Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital Woburn, Massachusetts

So incredibly caring and compassionate. What an incredibly difficult time to work in this industry right now, yet every person we spoke to was so comforting and understanding and patient. While our outcome was devastating, the people involved were nothing but amazing. Thank you all so much for your work and compassion.

Our dachshund was attacked by another dog and needed stitches. We called the hospital ahead of time to check in. We got to the hospital, waited about 25 minutes, and were finally told that we needed to bring him elsewhere because they had no one on staff to stitch him. You would think that we should’ve been told when we called that they couldn’t care for him there. Not only did we have to wait to be seen only to find out he couldn’t be helped there, they offered little help to find another location for care and had also thought it was a good idea to walk him out with a large gash on his back/shoulder area when he was in visible pain (this was after we carried him in and then put him on a cart to be carried into the exam room).

This hospital saved our dog when no other clinic could. Our puppy was only 4 months old and going through kidney and liver failure because of Lepto. The vets here were the best of the best and did everything in their power (including giving our dog daily scratches and love) to make our puppy come home to us. We owe everything to this place. Can't recommend enough.

Not enough good things to say about this place!

Our vet sent us here for an Ultrasound and we were incredibly impressed by the facility and treatment of our dog. The level of insight and detail provided by David M. Schmidt, DVM, DACVRVeterinary Radiologist, was just outstanding! So glad we have a 24hr veterinary hospital with the care and quality we seek for our pets.

First of all, I believe this business flagged my review so it wouldn't show because I can't see it anymore. I've searched many different ways for it and it's gone. So I'm writing this again because I think it's so important for consumers to know what I went through with this place. I don’t even know where to start with this. I brought my dog Manny there at the end of May. He was there for 3 days. They told me he had a UTI (which I knew wasn’t the only problem with how he was acting) even though they found fluid in his abdomen the doctor told me it’s nothing to worry about and sent him home with antibiotics. Once he got home he got much worse. I had to bring him back there at midnight and he was so bad, he had to go in on a stretcher. They told me his bladder ruptured and had to do surgery. That fluid they told me not to worry about was urine. They called me at 2 am for payment. I couldn’t believe what place would do that after I already spent thousands of dollars at that point they couldn’t wait until morning to get payment. About $13,000 later and he was finally sent home. He had complications all through the month of June and finally this month he got bad enough I took him to Westford because Woburn told me they could get him in August. Westford had him for 24 hours and immediately found prostate cancer. Woburn told me that after surgery there was no cancer. He would heal up in two weeks and everything would be okay. He had to be put down yesterday. I lost my best friend and went through hell. This is the short version of what I went through with Woburn. I would never bring your animal here.

My experience is with Dr. Cronin after being referred for my cat with suspected lymphoma. Our original appointment was a few months out and the front desk staff was helpful in putting us on a cancelation list - because of their help and frequent calls, my cat was able to be seen, diagnosed, and begin treatment last week. Dr Cronin was methodical, kind, and through in her explanations and help during our first visit and was very clear to explain all our options of treatment. She has been responsive to follow up questions and we are grateful to be in her care! I highly recommend this group for oncology specifically - all places with specialties will be expensive without pet insurance unfortunately so it is helpful that Dr. Cronin was thorough in her explanations and breakdown of treatment costs as well as the potential outcomes of each treatment. Front desk team was kind and helpful whenever I’ve called or checked in. Thank you for all you do, I know it isn’t easy work!

My dog Max had bloat Sunday night which is a true medical emergency. We knew something was terribly wrong so we called the hospital, they asked all the right questions and we brought him ASAP. We were greeted by friendly and caring staff, a wonderful doctor who diagnosed it immediately. We were told in detail the costs, what was going to happen; no surprises, true professionalism. They took x-rays, called us immediately regarding another issue just to let us know all the facts. The surgery went perfectly. We were updated in the morning and at night. Max is now at home resting and healing. I found the whole process “ethical”. When they found a lung nodule, they told us, because the surgery was expensive and Max is a very old dog now. Of course we went ahead. We paid the maximum amount and in the end the doctor was very honest and told us that they did not need to do something that was initially listed and we were refunded promptly upon discharge. A truly wonderful, professional place for animal care. Thank you for your wonderful work. A true hospital!

