VCA Northwest Veterinary Specialists

I work as a shelter manager for a humane society, and we have sent some of our animals with cardiac needs up to see the cardiologist up there. My volunteer who does transport loves the doc we have worked with, and I love the service! My calls are answered, there are appointment reminder calls, and they called well in advance to double check on records to be well prepared. I am so grateful for that!
and so are our kitties with heart conditions!

Dr. Scherlie was one of the nicest vets I have ever met! He made my dog and I feel so comfortable and at ease. He explained everything thoroughly, recommended the cheapest pharmacy and had a true concern for my dog. Marshmallow and I thank him from the bottom of our hearts! Wish all vets were like him! He totally rocks!!!

I cannot say enough good things about this locations 24-​hour emergency care! We have had to make more than one (or two) late night trips to this clinic with our pups. From the front staff to the tech and doctors are the staff is amazing — knowledge and caring. They have a wonderfully spacious waiting room (a rare find at vet clinics) and very reasonable prices; especially for off hours service. Wouldn’t go anywhere else for emergency services and recommend them to everyone I know!

Our cat Jasper came to the hospital with a urinary blockage. From start to finish, 5 days he was in the best hands. Doctors called us regularly with updates, answered all of our questions, and amazing bedside manner. Dr. Rogan spent the most time with our cat, and I feel like he treated our cat as well as he’d treat his own. I highly recommend this facility for your animal emergency needs.

These guys are the best. Always nice, super affordable, the biggest waiting room in any vet I’ve ever seen, great doctors. I only wish they could be my dogs regular vet too. Plus they have specialists that most other vet clinics don’t have. One of my dogs had eye surgery there. Best I town, don’t bother with dove Lewis unless you like forking over tons of money and waiting forever.

I have had several eye emergencies with my dog in the last 5 years and the animal eye veterinarians here were both kind and knowledgable. The clinic personnel are well trained and efficient. It is more expensive than a regular veterinarian but the specialists are helpful and the emergency clinic is good.

Very satisfied with our experience after coming in as evening walk-​in patients. The staff at the front desk spoke to us as soon as we arrived and quickly got our cat into the back for assessment. Vicki, who handled intake, was very calm and competent. Dr. Trempala, the vet who did the exam, was excellent. Calm, friendly, very clear about what she learned from the exam, what she recommended, and what to watch for as signs for concern. No upselling on expensive scans when the initial exam showed nothing worrying, and she gave us a good rundown about the benefits, cost and side effects of an optional prescription. Total costs were comparable to a visit at our usual vet and we were out of there about an hour and a half after we arrived.
I hope not to need emergency vet services anytime soon (or ever), but if I do, I’d definitely come here again.

My best friend of 9 years went in early Friday morning with what we found out was cancer. Her co-​parents to her in because I am on the road all the time these days. Dr Andrew Rogen prolonged her life by pulling a miracle for me to be able to see her. She wouldn’t have made it a couple hours otherwise. Gave me the whole day to spend with her. I have never met such a compassionate vet in my life. Thank you so much Dr Rogen

We could not be more pleased with the wonderful, loving care that the techs and vets showed to us and our sweet dachshund. After being diagnosed with a life-​threatening autoimmune condition early last week after noticing a nose bleed, our little love had a horrible reaction to the medication she was prescribed. My sister and I rushed her to this amazing place, and they wasted no time in getting her the treatment she needed to survive.
The staff explained everything in the simplest of terms, but were extremely thorough. They made sure we understood everything, and answered question after question despite it being very late at night. They immediately started an IV and tests to determine the best action, and within an hour we were out the door and our sweet pea was being well taken care of. Leaving her was extremely difficult, but we knew she was in very capable and compassionate hands. We were told no news was good news, and we would be updated during a shift change unless something happened.
They were excellent at communicating her progress and notifying us of medications, treatments, and costs. Phone calls every 10 – 12 hours after a shift change were right on time, almost to the minute. There was not a single moment that we felt out of the loop. They allowed visits at any time of day, and we were able to see where she was staying. While it was a struggle to see our pup in that environment, all of the staff really did go out of their way to make sure each and every pet was loved and comforted. They discussed costs at each step, and were active in trying to provide the most cost effective, most beneficial, treatment as possible.
After 5 days in the ER, chemotherapy, and blood transfusions, our love bug got to come home. We were provided with everything we could possibly need, and were given the opportunity to ask as many questions as we could muster. These people really do care about each and every animal that walks into the front door. I cannot recommend them enough.

