Banfield Pet Hospital

The worst place anyone can take their pets. My kitty died there, he went for a simple surgery to get a lump removed from his leg. They didn’t do any pre-​surgery checkup and ended up pumping too much anesthesia. He came out of the surgery just fine but never woke up from sedation, his little heart stopped. Even driving by this place hurts my heart.

I first came here reluctantly as it was the closest place when I was living in Bethesda, and I wasn’t too crazy about the idea of committing to a monthly payment for a year. However, my dog and I were really lucky to receive care from Dr. Koprowski, whom we love! I now live in DC and although it is inconvenient for me to bring in my dog into Bethesda every now and then, there’s absolutely NO WAY we are changing vets. Dr. Koprowski is an excellent vet and I know she and the staff care about their furry patients. People who say «banfield sucks» — I don’t think it’s fair to generalize this way. I think it’s really VET-​dependent. Some «great» places have awful practitioners, and vice versa. Look for a good vet. That’s all.

Dr. Koprowski and the entire staff adore the four legged friends and provide great care! I’m in love with this practice and know our precious fur baby is receiving the best care possible. The staff are terrific, and always glad to see us and help our puppy. I could not be happier or more secure.

Not a good place for real vet care. Owner was hit by a car while walking dog. Because she was initially unconscious, she did not know if dog was hit. We took the dog to the downtown Bethesda Banfield and were told that the vet had no time to see the dog and the next available appointment was in 6 days. That is not good vet care.
On a positive note, after we left, we went to another local Banfield and they were wonderful. They were very concerned. The vet was very thorough and kept the dog for X-​rays. Couldn’t ask for a better response. So it appears it’s not a Banfield problem, it’s a Bethesda Banfield problem.

Dr. Erica McFarland is amazing! From day one, she has been so attentive to my puppy’s needs (admittedly, the little guy is accident prone!). Every time I come in with my schnoodle puppy, Perrin, it is obvious that not just Dr. McFarland, but entire team of vet techs and receptionists love and treat my dog to the absolute best of their ability. The only negative is that sometimes they will schedule a future appointment with your primary vet, only to switch up schedules which results in having to meet with a vet who does not know my dog and his history quite as well. Though, this does not happen very often. Overall, I am very happy with the quality of care Perrin has received from Banfield.

have been going here since 2001 for our Dalmatian, now age 14.5. Loved Dr. Routly, and was sad to hear about her health problems necessitating her departure from veterinary medicine. Always touched when I would run into her in the YMCA locker room, and she would inquire earnestly about my dog’s health the way a physician would inquire about a human’s health. My dog can be difficult in terms of trying to escape from strangers, but the vets & techs (assistants) have always been patient and persevering. (Now that she’s elderly, she’s more sedate and manageable) Dr. Howard was excellent as well, so was sad when he left to move out-​of-​state (but happy for him as apparently he was moving in order to get married and to start his own vet practice near his new wife’s family). In 2 cases, our dog could barely walk due to hip/​leg issues caused by arthritis, but the Tremerol Dr. Howard prescribed got her mobile within less than 24 hrs, and about a year later, new vet (whose name I forget, but who’s excellent as well — female in her early 30s) prescribed Rimadyl, which fixed her up within about 2 days. We are actually taking our dog there tomorrow due to sudden welt she developed near her eye. Couldn’t believe my luck that they’re open on Sundays as weekend care at these «emergency» vet clinics is expensive, whereas Banfield is always extremely reasonable in cost. Highly recommend. If you’re like me and dislike garages, there is usually plenty of street parking (beyond the meters right in front) on Bradley, which is free. That gives your dog a bit of an «airing out» en route to the clinic. It’s all good.

I took my kitten in to get spayed. Many months later, the part on her leg where she was shaved for an IV, is still hairless. My children and I looked more closely, and the area is quite scarred. I don’t think the hair will ever grow back. I am appalled that someone would be so incredibly rough with a razor, and I really despise paying for someone to injure my kitten. There is no accountability, and no recourse. My animal should NOT have been injured in veterinary care.