MVRH has been incredibly helpful, responsive and beyond compassionate. Their care of our dog has been nothing short of spectacular.

I’ve never been to this hospital, but have only heard good things. My dog was sick, I called them and they said they are extremely busy and only taking critical Ill patients. They agreed to triage him. I was so great full. The lady that triaged him spent a total of 5 min with us and told me he didn’t have a blockage because he was leaking and told me it was his back. She handed me a paper with urgent cares that were helping them with the overflow. I then went to Waltham and they said they couldn’t take anymore patients but would triage him. They said the same thing it looked like the pain was coming from his back. I took him home and he got much worse over night. I called Woburn the next day to see if anyone could see him. They told me he still wasn’t critical enough to be seen. Thank god for the vets at Veg in newton. My dogs urethra was completely blocked from a bladder stone. He had to have emergency surgery. I understand everyone is short staffed, I do we are at my job. But what counts as critical? Also maybe update your list of urgent cares that are excepting overflows

Today my 6 week old kitten fell through my banister and down 7 feet. She couldn’t put pressure on her front leg. I thought her leg was broken. I rushed her to Woburn animal Hospital emergency room. My kitty was evaluated by a doctor within the first 10-15 minutes of being there. Great news! Her leg is not sprained or broken. It’s just sore. Normally it’s $200 for your pet to be evaluated. However when they brought out my kitty they gave me the good news she’s in good health and THERE WILL BE NO CHARGE for assessment!!! That’s right!! Free of charge. I am beyond grateful for there quick, quality service. Thank you so much Woburn animal hospital emergency referral!!! I would give you 10 stars if I could. I am beyond grateful ❤️

We had an appointment with Dr Simon in Dermatology. We were very late due to traffic issues. She and her staff waited for us, it was the end of the day. They were kind, caring & professional! They made the horrible ride worth it!! And my dog received the care she needed. Very grateful????

Update Added in response to reply- Not really sure about the reply from MRVH but the point of the story is that one of your vets did not give a clear picture. Basically told me my dog had days to weeks and she was completely wrong in the diagnosis. You state "our doctors do their very best to explain and review all available options and it sounds like there may have been a communication issue" It's interesting that you put the blame back on the pet owner. I asked a question to one of your vets "Could this be anything else?' She said "NO". Not sure how that's difficult to understand. Original Review- Long story short I was told my dog had a few weeks left to live because they found a tumor that was either one of two highly aggressive cancers. They wanted us to keep my dog there to perform an 8-10 thousand dollar surgery the next day to maybe give her a few more months to live. We asked if this could be anything else like possibly a cyst or anything besides cancer. The vet flat out said NO. Its one of two cancers. We took our dog home and went to a local vet. Decided to get the surgery for five thousand dollars less then what MVRH quoted and it was a BENIGN growth. We went through weeks of heartache thinking our dog had a few weeks left to live for it to be benign. Please take your pets for a second opinion!

On a Sunday morning my pug developed a serious emergency with his right eye. Our local emergency vet turned us away and diverted us to Mass Vet Referral. Mass Vet told me to bring my dog down and they would take him. 45 mintue wait after arriving, that was amazing considering many other vets report waits of 3 or even 4hr. DR. Alexandra Pivoda treated my dog. She was such a kind and attentive soul. She figured out the issue quicky, treated him, and had us on our way with his meds. 24h later, as promised, he is doing so much better. Thank you Dr. Pivoda, i can't express enough how grateful i am for your care of my pug otis. I apprecaite you

Dr. Kaye and his team at Mass Vet were truly amazing in their care of our dog, Joe, and cat, Domino, who were both complex cases with their own unique treatment needs. We greatly appreciate the professionalism, medical expertise and compassion from the team at Mass Vet Woburn, from the receptionists to the vet techs to the schedulers to the pharmacists. Their amazing team really made a difficult experience of treating our pets a lot easier for us.

I brought my Yorkie here on three separate occasions and never had a problem. The staff is very professional and kind. They took a lot of stress away from us with exactly what was wrong and what they were going to do. We felt so much better knowing he was in good care.