We are confident that we had the best end-​of-​life care as could be expected from this facility and it’s professional staff who was recommended by our regular vet, Mt. Scott Animal Clinic.
We were told that they employ neurologists for consultations and that if anyone could help our fella’s back injury, it was them. Each person that we dealt with, all the way up the chain, treated our guy with all of the dignity that he deserved. Any less and I would have been a proper Doggie-​Momma-​zilla.
It takes an incredible type of person to do this job and I cannot say how grateful I am that they patiently took and returned all of my calls, even if there was no progress, just to tell me what a sweet guy Man Dog was. When it came down to it, they shot straight with me. They were not in it to keep him alive and miserable so that they could profit from his extended care, they were honest and extremely compassionate. Thanks to Dr. Prouty.
They were very busy with emergencies the next morning but did not keep us waiting very long. I heard other distressed folks snapping at the counter staff, who stayed cool and patient and professional under what I could only observe to be a very high pressure, chaotic situation.
These last hours are proving the hardest memories for us to get past, so we are endlessly thankful for our easy experience with this facility. Even the billing.

I was very pleased with the facility and staff. It is such a relief to know I have a place I can count on in a crisis. My dog, Beatrice turned out to be okay (she was feeling better by the time we arrived). Despite the fact it turned out not to be an emergency, the staff gave her excellent attention and treated my concerns with compassion. Plus, they called to check on her 2 days after our visit. That simple action prompted my 5 star rating. It’s the little things that make a big difference. :)

So I didn’t know there were other 24 hour emergency places like dove Lewis. This one was close to my home, which means we got our puppy there quicker. They gave advice over the phone and advised us of prices before we came in– exam is 99. Honestly we spend around that at our daytime vet and our dogs eye seemed to be bugging him. We assumed allergies but we were not sure.
We waited less than five minutes and our dog was taken to get vitals. The doc was out seemingly 5 minutes after, though we were so sleepy it could have been longer, with a large grass seed in her hand stating she removed this from his eye socket. They stated he already seemed much more comfortable. After, they dyed his eye to check for scratches on his cornea, that damn seed had given him one, a numbing drop for the pain, then brought him back to us while they wrapped up. He was out of our arms maybe 15 minutes total. We got medicine with thorough follow up instructions. I was glad he was feeling better and secretly guessing 200+ for the total since they did so much more than just check him out, but it was 147. We were treated well, quick accurate diagnosis, didn’t break the bank and in and out in less than 45 minutes. Very Happy!

This place is busy, get that out there, I came in with my cat harley, he was having a very hard time breathing and they rushed him right back, these guys cared and that’s a big plus to any animal owner, price for me was under 300, I know that is cheap compared to alot of others, I can tell you if needed I will be back these guys and gals are rock stars in my opinion

Thankfully I haven’t been in lately, but have been here for both emergencies and specialized care. I was first referred several year go when my old dog needed knee surgery, before that I had no idea there was an option to Dove Lewis for a 24 hour vet. I live almost halfway between the two so it is more a mater of who has the least wait time and which direction will have the least traffic (either way going to Dove Lewis always involves more traffic lights while VCA is a straight shot up 224 for the majority of the drive).
In addition to the knee surgery and one emergency I was referred here when my senior doberman experienced mysterious weight loss a few years ago that our regular vet couldn’t diagnose. Within a few months our girls finally started gaining weight and has been a healthy weight ever since thanks to the findings and dietary suggestions.
I have never had any issues with any of the staff and have always received fair and timely services.