I have to say, I’m so surprised by all of the negative reviews on here for the Bethesda Banfield. We’ve been taking our two dogs to them for 7+ years and LOVE them. In fact, we moved down to Mt. Vernon a year and half ago and trek the hour to Bethesda for their vet appointments just b/​c we love them so much. We really loved Dr. Routly when she was there about 6 years ago and were sad that she left, but Dr. Scalco took her place almost immediately and we were fortunate that she became our primary vet, and is really the only one who has cared for our pets through the years. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Dr. Scalco. I always leave our visits feeling well informed and like our dogs were really taken care of. I always tell my husband when we leave «I really wish we were friends with Dr. Scalco… I just love her.» And Dr. Scalco remembers everything about our pets — in fact, I’m fairly certain that if we were to ever have to give our Boston Terrier up for adoption, she’d take him b/​c those two have this special bond, and he loves her. She’s just so caring and actually takes the time to listen to you and to examine your pet. She calls after hours to discuss test results or sometimes to check in post-​procedure etc. She’s just wonderful. We also love Opal! She’s been a big part of our dogs’ lives before Dr. Scalco and is truly a staple of that office.
For everyone who has had complaints about Banfield or their policies or their customer service, I’m guessing your pets were not fortunate enough to have been taken care of by Opal and Dr. Scalco. Those two are the only reasons why we continue to drive so far for our pets, when we have 3 other Banfields within 15 minutes from our home. As long as they are there, our pets will be too. (Also, Mary Bell and Katherine are amazing as well — they are always so helpful when I call).

This is more for Banfield corporate than the Bethesda location. Try and call and cancel the Wellness plan, they make it virtually impossible. I tried to call and pay a bill and cancel the Wellness plan, I first was transferred to the lost pet department. I told that person that I would like to cancel the wellness plan and pay a bill and was told that those are two separate departments, well transfer me to either one please. After holding for over an hour, still nothing. I gave up.
Let me back up, I went online to try and do everything through their website and of course that was impossible. No where can you cancel services online and I could not pay the bill either.
It reminds me of dealing with a cable company, that bad.
The Bethesda hospital location is fine, honestly, I feel like every time I went I dealt with a different person so I don’t really remember anything about them. Would only go there to get the normal vaccines for my dogs.

Scam of a clinic. My dog always got her vaccinations in 1 visit for the whole year. And was totally fine. Now suddenly she needs no less than 4 appointments? With a $ 50 office visit fee each time? No way. Go elsewhere. We will be.

I have been with Banfield for 3 years now. in that 3 years I have never had any issues with the vets we have had. After getting a new job, which offers pet insurance at a quarter of the cost of banfield, it is impossible to cancel out of this program. I am spending $ 35 a month for their wellness plan, which is only used every 6 months for scheduled check-​ups. The customer support center for this place is a scam and impossible to get what I, the customer, needs for my pet. They automatically renew your membership without your knowledge. If you are one day, ONE DAY, late for trying to cancel, they tell you that in order to cancel you have to pay for the entire year!!! How F@#ked is that? If you are one who reads reviews before you commit, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE… save yourself the headaches that are about to follow starting your membership…
and now. cue the lady who gives every response the same answer below. «sorry for your negative experience, although we wont do anything to help you»

If you want a vet that needs hand holding and you to literally know for than them then this is the place for you. They will also try to pull one over on you. I am of the belief that you should be able to trust your vet– not be on guard, waiting for them to try and charge you for something you don’t want or need. There are constant cases of false advertising and false information. If you «step out of line» (have a problem) then the office manager will harass you and yell at you. At least one of the vets is on probation. They are incapable of cutting a dogs nails. I took my puppy there (5 pounds) and they had four people hold her down while trying to clip her nails. They ended up making her bleed all over the place. I later took her to another vet who informed me of problems that Banfield had missed completely that would have needed surgery. They also had a young vet tech who was very small clip her nails perfectly with NO issues. This place is terrible.
Update: As the person below mentioned– I had contacted the customer service of Banfield. When she messaged me to call them I did so AGAIN. Neither report has been answered. They have not called me back and it has been months now.