We have been extremely pleased with the care our almost 9 year old Lab has received here. We were able to schedule our first visit with a specialist pretty quickly, and during that visit Dr. Troxel diagnosed our boy with a fairly uncommon issue. We followed up with internal medicine, and Dr. Cooper spent 50 minutes going over results and her recommendations, and we were able to get our dog in for follow up tests the next day. A vet tech then called us over the weekend to give us the results. The veterinary industry is very understaffed right now but I wouldn’t know that based on the care we’ve gotten here. All appointments have been on time, follow up has been quick and we haven’t felt rushed with questions and such. Of course specialty care is going to be expensive, but with all the tests our dog has had, I expected to pay more. Pricing seems very fair. I’ve seen some reviews complaining about wait time which I think is pretty odd. If you walk into a human ER, you’re going to be there for a minimum four hours on a good day. I don’t know why anyone would expect an animal ER to be any different.

The entire staff at MVRH were so compassionate and helpful in a tough day that unfortunately ended in us saying goodbye to our beloved Reese. She was referred in for internal bleeding, and the team acted quickly to perform diagnostic tests and present us with multiple paths to take. Ultimately we determined the least painful route for Reese was to be euthanized at MVRH that day. Having experienced this before, I can say the team provided the most relaxing experience possible in the midst of the chaos. There is a dedicated room where we spent as long as we wanted saying goodbye in a comfortable room, and when the time came, we were able to have her in our arms as she passed. We can't thank the team enough for making one of our hardest days no harder than it had to be. We would absolutely refer anyone to MVRH.

I would not recommend this practice at all. When I booked a neurology appointment for my cat Luna, they took all my information and told me it would be $300 for the office visit. I thought this was a little steep, but not terribly unreasonable, since specialty vet care can be expensive. A week later, on the morning of the appointment, they called me to say they were having trouble getting her old MRI records, and if they didn't receive them in the next hour, we'd have to cancel the appointment. I was a little annoyed that they waited until the last minute to let me know, but I agreed and said I'd call the previous vet and get them sent over right away. That was when the lady on the phone let me know that by the way, instead of this visit costing $300, it would actually cost $650 more, because that's how much it costs to have their neurologist look at the report for an MRI that Luna had gotten done almost a year ago. I was confused... why would it cost so much to look at an old MRI report? She explained the neurologist "likes to look at the MRI herself in case they missed anything", so that $650 is to get a second opinion on her old MRI. I explained I felt confident in that MRI, it correctly diagnosed her condition, it was now a year old, and I simply didn't want a second opinion. She said I HAD to get the second opinion. After a lot of back and forth, I even asked if we could just forget about the MRI, pretend she's never had one and just have a neurology consult. She said this would not be possible, and that we would have to cancel the appointment. I am beyond frustrated that they (1) charge $650 for the vet to look at the MRI (that's 50% of what the procedure had cost!), (2) absolutely refused to see me unless I paid them $950 for a simple neurology consult, and (3) communicated all of this on the morning of the appointment! Because of my cats health issues, I've worked with multiple vets, and I have never met such an inflexible, uncaring, and expensive practice. I have no doubt that if I did bring my cat here, they would continue to push expensive treatment and leave little room for other options. Fortunately, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I was able to get an appointment the next day at another practice 30 mins away. I had a wonderful experience there, their neurologist happily looked over Luna's MRI before the appointment, and the visit cost a grand total of $186.25. I would absolutely explore other neurologists in the area before going to Mass Vet. Not everything's about money, but I would much rather go to a practice that looks out for the best interests of me and my pet than one that clearly has other interests at heart.

The staff is incredibly considerate and honest and we're so grateful for the care they took to answer all our questions.

My cat received a very comprehensive examination to determine their illness. The Drs kept communicating with me to learn more about my cat, symptoms, behaviors, etc., and clearly explained their plan of action, findings, and next steps. All the staff were very professional and treated my pet with compassion and love. I will highly recommend this Hospital for any pet parent having a health emergency with their pet.

