Recommended Vet Clinic

[saiyajin]

Hey everyone

I will be picking up my dog this coming Sunday and want to know if anybody knows a good vet in the Northeast area?

looking for a good place as it will be my go to place for all my future vet visits and such for my new furry friend. thanks in advance!

:thumbsup:

[max_boost]

The best place so far if reviews matter are Vets To Go Mobile Veterinarians but I haven't used them before.

I don't know how I feel about McKnight 24hour. The last few times it was so expensive. :nut:

If it were downtown I recommend Animal Clinic on 9th. They are simply wonderful people.

[Shlade]

Go visit Sasha at Alpine Pet hospital on 61st Ave across Chinook/attached to the staples and beside Home Depot. GREAT group of people there and Sasha (owner) is awesome. Been taking my Rottweiler since he was a pup there (2 surgeries one major one minor) that both went with ease. Can't say enough good things about them

[saiyajin]

Originally posted by max_boost
The best place so far if reviews matter are Vets To Go Mobile Veterinarians but I haven't used them before.

I don't know how I feel about McKnight 24hour. The last few times it was so expensive. :nut:

If it were downtown I recommend Animal Clinic on 9th. They are simply wonderful people.

damn I was planning to use the McKnight one since its close to NE and also 24hours :banghead:



Originally posted by Shlade
Go visit Sasha at Alpine Pet hospital on 61st Ave across Chinook/attached to the staples and beside Home Depot. GREAT group of people there and Sasha (owner) is awesome. Been taking my Rottweiler since he was a pup there (2 surgeries one major one minor) that both went with ease. Can't say enough good things about them

sounds awesome but kind of out of the way and bit far from where I'm at
:dunno:

[theken]

I personally make the trip out to okotoks with my dogs. Awesome place

[tirebob]

Drive north to Airdire and go the the Aidrie Animal Health Centre. Seriously... They people are amazing and waaaaay less expensive than vets in Calgary. We have been using them since before we ever lived in Airdrie. They are awesome with our pets, have never had an issue the few times we have gone in emergency last minute and have never been raped on costs. They don't guilt you into spending tons of money when really it can be avoided and give you options. Can't say enough about how satisfied we are with them!

[saiyajin]

Originally posted by tirebob
Drive north to Airdire and go the the Aidrie Animal Health Centre. Seriously... They people are amazing and waaaaay less expensive than vets in Calgary. We have been using them since before we ever lived in Airdrie. They are awesome with our pets, have never had an issue the few times we have gone in emergency last minute and have never been raped on costs. They don't guilt you into spending tons of money when really it can be avoided and give you options. Can't say enough about how satisfied we are with them!

awesome thanks Bob, I'm in Skyview so Airdrie will be fine. I'll give them a call see to book something thanks! :thumbsup:

[saiyajin]

so appointment booked in Airdrie, for a check up is $88 is that high, low, average? I honestly have no idea.

thanks for any feedback guys :D

[tirebob]

That is a lot lower than many places and they will probably be extra thorough being a first visit... Just like with a new family doctor.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by saiyajin
so appointment booked in Airdrie, for a check up is $88 is that high, low, average? I honestly have no idea.

thanks for any feedback guys :D That's cheap. :thumbsup:

[haggis88]

$88 is on the cheaper side for sure...my GFs place charges $95 iirc

[ekguy]

Quite a bit of a drive but Shawnessy 24 hour emergency vet has saved my cat's life twice now and some of our family's past dogs have gone there as well. They are great there!!

[saiyajin]

Airdrie clinic was very nice, crappy thing is my dog gets car sick so any drive sucks for him and me (damn clean up) :banghead:

[BlueHaloGirl]

I use the McKnight 24 vet clinic and have for a few years now. I honestly don't find them any more expensive than any other vet in the city. Of course if you use the emergency feature then you will pay an emergency examination fee which is $95.
I find the ladies there very nice and helpful and the few doctors I've seen have been good and helpful.
I've also found it's not overly crazy busy and I love the fact it's 24hours so I can book an appointment for 8pm if I need to!! Sure makes it accommodating.
I've had them treat my dog for a cut open paw and they put staples in, it healed up great and they are very good at doing follow up calls.
I've had them do stiches in my dogs pad and they healed up great!!!
Most recently they treated my dogs eye which she got something logged into it!! Again all great and really good with follow up.

[speedog]

Originally posted by BlueHaloGirl
I use the McKnight 24 vet clinic and have for a few years now. I honestly don't find them any more expensive than any other vet in the city. Of course if you use the emergency feature then you will pay an emergency examination fee which is $95.
I find the ladies there very nice and helpful and the few doctors I've seen have been good and helpful.
I've also found it's not overly crazy busy and I love the fact it's 24hours so I can book an appointment for 8pm if I need to!! Sure makes it accommodating.
I've had them treat my dog for a cut open paw and they put staples in, it healed up great and they are very good at doing follow up calls.
I've had them do stiches in my dogs pad and they healed up great!!!
Most recently they treated my dogs eye which she got something logged into it!! Again all great and really good with follow up.
McKnight has been our go to vet now since TransCanada shut down. No complaints at all.

