Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital - Wheat Ridge, Colorado

KT Hernandez

Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital lives up to all of the sterling reviews and recommendations. When one vet left us with more questions than answers, WRAH filled in the blanks. The staff is diligent, accommodating and compassionate.

We are extremely grateful to have had Dr. Li (and Dr. Raczek) as our neuro team when our precious girl, Khali, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. During her heartbreaking, rapid, decline Dr. Li was one call/one email away. She helped us navigate this scary time to provide Khali with end of life care. We will never forget how caring, compassionate, and invested Dr. Li was in her care. Dr. Li was everything we hoped to find in a doctor for our baby during this time.

Matthew White

This review aims to bring attention to the actions of Dr. Jessica Villm, which, we believe, contributed to the tragic and preventable death of my service animal, Coco. After an extensive investigation by my research team, in consultation with veterinary experts, we found that Dr. Villm’s actions violated medical ethics and fell short of the expected standard of care.

Coco was under the care of Dr. Villm for IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease) and was otherwise healthy. However, Coco would end up developing a life threatening autoimmune disease that we believe was caused by medication that I refused to give her. The failed diagnosis, and untreated progression of that disease would result in unnecessary suffering and ultimately in Coco’s early death.

Dr. Villm repeatedly urged me to administer a blood thinner called Plavix to Coco over the course of her care. Each time, I declined. I made the decision not to administer the potentially dangerous blood thinner, a decision informed by our veterinarian’s advice, research, and careful consideration of the risks.

While I was away my wife brought Coco in for a checkup. Dr. Villm disregarded my explicit wishes and persuaded my pregnant wife to administer Plavix. Dr. Villm failed to inform my wife that I had previously refused the medication and did not disclose the potentially deadly side effects.

Before prescribing Plavix, Dr. Villm did not perform a clotting test to determine if Coco needed a blood thinner and did not conduct a baseline CBC (Complete Blood Count) to assess blood levels before or during her treatment. She did not schedule a follow-up exam after prescribing Plavix or perform any subsequent monitoring.

When I returned home Coco had lost over 10% of her body weight, was weak and had become jaundice. Dr. Villm assured us that Plavix could not cause Coco’s condition. Despite our concerns, she insisted Coco remain on the medication for another 3 months.

Over the next three months, Coco's condition deteriorated. Despite many visits (10 in only 12 weeks), Dr. Villm failed to conduct essential tests or make an accurate diagnosis. Only after I presented data that showed that Coco was healthy until she was given Plavix did she order a CBC, which revealed dangerously low blood cell counts.

When Dr. Villm finally took Coco off Plavix, she also, without having performed any additional tests, took Coco off the only medication that was helping control her drug-induced immune disease. This decision would prove to be fatal, and cause Coco to suffer and ultimately lead to her death. We would ultimately spend over $20,000 trying to save Coco's life.

Coco was more than a service animal; she was a beloved family member and a loyal companion who faithfully supported me through multiple reconstructive surgeries. Her death has caused significant emotional distress to our family, overshadowing the birth of our first child. Coco’s litter-mate, Riley, inseparable since birth struggles without her. I am now forced to try to adapt to life without the service animal I had by my side for nearly 9 years and to cope with the shocking circumstances that cut her life short.

Astoundingly, Dr. Villm would tell me only weeks before Coco’s death that if Coco’s condition was caused by Plavix that she would publish a research paper on her case. This was highly insensitive and inappropriate and further demonstrated Dr. Villm’s lack of ethics and professionalism.

In honor of Coco, we are petitioning the Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine to review her case and determine whether Dr. Villm’s actions warrant disciplinary measures. We are also exploring our legal options.

Given our experience, we strongly urge anyone considering veterinary care to thoroughly evaluate their options and ensure that their chosen provider adheres to the highest standards of care. If your service animal or pet suffered or passed away under the care of Dr. Villm or any other veterinarian at Wheatridge Animal Hospital, please contact us, we want to hear from you.

We miss you, Coco. Your story is just beginning.

Cali Ryan

*I’ve added screenshots of the previous review and response for context.

I am deeply disappointed and disturbed by this company’s failure to do basic research before responding to a post filled with the pain and grief of losing a beloved family member. Your response is not only filled with misinformation about how we lost our baby but also lacks the empathy such a situation demands.

To assume that euthanasia was involved and then to patronize Xavier is both unprofessional and unethical. While I understand that euthanasia services through the ER are emotional for many families, that was not the case with Monroe. Had you taken the time to understand the situation fully, you would know that she passed away in my arms, in your waiting room—not during euthanasia. After this heartbreaking moment, we were charged for “partial CPR” and hurried to the ER patient room.

While I am grateful for the efforts to save Monroe’s life, what happened afterward was both traumatic and unprofessional. Being told to lower my sobs because others in the ER could hear my pain, just moments after losing my dog so suddenly, was deeply disrespectful. To make matters worse, I was asked to leave Monroe and move to a different area because “the room needed to be turned over” for other patients. How cruel is it to force someone to leave their pet’s side after their sudden passing? My grief and pain following my dog’s final moments were disregarded to make space for others.

