Veterinary Emergency + Referral Center of Hawaii

In the beginning of November my pup was diagnosed with Lymphoma & we were referred to docter McMillan at ethos in Honolulu. We tried multiple chemotherapy treatments with no luck so we decided that it was time to stop the treatments and let her live out her life happy. But while she was in treatments I noticed that her mass was always smaller when we were in between treatments even though docter McMillan claimed it was just getting bigger, an when she would come back from her treatments her mass would be enflamed even though it was not that big before dropping her off. Which was very odd to me.nOur last chemo appointment I noticed that we were over charged which made me look back at our other receipts from them and I noticed that we’ve been over charged multiple times at our visits. I dropped it, and decided it didn’t matter. More recently I got a email from my pups normal vet she goes to for check ups & vaccines that she was due for her Bordetella shot. So I got in contact with Docter McMillan to see if it was safe for her to get even though she is living with lymphoma. When she called me back I asked my questions about the shot & she was very rude to me and acted like I was stupid for asking if the shot was safe for my dog. Which she replied “well she isn’t on chemo anymore so yeah”. Our phone call was only 49 seconds long. Since she was so rude and quick to answer my questions & since we’ve already had suspicions of her being a dirty docter, I did a little bit more research on vaccinating your dog while they have lymphoma & talked to other pet parents who’s dog also has lymphoma to find out that it is absolutely not okay to vaccinate your dog while they have lymphoma & that it could kill my dog or make her extremely ill. So if I listened to docter McMillan and got the vaccine my healthy, happy & energetic puppy would have taken a major health decline or worse could of died due to Docter McMillan carelessnessnIf you are going to Ethos or working with docter McMillan please double check everything that is done & said to you. No one deserves to feel like our family does due to her and her carelessness.

TRUST THE BAD REVIEWS. Do NOT go here. One star is partly because I have to but also for the awesome, super friendly vet tech. Zero stars for the oncologist. Unfortunately I didn’t heed the warnings of the other poor reviews. Hopefully this will help someone else’s baby. Take your dog somewhere else if you need cancer treatment PLEASE. We just moved here from Utah and had our first appointment at this office and I’m extremely disappointed with the oncologist at VERC. They did not follow the treatment plan provided by my previous primary oncologist and decided to go their own route. My dog was kept for 4 hours and I was told after the fact about everything that was done. I’ve never had such a horrible experience and we’ve been going through these types of appointments for months now. I did not authorize anything extra, this was not an emergency situation where they could do whatever was necessary. They could have AT LEAST let me know what they needed to do, that wasn’t included in our original plan. I had an appointment and treatment plan, which should have been followed and wasn’t. They also decided to change a bunch of things about her treatment plan. It didn't feel like they cared about my dog, I felt like this office cares more about the money and they can do whatever they want because the only oncologist in Hawaii is at this office. I didn’t even get any of her results or testing info or discharge instructions. Just a very expensive bill with no answers. The money isn’t what mattered to me, it was the unprofessionalism. The nice receptionist and great vet tech do NOT make up for the poor service. I had to call and email just to get the info I should’ve gotten when I left, if not shortly after. Unfortunately, options for chemo are scarce here but I will be searching for another place to go. If you care about the well being of your animal PLEASE find a different oncologist.nnUpdate: visited another animal hospital ONE DAY later for a UTI, which had gotten to the point there was blood in her urine. Wondering how this wasn’t caught during our visit to VERC. I can’t stress enough, please go somewhere else. After doing some research there are many different options for chemo management, despite what they tell you. Please try VCA family and Veterinary or Feather and Fur Animal hospital to see if they are able to help you before you waste valuable time and money at VERC.nnUpdate: while visiting a new vet, we discovered that there wasn’t even any urinalysis results included in the record. Multiple calls to VERC went unanswered. I was also told by our new vet that you CAN have blood work done at your primary vet 24/48 hours prior to seeing your oncologist, and have the results sent to them. (Which I had been doing already in our previous state of residence) I was told by the oncologist at VERC that you “can’t do that” because the primary vets “wouldn’t be comfortable” with that. Yet, here I am being told by the primary vet that that is okay and they do it often. It just further proves that VERC cares more about the money than the well being of your pet.nnPlease PLEASE go somewhere else. I really hope this helps at least one other baby get the help that they need.