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by theken
I personally make the trip out to okotoks with my dogs. Awesome place

Can you give me more info on this vet clinic? I'm down in Shawnessy and looking for a new vet after Shawnessy vet (by safeway) gave me, and my in laws just MISERABLE service for our dogs and nearly cost my inlaws dog his life

[Squishy]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


Can you give me more info on this vet clinic? I'm down in Shawnessy and looking for a new vet after Shawnessy vet (by safeway) gave me, and my in laws just MISERABLE service for our dogs and nearly cost my inlaws dog his life
There's the 24 hr Fish creek animal hospital which is now located on Bannister Rd.

I've gone to them for a couple things, my one dog had $3000 surgery on her leg there. They're usually pretty good but it's not exactly the cheapest place.

The other place I take her to for her allergies and such is Macleod trail vet beside the Swiss chalet.

Also took her to big rock animal vet in okotoks and they were pretty nice and did teeth cleaning, mouth mass removal and removed one of her teeth for an ok price. $1300 I think. Was in the middle of the quotes I got but seemed like they knew what they were talking about.

I have a problem child.. lol

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by Squishy

There's the 24 hr Fish creek animal hospital which is now located on Bannister Rd.

I've gone to them for a couple things, my one dog had $3000 surgery on her leg there. They're usually pretty good but it's not exactly the cheapest place.

The other place I take her to for her allergies and such is Macleod trail vet beside the Swiss chalet.

Also took her to big rock animal vet in okotoks and they were pretty nice and did teeth cleaning, mouth mass removal and removed one of her teeth for an ok price. $1300 I think. Was in the middle of the quotes I got but seemed like they knew what they were talking about.

I have a problem child.. lol

My in laws dog one day couldn't walk - his front paws just were not working at all , and it came out of nowhere.

They took him to the Shawnessy vet by Safeway, the vet listed off a laundry list of things it COULD be (neurological, pinched nerve, spine issues) etc. DIDN'T do any blood work, DIDN'T offer xrays , DIDN'T recommend escalating it, just said "Pay for some pain killers, and see if it clears up in a week" :nut:

I told my in laws to get an immediate second opinion , because Shawnessy has been notorious lately for making you pay for a medication, it not working, then making you buy different mediation, it not working, then actually doing something about it / investigating further. So i told them they can't be strung along for week after week if the poor little guy can't even use his front legs.

They did take him to the fish creek vet - who did blood work and ran xrays immediately and turned out he had a slipped disk in his spine (or something like ethat) and required IMMEDIATE/URGENT surgery, if left it would have done a lot more damage or even possibly killed him.

With my dog, I have a miniature pinscher, and I joke that shes a mega min-pin since she is about 6" taller than what her breed should be (They should be 10"~ , shes about 16") - so their average weight is 8-11 lbs. Well naturally mine weighs a bit more since she's much taller, mine is about 14 lbs because we walk her regularly and regulate her feeding to 2 times a day

Last year the vet was totally acknowledging of that saying "She is heavier for her breed, but I mean she is taller" - which makes sense. So this year for the inspection, we asked for the same vet, since she "got it" and understood "taller than average size = heavier than average size"

Well we show up and they've done some renovations recently - and instantly we're introduced with a bunch of food plans for our dog now that shes a senior and such. We nod politely and decline

Then we get into the vet - and the vet brings out the chart of 5 shapes of dog and get asked "Which one looks like your dog?" So we point to "Average" (bit of a concave tummy, can see outline of ribs, healthy for her breed) , the vet says "no, sorry shes a 4" and points to the chubby dog - then says "your dog is 4 lbs over weight for her breed - and in a small breed, that's very dangerous and she could die" then pulls out this pamphlet about a doggy weight watchers program for a few hundred a month we could put her on a plan :rofl:

What a joke , place was a giant sales pitch after sales pitch - then got onto the "Well we also offer sedated dental cleaning that we recommend annually"

Needless to say we declined everything and are looking for a new vet that doesn't have ulterior motives by shoving whatever pet dog food rep was at their location leading up to this to try and pressure sell diet plans to dog owners.

[V6-BoI]

Originally posted by BlueHaloGirl
I use the McKnight 24 vet clinic and have for a few years now. I honestly don't find them any more expensive than any other vet in the city. Of course if you use the emergency feature then you will pay an emergency examination fee which is $95.
I find the ladies there very nice and helpful and the few doctors I've seen have been good and helpful.
I've also found it's not overly crazy busy and I love the fact it's 24hours so I can book an appointment for 8pm if I need to!! Sure makes it accommodating.
I've had them treat my dog for a cut open paw and they put staples in, it healed up great and they are very good at doing follow up calls.
I've had them do stiches in my dogs pad and they healed up great!!!
Most recently they treated my dogs eye which she got something logged into it!! Again all great and really good with follow up.



Originally posted by speedog

McKnight has been our go to vet now since TransCanada shut down. No complaints at all.

