Our Hospital

Exam Room

VCA Los Angeles Veterinary Specialists (VCA LAVS) was founded with the principles of veterinary specialty practice in mind: expert medical care, state of the art medical equipment to deliver care, and medicine practiced with compassion and professionalism, often on patients with serious illnesses.

The staff at VCA LAVS has had years of experience diagnosing and treating disorders that seriously affect dogs and cats. Our clients often arrive anxious and uncertain, particularly with pets that are very ill or remain undiagnosed. Our goal is to continue to provide first-rate services to our patients and clients in a friendly, reassuring and expert manner.

An integral part of successful Internal Medicine practice involves careful history taking and integration of this information with the tests that were performed by your family veterinarian.

The VCA LAVS staff prides itself on processing this information, performing a complete and thorough physical examination, and then setting forth the most direct and appropriate diagnostic and treatment plan for your pet�s needs.

VCA LAVS is open for appointments Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Saturday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Appointments are requested, and emergencies are addressed at the time of need.

Initial appointments are 40-60 minutes in length. This allows ample time to review your records, examine your pet, and discuss diagnostic and treatment plans. For new patients, please arrive 15-20 minutes early for check-in to complete a new client/patient form. This will allow our receptionists to enter your information into our database prior to your appointment time.

Local Medical Issues

It is imperative that all new clients whose animals have been treated elsewhere arrive with medical records. This includes copies of all recent lab tests and doctor�s notes, and original relevant X-rays. This information can also be faxed by your regular veterinarian, however X-rays cannot be sent by fax.

X-rays must be brought with you at the time of the exam, either in film or digital format, or may be sent ahead of time by courier or email. It is the client�s important responsibility to assure that all pertinent records are on hand prior to the exam.

What to Expect

Procedures are usually (but not always) done on the day of your appointment. With the exception of several blood tests, procedures are usually not done at the time of your pet�s exam. Rather, they are done during our 12:00 � 3:00 PM and our 4:30 � 6:00 PM procedure times.

Please plan on leaving your pet with us for anywhere from 30 minutes after your exam, to all day depending upon the case. It is generally requested that your pet fast for the first exam. Access to water is allowed up to the time of exam. A common exception to this is the diabetic animal that must eat and receive insulin in the AM.

Anesthetic patients must always fast the day of exam, preferably eating nothing after 9:00 PM the night before. For anesthetic patients, access to water is allowed through the morning of your appointment. If there are any questions in this regard, please call the hospital for clarification.

Within the hospital there are two separate ICU units, thermally-controlled, oxygen-enriched incubation chambers, and all of the modern amenities that allow us to deliver optimum patient care and maximize patient comfort. A tour of the hospital facility is available to you in the event your pet needs to spend an extended period of time with us.

Pet owners are encouraged to call for updates for hospitalized patients. If the doctor is not available, a technician can give a status report and answer your questions.