If you require specialty care, especially an internist, this is where to go. Always open, very thorough, up-front regarding your loved ones condition, treatment options & so much more! The doctor is VERY thorough in explaining EVERYTHING to you, making sure you understand EVERYTHING that is/could be or starting to occur with your baby. What your options are, expected outcomes of treatment & a PLAN for treatment. One that grows with the progress of your fur baby. Not just something 'for the moment' - but a PLAN of ACTION for treatment, welfare & life of your baby for the best possible life they can have. If you've EVER taken your little one to a 'general veterinary' facility (I'll go ahead & name one - VCA) & weren't really given what you might have thought to be quite the right explanation/diagnosis, yet went along with their suggestion of 'we're going to start with these medications...' only to find 2 or 3 months later they suggest a higher dose or different medication, guessing, basically - follow your instincts - LEAVE THEM IMMEDIATELY! Go to PetVet (open to all) or VERC (they're by referral only) but GET ONE! It could mean the difference between a happy, healthy life - or unnecessary pain & suffering from misdiagnosis & mistreatment by the other vet. I live in Waianae & I will ALWAYS drive to Ala Moana for VERC and Salt Lake for PetVet over the docs at VCA any day! I've suffered the all too early loss of three of my children to the misdiagnosis, mistreatment, and 'quick fix, bandaid solution' approach of those guys - & they aren't cheap for the 'service' either! I SWEAR to this day, they killed my 3 kids through neglect, misdiagnosis, mistreatment & an apparent 'desire' to just 'send us on our way'. I tried to get my babies medical records (I had planned on filing a malpractice case) & when I inquired to get copies of their records, they claimed they had 'no record of any such pet or record in those names'. They had 'never been seen' & basically didn't exist. I firmly believe they 'destroyed' - or to be more polite -'misplaced/lost' the records. Yet they remain adamant they'd never seen any of my kids. At that time, they were the only vet I knew, came well recommended, & the doctor who founded VCA was still involved with the business. Him I liked. Yet they remain adamant - no records, never treated. I regret I had to make a last ditch, urgent emergency trip that led me back to them in Kapolei! They basically gave my baby a shot of calcium & sent her home with HOSPITAL-TYPE care instructions! I was treating her! They didn't even perform the requisite procedure for her given condition (I researched it b4 going in - the doc just ho-hummed & walked off when I addressed it). We were in & out in less than 1-1/2 hours, paid over $500 for substandard care!! If anything like that happens again, and I can keep my babies alive and well long enough to get to someplace other than VCA, that's where I'll go. Feather and Fur is also a 24 hour facility and is a promising place to go. So is the Waianae Vet but hours are limited. But back to the point: if in doubt about the treatment you're offered - FOLLOW YOUR GUT! You know your babies better than the docs (especially you-know-who docs). Don't get me wrong. Years ago they were great, now, not so. The front staff & technicians are on point, but the docs just seem to be preoccupied with something better to do/somewhere else to be. PetVet & VERC are exceptional. You'll know how good the docs are based on just how much time they spend & how many questions they ask. The thoroughness of the exam, the detailed, personal follow-up phone calls with results & findings & any other recommendations. If they're REALLY worth their salt, when they come across something just outside their realm of expertise/treatment, or even SUSPECT something else might be going on they can't tackle, they'll refer you to a SPECIALIST. QUALITY of service is what you want, not QUANTITY of trips. Take care of your babies. They love you & depend on you.

I was very grateful for the friendly and calm response to my frantic call about our dog coming into contact with a Bufo frog tonight. Seeing her foaming at the mouth shook me, and I was very very grateful for the staff at VERC who helped me with driving directions to the clinic and took Mochi right in for analysis. The doctor called as we waited and was wonderful in explaining how our dog was doing and other possible symptoms to watch for in the future.

My dog passed over night. I'm grateful the VERC is 24hr as I was there at 6am. There was responsive and took in my dog for cremation ($111). Mahalo.