It’s very unfortunate that Dr. Parshley is the only vet oncologist in Olympia – our experience with her was abysmal. It is definitely worth the time to travel to Tacoma or Seattle for additional opinions and treatment plans. Our primary vet referred us to Dr. Parshley after diagnosing our French bulldog, Mango, with an aggressive cancerous tumour. And our initial meeting with her was good – she seemed attentive, thoughtful and took the time to explain what we might expect in the coming months. She gave us some verbal thoughts on potential treatment plans and assured my husband and I that she would send us a written treatment plan within 48 hours. We were very worried about our dog and wanted to act as quickly as possible to get her the treatment she needed. After nearly two weeks of emails and phone calls to get the promised plan from Dr. Parshley (during which time, we put ourselves in the queue to see other vets), she let us know that she thought our dog would need much more extensive imaging, chemotherapy and surgery - which her surgery partner was the only person in the state qualified to perform. In fact, she didn’t seem to remember details of her original examination, forgot that she’d reviewed extensive imaging and seemed confused when we read back to her notes taken during the original meeting. After getting this preliminary report, we consulted two other vets, who strongly encouraged us to get more opinions based both on her recommended treatment and Dr. Parshley’s reputation within the veterinary community. We ended up taking Mango to a different oncologist and surgeon who were straightforward and honest with us – while surgery might make us feel better, it would be nearly impossible to remove 100% of the tumor and it would keep growing. Likewise with chemotherapy, the discomfort of the treatment needed to be weighed against the very short time it was likely to prolong Mango’s life. We ended up making the difficult decision to not treat her cancer aggressively and instead make her life as comfortable and stress free as possible. That was 8 months ago and I am happy to report that Mango is doing well! We talked with a number of our friends who have encountered Dr. Parshley over the last several years. And to a person, their experience matched ours – she was disorganized, not straightforward and overall seemed more interested in recommending the most expensive possible treatment rather than helping people weigh a number of different factors in making important decisions about important animal members of their family. We’ve asked our vet to stop referring patients to Dr. Parshley and highly recommend seeking a second or third opinion from other veterinary experts.

OLYMPIA VETERINARY CANCER CENTER IS NO LONGER AT THE LISTED ADDRESS. THEY ARE LOCATED AT 2627 PARKMONT LANE OLYMPIA, WA 98502

Dr. Parshley has got to be the best pet oncologist ever! She gave us the more time than we had ever hoped for with our precious Cassidy (Beadlepig). So sad Lisa moved to Olympia as I wish we could have carried on our friendship. Excellent doctor to say the least.