VCA Rotherwood Animal Hospital

This is a wonderful Veterinary practice. We followed one of the vets who used to work at Angell to this practice when she switched. I cannot recommend them more highly and they have provided our French with terrific care and have gone beyond normal expectations as regards service and follow up and we recommend them to other owners and will continue to do so.

VCA Rotherwood saw my doggie today for her annual exam. Finding the location was very easy, off the main road. Her appointment was with Dr. McEwan who gave her one of the most thorough physical exams. He asked a lot of questions and took a general interest in her health and lifestyle. His bedside manner was calm, which is exactly what my Yorkie needs because she’s a nipper! I sit here in their lobby, concerned about a bump on her leg. Turns out, just an inflamed hair follicle! Thank you Dr. McEwan.

My wife took our doggie for an exam after a friend recommended the Drs. here. What a nice animal hospital– the reception ladies welcomed us as if we have been going there for years (it was our first time– A complimentary visit.) Smell and cleanliness is a huge factor for me in addition to customer service– this place hit the mark for me on all the above. My little furball even got a clean bill of health:) thank you Rotherwood.

I really believe this is a great place to bring your pet. The staff is nice and friendly and really cares about the dogs. I highly recommend VCA Rotherwood.

I highly recommend VCA Rotherwood in Newton Highlands. We have had exceptional service there. My dog is very well taken care of and given lots of love and attention from the staff. They make us feel comfortable and welcomed and are always helping to ease anxiety with lots of treats and affection. Dr Mcewan, our favorite vet, gets right down on the floor with my dog and he answers every one of my questions with lots of information and helpful recommendations. We also love Kristen C. She is patient and very calming for my anxious pup. We are very happy.

Very disappointed! This place over charges and the doctor is a pushy sales person who tries to talk you into paying for extra services that are really unnecessary. My bill was much higher than what they quoted me over the phone. I guess since I live in Newton, they I assume I have money to burn, but I don’t and I won’t be back.

Very caring and dedicated staff. They have been very understanding about money issues as my cat ages. The vets take the time to explain things and are really good about getting back to me with test results, as well as explaining next steps. They are also there for calls.

Dr. Alam is a wonderful addition to VCA Rotherwood! In the past, the veterinarian we saw was very confusing, and we never felt we were getting the proper diagnosis for our pet. Thank goodness Dr. Alam joined the practice! She’s a sweetheart, and communicates with us in a way we can understand. Kirsten, Kristen, Gina, and Alicia are all a pleasure to see when we are in the office. They’re all very friendly!

My pets and I have been your customers for 15 years but you just lost me. Surly front desk staff (I’m thinking of one person in particular) and today refusal to work with me to get my dog the heart worm medicine she needs. Then the accusation that I «went somewhere else» to get my pet meds. I did not. I called yesterday to see about the heart worm and was not told I had to bring her in in order to get it. My dog will have to go without heart worm for a week during mosquito season while we are away. Just not cool.

This animal hospital cares more about money than about your pets.
My first experience here was when I first adopted my dog. He came prepared with all of his shots, but since I was naïve, the doctor here told me that he needed three more shots, and then charged me $ 250. Looking back, these prices were ABSURD. This was AFTER I had a «free first visit checkup» too, which lured me to come here. However, I later realized that the shots that my dog received were not even necessary (the noncore vaccines).
The second time I came, my dog chipped his nail outside and it started bleeding. The nail was hanging off, but it didn’t look horrible. I was still nervous though as this is the first time that it happened. My friend who worked at a vet for a few years told me over the phone that the vet would probably just clip it off and charge it as a nail trim. When I called VCA over the phone (it was the closest vet to me), they told me to bring my dog in and it would be around $ 14 to cut off the nail. They also said that ONLY if it looked REALLY serious, they would have a doctor look at it and charge it as an office visit. When I got to the vet, they took my dog in the back explaining that they would just need to cut off his nail. 2 minutes later, the «doctor» came out saying that my dog was fine and would not need any antibiotics because they did a simple nail trim. YET they still charged me $ 71, which is ridiculous because I know that all they did was cut off his nail. They did not tell me this prior to examining my dog and I felt deceived.

