Friendship Hospital For Animals

Unfortunately we found ourselves with a very sick pet cat that needed immediate attention. We originally went to CityPaws because it was closest to home, but after doing some tests and observation, it was recommended to take our cat to an emergency clinic for 24 hour care. While the vet recommended an emergency vet in Fairfax for a lower cost, we decided to go to Friendship for convenience. Yes, it is costly, but when you are facing a life/​death dilemma, you sometimes need to not worry too much about nickels and dimes, especially when you do not know what the true price difference will be. I also firmly believe in «you get what you pay for». In the end, The did an extraordinary job nurses our cat back to health. Very supportive and greatly appreciated the calls twice a day to provide updates and discuss options, conditions, etc. Dr. Wood managed our case and she was beyond outstanding. Professional, empathetic, friendly, etc… This holds true for the other staff too. They also have been more than welcome on follow up calls or other immediate «emergencies» as we bring our beloved cat back to health. Compared to other vets I have used in the past, I feel that going forward, I would not feel confident putting the he

Been going Friendship for over 4 yrs now and everytime, it’s smooth sailing. Whether it’s taking my cat for her annual check up or an E.R. visit, the staff is there to help and make sure you and your pet are doing well. The place is clean, friendly staff who are knowledgeable and are always doing their best to keep the appointment in a manageable time frame for everyone. The down side is that there is no parking lot, but then again, it’s DC. Street parking is usually easily located.

During the snowstorm this weekend, all of DC, apart from the Friendship Hospital For Animals, shut down. My puppy broke his leg in the middle of the day, so I slipped and slid across the unplowed city to the FHA. The facility was so clean that it looked as if I had arrived for their grand opening.
We saw Dr. Wood. She was very patient in answering my hysterical questions (I was very shaken up). I recommend her if you are in a position to choose which doctor you would like to see.
Excellent experience overall.

My first real visit here was with my whole family — two cats and a dog. And it was hellish mêlée. I was a transfer from another vet since this was closer, and didn’t bring my pet’s history, couldn’t remember half the facts… but they sorted it all out. And Dr. Rusk was amazeballs. I thought it would be like other vets where I would only see her on the luck of the draw, but they actually purposely schedule me with her.
Skip to today — had to take poochie in for some tail chewing and ear infection. I did not like a late start to the appointment, but it became clear to me they got me in as soon as the last folks left a room, so it must have been they were asking loads of questions. They saw us quickly thereafter, apologized for the wait, and even accommodating seeing my dog «in the back» because he’s a weirdo when I am around. (I make him neurotic ;-))
Anyhow, I saw Dr. Rusk again, and she went above and beyond, and addressed all possible avenues for the tail chewing. Food, parasites, allergies… I didn’t feel like she was hurrying to the next appointment and she remembered me from the last visit which made me feel a little special :-). Some folks said this clinic tries try to upsell, and while she offered me things they sell, I felt like it was more of a convenience, not trying to get my money..

I love this place. They operate like a human hospital with primary care, emergency care, and other specialists. They know my dog is a little anxious in the waiting room with all the other animals and they always try to put us in a room right away. They also keep track of which vet you see so you can schedule with the same person and they can actually remember you and notice changes.

I have been a client of Friendship since the 80’s but had to move on. They now seem to be more focused on selling additional services than quality of care. The communication is awful, front desk staff is inefficient I would not recommend taking your pet there.

We took our cat in because his back legs were paralyzed. We didn’t know what happened. Urgent care ¹⁄₃ and at that time he was still trying to walk but wobbly. They sent him home with us, heavily drugged, with a referral to Dr. Boozer the neurologist. We took him in the next day, he went from wobbly to total rear paralysis. They did an emergency MRI, he had bruised his spinal cord. They kept him. We were allowed to visit, he stayed 2 days and was sent home guarded condition and crate rest. 7 days later, steroids, cage rest, and he’s walking again. Still not fully healed, follow up today, he’s on cage rest for another 2 weeks but he’s our boy again. We are hoping for a full recovery. I can’t say I was impressed with urgent care, as this was a spinal injury and I would have hoped that evening they would have at least told us to keep him rested or secluded or something. They just pumped him full of pain meds and sent us home with a stoned cat. But once we were transferred to the neurology department, his care has been exceptional and the doctors in the department have been amazing with him. When he was going for the MRI, we got many update phone calls, we always knew how he was doing and what they were doing for him. It’s amazing to see this boy, who 7 days ago was dragging his back end around, up, walking and on the road to recovery. Dr. Boozer is amazing to work with. My 5 stars is more for the neurology department. If I could give urgent care their own rating, it would be 2 stars..

