Advanced Animal Care of Colorado

Horrible Experience!
We brought a visibly healthy dog in for a hair cut. They insisted on a physical (even though they are not our vet). The vet diagnosed congestive heart failure; gave the dog an X-​Ray; and gave us an ACE Inhibitors (generic) for a ridiculous price of $ 50. After spending $ 400, we brought the dog home and my nurse wife (who gives meds all day long) gave the meds as prescribed.
The next morning the dog would not eat, was lethargic, shaky and visibly in pain.
I called Dr Heather and asked if they could see the dog; given his feeble state and us on a budget, would she bill us on the back end. She insisted it was not about the money for her, but would not see the dog without cash.
We took the dog down there and $ 900. The vet insisted there was no correlation between the meds and the feeble mess before me. Again note this dog has never been visibly sick; my wife is a nurse; I sold ACE Inhibitors as a drug rep for 6 years.
«Not enough money spent?! Well, please take the dog to the cardiologist where he can take $ 400 more out of your pocket. Oh by the way, after you see the cardiologist, bring him back in for another over night we can charge you another $ 400 for.»
Brought the dog to Dr Rowe — Timberline next to King Soopers– fully ready to euthanize my dog and $ 60 dollars later he had the dog alive and out of pain.
If you have nothing but time and money and don’t care about your pet, go to Advanced Wallet Care of Colorado. Otherwise go to a vet that believes in caring for animals.

Flawless care from the moment we arrived. This clinic is what all others should strive for. Our dogs could not be in better or more trusted hands.

I am so lucky to have been going to Heather and her group for almost 16 years. I know when I leave my babies with them they will be cared for as if they belonged to them. Thank you all for what you do!

Dr. Alvillar and her techs did great job taking care of our last fur-​kid (20+ year old cat) and then helped her transition to rainbow bridge in our home.
Dr. Alvillar and Dr. K and owner helped do a great oral update of our last fur-​kid but unfortunately she had cancer that was too advanced, but we had several great months with our last fur-​kid.
We did a lot of care to ensure our last fur-​kid was well taken care of. Unfortunately we didn’t have health insurance with her. It’s worthwhile to continue health insurance.
The cat lodging was also first class. If we ever get fur-​kids again, this will be our go to place.

We’ve had great service at Advanced Animal Care. The staff are knowledgeable and really care about my dog Chloe. She doesn’t even seem to mind going! Thanks for your care of my beautiful girl.

I had given AAC-​CO many chances, and will give them no more.
Their open door policy of allowing clients to walk their facility unguided is unorganized and downright dangerous (I almost walked into a room where a dog was getting x-​rays).
I was pleased with the initial Splash session, and really liked that trainer, but subsequent times when I requested for my dog to be included in Splash at doggie daycare, and was told that he was, their webcam showed that he was actually not at the pool (this is a service they charge extra for!).
My dog’s body language began to change very quickly when I was about to drop him off at doggie daycare; first he was happy to be going somewhere with me, then when we got to the parking lot, he stooped and had his tail between his legs like he was being punished. This was a definite red-​flag that things were not ok.
I never see more than one water bowl in yards where there are upwards of ~25 dogs; intact dogs, puppies, and aggressive dogs are not separated from the general yard; attendants allow dogs to hump other dogs (As I was leaving one morning, I saw a large malamute type of dog humping my 30lb pup… ummm…the attendant didn’t notice until I said something about it); I was told after one daycare session that my puppy (maybe 6 months at the time) «escalates quickly» from play into a fight. I wasn’t told about the injuries that he received that day (discovered them later that evening), and I’m only hoping he didn’t wound the other dog, in turn (another reviewer mentioned that their dog needed stitches from a dog that had «bitten other dogs on multiple occasions”-I’d say it’s very likely that dog’s owner doesn’t even know).
My opinion after seeing how the business is run at large, is that there is no «reffing» of the play-​so it’s quite possible that dogs learn aggression because they need to defend themselves… Their doggie daycare is worse than a busy dog park, and that’s really bad.
I called for a refund on my last doggie daycare day, and surprise surprise, they didn’t manage to process it, and I had to call back weeks later. They showed no record of my previous request.
Not a great business.

I have had people tell me that when they die they would like to be reincarnated into one of my dogs. I love my dogs. It has taken me a really long time to write this. I don’t really want to write a bad review but I can not give Advanced Animal Care my recommendation. My dogs had been going to Day Care with «the Dog Club» for a while. When the Dog Club moved to AAC they became Dog Tales but it was run by the same people. Last year I took my 8 month old puppy in for day care. When I picked her up her foot was bleeding really badly. The people there said that they better look at her foot and they had me sign a release form. They said that they thought she cut her foot on ice in the play yard. They asked if they could bandage it up I said yes and they did. I went to check out and they said OK… that will be $ 120. I complained and said that it happened on their property while she was in daycare. I said it was not right. They said «You signed a release form» They took $ 50 off and said I should come back in a week or so to get it re bandaged. Went back, they charged me $ 40 to do the re bandage and they said I should go back for another re bandage. That was enough for me. I did not want to give them another $ 40. I ended up taking her to another vet in town that I go to. First off if a wound has to get re-​bandaged 2 times I think it must have been a pretty bad cut. The second thing is the second Vet I took her to said…“When you sign a release form you don’t expect that your dog will get hurt because of how they maintain their property”.
I have lived in Fort Collins a long time and I have had friends that have graduated from the Vet school here. I understand that being a veterinarian is hard work and that the school loans are astronomical. I understand that most vets don’t make anything near what an MD makes and an MD only has to learn about humans and vets have to study many different species. Sometimes life is not fair that way. But I don’t think AAC was fair to me or my dog. I think they are very good at marketing their business but no so much at the way they run it. In a town like Fort Collins that has a vet school and some really very good veterinarians from Dr. Suto at Chappells to Dr. Worthington in Loveland. I think it pays to really trust your vet and really do homework on where you take your pets. I had never used the veterinarians at AAC and I would not have chosen to take my puppy there in the first place because I had not wanted to change vets but her foot was hurt at AAC and her foot needed help. For good day care there are good places as well from Canine Learning Center on Blue Spruce to Aspen Grove on N. College and Dogs Own Daycare in Loveland. Dogs Own has a really good groomer too. I would recommend any of those places.