If you care about your pet please do not bring it here! I had a 19 ½ year old cat who had a wound on her paw that just wouldn’t heal. So I decided to bring her in to see if they could help. Well the vet was like she’s old so there isn’t much we can do for her unless we run all kinds of tests. They shaved her paw and gave me an antibiotic and told me to call her in a week. Well the side effect for this was that my cat may stop eating. I didn’t know this until after I gave it to her and she stopped eating so when I called them about it they said yeah that’s a side effect of the medicine. My cat was dead in 2 weeks. I called to tell them and I recieved no call back about how sorry they were. About 2 weeks later I had a new kitten that had an upper resp. problem as well as an eye infection that he got from the breeder. I brought him in and they gave me eye cream/​oral antibiotics that after 2 ½ wks still had done anything. I went in 2 times and then I called and they said well take him off the medicine and lets see what happens… really, his eye is red and swollen for almost 3 weeks now. They wanted to run yup tests! all they want is your money. I went to The Cat’s Hosp. in Wellesley and the vet there was just wonderful. He gave me a new oral med. and took the time to explain about the infection and within 2 DAYS his eye was so much better. VCA cares about the $ not your pet. I wouldn’t bring my goldfish here

My cat was losing weight and was acting differently. He was examined in June. Other than the usual expensive tests they wanted to do, they said he had arthritis. Over the summer, he lost interest in being outside. Thanksgiving week was his next check-​up. We were very concerned about his condition. We were again told he had arthritis and he was old. Two weeks went by and we thought we should get a second opinion. We took our cat to Dr. Cosmini at the Cat’s Hospital who felt him for 30 seconds, asked to take an x-​ray and diagnosed him with cancer. Although he would eventually die from it, we were beyond angry at the careless attitude the VCA vet had. There was not so much as a call from them. We chose to treat our cat’s cancer. Dr. Cosmini not only referred our cat, who only met once, but we received calls after each of his chemo treatments. Meanwhile, we waited to see if VCA would call. They never did, but sent cards requesting appointments for four years! They are horrible!

VCA Rotherwood Animal Hospital is by far the best veterinary office in the Newton/​Brookline/​Cambridge/​Boston area. I have three dogs who have been seeing Dr. Tamara Kremer Mecabell since 2009. Each of my dogs has their own special issues; Dr. Kremer has always been sensitive to their needs, recommending the best treatment to make sure that the dog fully recovers. I have also used VCA Rotherwood for dog emergencies, in fact it’s the first place I go when one of my dogs has an emergency. The staff are extremely experienced when dealing with an animal emergency, making sure there is no wait time whatsoever (even at Angell, you’ll have a bit of a wait time) and that the animal is seen immediately by a vet. In regard to regular visits, including yearly physicals/​shots, I have always found the receptionists, veterinary technicians, kennel staff and of course the veterinarians to be highly professional. Each individual at VCA Rotherwood is highly educated in their field and there is always a high level of compassion towards animals and their owners. Why anyone wouldn’t choose VCA Rotherwood for their pets is beyond me. As a pet owner, VCA Rotherwood in Newton, Massachusetts is the only place to go for my furry family members.

Personally, I love this place. I have two cats that I take there regularly. Dr. Tamara Kremer-​Mecabell is the best vet I have had. If you have doubt of the service you may or may not receive from this vets office, ask for her. She was nothing but helpful, considerate, professional and courteous in all ways. She warned me on cost and she was very knowledgeable about procedures and long and short term benefits. I have had many follow up questions and was able to email her and get responses… EVERY TIME, and she even called me in response to my emails as well. I never have a problem getting appointments first thing in the morning or late enough in the evening to allow me to get home from work before heading over. If they are expensive, it is relative to everything else… if you have unwell pets then insurance is prudent anyway. This place gets 5 stars and two thumbs up from me.