I have been here 3 times and each experience has been a highly professional, patient, and empathetic one. While no one wants to have to go to the ER with a pet, if you have to go anywhere in greater Boston, this is the place to go. My most recent visit was yesterday with my senior Pit/Boxer mix (11+ years old) who was suddenly struggling to walk and stay upright. From the moment we walked in the door, we were treated so well. The waiting area was comfortable and felt safe during COVID. They have water for people and pets, and staff came to apologize for the wait (which wasn’t bad at all at a place like that). The neurologist intern, Dr. Chris Masterson was amazing. He took time to explain to us what was going on in an even and reassuring way. He gave us all our options and made sure we felt like we knew what choices we had for diagnosis and treatment. Through interacting with him, it is clear he deeply cares about his patients and their people. His bedside manner was exceptional. We are so thankful for him and MVRH. I only wish we could make this our regular vet! This place is a gift to have close by!

I would not recommend taking any animal here unless you are absolutely desperate. They are extremely aggressive when it comes to payments and seems as though it is all they care about. My cat was receiving chemotherapy there every week for a month and a half. I paid them every single week, anywhere from $300-$800, depending on the treatments. Now, I am full aware things need to paid for, and I am not against paying. But during this extremely difficult time they were completely unsympathetic and told me my cat wasn’t to be picked up until I paid for his visit. I had already spoken to the front desk receptionist and told her that I would call as soon as I got home as my bag was left at my house. Now remember, I have been taking my cat there weekly for about a month and a half prior to this visit. I paid every single time, never ever not paid. This woman then continued to call me THREE times for a payment after already telling her I would call back with a card. They don’t care about your pets, unfortunately. They care only about money. I will never be returning to this awful place.

Look, I don't expect miracle workers. The hospital cannot save every animal that comes in but I expect accountability and compassion. We dropped off our cat for what should have been a simple procedure. We were thrilled when they said we could pick her up after a few tests were done. When we picked her up, she was lethargic and smelled like a homeless dog. She was also soaked in urine. They had told us that she had eaten but she refused to go near her food. After a couple of phone calls with a late response from the vet on call, she had to be brought back two days later because she had a pulmonary embolism and was close to death. Why the embolism? because the techs ignored her for 24 hours and did not check her when she pulled her IV out. She would have been fine if they had bothered noticing she had a blood clot due to pulling the IV out. $5,000 later, we had to take her there to be euthanized. We had a scheduled appointment, the front desk forgot that we were there taking walk ups while I stood there. Then they said they could not find employee in charge of arrangements for euthanized pets so we waited an agonizing 45 minutes to spend the last five minutes with our beloved cat. Dr. Caudal is the best doctor they have and he did everything right but a couple others are uncaring and will not properly diagnose your animal. The employees we encountered are too busy cackling and eating to do their job. When we spoke to a manager, she told us that the employees are stressed out and just letting off steam. Guess what? The pet owners who entrust their animals with proper veterinary care are stressed out too and the last thing they want to hear when a doctor is telling them that their pet is going to die is unprofessional employees laughing in the background. NEVER AGAIN.

I am still devastated over the loss of my 7yo pup. I brought him in due to loss of appetite, and he had just started vomiting and urinating blood less than an hour before bringing him in. They would not let me wait with him due to covid and it was a couple hours before I got a call that they looked at him. I asked them to run a full blood workup and they did the lesser option, which the vet later apologized for, but then put him back in the cage for another couple hours where he had a stroke and went into liver failure and I had to put him down. He was there for over 8 hours and they never ran the full blood workup that I asked for. If it was an infection, perhaps more expedited treatment for a severely sick pup would have resulted in antibiotics to bring his fever down, or maybe if they let me be with him he wouldnt have been left unconscious in a crate for who knows how long. Angry and upset doesn't even begin to describe my feelings. I will never bring another pet here again. Oh yeah, on top of losing my best friend, I have a bill for almost $2,000 that I'm very reluctant to pay for this horrible treatment.

Awful. My dog was very sick and bleeding. They were too busy to help... you are in the business to help animals. Not turn them away.. shame on you. And your so called vets. Did not want to give you any stars Really???. Who determines how critical a dog or cat are , without seeing them.? And you don't believe bleeding is critical??. The outcome, could have been a lot different, if we were not seen by another emergency room..