Pets are part of the family and when they are sick you will do anything to try to make them well. Last fall, our dog Lucy began having a persistent UTI which our local vet was having trouble treating. We took her to VCA NW Veterinary Specialists where she was diagnosed with an aggressive tumor in her bladder. VCA NW Veterinary Specialists doctors and staff were very patient, understanding, and responsive… until we needed to transfer her care, as driving two hours to and from Clackamas every two weeks became a problem. In order to make coordination of care as simple as possible we established care with another VCA just down the street from our home. Coincidentally, as soon as we were no longer spending $ 500 to $ 1200 a month for office visits and diagnostics the responsiveness we had previously experienced immediately stopped. We called, sent several emails, and asked the local VCA to contact them for records and results, all to no avail. I would also later find out the cost of the care they had provided was grossly inflated. Lucy lost her battle in February when a tumor ruptured (one that had gone undetected by VCA NW Veterinary Specialists despite the thousands we spent on consultations, radiologists, oncologists, x-​rays and ultrasounds) and she was scared and suffering, needlessly. Fortunately the heroes at Dove Lewis were able to provide the information we needed to make the right decisions for her.
It saddens me that a veterinary clinic would be more concerned with profitability than pet care.

My dog lost the ability walk in a matter of a couple days, my vet told me its a spinal problem so I took her here. It was a spinal disc degradation that needed immediate surgery. Dr Prouty was amazing and kept me in the loop the entire time. She would call me a couple times a day to tell me the progress (she was there a couple days). I spent $ 6300.
The part that really bothered me is that the check-​up appt was not included in that astronomical price. I’ve personally had surgeries and my dogs have had surgeries and each time the check-​up has always been complimentary. I think that’s weird and a feeling that I already got squeezed of all my money (my credit card at least) just to top it off another charge.
My suggestion: people are already taking out emergency credit cards to cover the cost of surgery, it would be nice to have the post-​op check up to be complimentary instead of making people more feel like they are being squeezed of all their money. Like what all other vets and doctors do.

These guys are the BEST! I love them all and have had to do business with them a lot over the years! Dr. Shirley is EXCELLENT for anything pertaining to eyes and such a sweet soul!
We had to go in last night due to our mini pom putting her face in a mouse trap and it went off and scraped her eye and we had Dr. Kristen Barrett and she was amazing to our little «Juniper» as well as everyone on staff that worked last night.
Thank you again always for your friendly professional understanding sweet staff and excellence!

Pleasant front desk staff. Friendly vet technician that took us back to the room & checks eye pressures (eye appt).
However, both times my dog & I have been to this clinic in the last several months, the approach from the vet (ophthalmologist) has been to list multiple possible diagnoses & treatments, including surgery. All sounds good, but… it was almost impossible to have her listen — She talked so fast & so long, that she seemed to not care at all that I wanted to take a conservative approach first. I wanted to do one step-​at-​a time, to see what the least invasive & least expensive approach was that provided the best results for our dog!
When I mentioned that eye surgery at this point (newly diagnosed glaucoma) didn’t seem to be the first step for moderately high eye pressure, especially for a 12-​yr-​old dog that was going deaf & had very few teeth left, the vet became very defensive — saying she just wanted to give me all the options. Options are good! But, clearly, I think I will stick with a conservative approach, see how the drops affect the eye pressure and THEN we can discuss surgery as a last resort! With surgery comes anesthesia and all the complications that can accompany that! Just beware of pressure to have surgery done! It’s not typically a first option! My dog has been seeing another amazingly patient and compassionate, vet ophthalmologist in Beaverton for years and we were never pressured like this! The challenges of moving.