When I brought my dog in yesterday with a badly bleeding paw, I didn’t have an appointment and I just assumed that we would have to wait a long time to see a vet. But as soon as the vet came into the waiting room and saw the paw he took my pup in immediately. I was very grateful not to have to sit and wait, and I was grateful that he did such a nice job tending to the wound. The only reason I’m giving them 4 stars instead of 5 stars is that I think they are a little bit overpriced. But I still like this animal hospital a lot, and in the end they are probably worth the price.

I wish I could give NO STARS to this place. I went there once because it is so close to my home. Never again. The female doctor there was more interested in talking on the phone about her extra-​curricular activates and name dropping. She was mean to my dog and to me. I have since read other reviews elsewhere and was not surprised to read many things about this doctor and the place itself as being a bad place. These reviews here are consistent with the others. I would never trust them with one of my canine or feline family members. Never!

I had a cat who was diagnosed with a heart murmur. Every year, he had expensive ultrasounds and had to take prescription medicine. The cat was about 18 years old and, over the summer, stopped wanting to go outside (fine with me) and was not his old self. He had just been to the vet in June. In the fall, he lost a lot of weight. I took him to Rotherwood the day after Thanksgiving for a check-​up. After examining him, the vet decided that he had arthritis and sent him on his way.
Over the next two weeks, he continued to deteriorate. I decided to take him to Dr. Cosimini in Wellesley. After about thirty seconds of feeling him, he suggested an x-​ray that determined he had a rather massive abdominal tumor. The lump was easily felt. There was no sign of a heart murmur, even though I had stopped trying to force the pills on the cat weeks before.
I would like to use this space to recommend Dr. Cosimini, who only sees cats. I have a new cat and this guy is amazing!

Rotherwood still insists on all of the annual and unnecessary vaccines which have been shown to do more harm to the dog than good. Even if you ask them not to do it, they really push and act like you would be hurting your dog. Why do they need to take my cat away from me and into the back room to give her a shot? What are they doing back there that they can’t do in front of me? The food they sell there is science diet which is not a high quality food despite what they say to try and get you to buy it. The food company has a deal with the VCA chain along with many others which is the reason they carry it. The food is full of fillers and uses Ethoxyquin as a preservative instead of vitamin E. Ethoxyquin is a known carcinogen but give extra shelf life over vitamin E. This office full of vets needs to rethink whether they are in it for the money or the animals.

On 6÷23÷07 during a routine check-​up, the vet recommended that I have Nina’s teeth cleaned. My cat had a history of a heart murmur so I scheduled an echocardiogram to determine if it would be safe. On 7÷7÷07 Dr. Neil Harpster performed the procedure and noted 3 times in his notes that she had «mild to moderate enlargement of the left atrium», but did not tell us. On 7÷17÷07, Nina was anesthesized and had her teeth cleaned. On August 12^th Nina suffered congestive heart failure and was admitted to critical care at Angell Memorial Hospital. The diagnosis was restrictive cardiomyopathy which is a fatal condition with a life expectancy of less than a year. Over the next 4 weeks Nina was treated on an outpatient basis at Angell. Her condition did not improve and on 9÷5÷07, we had her euthanized. We filed a claim against VCA. The adjuster stated in his denial of our claim, that we «declined to have all of the recommended treatment and your cat was discharged „at owner’s risk“ 10 hours after admission according to the Angell Memorial records… and you did not have some medical care performed due to financial reasons.» However, Dr. Nevena Nikolajevic, the cardiologist who actually treated Nina at Angell wrote that she «had frequent telephone calls and in person conversations with Mrs. Kadis and I (Dr. Nikolajevic) felt she had followed all my instructions to try and make Nina better and had never refused to have any medical test or treatment done that was suggested.»