Our experience with Mass Vet Hospital was outstanding when our pet recently had to be brought to the emergency room for a particularly severe case of gastroenteritis. Our pup had to spend 4 nights in the hospital during which we received morning and evening updates and consultations. The doctors were knowledgeable, caring, and empathetic. Our pup is now home and recovering nicely. A big thank you to the MVRH team!

For anyone who is looking to bring their animal here, please do NOT! The neglect of your loved animal, who you think you’re putting in good hands, is in jeopardy! I wouldn’t normally go out of my way to write a review BUT what that being said, there was a very sad and unfortunate situation that ended in death that DIDNT HAVE TO! Long LONG and sad story short, I would go elsewhere!!

We were referred to Mass Vet by our family veterinarian after our 3 year old boxer collapsed at home and his X-rays showed multiple large masses in his lungs. Only after he was grossly misdiagnosed for several months, he was put through a biopsy surgery at the most advanced stages of his disease, suffered complications from undergoing surgery in such a frail state, and died in the ICU where he had stayed for 10 days after that surgery, from Disseminated Pulmonary Blastomycosis. For months, in and out of appointments with Internal Medicine we were told that his masses were due to inhaled ash from the fireplace that happened to be lit at the time of his collapse. Over those months I raised questions and concerns with our specialist when things didn’t add up. I asked if he considered that the smoke from the fireplace could have been coincidence, since our dog had been around campfires before with no issue. I asked why it was taking so long for his symptoms to resolve, despite being sent home after each recheck with prednisone and no thought to change his treatment course or suggestions for further diagnostics. Once the vet decided it was this ash problem (which he also mentioned no clinical precedence could be referred to for it), he stopped looking for the actual problem. I let him know that at least to us, our dog didn’t look great or healthy at all, and that he was losing weight and acting lethargic. I also objected to waiting so long in between rechecks, often pressing for the doctor and client care specialists to see him sooner, especially when his symptoms started worsening. I even touched base with our family veterinarian, because the hospital wasn’t very good at keeping him looped in. Time and time again, my concerns were dismissed by this specialist and he encouraged me to stay the course: The fireplace incident had to be the cause. He just needed more time to respond to the medication. He looks fine despite his X-rays, and he’s still eating and drinking. The FNA results and negative blood fungal titer meant it was not a fungal infection. Blastomycosis doesn’t happen around here. This is the best approach for treatment, and it is also the least risky. “If it were my dog, this is what I would do.” We now know that the fireplace had nothing to do with his first symptom of collapsing on the floor in the living room, and that collapse has been observed as a symptom of pulmonary blastomycosis, as is initial response to steroids, lethargy, and weight loss. Even though is X-rays were terrifying “he looks good” became the pause on the alarm. The steroids had side effects of increased thirst and hunger, which explains why he was eating and drinking regularly. Muscle loss also happens with steroids, which was the assumed cause of him losing weight. FNA results are only useful if something is found, and if nothing is found, it should not be interpreted as truly negative for anything tested. Blood titers are commonly negative, and a urine test would’ve been more sensitive, with 93% accuracy in detecting low levels of fungal infection. We were never offered this simple test, despite precedence of it being used within that hospital network. Although uncommon, blasto can happen outside of endemic areas, and is often misdiagnosed as primary lung cancer. His X-rays mirrored many of those from dogs who had been diagnosed with blastomycosis. Had I been informed of the risks that go along with waiting to treat a possible fungal infection, I would have asked immediately for the biopsy surgery as the most logical and least risky next step. Because for pulmonary fungal infections (blastomycosis especially), immunosuppressants such as corticosteroids are the last thing you want a patient to take, and any delay in appropriate treatment can be fatal. $26,000.00 paid. The love of our life, lost. Still waiting on an apology for the vet being so catastrophically wrong and for not taking our dog’s condition as seriously as it should’ve been. Critical Care Doctors were fantastic, this review is not aimed at them.

We waited for over 4 hours for emergency on Sunday. They did not call or text us constantly for update but kept us for waiting for hours. Also they told us to wait in the parking lot if someone came to pick our pet. But we just waited forever without getting any information. I strongly not recommend this place if your emergency level is not high. Therefore, the hospital should provide the most updated information about the waiting time or other related information in 30 or 45 minute intervals. So that customers can behave accordingly.