If you are taking your exotic pet here, look elsewhere! It took forever, and I ended up paying 71 $ for the lady to literally look at my pet mouse for 2 minutes. She barely even touched her and seemed to have no real interest in finding out what was wrong. My poor baby Mimi ended up getting worse, so I took her to Pender in Fairfax. They are great, and gave me a full diagnosis and medication. Cost a bit more than Banfield, but the difference between the two was HUGE. Don’t go here!

We have given A LOT of money to Banfield-​Bethesda… I mean A LOT! Not because they did useless tests or procedures, but we have three animals with allergies, anal gland issues, and one dog with severe anxiety! We purchased the wellness plans for both dogs and our cat and it saved us tons of money! We were going a couple times a month because we were doing steroids and having follow-​up appts. With the wellness plans, we never paid for an office visit… which was great for us.
Dr. Scalco & Dr. Fu are both so amazing. Without the two of them, we’d probably still be having significant issues with our animals. We mainly see Dr. Scalco now but if she’s not available, Dr. Fu is our next choice. We won’t see any other vets there.
Our first dog has car anxiety. The car anxiety was misdiagnosed at a previous vet as motion sickness, but when we first saw Dr. Fu, she quickly picked up that it was anxiety given she pees, poops, and vomits in the car EVERY time and sometimes before we even drive away. She prescribed Ativan which has done wonders! Dr. Scalco was amazing with her allergies. She knew seeing the doggie allergist would be expensive so we depleted all other options prior to our referral to the allergist.
Our second dog has mild allergies & anal gland issues. Dr. Scalco fixed his allergies and showed us how to externally relieve his anal glands to help save $$ from returning every two weeks.
Our cat has allergies as well, but he has feline eosinophilic plaque which Dr. Scalco diagnosed. He has a spot on his front leg that pops up randomly and we’ve treated topically and with oral steroids, but it keeps returning. She said as long as it doesn’t bleed or get infected, we can hold off on an excision. One of the good things is that she said she could excise it when he has his dental cleaning to save us $$.
The front desk staff is always so friendly and are so great to our animals. Sometimes it does take awhile to check out, but they are consistently busy so we understand.
We tend to group our appts and bring in all the animals at once which they always accomodate. The only problem is that we moved to Gaithersburg and it’s such a hard drive with our anxious dog. We wish Dr. Scalco would open her own practice in Gaithersburg… fingers-​crossed!

I won’t spend a lot of time explaining why Banfield gets one star from be. Suffice it to say that my experience is similar enough to those already documented in the many other one star reviews. The staff are clueless (and I don’t use that word lightly). They really have no idea what is going on. Banfield is a sales machine, not a pet medical facility. When I voiced some of my concerns with one of the vets there the response was a sympathetic look and the words, «It’s a really big company. It is what it is. I have to work somewhere, and this is the big company in this field. I can’t address any of those things because I’m just an employee.»
Naturally, I don’t know what was said verbatim, but that’s close. I got the message. I certainly will not renew my pet’s wellness plan.

NEVER TAKE YOUR PET HERE. The admin staff is awful. They seem to be more interested in their own personal lives and chit chat rather than help the clients. After reading posts on Unilocal,I intentionally avoided appointments with Dr. Aziz, which is why I came in when I did. When I arrived, who was my appoint with? Dr. AZIZ!!! I had called THREE times prior to the appointment to verify it was not with this doctor. I was assured he was not even on duty.
It was not a scheduling change at Banfield, Dr. Aziz is ALWAYS the only vet on duty this time of day. So, I was ill-​advised by three separate employees on three separate occasions.
When I finally got to see a non-​Dr. Aziz vet, she swooped in and exclaimed, «you are really lucky that I’m seeing you. I was off the clock at 5 and just got out of a meeting with my boss. I’m willing to do you this favor, but I’m really going out of my way to help you and see your pet. I mean, this is a huge favor.»
So, never ever ever go here!!!

