Paws Purrs & Exotics Animal Hospital Alexandria, Maryland

Long but read for your own good please: Constantly tries to overcharge and add on services that are not needed. Came in for (what should be) a routine UTI for my dog. I just needed some antibiotics. The doctor gets on the phone and says “your dog needs to be boarded, given X-rays, have certain kidney tests(?), fecal exam, and urinalysis. Also let’s have a CBC and a heart worm test.” They wanted to charge me over $700. I said no to it all except the urinalysis, which was needed to classify the infection/bacteria so I could get the antibiotics. They kept me waiting for 2 hours to give me my dog back while they gave her fluids, before I said yes, to try and make her pee, which they charged me for. That didn’t work so they then put together a kit for home collection. Another hour. She peed in the first ten minutes while in the office but they didn’t collect it. Common sense would be if you knew a dog was being seen for a possible UTI you should collect the urine because you know it’s going to be needed for analysis. But hey, what do I know. I still walked out with a $300 charge. No antibiotics. No pee analysis. Nothing. After 3 hours. This place is just inept. I’ve been coming here for years. Don’t get me wrong, they mean well and are do their due diligence. They’re nice enough people. But at a certain point I need good service and they’re just incapable of providing that. They’re consistently disorganized and I have to give them the same information over and over. Every time I come here it’s a $500+ trip. Save yourself the headache.

They are very knowledgeable and informative. They have taken great care of my bunny when he is dropped off. He is always returned happy and calm. The vetenarian always calls to follow up with an overall health diagnosis and any suggestions.

Came in because my bunny has an obvious severe UTI (dark almost brown pee, strong malodorous smell). Clinical technician swinging the box my bunny was in around like a purse. Doctor refused to give antibiotics because of an X-ray result that was unrelated to current infection. Pressed on her belly so hard she peed. Would find a different vet next time.

Unbelievably disorganized. I first tried to book an appointment through their online reservation system. It took 3 tries before they actually contacted me. When they did, I booked an appointment a week in advance, but they never sent me a scheduler. I showed up, and it took the guy forever to even find my appointment. The routine annual vet exam then took 2 hours (at most vets, it's about 30 minutes). They did a very poor job on the nail trim. The also didn't tell me that I needed a follow-up appointment to get my dog's booster shot. I happened to notice it at the last minute, so they scheduled it, but if I hadn't, the vaccine wouldn't have been effective. My next appointment is in three weeks, but they again didn't send a scheduler. Wish me luck. This place was actually quite good when I started coming 2 or 3 years ago, but it has noticeably declined since.

Love this animal hospital, the staff, and the vet (owner). I didn't realize after driving my 2 ferrets to Baltimore from NoVA that PPEAH was here (maybe because of the hours - they don't have ER overnight). Anyhow, made my follow up exams here. Vet always offers additional information to help us care for them better and to watch out for illness that comes with age. Greatly appreciated.

Fantastic Veteran!!! He really cares about his patients! At the end of your pets visit he speaks with the owners and explains everything and is there to answer your questions. The staff are all friendly and professional!!!

I would never recommend taking your pet here. The lack of follow-up, accountability, and good after care service is unacceptable. Don’t expect any lab results from test your pet take not available immediately. Don’t expect the staff to do what they say. Don’t except to much of anything but spending your money

Dr. Vyfhuis goes above and beyond and I have had great experiences so far. Even though COVID precautions restrict pet parents from entering with your pet at the moment, Dr. Vyfhuis and team are very good at keeping you informed during the appointment. The staff have great customer service. My dog has had terrible experiences with previous vets, so we switched to PPEAH this year on recommendation from a family member. It turned out to be a great choice. My dog is comfortable with this vet.

They were wonderful when I had to take my rat in. They had to put her to sleep but they put her ashes in a beautiful wooden box with flowers craved on top

They do a great job of taking care of your pet, but good luck being able to pick up your pet in a timely manner. We had our guinea pig taken in for a surgery consultation, then for the surgery itself. Both times, we weren't able to pick up our guinea pig and pay until 45 minutes AFTER they told us she was ready for pickup. This is really frustrating for anyone that wants to run multiple errands or reserves a rental car (Zipcar, Free2Move, etc.) in the area.

As nice as the people are here, I’ve never been somewhere where you have to wait 30min-1hr to pickup your pet after calling them & saying you’re outside. I’ve gone to this vet 5+ times now & the first 2 times I waited 1hr after calling and telling them I was outside with my pet. The following times over 30min & I’ve always had to call again to remind them I’m outside or I’ve had to get the attention of a staff member walking outside to someone else’s car. The girls are usually good but whenever the guy at the front answers, he literally forgets. TWICE now he has said the reason for not coming to the car is because he didn’t know what an “Alfa Romeo” is. Huh?? These people have no respect for your time & todays visit is the last one I’ll ever be making. You’re also very lucky if they answer the phone.

