Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital

Yes expensive. but worth it. They very quickly found a deadly auto immune disease that would have killed my beautiful 7 year old Bichon Frise within a few hours!! The disease killis a large percentage of dogs within 24 hours. Terrific care and follow up, not to mention their kindness to me. more

My recent experience with the Mass Vet Referral Hospital left me with a bill of $1250. My 5 year old Cat had eaten a bunch of grass and then was vom!t!ng for two days and then stopped eating and drinking so on the thrid day I took her to our regular vet and she did bloodwork (it was fine) felt her stomch, intestines were a little hard and took xrays. It appeared that the xrays showed some sort of mass in her stomach and she recomended we go to the woburn hospital right away. When we got there it was $146 just to be seen. Then they looked at the X-rays, wouldn't tell me anything about them except that they can be misleading and recommended a $350 ultrasound. The ultrasound showed there was no blockage and a small part of her intestine was inflamed. They said it was most likely irritated bowel syndrom or cancer and if it were cancer the cat would last 9 months with chemo. I said I'm not going to treat her for cancer.... And even after that they kept saying they couldn't do a biopsy because of where the inflammation was, they would have to do surgery for a biopsy and kept mentioning that as the next step when I was clear I was not going to treat this Cat for cancer. Anyway, they recommended an additional $1000 in unnecesary tests (feline aids, chest Xrays for $300 and so on) and I said no to all of them. They kept her overnight and gave her some anti nauseau medicine and an IV. They still ran additional tests that I thought I was clear about not running like a thyroid test and additional bloodwork. The next day the cat looked traumatized after being in the kennel with all the loud barking dogs and we got her to eat and were out of there in less than 24 hours total. The Hospital tried to charge us for an additional 12 hours of care which costs $141 dollars per 12 hours. I protested and it took a week to be refunded. In the end it ran me $1247 to give my cat an ultrasound, fluids, some meds and 1 night of care. That's RIDICULOUS. I never even got an actual diagnosis. I got an ""It's probably something in her diet."" You think? Maybe it was the grass I had been telling you about all along. Unless you have tons of money to spare you'd have to be crazy to take you pet here. You can find so many more reasonable options in Stoneham or the MSPCA. Pros: Many Expensive Specialists Employed Here Cons: Expensive more

My 10 mo old dog Kody was dying. He had a huge fever that got worse every day for 5 days. Totally lethargic and declining rapidly. His local vet was treating him for a bacterial infection ...but nothing was happening. As his steady temp reached 106.5, I went to the MassVet emergency room. The overnight vet found an abscess in the throat that was causing the general infection. Because they see so much and work as a team at MassVet, they found what others missed. The MassVet ER people transferred the case to the surgery department (seamless!) and I got an emensely professional and competent surgeon and team. All the while, MassVet people kept in contact with me on Kody's progress and encouraged me to call any time if I was concerned. They have a very personal approach to clients and dogs. Kody was home 24 hours after surgery and is recovering. The vets at MassVet saved my little pal's life. This facility is expensive, and it makes you wish you had insurance. But they stayed to their estimates and they are no more expensive than similar institutions like Angell or Tufts/Foster. What's great is that all the expertise and equipment you need to treat your pet is there under one roof. They truly work as a team, so the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. One caution about MassVet... The admitting ER vet was a-typical of everyone else (staff and vet) at MassVet. He manner was dreadful and unlike the overnight vet, she did not find Kody's problem, despite her 'extensive' (???) exam. She wanted to order up a futile chase for greater viral and bacterial infections. So my word of caution is that they aren't perfect at MassVet. I have made my comments known about the subperforming vet to senior people at MassVet, and they were well-received. So, if you don't get a good feeling for your ER vet, be assertive and request a change. But overall, I am thrilled by what MassVet was able to do for my dog. My highest recommendations for this institution and my surgical team! Pros: Emergency Care, Expertise, Comprehensive Facilities, Client Relations, Overall Standard of Care Cons: Expensive (esp. small charges), One Bad ER Vet (be choosy) more

I brought my pet in because he had been not eating as well and loosing interest in things and not moving as much ect.. It was right after the weekend came home from work and my vet was closed. He felt very warm I called and they said bring him right in, I thought that was great ... Wrong!!\r Several hundered dollars later and the woman still had NO CLUE what was wrong she was throwing around test after test saying dollar amount after dollar and was trying to get us to cut him open so quickly without any thought for only $2,500 so she could rule out food or something else in his tummy because she was unsure of the x-ray. She sent us home with a report of several different reasons he may be sick none of them turned out to be right.\r After no antibiotics tried we were left with a copy of the x-ray and that was it still a sick animal with no clue why and several hours and hundreds of $$ later. I felt taken advantage of because I love my animal and wanted to see him better ,glad I was smart enough to realize enough was enough and take him home.\r Glad we didnt go for the surgery he saw his vet couple days later for a fraction of the cost and it was just a small infection that was treated and within 24 he is doing better! Pros: easy to get an appt. Cons: pricey, pushy to get you to spend on test after test and no results more