VCA Canada Guardian Veterinary Centre

DISGUSTED | HEARTBROKEN | DECIEVED

I will preface this review by saying that while this establishment has so disgusted and outraged me in the past, when it comes to the health, comfort and safety of my animals, my pride and distaste for this particular corporation did not give me a moment’s pause when – as they are steadily becoming the main ERs for animals in the city – I found myself back in their inexcusably filthy and hellishly dull waiting room explaining to a frazzled tech/receptionist the complications impacting my darling boy…

With the full knowledge that VCA Canada Guardian Veterinary Centre is a FOR-PROFIT medical facility, I took my cat in on Sunday, October 19th/2025 as I had discovered blood in his urine and that my poor Wilfred was unable to relieve himself.

As a life-long pet owner, I have a layman’s understanding of my animals’ health needs and while in no way a veterinarian, much like a parent who knows their child independent of medical knowledge, I had correctly diagnosed crystals or some sort of urinary/bladder/kidney complication. This was confirmed for me (after 5 hours in the waiting room) by Dr. Tannis Baxter that my Willi-Cat was indeed suffering from a blockage compromising his bladder, and that if the situation was not swiftly remedied, my cat would die.

As the treatment options were outlined I was cautiously optimistic that while bladder crystals were life-threatening, I was familiar enough with the disease to understand that treatment(s) existed. Dr. Baxter echoed my optimism with what she claimed and phrased as ‘The Gold Standard’ treatment option and proceeded to explain that for the meagre sum of $3,800.00 (the good doctor omitting of course that this is in actuality an estimate between $3,800.00 - $4,500.00), my cat would have an excellent chance at overcoming this.

Like all of us, I swallowed the eye-watering sum, mentally figuring out how I could move money around, and allowed myself to be reassured with (and this is a direct quote): “…it has an 85-90% success rate…”). This is after disclosing to me by Dr. Baxter that Wilfred (a standard domestic short-hair less than a year-and-a-half-old) had one of the smallest and narrowest urethras she had seen in her near 25 years as a veterinarian; she displayed no outward signs of doubt or reservation about the treatments’ efficacy with respect to this fact. I gave them $3,900.00 and left my sweet cat with them.

On Sunday evening, I received a phone call from a ‘Dr. Jake’ informing me that they had initiated another $800.00 worth of treatment – this additional amount blowing past their initial estimate by over $200.00.

Over the following two days, I was told that In-Patient treatment was proceeding well, and that Wilfred would be ready to go home in the quoted timeframe of 48-72 hours…

…By 1:00pm, Tuesday, October 21st, VCA called to inform me that his bladder had re-blocked, and treatment had been unsuccessful. I was advised that barring a reattempt with the same treatment, or a $9,000.00 feline sex-change, it was explained (and I’m paraphrasing) that due to his unusually small urethra, (which Dr. Tannis Baxter identified earlier and despite this, recommended treatment)
the treatment was almost certainly bound to fail and that there was never any real hope.

Euthanasia (starting at $375.00 of course) is now the only reasonable option for my poor cat who I have just ensured his last few days on Earth have been filled with abject terror, agony, unfamiliarity, stress beyond comprehension and paralyzing confusion.

In conclusion, like most malignant entities, VCA’s deception was never outright – lip service provided by Dr. Baxter, Dr. Jake, the various other attending animal physicians, tech and staff notwithstanding; the formula is apparent: Deliver as much False-Hope to desperate people to ensure that they’ll fork-over as much as they can (or can’t) afford, deny as much medical accountability as possible, omit facts and animal aspects that diminish anything which would expedite a solution or diminish profit (even if the outcome is negative), until no more treatment options exist, the creature simply cannot stand it, or the reality of their ineffectiveness can no longer be ignored.

It goes without saying that if your animal needs urgent medical attention, take them here. But prepare yourself – and I don’t just mean your wallet – VCA Canada Guardian Veterinary Centre and the individuals who make the choice to be employed by such a caustic entity, will take full-advantage of your situation...

…That is a guarantee.

Information on filing a formal complaint against veterinary staff is available here (Copy and paste into the browser):
Complaints and Discipline - Alberta Veterinary Medical Association