Same, I go to McKnight as well and no complaints. Last time I took my dog for a check up, I think it ended up being 140 bucks ish. But that included 4 de-worming pills.

[speedog]

The tough thing about all of this is that there is always people that have great experiences at the same places that others have horrible experiences at. Know this after being in the pet industry on the retail side and talking to many customers and had ones that had everything wonderful to say of vets that others had bad experiences with. Our past vet, we loved him but even one of our employees only had bad things to say about him.

So take what you read here with a grain of salt because your experience may be totally different from someone else's. Don't bother with the BBB either as that accreditation is kind of a joke.

[Gripenfelter]

Originally posted by saiyajin
Airdrie clinic was very nice, crappy thing is my dog gets car sick so any drive sucks for him and me (damn clean up) :banghead:

Don't feed him within 2 hrs of the trip.

[Squishy]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


My in laws dog one day couldn't walk - his front paws just were not working at all , and it came out of nowhere.

They took him to the Shawnessy vet by Safeway, the vet listed off a laundry list of things it COULD be (neurological, pinched nerve, spine issues) etc. DIDN'T do any blood work, DIDN'T offer xrays , DIDN'T recommend escalating it, just said "Pay for some pain killers, and see if it clears up in a week" :nut:

I told my in laws to get an immediate second opinion , because Shawnessy has been notorious lately for making you pay for a medication, it not working, then making you buy different mediation, it not working, then actually doing something about it / investigating further. So i told them they can't be strung along for week after week if the poor little guy can't even use his front legs.

They did take him to the fish creek vet - who did blood work and ran xrays immediately and turned out he had a slipped disk in his spine (or something like ethat) and required IMMEDIATE/URGENT surgery, if left it would have done a lot more damage or even possibly killed him.

With my dog, I have a miniature pinscher, and I joke that shes a mega min-pin since she is about 6" taller than what her breed should be (They should be 10"~ , shes about 16") - so their average weight is 8-11 lbs. Well naturally mine weighs a bit more since she's much taller, mine is about 14 lbs because we walk her regularly and regulate her feeding to 2 times a day

Last year the vet was totally acknowledging of that saying "She is heavier for her breed, but I mean she is taller" - which makes sense. So this year for the inspection, we asked for the same vet, since she "got it" and understood "taller than average size = heavier than average size"

Well we show up and they've done some renovations recently - and instantly we're introduced with a bunch of food plans for our dog now that shes a senior and such. We nod politely and decline

Then we get into the vet - and the vet brings out the chart of 5 shapes of dog and get asked "Which one looks like your dog?" So we point to "Average" (bit of a concave tummy, can see outline of ribs, healthy for her breed) , the vet says "no, sorry shes a 4" and points to the chubby dog - then says "your dog is 4 lbs over weight for her breed - and in a small breed, that's very dangerous and she could die" then pulls out this pamphlet about a doggy weight watchers program for a few hundred a month we could put her on a plan :rofl:

What a joke , place was a giant sales pitch after sales pitch - then got onto the "Well we also offer sedated dental cleaning that we recommend annually"

Needless to say we declined everything and are looking for a new vet that doesn't have ulterior motives by shoving whatever pet dog food rep was at their location leading up to this to try and pressure sell diet plans to dog owners.
Yeah, my problem child has bad allergies, so she was shaking her head because it was itchy and burst the blood vessels in her ear, so it filled with blood. Looked like a hot balloon. My mom took her in somewhere (can't remember where) and all they would suggest is surgery. Like really? The most expensive option. She asked if they could just drain it with a needle, so they did and it went back to normal, no further complications. Why resort to surgery as the first solution? I don't like that at all.

We took my oldest dog to the emergency one in deerfoot meadows and I find them to be one of the more expensive places. All of a sudden something happened with her spine and she wasn't comfortable or happy anymore. Her back legs were starting to lose mobility. They doped her up with meds, sent us home with her and the next day we ended up having to put her down because we couldn't see her like that anymore. I thought she was having a heart attack because her eyes were so wide and she wasn't responding to anything or moving.

As far as dental cleaning, it's pretty expensive and sedating them is the only way they'll do it to my knowledge. Every year seems ideal but it's like $600+ just for that which is dumb. Same with dentists for people I guess. Expensive without benefits.

After all the BS I've gone through with my two older dogs, I decided to get pet insurance for my younger one. I was anti-pet insurance before but after all the heart break I don't want to have to put my dog down because of an $8000+ spinal surgery that I can't afford again, especially when she was perfectly healthy her entire life (she was 11 yrs).

[403Gemini]

When I got my dog (10 years ago) pet insurance was a complete joke - it didn't cover conditions that your dogs breed was prone too (some breeds didn't cover cancer, my dogs hind legs wouldn't be covered - which I had to have surgery on both of them) , but reading the policies now, it's come a LONG way and will certainly get it for my next dog.

Speeddog is totally right now, everybodies experiences may vary from clinic to clinic , I just feel since there isn't any regulation to vets it's so easy for them to take advantage of situations ... but maybe that's just me being jaded ;)