Residents of Fairfax, Virginia trust Pender Veterinary Centre for their pet care needs. In addition to routine pet wellness services, this veterinary practice also specializes in 24/7 veterinary care for pet emergencies, exotic animal care for non-domestic animals, such as: birds, reptiles, and small mammals, pet boarding, lab and diagnostic services. We encourage you to contact the location directly to verify address, hours of operation, and service offerings prior to arrival.
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5 Reviews on “Pender Veterinary Centre”
I am not one to write reviews but i think something should be said-
I have come to Pender many many times for different exotic animals. My visits have always been okay, nothing spectacular but there were two instances I felt were totally unacceptable. My gecko had been very sick for sometime and I had come in for another visit, there was no rooms available so they talked to us in the lobby and took my gecko to soak him. However, when he was returned he was FREEZING cold, icy cold almost like he was left in the water and not put on heat which was very upsetting as he was already sick. I also felt that my concerns were never properly listened to.
My second instance I feel is much worse, it was the day I had decided to put my gecko down. It was very emotional for me and I had never had to put a reptile down before. The reptile specialist (I forget his name I apologize) had come in to talk about our options. I was bawling my eyes out while he was explaining our options on how to put him down, however, when explaining on how the process works he only spoke in scientific hard-to-understand terms. Not even that I?m incompetent but he was using medical and scientific terms I had never heard before as a college student and speaking very quickly, and when we asked him to explain in simpler terms he did not. I remember asking if the second option I would get to take him home that day, but instead he started repeating the procedure in scientific, complicated terms completely ignoring my question. Meanwhile, he was being ?sympathetic? and telling me about how his gecko lives 20 years. I?m so happy your gecko lived 20 years, mine did not. I?m saying goodbye, it felt a bit insensitive on top of everything else. The way I was being spoken to felt like I was being belittled and undermined. I understand the details of the procedure is important, but if I am saying goodbye to a loved one I would prefer to be spoken to more kindly and be told In clearer terms on what?s going on. I don?t need to know about the specific parts of the brain or what the tools are called. Putting my gecko down was such an awful day and the last thing I needed was to be spoken down on. I also bought a clay foot imprint which I never received, while I was refunded they never decided to explain that I could only buy that if I was going to cremate my pet through Pender.
I couldn’t express my gratitude at the time because it felt like there was a lump in my throat. The two gentlemen and doctor that work nights at Pender in the dog/cat area were very sympathetic and respectful to my fur baby when it was time to put him to sleep to picking up his ashes. I want to thank you all for making me know I?m doing the right thing and all the little details to coming around the counter to hand me my baby?s remains with both hands instead of just handing him to me over the counter. It was very personal and I honor that, it wasn?t an easy time but you make it as soft as you could and meaningful as you could. Thank you. Also I really appreciate the room looking like a home and not acting any type of way with him being on the couch. A long time ago with my childhood pet, they did the process on a cold floor, it wasn?t right. Thank you again and I hope you 3 read my message and know how much it all meant. RIP Dre
I have had to amend my review of Pender to include details which came to light afterwards. My pet had a bleeding episode during a period in which she was whimpering. Though I appreciate the care the vet took in looking for bladder sludge, the vet never looked into or suggested that the problem might be vaginal. As there was no evidence of a surface wound, it would have been logical to look into it or suggest it with a follow-up appointment. I was left hanging with no idea what was going on. And I had to push for bloodwork. It’s hard to see your pet in pain and left hanging. Poor communication, incomplete examination.
I took my rats to Pender for neuter surgery recently. While my experience with the surgery and overall with Pender is mostly positive, there were a few reasons I could not give them a five-star review.
1. Pain management: the first and biggest issue was how they handled pain in one of my rats, Kevin. When he was showing signs of pain despite an NSAID and opiate, put him in a cone instead of addressing his pain which was very stressful for him, hindered my ability to safely and easily give him his medicine and his ability to eat and sleep. At home, he got out of his cone and reopened his incision and could have disemboweled himself due to where the incision was if I hadn?t been so diligent with overnight monitoring. Issues continued of him getting out of the cone and me having to remove it to give him his meds which I wasn?t comfortable with until a tech added gabapentin to his regimen which is what stopped him from chewing and allowed him to stay out of his cone safely, dramatically improving and speeding up his recovery.After recovering he was traumatized by everything he went through and now is easily frightened and prone to nipping. While I have made good progress with him, we are still dealing with this issue months after his surgery. A possible way to improve would be to try to find out what the rat is feeling and try to address it, whether it?s an allergic reaction that?s causing itchiness, superficial incision discomfort that can be helped with numbing cream or less common reasons for self-mutilation like stress or confusion (or if you don?t know what?s causing their pain or can?t address it in other ways) that can be helped with sedating medication and then sending them home with what they need. For restraint tools, you can try grinding their teeth down during their surgery which would be the least stressful, most effective option.
2. Overnight hospitalization: The second issue I had was Pender?s insistence on keeping my pets overnight. They were kept in the cat room surrounded by animals that terrified them and only checked on every couple of hours at night. I really felt that this care wasn?t as good as the care I was able to provide at home (constant monitoring in the day, 1-3 hours at night, no distractions, no other animals or people, quiet environment, appropriate hospital cage). A possible idea for improvement would be clearly stating what specific complications they are at risk for that requires overnight monitoring and the pros of it if owners express discomfort with it, ask what situation they will be recovering in, and look at how they handled previous illnesses or injuries if they are a Pender client and if they would be going to a good situation with a diligent owner, see if there?s a way to compromise so everyone is comfortable.
That being said, I do think my experience was still mostly positive. What happened to Kevin is also not solely Pender?s fault as it was my responsibility to advocate for my pets. I should have insisted on care that was in their best interest and that I was comfortable with. I regret that every day. As far as the pain meds being underdosed, undervalued and underutilized, and stressful restraint devices being overvalued and overutilized this is a SYSTEMIC ISSUE ACROSS THE VETERINARY INDUSTRY AND NOT JUST AN ISSUE WITH PENDER. The surgeon, Dr. Fedderly is a wonderful, kind person who was prompt with replies to questions and endlessly patient with a pretty overwhelming amount of questions and anxiety. Her techs also seemed so nice and knowledgeable, especially Kaitlyn Eller who knew that the reason Kevin was showing interest in his incision was likely from pain and added gabapentin to his NSAID. I am very grateful to her. Her decision made a world of difference. While I will be looking at my other options for future surgeries, I don?t think it will be terrible if I needed to use them again for surgery and might still use them for emergency care as Dr. Reukauf has also been a great vet to my boys. I would still recommend them for exotic animal care.
I had to take my puppy to Pender the other day as an emergency appointment. From the moment we got there, everyone was so kind and helpful! The entire staff was top notch! I can?t say enough what wonderful customer service and treatment we received! Thank you Pender for making what would?ve been a stressful situation a comfortable situation!