We needed emergency treatment for a little dog who’d been bitten. We were upset and needed a place that was calm and caring in our emergency. I’m so glad we found this place.
The technicians and doctors enjoy the company of their patients and the patients owners. They are all pet owners themselves and obviously fond of animals. The vet who treated our dog was thorough, gentle, and knowledgeable.
The atmosphere is very nice as well. Well appointed, clean and attractive.
Emergency treatment is expensive. Which is to be expected. But I felt like we were getting our money’s worth.

There is a group of Vet Techs at Friendship who have a business called Sitting on Top of the Hill, llc. They will care for your pets while you are away. Having someone with medical experience is especially wonderful if you have a pet with medical issues. Our dog has epilepsy and we can never be sure when he will have a seizure. Some are mild, but some are quite severe and a regular pet sitter would not know how to handle them or know whether the severity required the dog to go to the hospital.
We called Sitting on Top of the Hill and were delighted that a tech named Sophia could stay with our dog. She was absolutely fantastic! She came to the house ahead of time to get the lay of the land and meet us and our dog. She was warm and caring. While we were gone, she reported to us daily and sent photos of our dog enjoying himself at the park. She also reported when anything was a little «off» so we could discuss whether the behavior was a seizure indicator. We left her 3 pages of instructions (Mom’s first trip away!) and she followed them to a T. Although he did not seize while we were gone, we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves knowing he was in great hands in the event he had a seizure.
I would recommend them to anyone, but especially to folks with special needs pets. They have a wide range of experience and understand your pets medication needs. Best of all, they work with your pets doctors at Friendship. You can reach them at
Remember – they have day jobs, so you’ll probably hear back in the evening.

This place is a treasure. I had a 15 year old diabetic kitty who’s conditioned declined drastically almost overnight. It was time to relieve her suffering, as she’d had a good long life. I called this place, they registered me over the phone. Since they are open 24 hours, I was able to take Dharma in about 7:00 PM on a Sunday night and they handled her last minutes with loving care. They were also sensitive to my needs. I will continue to use Friendship for all my pet needs. Thank you so much, Friendship!

I cannot say enough good things about Friendship Hospital! I had to bring my dog here on Thanksgiving Day after he was bitten by another dog. We were both a bit traumatized to say the least. From the minute I walked through the door, I felt at ease. Everyone I encountered was professional, compassionate, and caring. They understand that these animals are considered family members.
Dr. Diaz was simply amazing. She was very thorough in her examination of my pup and explained everything to me in a manner than a non-​doctor could understand. The office staff called each day between the initial visit and the return visit to remove a drain. When we returned one week later to have stitches removed, Erin — a vet tech — was incredibly patient with my less-​than-​thrilled pup.
I’m relatively new to the area, so I was a bit panicked when I needed to find an emergency vet on Thanksgiving Day. I do wish I had found Friendship Hospital under different circumstances, of course! I absolutely recommend this place! They are conveniently located off the Red Line, which is nice.

Tick, tick, tick… BOOM!
For me, «boom» means «time to freak out.» The tick, tick, tick? That’s what brought me here.
Typically, I’m a seasoned pro at applying Vectra to my dog monthly to ensure that any unsightly bastards of the insect variety stay far, far away from my little Tego. But, in the midst of travel and re-​ordering a supply, I think there may have been about a week or so that my dog may not have been protected fully from ticks.
But unfortunately, that’s all in took for one of these hitch hikers to hold on tight for a ride on my dog.
So I did what I always do when I melodramatically freak out about my dog’s health. I call my sister who is a vet but lives in NYC. I had a local vet that I went to for the first couple of years of my dog’s life, but after a really poor call made on steps to take on a condition my dog didn’t even had, I retreated. Now, I’m approaching the one year mark, when my dog will need his annual physical and have been meaning to find a new hospital home for my dog.
Luckily, my sister has a former colleague that she really respects that works here so she made the recommendation to inquire with their tick removal policy and to try to establish a relationship with her rec there. Unfortunately, he was out for the next two days, but I was pleased to learn that tick removals can be taken as walk-​ins, 24 hours a day!
So I skipped the rush hour traffic and rolled up there around 9pm, when there was lots of free parking in front of the well lit hospital. The vet tech that helped me was so nice and my dog was seen within 10 mins of arriving. In just a few minutes, my dog was back in my possession and tick free for a fee of $ 39.99. Considering how freaked out ticks make me and how stubborn and angry he got at my attempts to remove it myself, I consider that a solid investment on my dog, his health and our relationship.
Additionally, I was so pleased I’m definitely planning on returning for more care of my dog, but now with even more confidence.
Thanks, Friendship!

