Akron Veterinary Referral & Emergency Center

I was referred to them by my vet for my puppies fractured leg. I called and asked them to give me a ballpark figure of how much the surgery would be and they said between $ 2600 and $ 2800 nearly 3 times what a general practitioner vet had quoted us. Then I was put on hold after I asked when could I schedule the surgery, the woman got back on the phone and said «I know this sounds bad, but until we know how you are going to pay we won’t schedule the surgery. No it doesn’t sound bad, it is bad… All these people care about is the money and not your pet. I went else where for a fraction of the cost.

Akron Veterinary Referral & Emergency Center is one of the best pet care centers in the area. Their veterinary staff is wonderful and everyone here is indeed cares about the well-​being of their patients.

Holding back on 5 stars simply because of cost. Maybe not fair, but let’s be honest; price is a huge component of satisfaction. However, so is value. I brought my dog in here learning what I feared that I knew; Emergency back surgery repairing a ruptured L5 disc, or put her down. Dr said nothing is 100%, as we know, but 90 chance my girl would have a wonderful recovery. I trusted him, scrounged up the $ 6000, and they went in. After days of recovery, I brought my girl home to recover. It has been 4 years now, and she is still as good as new! Great facility with outstanding results! Glad I came here. Just be prepared to shell out serious cash, UP FRONT!

The vet on duty made me feel like a commodity, not a person. We were left waiting for up to three hours before the vet had even looked at him. He was not given any sort of IV fluids, which he needed. It wasn’t even offered as an option. In fact, she didn’t offer many options beyond a battery of super expensive tests, none of which sounded like they would actually help my poor senior dog. I would have even been ok with her telling us that he was old, and he would have to be euthanized… but we weren’t given that option. I decided to take him home (after paying almost $ 200 for no answers and some antibiotics). He died at home a few hours later, peacefully, surrounded by my other dogs. I didn’t contact them about cremation services, either. I contacted Hummel Funeral Home, and they’ve been fantastic.
I am not blaming them for his death. My biggest concern and red flag is that they treated myself and my family in such a poor manner. We will never return to this place. I refuse to ever be treated like a price tag again. A little compassion goes a long way, and Dr. Kollar could use a lesson in just that. Be straightforward with the family; don’t try to milk their wallets in their time of panic and need.
I’d also like to state that we didn’t have Dr Mike, who another reviewer raved about. We had Dr. Wendy Kollar.

Dr Mike Slawieski rocks!
My older, couch potato dog suffered athlete’s injuries to each of her back knees (she tore the cruciate ligaments in each knee on two separate occasions).
Dr Mike did the surgical repairs and all of the post operative follow ups. He was very concerned, very professional and made great suggestions about rehab and follow up care.
Would highly recommend this practice for surgical or emergency needs.