The lack of care, consideration, and tact in how this situation was handled compounded my trauma. Brooke Doran, your response to Xavier’s post only added to the hurt of failing to understand our experience fully. Shame on you for commenting without knowing the facts.

Powder Skier Mike

Dr. Jake and the Oncology team have been fantastic. They told me the best and worst of what I might expect from the start with my dog's cancer, so I love the truth even if it hurts to hear it, but they have managed my expectations through out his cancer surgery, treatments and follow up. I am thrilled and blessed that Huckleberry, my 9 year old Lab is free of cancer for 20 months now and it's all due to the care of Wheat Ridge! Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving my best friend!! Mike Dr. Jake and his colleagues!!!

Jess Ippoliti

Update:
Mantis is gone. She was just under four years old when we lost her. She had to go to an Emergency Vet one night where they recommended she be put to sleep due to her poor quality of life and not wanting to put her through more trauma. We will never be the same and will always carry the trauma from our experience at Wheat Ridge.
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Original review:
They had a HUGE negative impact on our lives and every single day our family is affected.

Our cat has cerebellar hypoplasia and is epileptic. We decided to take her to a WRAH neurologist after ours retired. The neurologist at Wheat Ridge recommended that we ween our cat off her seizure meds since it had been over a year since she had a seizure.

We followed the instructions and five days after we finished weening her off her meds, she had seizures and we took her to the ER. They started a new medication and sent our cat home that night. She kept having seizures and we brought her back. She ended up in their ICU, we were told she had become blind and had probably a 50% chance of survival. She was in and out of the ER throughout the week and there were new obstacles to face at home.

The neurologist who had recommended taking her off the meds was overseeing her case during the experience but didn’t call us to talk about our cat. She didn’t come into a room when we were there, even though the staff were sometimes under the assumption that she was going to speak with us. She didn’t email us. She didn’t communicate with us at all until the next week because our cat was still having seizure issues. And when she finally did talk to us there was some gaslighting.

Our cat has tried to adapt the best she can, but her quality of life has significantly decreased since her hospitalization and each day is a challenge for her and my wife and I.

During her hospitalization and afterwards the neurologist didn’t acknowledge her initial recommendation to ween our cat off of her seizure medicine and it felt like she was trying to avoid any blame and/or possible legal action. And the way she treated us just felt wrong.

Our cat used to play with her siblings and was living her best life. Now she sleeps most of the time and cries when anyone approaches her because she can’t see what’s going on. Her walking and balance got worse with losing her eyesight. She falls over constantly and can’t use the bathroom by herself anymore. Her new neurologist (AESC, we love them) recommended a wheelchair for her.

Her quality of life changed drastically and so did ours. It’s been a devastating 18 months. Also, it’s worth noting that I had asked to speak with a practice manager after a few incidents that were unprofessional. They never bothered to reach out.
I have ~10 years of experience working in the veterinary industry and I have never observed such poor behavior in a situation like this.

Mary Beth Maggio

We were referred to Wheat Ridge after our dog was diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma. It was removed at our vet before the diagnosis, but did not have clear margins, so they sent us here to talk about further options. Front desk staff was kind and accommodating to our extra nervous pup who is leash reactivity. There was a side room we were able to isolate in and they gave us the extra time to do what we needed to keep him from making a big commotion. Dr. Gabby was WONDERFUL in her explanations, and I LOVED that she gave us visuals on the white board as well as her own opinion. I felt that she truly gave what she felt we should do next and not just something that would be the most expensive treatment. It felt like very honest and care and consideration to ensure we were not over treating our pup or putting him through unnecessary suffering. They could have very easily talked us into an expensive procedure to eliminate his entire cancer, but they were honest about the risk factors currently to determine if it was really worth it. She did not discredit our concern, and also welcomed us chatting through other ways to monitor his case to ensure there is no further progression.

Kellie Palmer

The most cared for I have ever felt at ANY veterinary hospital or animal urgent care. Everyone from the front desk to the veterinarians were so kind and helpful. Specially considering I was a mess. The communication was so amazing. Dr. Swift and Dr. Lazarus are above any vets I have met. They should be paid double bc I have never met any veterinarians so caring and smart. They know their stuff!!! No questions asked, take your animals here!

Jim Pace

Open 24hrs, so when our dog started experiencing seizures late at night they were able to treat him. He stayed there for 3 nights. The diagnosis was terminal brain cancer. They put together a treatment plan to control the seizures and would keep his quality of life positive until the cancer spread to the point that the seizures were uncontrollable. The facilities appear top notch. The staff was friendly, responsive, and accommodating throughout the process. Although Reggie has now passed, the experience was about as good as I could expect under the circumstances.