I had a charge dispute with this vet. It was almost impossible to get ahold of the person responsible for refunds. When they did email me back it was full of excuses to not refund the money (for a test that was never ran). I wouldn't recommend this vet.

Took great care of my pets and allowed me to ask as many questions as were needed. They also provided additional info

Been going here for years after our previous vet was very insensitive about our missing cat. I love this place, always had great service

I bring Rico, my amazon parrot in regularly for a wellness exam, beak/nail trim and always have a great experience.

I would recommend to my family and friends

I HAD a blue and gold macaw It wasn’t feeling well I went to their facility they withdrew blood for testing $800 I return when the results came in he explain the test I try to understand I do not have a PhD never showing a great concerned about anything on the test he prescribed two medications I followed as directed they did not give me enough medication I return that would be my third trip out I live 35 miles away I continue to give the medication as directed In a second medication they did not give me enough and ran out of the second medication I return I picked up the second medication she seem to be improving then she wasn’t feeling well again I contacted their facility to talk to the veterinarian they said he is unavailable at this time he’ll be back in a few days he did contact me when he returned I told him what was going on he said wait about three days or so I did so she passed away he called to follow up I told him that she had passed away long moment of silence as you felt surprise I believe if we took action earlier she may still be here and it was pretty pathetic they sent me a blank sympathy card I’ve had pets my entire life and when they would pass the veterinarian and staff would convey there sympathy by writing kind words of my loss I should’ve sent the card back so they can recycle it

Not sure what to say about this hospital. I brought my Guinea Pig there 2 years ago, and with treatment which cost me 1000$ my guinea pig died a day after I brought him home from the hospital telling me “he will get better”. They never called me back to follow up. Please find a better clinic if you need to take care of your exotic pet!

Long waiting times and poor communication from the office staff, but the vet is great. They did a great job of trimming my guinea pig nails. They were so overgrown because she has black nails and I never cut enough because I was scared of cutting the quick.

I called the hospital to get my bunny spayed and they were so nice and reassuring.

My appointment for my cat took nearly 2 hours and was given 2 shots. I was told that the staff did not bill me for one of the shots, so I had to come back to pay them. The technician was asking me whether or not my cat received the shot, and I have no idea. For all I know, he could have not received the shot. As a side note, they cut one of his nails short enough that he bled profusely.

Great service. The veterinarian also works with you on service fees.

My poor pug HATES having her nails trimmed. Dr. V and his team did a phenomenal job! I will definitely be back.

The whole team takes such great care of my two rescue dogs. One is a little rambunctious and the other has severe separation anxiety. The team keeps them together and loves on them both so much. We moved to Bethesda but can't imagine our dogs in better hands so we make the trek whenever they need checkups or vaccines.

Great vets...takes well care of my bunny!

Competent vet. Sometimes a little slow to respond, so you may need to follow-up. Staff is friendly.

Have been twice, brought one bunny once and they did a horrible job trimming her nails, they skipped about half the nails and then then that was it, as if they were done. It was obvious the vet Techs were not up to the task of cutting a bunny’s nails. Slightly disappointed after the last visit, I gave paws & purrs a second chance and my experience was even worse. I brought two bunnies to get their nails trimmed and they have told me it was about $15.60 per rabbit for a trim, no caveats mentioned. They take forever, and then add a surprise fee to each rabbit claiming they were difficult. They are gentle bunnies, if they were difficult it is because the vet/techs do not understand how to restrain or wrap a bunny like a burrito so they feel safe and calm during a trim.. And once again, not all of my bunny’s nails were trimmed, some were skipped which is completely unacceptable. If you are looking to take your exotic pet somewhere, please choose somewhere that specialized exclusively in exotics and will provide better care.

The vet gives every single furball individual and unique attention. He will go out of his way to care for your animal. One visit and you'll pledge your allegiance for life!

We bring our rabbits here and have been quite happy. It’s difficult to find a rabbit savvy vet. From teeth grinding, x-rays, and fur mites to genera check ups. I feel like our bunnies get excellent treatment. ????

I'm very very disappointed. I have been taking my cat to this vet since 2012. My cat has a recurring eye infection, which was misdiagnosed four times. The vet gave her an eye stain four times and prescribed Bauschlomb eye ointment. The eye cream was not effective. I'm not a vet, but a simple Google search showed her symptoms were related to pink eye. I spent a lot of money at this vet or them to correctly diagnose her. My cat was still suffering after several month with the same eye issue. Today, the vet asked that we drop her off at 9am and we picked her up around 6pm. At that time, her eye looked worse than before; it was not cleaned. My cat seemed dejected and unhappy. Today the vet FINALLY prescribed antibiotics. Overall, this vet was my favorite option for my pet, but this experience was unacceptable for me and my cat.