My cat, whom I got when I lived alone in this state as a teenager and she has been with me ever since (14 years), was recently diagnosed with mouth cancer. I was forced to take her to this oncologist because the one I really wanted to bring her to did not have an opening and thus, I made the massive mistake of taking her to this "veterinary oncologist". Dr. Hershey did not even deign to speak to me on most occasions, I still have never met her or any of her staff for that matter. Even when my cat was acting extremely bizarrely after her first chemotherapy appointment I was met with ambivalence and callousness on the part of that entire staff. I was told that Dr. Hershey returns calls at the end of the day. Well in actuality her terse staff calls you back and absolutely cannot answer follow up questions. So hopefully nothing time sensitive is happening to your animal because they don't care, you will still get a call back at 6 PM. I did not grow up with animals, this cat is my first, I am an adult now and have yet to deal with the impending death of a beloved pet and am unfortunately, learning how to navigate this scenario. In the beginning I cried multiple times a day and was so unaware of the options in which could be taken to help my poor, sweet cat. Not once did I get off of a phone call with this terrible office and not break down into tears because I just knew, these people did not care one iota about my cat. They were curt, uncaring, and very lacking in communication. After one specific appointment in which I got a call early in the day where this staff stated "Your cat is being difficult we need to give her meds." She was also very rude about that, as if it was a massive inconvenience to her that my cat was sick and terrified. Which now that I know this office is notorious in Phoenix for being extremely lackluster in their care and customer relations makes total sense. This is going to sound very biased but I will swear until the day I die that this is the honest truth, my cat has NEVER even hissed at a person before. Not one vet has EVER had a problem with my cat and she has had multiple surgeries and office visits throughout her life. So I can absolutely guarantee that awful staff probably traumatized my cat and treated her so poorly to where she exhibited behavior she has not once put forth in her ENTIRE 14 YEARS of living. It actually makes me feel so bad that I allowed her to be so mistreated by people who so obviously do not care about the animals they see every day. As such, I got "discharge papers" if that is what you call the brief sentence or two explaining nothing I was given after appointments, after this visit that verbatim stated, "Give this medication an hour before appointments" because they obviously just didn't feel like being compassionate human beings and would rather me just drug her so their life is easier. (Pathetic) Well I called in because the papers had no amount to give her or when to give it to her other than prior to appointments. I was met with such hostility it was insane. The girl was so rude to me, I remember, I got off the phone and I cried for hours, because I just knew they did not care and my cat was going to die because of their apathy. Sorry it is just another Tuesday at work for you guys but this is my family and it makes me tear up and get enraged as I write this because they are supposed to aid in this really tough time and they just don't care. So I stopped taking my cat there immediately and went to the FAR SUPERIOR Arizona Veterinary Oncology in Gilbert. It takes me an extra 45 minutes to get there but I would WAY rather drive there and take the inconvenience, and traffic and days off from work than EVER, EVER, EVER go back to this horrendous vet oncologist. DO NOT TAKE YOUR PETS HERE. Go to Gilbert, they genuinely care. I see the vet every single time, they staff is so warm and they explain everything in minute detail. They are always available. I am genuinely so upset that I ever even took my cat here. I was vulnerable and just trying to be proactive but in the end I know that it was more detrimental to her overall then just waiting to see an actual vet oncologist who has a vested interest in their patients and their owners being informed and assisted with their comments, questions, and concerns. I have a friend who has been a vet tech for almost 15 years and she told me that in the early days apparently Dr. Hershey was THE VET ONCOLOGIST, and began to be inundated due to the high demand of her services. She communicated to me that it is a known fact in the Arizona Veterinary community that she perhaps got a little too big for her britches and now her practice is no longer about the animals. So once again, don't even bother going here, go to Gilbert. read more