I'm not much of a reviewer, but in this case I was absolutely compelled to write one. And of course I will continue to write more because I know how much of a difference it makes. Words cannot express how happy we are with the team at Canada West. Our chihuahua Mio, whom is in his prime years of 13. One day suddenly his breathing dramatically changed and he was losing energy fast. He went from zero to hero. Days passed by and he got to the point where he can barely get off his bed. We took him to a local vet (I wont be naming the clinic.) This Doctor did an X-Ray and looked at him. She concluded he had an enlarged Liver, and said it straight "He's got a couple days left to live." We wanted to do an Ultrasound to figure out the true cause but she deemed it unnecessary, so we didn't. Suffice to say Mio out lived her two day predicament, in fact he went a week over. By this point he was getting a lot worse, but we could see it in his eyes that he's got a ton of fight in him, and wanted to live so badly. We did not want our beloved family member to go out this way. He had massive fluid build up, and we really wanted to find a way to remediate the issue. We called the local vet again, again she stated it's pointless he's not going to make it. So we frantically called around, asked friends, families. One of our friends brought her dog into Canada West awhile back, so as a last resort we brought Mio here.They took Mio in did an ultrasound and deemed that he had massive fluid build up around his heart, chest, and abdomen which severely affected his breathing. Now this could be due to heart disease, heart failure, or some other unknown cause. Their treatment was to extract the fluid out around his heart. We agreed with the surgery and came back to pick him up the same day. They ended up extracting fluid from three places, heart, chest and abdomen. Our initial bill was about $700 for the single extraction, was now $1500 due to multiple extractions. Understandably they went above and beyond to help him. Immediately the day after surgery, he was slowly regaining his strength and speed. day by day he was looking so much better than he was before. We went in for a checkup a week after they did another ultrasound on him and concluded everything looked good. Update:Mio is now stronger than he was before, his body has shrunk to its original size. He can run up and down the stairs like a young stallion. His appetite is also voracious. 13 is the new 5 for dogs (chihuahuas)! We understand that eventually, everything has its time, and we too will pass. But we wanted to make sure that we've done everything humanely possible to give our family member Mio, the best care he can get, so we'll have no regrets. Its already been almost a month, since we had the local vet give out the predicament. Our advice to other dog owners, always seek a second opinion, whether it is at Canada West or not. If we were to listen to our original vet, Mio wouldn't have been able to live out his days. Initial cost: Ultrasound + Surgery = $1400Check up: $130Total: $1530Satisfaction level: 100We know it isn't cheap to care for your pet, and it can get expensive. But we believe Canada West is quite fair in their pricing, especially because they have a state of the art facility for pets. Come and you will see for yourself like we have. We want to thank the team at Canada west and also especially Dr. Jennifer Gamracy, who worked diligently on Mio! These guys are a 24 hour hospital, so you know that they deeply care. If it was about money, opening a clinic from 9-5 and closed on weekends would not only fetch you a pretty penny, but give you less of a headache. Below is our beloved Mio, first picture is post surgery where he looks like a chipmunk, thats how much fluid he had built up. Second photo, you could see where they extracted the fluid, third photo him present day! For pet owners out there, my blessings go out to your loved one and all the best!
My experience isn't as severe as many others, be it positive or negative, but I found the staff there to be very friendly and patient. My family vet was concerned about water in my kitten's lungs and had him sent to the hospital where they saw him immediately. The vet / intern who looked after my kitten, Christopher Drolet, explained everything that he did clearly and gave me affordable, non-invasive and safe options for further investigation and treatment. Thankfully it seems my kitten's condition is not immediately life threatening, but he will have to be monitored at home. Dr. Drolet was friendly and didn't push for expensive methods like others have mentioned this hospital does. I really appreciate his kindness!While unavoidable, as this hospital does have specialists that other hospitals wouldn't, the only downside is the price. While it was worth getting the reassurance that my kitten's life wasn't in danger, it still hurt my wallet a bit. Even with pet insurance, paying that money upfront can add to the stress of an already worrisome situation.
It was a nice place, professional staff, it was very expensive but didn't want to wait. However the Vet knew our cats were doomed and sent out the nurse to give me some generic instructions. I would say if its a real emergency or if you have deep pockets then go ahead otherwise wait for local vet to open. EDIT, The two cats actually died. I went back frustrated and upset. The vet I spoke to who was different than the one who treated them, read the file and I could see the change in her expression, when she realized what had been written and what we were told. I asked half refund, the vet apologized and gave it to us.
We have been taking our dog here for the past couple of years. Staff and service is all exceptional. I can understand some reviewers talking about "out for you money", as they usually do like to offer up the gamut of testing services on our bi-yearly visits. But if you have a pet requiring referral for their specialized care, then there is probably a good reason they bring up the tests. You are there because you deem your pet loved enough for elective care to give the best/longest quality of life you can. The staff always offer tests and explain why each would be important/helpful, but end of the day they leave decision to us for what is done. Only urging something if they feel it could be critically important.
Dr. Imlach, Dr. Enberg and Dr. Bandt tried diligently and compassionately to save our dog Boss, but unfortunately his little body gave out. We visited Boss often during his five night stay at Canada West and found everyone there to be quite helpful. The technicians were constantly monitoring the patients and the staff we encountered were warm and knowledgeable, particularly Nicole. (I'm sure Boss would want to offer thanks for her kindness as well as the servings of beef baby food.)On our boy's final night we noticed that he had come to recognize the technicians as servants to feed him, scoping out what was on the meal trays being brought into the room. While the outcome was not what we wanted, it was not for lack of trying by the staff at Canada West and we appreciate them making our boy's last days as comfortable as possible.
Canada West Veterinary Specialists & Critical Care Hospital is a Canadian Veterinary Care based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Canada West Veterinary Specialists & Critical Care Hospital is located at 1988 Kootenay St, Vancouver, BC V5M 4Y3, Canada.
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