We had our first visit to Advanced Animal Care with our cat and were greeted with a professional, friendly staff. They helped us prepare our adult cat for a long car ride and provided some very good advise and «kitty happy pills»! Our journey was nice and smooth because of all their good tips! Their staff was very nice, and even called us the next day to see how our cat was doing. I would highly recommend their business to any pet owner!

Monday July 8^th 2013, my Rhodesian Ridgeback was diagnosed with dermoid sinus by a vet in Denver. Dermoid sinus is a very rare, serious genetic skin disorder developed in the embryotic stage primarily Ridgebacks. If the dermoid goes unnoticed it can abscess. Until surgery is performed, it is difficult to know if the sinus terminates in a «blind sac» that is less dangerous to remove or if it is connected to the spinal cord.
A Ridgeback breeder north of Denver recommended Dr. Steyn. She performed the surgery multiple times and on puppies as early as 5 days old. Izzy is 8 months which can mean a more complicated surgery because the dermoid continues to grow. After reading a lot devastating information on the web Monday night– I called Dr Steyn’s office at 8am Tuesday morning. Dr. Steyn was able to get Izzy in at 6:30 the same evening.

Dr. Steyn was incredible. She was confident she could remove the dermoid. The comfort I felt hearing those words at the moment and time were unspeakable. Once I digested Izzy was having surgery the next morning, Dr. Steyn explained she concerned about Izzy’s total health not just the dermoid. She noticed a discharge from Izzy’s vulva. Unfortunately, Izzy also had an inverted vulva which was diagnosed when she was spayed. The vet did not perform the surgery and suggested when Izzy was a year old going to a specialist. Dr Steyn suggested while removing the dermoid to also perform vulvaplasty to avoid any future problems with UTI and vaginitis.
Dr. Steyn scheduled the surgery for 7am the following day! Izzy had the best possible outcome with the dermoid and vulvaplasty. The end of the tube within the dermoid was closed. When Dr. Steyn tested for spinal fluid it came up negative so she was able to remove the entire dermoid.
Other information regarding Dr Steyn’s practice is unheard of in any of the veterinary practices I have experienced over the past 20 years of owning a dog. She believes in total transparency of her practice. Her vet assistants will give you a tour of the entire clinic which includes the examination room, rehab room, OR, day care and pool area where you can bring your dog to learn how to swim and use for exercise. Every door has two way glass so you can see every examination room. She allowed me to watch while she performed Izzy’s surgeries and be present as Izzy came out of the anesthesia.
I will make the 60 mile drive to Ft Collins to see Dr Steyn for Izzy’s yearly wellness exams. She is the only vet I will entrust with the health of my dog. There are no words that truly express my gratitude for Dr. Steyn and her entire staff. They are refreshingly unique in the world veterinary practices.

I’m updating my review since I’ve recently had a chance to try out some new services … I decided to board my poodles here when I had to go out of town on business for a week & the place I’ve previously used to board would not let me drop my dogs off on a Sunday. Mind you, pick-​up/​drop-​off hours at AAC are very limited on Sunday (an hour early in the morning and an hour in the late afternoon), but they do not force you to board your dog for an extra night just because they do not want to staff on Sunday.
At first blush, boarding prices seem high here, but a higher level of service is essentially bundled into the price of boarding. As an example, the other place I have boarded charges separately if you want your dogs to have limited outside exercise time (i.e. be let out of their kennel for more than just a quick potty break) and requires you to purchase at least one exercise session for every three days of boarding (or something like that — surely it’s to meet some minimum USDA requirement). At AAC, this type of exercise is included daily (and from what I understand, multiple times daily). The kennel area is really nice, too — rather than your typical chain-​link fencing on concrete, you have tiled individual kennels with heated floors, glass panels/​doors from the caretaker area looking in to each kennel and full-​size doors to the outdoor artificial turf exercise area. A few of the kennels have webcams, though I never got that working.
There are some extra services that you can add-​on as well, e.g. if you want your dogs to play with the daycare dogs, if you want them to have some swim time, or you just think they may need some extra attention. They let me apply sessions I hadn’t used from the swim punch cards I purchased through a Living Social deal last year, so my dogs got a little private swim time with an attendant to help them. My dogs seemed tired, but not stressed or attention-​needy when I picked them up, and it was a nice touch for the facility to call to follow-​up on how they were doing at home a couple of days later. It was clear that they had been keeping notes on how my dogs were doing while they were there, and it was reassuring to hear that the things they noticed (one dog that is quieter/​less playful and a very slow eater) were not out of the ordinary for my dog. I will definitely bring my dogs back if they need to board in the future.