I’ll preface by noting that I don’t have the names of the doctors who cared for our cat, the paperwork lists the doctor as «Emergency Veterinarian».
Our cat recently was diagnosed with pancreatitis, his primary vet recommended he be hospitalized for 24 hours for fluids and pain medications & suggested NWVS b/​c of the specialists, our vet called & was told it was $ 400 for 24 hours + pain medications & fluids.
We got to NWVS around 9pm, a tech took our cat to the back to do a «check» on him and said they’d come get us to have the doctor talk to us soon.
The waiting room: uncomfortable, while trying to be modern & open they forgot that when you have a sick pet you want privacy — for them & you.
We were told all the tests we’d just had done (copies brought with us) redone She said she wasn’t sure if he needed emergency surgery but she’d let us know. WHAT? Surgery for what?
The $ 400 overnight stay was up to $ 3,000. She said she highly recommended a urinalysis because he had a fever & said results would be back in the morning. It took 3 days of us calling repeatedly to get results of the urinalysis back.
The next morning the doctor said the x-​rays showed a mass or blockage in his stomach & they strongly recommended an ultrasound or follow-​up x-​rays.
We took him back to his primary care, explained what the vet told us on the phone & our primary said they disagreed — all that was seen was gas & fluid (water).
We got the ultrasound done just to be sure (for ½ the cost of NWVS) and, shocker, stomach was fine, final diagnosis was pancreatitis.
In the waiting room: the front desk is loud and the people aren’t considerate; they yell calls to the techs in the back & have personal conversations in the open.
As for the doctors: we felt preyed on, like we were buying a used car & they were trying to «add on» options — trying to sell us an ultrasound at a marked up price.
The cost: outrageous, everything is the same (no «emergency» fee difference) to them, so no assistance even though our vet called ahead. Wow.
And when we got a «refund» because the estimate we paid as a deposit was higher than services rendered the girl had the nerve to say «Isn’t it nice when you get money back from the vets office?» …
I do not trust this clinic, they are not respectful and I will not return. I would encourage you to go elsewhere for your pets care.

I will start by saying that I believe that their specialists have great reputations. In fact, about 7 years ago, I went there for my dog at the time, and remember them being competent and caring.
However, I recently had a horrible experience with their emergency staff. I’m not sure if them being bought by a national chain a few years ago has changed things, or whether this side of the practice is just the weak link. Anyway, the story: I have a kitty with lymphoma (being treated elsewhere), but prednisone, predictably, made his diabetes come back. The day I went to NWVS, we had been to chemo and they did a complete blood panel. His glucose level was nearly 600! Oncologists don’t treat diabetes, I couldn’t get into my vet, and thought he should be stabilized with fluids (he was a bit dehydrated) and get an insulin drip if needed, or at least a new scrip.
I was seen fairly quickly. But the «vet» looked very young and seemed very inexperienced. I still wonder whether it was a student. Within minutes, her recommendation was that since he «likely had ketoacidosis» he would need to be hospitalized several days for $ 7,000+, or – given that I burst into tears — we could just euthanize him today.
I was perplexed and panicked! Were we SURE he was in a ketoacidosis crisis? I’d been looking for telltale signs and hadn’t detected any; he was low energy from chemo; and from 95 degree weather. Right? «I think we really just need some insulin — that is why I am here!» The vet responded that it was «likely» ketoacidosis. And she thought the cancer might be spreading and we should do an ultrasound, and a chest Xray, but again since that would be thousands, we could consider that, or euthanasia.
I thought, «I just came from the best oncologist in Portland. We know the status of his cancer. It is localized. You don’t need to sell me on thousands of dollars of unnecessary treatments, in lieu of euthanasia.» Two totally inappropriate options.
The «vet» said «hang on» and I guess she went back to confer with a supervisor and came back and said the miraculous «Oh, I spoke too soon, why don’t we test first?» Duh. No surprise, 30 min later she came back sheepishly — no crisis after all.
Well long story short. He did stay overnight on drips to rehydrate and get insulin ($ 1,500). But it was a minor battle to get him released the next day. They insisted he stay another day and night for another glucose curve. But I am well aware that people either A) Do that at the vet for a day stay charge or B) Do it themselves, at home! Geez, after practically storming the place to spring my kitty loose, I went to my vet, they showed me how to prick his ear to test glucose, I got supplies at Walgreens, and we were on our way. Kitty is stable, cancer still being treated 3 months later.
In short: Inexperienced. Wild speculation without running tests. Trying to upsell me on expensive procedures we don’t need. And suggesting the only alternative is euthanasia when I balk (well, cry) at the impossibility of paying thousands for all the unneeded treatment. I will never go back here again.