My cat's veterinary hospital was purchased by VCA last year just prior to a set of tests she needed. I noticed new terminology to the bloodwork at that time, and the tests we used to purchase a la carte and as needed for $25 to $50 were now grouped into something called "Senior" bloodwork which was all-or-nothing at a cost of $179 for each time the test was run. No option was given to leave out all that my old vets said were unnecessary, and we can't afford to run the tests that are really important every 3 months at the all-or-nothing price of $179. What happened to keeping healthcare costs down by only purchasing what is needed? If insurance was involved you know they would only want to pay for what is important to monitor. This year her ultrasound cost went from $219 to $399. One year inflation rate of 90%, and Obama is worried about healthcare inflation for humans?! I called 5 other veterinary hospitals in our area and my wife called 1 other. All of them would sell us blood tests on an as needed basis for just what is necessary to monitor, and the cost for the same ultrasound was between $199 & $279 at these 6 hospitals. Not only are the prices at the VCA owned hospital WAY higher but the vets I'd come to know and trust all these years are no longer practicing there. So to recap... IF we could even afford to do it there now our yearly bloodwork costs that were normally about $250 would now cost us $716, the $219 Ultrasound is now $399, the vets that have followed my cat for years are no longer there, and my pet's standard of care would be lowered because we couldn't afford to monitor her condition as we were used to. This will be our last visit to a VCA owned facility. Hopefully others will call around as I did before paying these prices. The office staff was kind and offered to have our chart ready for us to take to another vet, and they said they understand my pain as many people each day bring to them similar concerns.

I have no dog in this hunt so to speak as I own no WOOF stock (nor am I a short seller), but if our case isn't typical (and it likely isn't) I wouldn't be buying or holding any either! VCA is pricing themselves out of the market in my area.