Advanced Veterinary Care Center

I would recommend this vet for your emergency care needs. They were professional and provided excellent customer service. Dr. Calicchio was also very considerate of the cost and worked with me to get the best treatment for my dog. Kristi, the nurse, was very gentle and considerate when handling my difficult dog.

I cannot express how amazing the staff is. My poor little boy Polo would have never survived that day if I didn’t bring him to the ER. The staff was highly concerned about him and I was able to tell how loving they were towards him. He was literally fighting for his life. The staff kept me updated as the progress went on and were able to save his life. Two days later Polo’s vital signs were back to normal and I was so happy when the nurse told me that Polo was sleeping on his back with his legs wide open. I couldn’t stop laughing… finally after all the crying I did. If you know Polo you know he sleeps that way. You can tell he was comfortable and the nurse wasn’t lying. How would she know that? You can only know… if you know Polo. I will be forever grateful for them. I highly suggest anyone taking their pets there. Your pet will be in good hands with loving people who truly care about their job and animals. God bless them all.

Most amazing service you’ll ever encounter! I had my dog, Pakkun, hospitalized for 2 weeks and every day I was consistently updated on his progress and briefed by the doctors. They gave me clear concise facts, and all of my options. Every staff member was the epitome kindness. From the front desk, to the techs, to every doctor I met, everyone was so open and sweet. Unfortunately, he did not make it, but even that process was handled with dignity and grace by the entire staff. Thank you to everyone there who helped us as much as they possibly could and gave us 2 more weeks with the most important person in our lives. We will always be grateful.

I literally don’t know where to begin in expressing my utmost gratitude to the staff at Advanced Veterinary Care Center. From the moment I walked into AVCC each and every person I interacted with had the utmost concern, care and love for Karma. I honestly felt like I was a member of someone’s family who worked there and she was their personal pet.

I brought my beloved dog Karma in through the ER because she had been vomiting for no reason I could think of all day. We met with Dr. Chris McLaughlin, Director of Emergency and Critical Care who promptly took Karma’s vitals, physical exam, and ran labs. Her liver enzymes were a touch elevated which could have come from her vomiting, so he suggested we come back in a week and retest them. They administered a shot of anti-nausea medicine and we were on our way home. Dr. McLaughlin is compassionate, kind and thorough. I’ve been to many veterinary ER’s and specialists in the past 25 years and none can hold a flicker of a candle to AVCC but let me continue my story.

Upon recheck of her bloodwork we had noticed that her liver value was tracking higher, they weren’t “high” as in the type of indication an ER would see with a severely sick dog but high enough that they were pushed out of normal range. We met with Dr. Jeff Toll, Hospital Director and Director of Internal Medicine who did an ultrasound. Unfortunately, the ultrasound revealed a large liver mass most likely hepatocellular carcinoma. We discussed having a CT done the next day to ensure the mass was a candidate for surgery. Dr. Toll immediately had the CT scan scheduled, updated the Dr. Shiara Arulpragasam, Director of Surgery and set up a consultation with Dr. Sindy Piscoya, Director of Oncology. He did all of this in the time it took me to use the restroom. Dr. Toll took the liberty of advocating for Karma and setting up all the necessary procedures. He’s hands down the best internal medicine doctor in S. Florida and this was not my first, second or third experience with him.

We then met with Dr. Shiara Arulpragasam who walked into the exam room and sat down on the floor with me and Karma and did her very best to reassure me and thoroughly explain the procedure, risks, recovery and next steps. Karma underwent a liver lobectomy to remove a large hepatocellular carcinoma mass. The surgery was not without risk as surgeries often are and this was particularly difficult due to the proximity of the portal vein the caudal vena cava. Dr. Arulpragasam was so patient, compassionate and empathic. She really understood how much my life depended on my dog surviving surgery. After Karma’s surgery, Dr. Arulpragasam came into the exam room where we were waiting along with family members to give us her surgical update. She meticulously communicated every detail of Karma’s surgery, her post op recovery and next steps. We couldn’t have been more grateful for such great news!

My endless gratitude to the beyond stellar staff at AVCC, Dr. Jeff Toll, Dr. Chris McLaughin, Dr. Shiara Arulpragasam, Dr. Stephanie High, Dr. Sindy Piscoya, the Internal Medicine Technicians Andrew Barrow, Madison Dominguez, Surgical Technician Alan Gonzalez, Surgical Tech Supervisor Brittney McKinley, the Oncology Technician Palesia Ponder, Technician CVT Bailey Harris, Customer Service Supervisor Suzy Mesa and her team Brisa Ramos, Cortney Walker, Shenika Christie, Tere Ramirez, and Stephanie Palmer Hospital Manager who made sure our bills were seamlessly sent directly to our pet insurance company Embrace on our behalf.

Dr. Toll and Dr. Rappaport, you did a suburb job hiring an amazing staff of heartfelt and compassionate individuals who all work in harmony as a team. The way your staff treats our beloved companion animals as if they were their own, treats their owners/caretakers/guardians as if they were part of their family, the expertise of extremely cutting edge, first class employees sets you apart from every other ER/Specialist in the county.
A million waves of gratitude to all of you from all of us.
Marni Bellavia, Karma, Bodhi and Divina

I can’t even begin to thank the doctors and team at the Advanced Veterinary Care Center. We came in on an emergency case for our almost 6 year old French Mastiff, Patrick who was having gastrointestinal issue that was undiagnosed. Every single person that we interacted with did so with the utmost care and love for him. From the Emergency Doctor Katherine Zamudio who was on call to the Technicians to the Surgeons, I truly feel as though each and every one loved and took care of our baby as if he was their own. Dr. Shiara Arulpragasm and Dr. Barry Bower were phenomenal and meticulously communicated every update, every step of the way AND ALWAYS had Patrick’s health in the forefront. It’s rare that you have a great interaction with every single employee but that’s what you get at Advanced Veterinary Care Center. Thank you does not begin to express the level of gratitude that we feel as a family toward every person at this facility. Dr. McLaughlin & Dr. Toll, kudos on hiring such a heartfelt and compassionate team. Thank you Dr. A & Dr. Bower and the surgical staff for spending extended time and being so meticulous about the care and finesse you put into putting our big boy back together. Thank you Stacy especially for the bed and tutorials, Joyce, Christina, Karina, Anne and every technician and surgical team member for loving Patrick including his slobber, especially you Brittney. Thank you Stefan, Chris and Jerome for being the designated muscle to move a stubborn 150lb brick at times and Stefan for being a human weight for an X-Ray. And a true heartfelt thank you to the girls who would be the always smiling and welcoming faces the second we would come by – Suzy, Cortney, Tere and the whole team. Each and every one of you made this entire process that much easier with the biggest peace of mind every time we left that you would care for him like we would. You guys were absolutely a God send. Thank you.