I have to write an update to this review because, since last week, we have been back numerous times for our kitten and had vastly different service from our original visit.
In general, the staff at Banfield has been very accommodating. We’ve walked in and gotten medication, last minute appointments, and even a visit fee waived because of our poor first experience. Dr. Preyer (spelling?) was great with our kitten and went above and beyond what we were expecting for the visit. She spent a lot of time talking to us about flea treatment and other medications, and even gave us tips for treating our home after we found evidence of fleas on our kitten.
The front desk staff was patient and accommodating when I made a very angry call after finding that flea (which wasn’t check during our first visit). I have confidence that the other vets and assistant physicians are going to meet our expectations as well. Plus, you really can’t beat a vet that is open 7 days a week, after hours, and is accommodating to walk-​ins.
My advice is to avoid Dr. Aziz at all costs. There are numerous reviews attesting to the fact that Dr. Aziz should be avoided. I don’t even understand why this guy practices as a vet or why someone at Banfield hasn’t taken notice to the fact that he is driving potential long-​term clients away…

The staff at Banfield are very friendly and nice. They are also extremely moronic and incompetent. And they are deceptive, are terrible communicators who provide insufficient explanations. They encourage exploitative procedures to justify their ‘wellness’ plans and seem to have little understanding of or empathy for animals — which would seem to be important in their line of work.
We signed up after meeting with Dr Foo. She was lovely, very helpful and we liked her a lot. Unfortunately everyone else is useless or worse (and I don’t think she is there any longer). I agree that Dr Aziz should be avoided at all costs. He is a sleazy, slimey douche who doesn’t seem to like animals at all. The nurses out front are very friendly, but seem to share a single brain cell between them. You can’t have a productive conversation with them because they won’t understand what you are saying. Speak slowly. It may be a ‘return to work’ program for special needs people.
By the way, I think the ‘wellness’ plan is a scam and a sad indication of the decay of the veterinary profession. No self respecting vet would work there.
We will never return there and will not use any other Petsmart service at that location just in case stupidity is contagious.

The customer service is friendly enough, it doesn’t quite measure up to other vet offices. First of all, you’ll spend more time with the vet tech than the vet. I brought my puppy in for a specific issue, overgrown dew claw, but it seemed like their interest was not in her health history. I saw the vet for two seconds. I just have feeling it’s kind like a pet treatment factory. And it was pricey, although they did not charge for the office visit and exam, for a first time visitor, it felt like they upcharged for medicines and services. Otherwise I would have been charged close to $ 120 for bringing in my dog and having them not look at her ears, teeth, etc and just dismiss her. Plus there was no treat for my puppy afterward.
Grateful to have this around the corner for emergencies, but I would almost rather drive to VA to the old vet office for personalized care.

My dog is like my child, so I’m a bit picky regarding service.
This vet office is out to get money, and I do not believe they have the best interest of animals at heart. I took my Bubs to Banfield to have some updated vaccines/​routine heartworm/​flea medicine. Having just moved to the area, I was not familiar with the vet service and needed routine maintenance quick. I’ve never spent so much money in one vet visit in my life.
To top that off, the vet tech was handling my dog and discussing her boyfriends current arrest and stalking violations. During the entire appointment, I was constantly being harassed to buy some monthly plan. I agree with another post, you feel like you’re at a used car lot.
Personally, I would rather give my money to a local vet rather than support some money hungry corporation that does not have your pets interest in mind.
Also, read this prior to taking your baby…