past my appointment time while my dog was become increasingly frightened and uncomfortable.
In total I spent $ 160 for a 10 min exam and medicines for a simple skin infection. $ 65 for antibiotics that you can buy at harris teeter for $ 5. I was also pressured to buy expensive vet-​only food (in case there is a food allergy, but she isn’t sure…) and additional expensive allergy tests and medications. Then she told me that I was using the wrong flea and tick treatment (Frontline). Of course, they have a more expensive version there. I will NEVER go back there again.

Took my boxer there for an annual exam and vaccines. The vet was nice, and when she didn’t know the answers about his hair loss she pulled out her big book and checked, which I appreciate, however…
We wanted to get his nails trimmed. The staff couldn’t seem to handle a 60 lb boxer (who was seated), and I had to show them where the quick of his nail was located. He routinely got his nails trimmed, I just don’t think they knew what they were doing. Small dogs may be different.
My BIGGEST issue, and the reason I will tell people to be aware… is because they did (or at least were supossed to) do a full check up on him. They said they did blood work as well as a fecal testing. Well, they missed that he was in end stages of cancer!!! We left there thinking our boxer was healthy, but it was so far from true. He had blood tests, vaccines, the whole work up and in fact was diagnosed with an ear infection. (Which by the way was so ridiculously expensive to diagnose and treat. Then the vet admitted she probably didn’t need to swab his ear and run diagnostics (because she could tell just from his wax and smell it was infected) so she basically admitted she ran an unnecessary test. Between the diagnosis and the meds, it was around $ 75-​$ 100. I also decided to update his vaccines, and they were triple the price of Pet Smarts mobile vaccine clinic. (Don’t forget– you’ll also oay the exam fee too!!) they wanted me to being him back in a week to recheck his ear… at the tune of $ 60 fee. I told them I’d call if I felt like the meds failed. For what it’s worth, I found the same medication online (with a vet prescription) for around $ 12. Wow, talk about overhead!
Shortly after our visit, we visited another vet when we felt something was off with our dog. The new vet told us how the vet at Stoney creek must have really dropped the ball. Less than 2 months after our visit to Stoney creek animal hospital, we found out that our boxer was in major organ failure from leukemia. This isn’t something that happened in those 2 months, based on his symptoms (which I also reported to SCAH) he had been sick for almost several months.
I am not saying they are the reason we had to put our beloved pet to sleep. I am saying that they are really expensive, push unnecessary testing and vaccines, and apparently aren’t thorough during their exam. There is no reason that they shouldn’t have caught that he was dying. Had we known his true state if health, we could have started treatment and medication earlier.
The place is a chain/​franchise, you are treated as a number and they just want to suck money out of you. I truly believe that had they done a true exam, we could have made better decisions for our sweet pet.
Our boxer was my first baby and such a beloved member of our family. I write this review over a year later. I am not angry or vengeful to this animal clinic, but I do believe that my boxer received less than acceptable care from this facility.

All right, after a couple of years of sending my animals here, I have to say I have been disenchanted with this place. Let me tell you why:
1. Cost — While I thought this place was expensive before, I really had no realization of HOW expensive this place really is. It is around $ 60 for the office visit, any blood work or testing is OUTRAGEOUSLY priced, and even the vaccinations have run much higher than I have ever paid in my life. In one year, I spent more than $ 2000 in testing, bloodwork, and medication for my dog who was diagnosed with Cushings Disease.
2. No set vet — Please don’t get me wrong, I understand there are times when you have multiple vets an office and sometimes they need to cover for each other or consult each other. However, you have no set vet there, as far as I know. Any vet could be handling your animal. It really stinks when you have gotten attached to a particular vet and you can’t always see or talk to that vet. I worry that this affects the quality of care than my animals get there.
3. Boarding — So, the last time I have ever boarded my dog was here, and the experience was bad enough that I will now never board my animal again. My dog had been the vet here and been prescribed medication by the vet for his Cushings disease. I left specific instructions on his medications and included more food than he would ever really need. All the food was given to him, more than he probably needed, and of course several doses of his medication were not given to him. He was there for 5 days. The manager of the kennel was understanding, and he did refund one day of boarding and the medication fees I paid. Well, considering each day of boarding is $ 25 (which seems expensive for the care he got) and I had already paid $ 125, this was better than nothing but still did not make up for this mistake, as my dog spent a miserable and restless time there.
I still appreciate that they participate in a lot of community events, and it is handy that you can do so much online there with the pet portal. They are great at sending you reminders of vaccinations due with plenty of time to get it taken care of. I am just not sure that I see the value in all of that compared to the high costs of care.

If Stoney Creek were a mechanics shop, they would certainly be the dealership. Although they are extremely competent and seem to be very good vets, they are very expensive and constantly trying to sell vaccines and checkups and all kinds of other services I don’t need. They are also not very flexible. I had a Saint Bernard who got bit by a brown recluse (we think) and the skin turned black over night and began falling off of the leg and rotting. I rushed him to Stoney Creek and they originally refused to see him without an appointment (next day was the earliest). I found this, along with their lack of concern, to be really disconcerting. However, besides that one situation, they typically seem to care. They’re also very expensive. They quoted a simple neutering at $ 350 while my other, equally competent vet in Winston Salem, quotes $ 150.

I’ve got to admit this is by far the best vet. I’ve ever taken my pampered pooch, Justus, to.
Every two weeks or so Justus and I take a quick trip by Stoney Creek to get his nails trimmed. Justus is a black lab and rottweiler mix, so needless to say he is a very big boy. But that doesn’t scare off the stoney creek staff. The staff here handle Justus with genuine love and care.
Justus’ favorite groomer, Amanda, always goes above and beyond to make sure that Justus is comfortable by securing Justus, his own private room so that he is not distracted or stressed by the other dogs and animals in the office. When Amanda comes to take Justus back for his nail dremel Justus is so excited he wags his whole body. For those of you that know how difficult it is to get your dog accustomed to vet visits you can understand how big a deal this is.
Justus actually enjoys going to the vet. And I have no question that he is in great care. The staff is always very tender with his little doggie toes, and caters to his every need. Laying Justus to his side for comfort, the groomers begin to drill down the nail, all the while petting him and talking to him reassuring Justus that he is fine and everything is all right. Justus responds to their kind voices and gentleness by giving the staff kisses once his mani –pedi is complete. Praising him for being still and cooperative the whole time the groomers give Justus water, and a treat as they put back on his leash. Justus is then brought back out to the front and we are on our merry way.
Quick, easy, and painless; our whole visit takes no more than 15 minutes on a busy day. So I’d like to give a great big thank you to all the staff and Stoney Creek Animal Hospital for your awesome customer service and animal care. You’ve made our vet visits a lot more enjoyable.