Vets Near Me > Washington > Tacoma > Westgate Animal Hospital

Westgate Animal Hospital

3.4
5929 Westgate Blvd ste f, Tacoma, WA 98406, USA

Best Pet Insurance in Tacoma, Washington 2024

Hours:

Monday: 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Tuesday: 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Wednesday: 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Thursday: 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Friday: 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Saturday: Closed

Sunday: Closed

How to Save Money at Westgate Animal Hospital

Schedule Regular Vet Visits

One of the best ways to save on vet bills is to prevent expensive health issues before they develop. By scheduling regular wellness checkups, your vet can detect health issues early, helping you to avoid costly treatments and surgeries down the road.

Price Shop for Pet Prescriptions

Oftentimes our fur babies are prescribed human drugs off-label. Your vet is apt to charge more for these medications than you would pay at your local pharmacy. In fact, big-box or chain pharmacies can offer steep discounts. So it’s best to price shop.

Pet Insurance

Most pet insurance providers will pay between 80% and 90% of the vet bill. You can even get coverage for routine care and things like vaccinations and dental cleanings. If you do the math, you’ll most likely find that pet insurance makes financial sense in the long run as well as gives you peace of mind.

How Do You Choose the Right Pet Insurance Provider?

Pet Insurance Review makes it incredibly easy for pet parents to select an insurance provider they feel good about. You can use our handy comparison tool to get the gist of what a company offers. We’ve also collected over 150,000 reviews of insurance companies from real pet parents like you to rank the top providers in the market. Here is the current ranking of each:

Top Pet Insurance Providers of 2024
Rating Provider Total Review
4.4 AKC 891
4.5 ASPCA 11,757
4.9 Embrace 17,158
4.9 Fetch 18,571
4.2 Figo 2,602
4.7 Hartville 165
4.9 Healthy Paws 10,008
4.9 Lemonade 805
4.6 ManyPets 2,343
4.0 MetLife 652
4.8 Nationwide 21,407
4.3 Pet Assure 12
4.5 PetPartners 113
4.3 Pets Best 12,232
4.6 Pumpkin 1,473
4.6 Spot 7,033
4.9 Trupanion 73,743
4.8 Prudent Pet 125

Or, you can simply get a fast quote from multiple providers and go from there.

Thinking of insuring your pet?

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Getting to Know Your New Vet: Essential Questions to Ask

Choosing a new veterinarian is an important decision for any pet owner. You want to find someone who is competent, compassionate, and a good fit for you and your fur baby. To help you get the most out of your first appointment, here's a list of essential questions to ask your new vet:

Tell me about your experience with [pet type].

Different vets have different areas of specialization. Some are experts with cats, some dogs, some pocket pets, and some horses. Knowing that your vet has vast experience treating your specific type of pet can bring you peace of mind.

How do you handle emergencies?

You must know what to do in case of a pet medical emergency. Inquire what after-hours policy the clinic has, whether they have on-site emergency care available, and if they have a relationship with any nearby emergency animal hospitals.

How do you communicate with pet owners?

Good communication is key to building a trusting relationship with your vet. Ask how they prefer to communicate (phone calls, emails, online portal) and how often you can expect to hear from them.

Are there any breed-specific health concerns I should be aware of?

Some breeds are predisposed to certain health conditions. Knowing what to watch out for can help you catch problems early and get your pet the treatment they need.

Do you have any questions for me about my pet?

This is a great question to ask because the answer will show that the vet is interested in getting to know your pet as an individual and is willing to listen to your concerns.

Bonus question: Can I take a tour of your facility?

Getting a feel for the clinic's environment can help you and your pet feel more comfortable during your visits. Remember, you’re not just looking for a veterinarian, you’re looking for a partnership. Do not be afraid to ask these questions and any others you can think of. Any vet worth their salt will be happy to answer them. Because the more informed you are, the better equipped you'll be to make decisions about your pet's care! And that should be every vet’s top priority.

Reviews from Google

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Tiffany Bennett

This dr has no clue what he’s doing! Miss diagnosed our cat, gave him meds with no diagnosis at all after he said oh no he doesn’t have a bladder blockage. We got no answers at all just got a bill for $900!!! They wanted to charge $1200 FOR NOTHING!!! This guy needs to be shut down! He is careless and has no clue what he’s doing! Now we are at another vet that is helping our cat!!