If there was a way to give less than 1 star I would. OVER PRICED AND OVERRATED. When I brought my pup there for stomach issues, they gave no suggestions on changing diets. They just ran a ton of tests costing a fortune.

It’s weird to say I’m a fan of any hospital, but I don’t want to give this place less than four stars. I had to rush my 8-​year old Maine Coon/​tabby mix to urgent care one evening in October. It’s been a trying, stressful few weeks, but now that my boy is fully recovered (knock on wood), I’m ready to write my review.
It turned out my cat had a urinary tract obstruction and was diagnosed with Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD). Obstruction is dangerous and can be fatal when too much time passes. Plus, it’s extremely painful for the animal.
Here’s my experience at the hospital from start to finish…
Negatives:
1) They take the pet to the back upon check-​in. This is upsetting for both the owner and pet.
2) Hospitalized patients are kept in same room as incoming urgent care patients. The stress and anxiety in the room impedes healing.
3) The technician who took the vital stats took notes on a napkin. When she came out to speak with me, she continued to jot down notes on the napkin. They can’t afford note pads?!
Positives:
1) The doctors and staff took great care to make sure my kitty was comfortable. When they learned that he’s very skittish, they found a large cardboard box to put over him in the kennel to help him feel safe.
2) When I went to visit him on his second night at the hospital, the vet tech told me to stay as long as I wanted and gave me a stool to sit.
3) The attending vet cut down his hospital stay from 3 nights to 2 nights because he refused to eat. I’ve heard of hospitals and vets keeping patients overnight to make the profit, so it seems this hospital puts the animals’ welfare over money (as they should).
4) I had to take him back to urgent care in 24 hours because he was showing signs of a blockage again. The hospital didn’t charge me since it was within 24 hours of being discharged.
5) The whole time that my cat was in the hospital and after he came home, I got daily calls from the doctor and staff to check up on him. I was able to ask all of my questions and express my concerns without having to chase anyone down.
Overall, I was impressed by the facilities. There’s a MRI machine in the basement and one of the staff told me that it’s a full-​size MRI. The hospital offers regular vet services as well. If I lived in the area, I would not hesitate to take my pets there for their routine check-​ups and shots.

I brought my cat here in the middle of the night twice in a three week span. The staff here is one of the kindest I’ve ever worked with. After spending 24 hours in the ICU with no improvement I made the decision to let my buddy go. They treated us both with so much respect and dignity (I think I actually saw the tech wiping tears from her eyes as I walked back to see him). They even helped my sister and I make an imprint of his paw. Yes, I spent a lot of money here. But it’s just money. My peace of mind knowing he was in good hands was worth it.

Brief version: They did a miracle with my dog, but do know when you are going that they are quite expensive. I encourage you to read my story if you want to know why I am willing to pay the price. I waited a year to write this just to be sure.
My dog had an… interesting (?) problem where he somehow deformed his little private part by licking it and biting it too much. Long story short, previous vets, and I am telling you I took him to 3 before Friendship, told me that it looked ok, that it was allergies and that I should give him Benadryl or whatever. Nothing, the situation got worse, he would not stop licking and lived with a cone for the entire time (maybe a year and a half) because that’s what other vets told me, just keep him with a cone as long as you can until he forgets about it. How naïve and trustworthy I was that I believed them and let them tell me what was right for my pup… I decided that it was enough, that he should not live with this cone anymore and took him to Kindness Animal Hospital because I lived in Wheaton at the time. The «surgeon» was never there, I met her on the phone and never had a one on one about my dog’s condition. I let this moron operate on my dog without questioning because you think, well, they went to school for that and she has good reviews. That was MISTAKE #2. It got even worse! I had to put lubricant on my dog’s you know what for months, and she would only tell me, it will get better eventually. NO. Cone is back, nowt it’s all out, there is a new hole, and I have to put lubricant on my dog’s weewee everyday, several times a day. I searched online and I literally googled «best surgeon in DC» and Dr. Glassman came up. This time it was different, yes I know they are super busy, yes they might have a not-​so-​smart person in their staff or two (this is why you have to constantly ask questions and not let them do things that you don’t think are ok, I learned that the hard way), yes they are pricey, but you know what, Dr. Glassman is not just the best surgeon, he is the kindest and he showed me that he really cared about Domingo. He didn’t jump into surgery talk right away, we drew weewees over and over on Domingo’s chart to come up with a plan and *I was part of that plan*. He was ALWAYS clear about pricing and at the end, HE FIXED MY DOG. He is even a nicer dog, better behaved, and he is happy that he is not itching there anymore. So yeah, ask questions about price BEFORE they tell you what they are doing, ask them if there are alternatives, and they will (and I guarantee that because I have done it) give you options. My dog is healthy, he is happy and he loves that vet office. I will never trust vets 100% because everyone makes mistakes, but I learned to ask, and I learned what my dog needs and Friendship responds to what I think is right for my dog. THANK YOU Dr. Glassman!!!
P. S. I moved to Crystal City and I am more than willing to drive up to Tenleytown just to take Domingo there.

