CARE | Charlotte Animal Referral & Emergency

I took my 11 yr old Yorkie to Care after my regular vet could not help her anymore. This place is a top notch operation. My sweet girl had a tumor in her intestines that had preforated and was leaking inside her. She had septis. Dr. Robert Ruane saw her and explained everything that we were facing with her. He was honest and straight to the point. Very knowledgeable about her situation. Unfortunately we had to put her down, but we got all the answers to her condition and feel good about her care she got there. Septis is a serious condition and you have a short window to deal with it. My Dasiy was fine one day, and 4 days later gone. We will morn her passing for the rest of our life, but the staff at this facility gave us the answers to what was happening to her. I would recommend this facility to anyone they are really good at what they do. Thank you Dr. Robert Ruane and all the staff for your care of our precious Dasiy.

Please DO NOT waste your time bringing your fur babies here. Took my dog in on 7/12 at 1pm, they took him into the back immediately due to his injuries. HOWEVER, they did not start treatment UNTIL 7PM and finished at midnight. Charged me $1700 thinking he will be ok from there. I was wrong.. On Thursday 7/16 i see another wound leaking pus that they completely missed? It is their duty to check them thoroughly and they failed to do so. Took him to another vet cause honestly did not want to wait that long again. However they did recommend me to go back to CARE due to the wound needing surgery, so I did. They quoted me $5k-$8k....I cannot afford that. I unfortunately had to make the decision to put my dog down to end his pain. No empathy from the staff BTW! Please look elsewhere!!!

Everyone there was so nice and helpful making us feel at ease. I was so impressed with the entire facility. The surgeons Amy and Dr Daniel have been over the top in caring for Dexter and so helpful answering all my questions in detail and keeping me up to date Yesterday's visit Noelle was extremely helpful, polite and caring. She really stood out to me. So were the others that have helped me but I do not remember their names. The entire staff there is so compassionate. I will definitely be back and highly recommend this place. CARE puts your pet as top priority and was so great with calls and informing me of every detail that went on while Dexter stayed there. Thank you CARE

We wish we could recommend CARE, but unfortunately we cannot. We brought our 10-year-old Bernedoodle to CARE after our primary veterinarian discovered a large splenic mass that required emergency evaluation. Upon arrival, CARE told us they had not received any records from our primary vet, so we repeated bloodwork, imaging, and other diagnostics at an additional cost of approximately $800. We later confirmed with our veterinarian that the records had, in fact, been sent to CARE before our arrival. We remained at CARE until around 3:00 a.m. At discharge, we were given two options: • Keep our dog overnight for surgery the next morning, or • Take him home because he was considered stable, with the understanding that CARE’s surgical team would contact us first thing the next morning to arrange next steps. We chose to bring him home so he could rest comfortably, trusting what we had been told. The next morning came and went. We waited all day and never received a call. When I finally called late that afternoon, I was told the emergency veterinarian had never forwarded our dog’s case or referral to the surgical team. As a result, the surgical team had no idea our dog even existed. I asked when they could see him. I was told the earliest available surgical consultation was two weeks away. This was astonishing considering that less than 24 hours earlier we had been told he had a roughly 5-inch splenic mass requiring urgent surgical evaluation. Only after I expressed my concern did they say they would contact the ER veterinarian, ask him to complete the medical record, and have the surgical team reassess the urgency of the case. Nearly 48 hours after CARE first assumed responsibility for our dog’s care, we still had not heard from the surgical team. Equally disappointing was the lack of accountability. Despite multiple phone calls, no one apologized, no one took ownership of what happened, and the client care coordinator never returned my calls. Emergencies depend on communication. In our case, communication between CARE’s own emergency and surgical teams completely broke down. Whether it was a failure to review records, a failure to transmit our referral, or both, the result was the same: critical time was lost while our dog waited. I hope CARE investigates what happened and puts safeguards in place so another family doesn’t experience the same situation.

There are no words to truly express how grateful I am to the entire team for the care and compassion they showed us during one of the hardest days of our lives. From the very first phone call, everyone was kind, patient, and professional. When I called to explain what was happening with our sweet Pepper, they listened with empathy and gave us clear guidance. When I called back to let them know we were on our way, they were ready for us, and as soon as we arrived, they immediately took Pepper in. The veterinarian took the time to explain everything with honesty and compassion, giving us the information we needed without ever making us feel rushed. After we made the heartbreaking decision to let Pepper go, she told us she would not charge us for the diagnostic X-rays. The staff gave us a private room where we could spend our final moments with Pepper in peace, and that meant more to us than they will ever know. The following day, I noticed the X-rays had accidentally been included on the bill. I called, and they immediately apologized and refunded the charge without any hassle. That level of integrity speaks volumes. Today, we received a sympathy card from the team expressing their condolences for Pepper's passing. That simple gesture meant so much to our family. It reminded us that they truly care about both their patients and the people who love them. The hospital was clean, welcoming, and every member of the staff treated us with genuine kindness and respect. During such a painful experience, they made us feel supported every step of the way. Thank you for taking such wonderful care of our beloved Pepper and for helping us say goodbye with dignity, compassion, and love. We will never forget your kindness.