Lizbeth Magallon

Terrible customer service with this so called Dr. Walia. He will not listen to what your concerns are. He cropped my dogs ears and kept saying they look even . Then he agreed to them being uneven , but for him you can’t really tell only if you look at them. How can I not look at her she’s my dog. He proceeded to say he dosnt like working with “people like me”. Not sure exactly what he ment? You mean you only like patients, who are submissive and won’t react to the poorly job you have done? I have recorded our conversations because of how rude he is and won’t let you speak. I did take her back to get it fixed and all he kept saying is “if I cut her ears you’re not going to be happy it could end up shorter than the other”. He said this at least 5 times. well that’s very reassuring you obviously shouldn’t be cropping ears if you’re not comfortable with it. Left my puppy , but then went to get her before he botched her again. Do yourself a favor and don’t make the same mistake we did. These others reviews on cropping ears are very accurate make sure you read them all🫣 We will look for a different place to fix her ears and will absolutely never refer anyone here and will be exposing them on other social media’s because “people like me” will post on TikTok where the word travels a lot quicker. To bad I didn’t record him rolling his eyes at me like a child who dosnt like to hear when they are in the wrong.

Diana Bizyuk

Terrible service with Dr. Walia. If there was a 0 star option, I would have chosen it. I don't write reviews ever, but would like to share this with everyone. I first went to Affordable Health Clinic (which Dr. Walia works at as well). My cat has a growth on his neck. The doc said it's potentially cancerous, but told me to give Blue antibiotics for a week. If growth does not go away then he asked that I schedule a surgery on a Friday to get it removed. The growth did not go away. I called Affordable Pet Clinic, who told me he will work at Westgate tomorrow (Firday). I explained the situation, so they scheduled an appt for me, and the receptionist asked to make sure my cat does not drink or eat after 7pm prior to the visit. So, after starving my poor cat all night, I arrived at Westgate. Receptionist had no idea what the visit was about and even told me that they won't have time for a surgery today. The doc came in to look at the growth. He did not seem to recognize me or his patient (aka the cat, called Blue). So I had to re-explain everything he told me a few weeks ago. He kept calling Blue a "she," when he is a "he", which i thought was a common mistake. However, Dr. Walia did not even have the correct file during the appt. The records that he had in hand weren't even for Blue. He asked if this was the same growth from last year. Which I did not even take him to any clinics last year for a growth. So I explained again that this is the same growth he saw 2 weeks ago. Anyhow, he looked at the growth again and said it's cancerous. He said he did not want to remove it because it is next to a bunch of nerves. The doc said a specialist is needed and that it will likely regrow, and chemo therapy will be needed afterwards. He said there is no guarantee that removal will help. The final suggestion is that Blue has cancer and nothing can be done. Upon leaving the clinic, the receptionist then charged $48, for a 15 minute conversation with the doc that could have been avoided had he not told me this during my first visit with him; when he originally told me a surgery is needed. I starved my cat last night for no reason, and it was not easy for him, as I always have food/water out for him. I lost $48 also for a pointless visit. This is the worst expierence I've ever had and I don't recommend Westgate Animal Hosptital or Affordable Health Clinic on Tacoma 6th ave to anyone.

morgan j

We took our terrier mix here for a dental. They charged me for fluids but guess what… no fluids were given. I’m sorry but it is almost mandatory at any clinic you go to and it also helps with the recovery of the surgery. Charged for something my dog never got… fast forward to now, we took our dog into a different clinic just for a teeth cleaning recently. they did dental x-rays to see if any teeth needed to be extracted (normal for vets to do- mind you westgates clinic never took dental x-rays) The new clinic i went to informed me that 3 of my poor dogs teeth, still had the roots in his mouth! “Doctor” Walia literally extracted just the external of the teeth and left all the roots in my dogs mouth!!!! I called west gate and asked them for my dogs records and asked for the diagram showing which teeth were extracted. THE receptionist LADY SAID THEY HAD NO records on file for my dog and that he was only there for a dental and the doctor logged how much anesthesia was used. Didn’t log my dogs blood work, procedure, which teeth were extracted, NOTHING. this doctor literally butchered my dogs teeth. Do not trust this clinic. i paid for pre-anesthesia blood work but i don’t even think that was done.

Dustin Merrill

This office never wrote down my extremely overweight cat's weight on my original visit here years ago. His weight was the entire reason for the visit (this is reflected on the visit paperwork), and they didn't even write the number down. When I brought him back just now, many years later and many pounds lighter, they couldn't even tell me what his weight was on his original visit and admitted it was because "someone didn't write it down". I could see the blank space on the handwritten card. A handwritten "WT:" with nothing next to it. When I politely pressed on the issue with office staff, I was met with a lot of umms, I don't knows, and silence. When I talked to the vet personally about it, he told me multiple times to my face, "it is fine that we didn't write the weight, it is fine." What the hell? The reason for the original visit was his concerning weight... how can you tell me with a straight face that "it's fine that we didn't write it"? The vet is also either unable to tell male from female pets, or (much more likely) will put absolutely no effort into gendering your pet correctly. My boy was referred to as a girl/she every single time the vet talked about him during both visits. He is correctly listed as male on his paperwork. It's not the biggest deal on its own, but in light of other massive disregard for detail, this stands out more now. I didn't believe the numerous reviews of incompetence, but I will share my experience in hopes that you do.

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