Had to go put my 18 year old cat down. If that wasn’t enough to make the day miserable enough, it was Sunday and only vet open was friendship. First I’m given the third degree by the vet on why I’m putting down cat. The cat is skin and bones, can’t bathe itself, cries in pain if picked up, blind, hind legs not working. Frankly I selfishly waited too long thinking I could keep the old guy comfortable.
Then I’m questioned on whether it’s my cat. Wtf? I’m not out kidnapping old cats to put down. I also don’t have a cat registration certificate or something. How do you prove you own a cat?
Finally the vet describes how they put in an IV hook up in the other room and then bring the cat back to euthanize. I say if it’s going to hurt/​upset cat lets just do it all at once and not drag him room to room. No dice. This is their procedure. Cat comes back. He gets petted and last bit of love before going off to see his previously departed buddies in cat Valhalla or heaven or whatever. I make a comment to the cat that it’s better than getting eaten by a coyote in the wild. Vet then says «yes. This should be available to people too». Again wtf!!? What does that have to do with anything? You have no clue on my beliefs etc.
Finally. I say no remains just cremate. I have one box of dog ashes at home and no one in my house would want to be reminded of losing our cat. Wife, kids, cousins, friends were all upset and crying over the time coming. What do I get in the mail a couple days later? A cat paw clay impression including some of my cats fur in the clay. Again wtf??? So I can clone him? Wife and kids open and start crying again. I didn’t ask for this. Didn’t want it.
All that for $ 350.
If only you could punch a veterinary hospital in the face.

I brought Sammy, our cat, to Friendship Hospital for Animals after his behavior had changed over a few days. Initially I called another veterinary office closer to Woodley Park. I described Sammy’s symptoms, which seemed very concerning to me, but apparently not concerning to this vet’s office, as they offered me an appointment in two days. The following morning, Sammy was not any better, so I brought him to Friendship Hospital.
The intake process was very efficient. Sammy was first triaged by a vet tech, to whom I described Sammy’s symptoms in the same way I described them over the phone to the other vet office. Within 30mins of our arrival, Sammy was evaluated by Dr. Christine Klippen. Dr. Klippen was both compassionate and professional, and after a very thorough history and physical exam deemed Sammy’s condition very serious, a condition which would have progressed to life threatening if I had waited much longer. She wrote up an estimate, inclusive of time and cost.
Sammy underwent a procedure and spent a night in the kitty ICU. The team provided me appropriate and welcomed updates regarding his condition.
When I picked him up, I was given a thorough explanation of Sammy’s condition and instructions regarding medications and continued care.
Is Friendship Hospital cheap? No. But it’s a real medical facility. And I actually got a refund, as the care Sammy required was a little bit less than that estimated.
I would like to thank Dr. Klippen and the team at Friendship Hospital for Animals for saving Sammy. I would recommend them to anyone.

I’ve had mixed feelings when dealing with this practice.
Pros:
* Aggressive treatment for complex cases.
* The best care for your pets, I’m sure.
* Great for emergencies.
Cons:
* The place is a zoo. (get it?) Seriously, they might see 100 animals in a day. If you’re waiting patiently with a cat, the endless parade of large dogs can be a little intimidating for even the humans.
* I’ve not always been convinced that the most-​aggressive treatment was always the best option for certain cases that we presented. So, I was put off the last time I was there, because I wasn’t sure I was being heard at the time.
* The whole process tends to be VERY EXPENSIVE.
I guess my pet family may just not be target audience for this practice, but it’s nice to know that they are there when you need them. Fascinating operation.

I would give them –1 if I could. My dog was seriously injured by another dog. Because he was in pain he was snapping. Rather than sedate him so that they could do what needed to be done. They charged me three hundred dollars to partially clean his near, examine him and give him pain meds and s prescription.
A few days later I notice a terrible smell coming from him, as if he had rolled in something dead. Even after I burgers him the smell got worse. I took him back to them, and found that they wanted me to pay again for the clip and shave that they should have done when they first saw him in addition to about $ 700 in additional charges.
I left and took him to Dupont Animal Clinic where they did sedate him and shave the area. He had deep infected wounds all over his neck. He will be on antibiotics for a month. Dupont cleaned them, stitches them up and gave him his medication for $ 452. I will never use Friendship again. In an emergency I will use Hope Animal Hospital in Bowie.