Emergency and Specialty Animal Medical Center

I am glad I did not read the negative reviews before I went, I probably would not have gone! This place is AMAZING!! From the moment I walked in EVERYONE from Dr. Hinton to the staff were so nice, caring and considerate! They took Trixie back as soon as I walked in. I had called ahead of time. It was 11:30 pm on Christmas day 2018 when vets are closed. Including ones that are listed on Google that say Emergency. I guess it is only for emergencies that happen during business hours only! BUT NOT HERE!!! . At ER Specialty Animal Medical Center there is ALWAYS someone there to help when no other vet is!! Be assured they are there to help your baby!! I had keyword had a vet for 25 years or more that I kept telling them something was wrong. I kept asking questions wanting answers! We tend to know when things go wrong with our babies or when something just isn't right but I kept getting told by my regular vet " she is just old " . Well it was more than just old!! She should NOT have had to suffer like she did for as long as she did!! A year!! My mistake was trusting my vet and not trusting my gut instinct and taking her here a long time ago ! IF ever you need a GREAT doctor who is knowledgeable and caring or if you have a gut feeling something is wrong and you do not get the right answer from your regular vet THIS IS THE PLACE TO GO DO NOT DO AS I DID JUST GO!! I appreciate EVERYONE who tried to save my baby girl Trixie! Thank you ALL for making a very hard and painful situation a little easier and giving me the truth so that my baby did not have to suffer anymore! Believe me I will be back to have my other baby Zeno who is also 15 years old checked out because I know you all are the best! They have more equipment than most vets! I see many negative comments about price. All I can say is I have paid way more to save a my baby only to be told after wards that I need to put him to sleep which then added more cost!! These people care about your baby not money! It is my vet of over 25 years who is in it for the money! My heart is shattered to pieces but I know my baby is no longer suffering! Dr. Hinton explained every thing and answer all my questions no matter how many or how long it took!, They do not rush me into anything! Thank you does not seem like enough! I appreciate you all more than I could express or than you know! Love you all! Thanks again! HUGS

Our dog spent the night vomiting, so we brought him in. We were at the clinic 3.5 hours start to finish. The ladies at the front desk were friendly and helpful. We had a lot of waiting time between staff seeing us. We had three vet techs and the vet, so we kept seeing new people without introductions. We were displeased with Dr. Shuessler. She seemed tired, irritated, and did not show the friendliness or compassion you'd expect from a vet. Especially at an emergency center. We were recommended an overnight stay with IV to monitor our dog, which would estimate $600. He hadn't thrown up since we arrived, so we decided to decline. We received an outpatient estimate, and we declined one of the procedures, to which a tech seemed slightly frustrated that a new estimate would have to be written up. Overall, it was unfriendly service, a lot of waiting time, and expensive. We will look elsewhere for weekend/emergency care in the future.

I’m usually not one to do this, but I feel like people thinking about going to this vet need to know. We took my 10 year old female dachshund here immediately after I noticed she had been bleeding a lot, clotty blood. Everyone that worked there had the personality of a rock, but that’s beside the point. They got us back to our room very quickly. The vet diagnosed my dog with impacted anal glands. She said you can pay 180 dollars for blood work to make sure that I am right or we can just treat her for what I think it is. She said I am 90 percent sure that this is what it is. So of course, since the vet didn’t seem worried about it, we weren’t worried. They gave my dog a shot and sent her home with an antibiotic. Said everything should go back to normal in a few days. Seemed like they were just trying to get us in and get us out as quickly as possible. The next morning, my dog still wouldn’t eat, move, lay down, etc. She wouldn’t do anything. She had bled a lot during the night, but we weren’t that worried because the doctor at the emergency clinic told us everything would go back to normal that this was very common in dogs. We take her to our normal vet just to be sure, and immediately our normal vet says that she has gastrointestinal colitis. He says that this is very serious and my dog needs to be treated immediately. She stays over night at and ends up passing away in the early morning. Maybe it was inevitable that my dog passed away, but I can’t help to believe that if we could have gotten a correct diagnosis from the emergency vet, we might could have gotten her better. Bad customer service. If it is an emergency, I suggest going somewhere else.

My dog was having a fever and wasn't eating for few days, so I brought her in. I spend 4 hours. The assistant at the front desk were not friendly and not helpful. They told me to call my local vet to send them the information about my dog 10mins of closing time. Instead, of them calling my local vet themselves. I saw three vet techs, they didn't introduce themselves at all and they all gave different answers. I finally got to see Dr. Shuessler. I was very unsatisfied with her service. She was confused, inadequate, irritated, tired and no empathy toward my dog! She rushed me into paying for the service without explaining why and would not treat my dog without paying. They charged me least $1000 for the services, which I was not satisfied. I was expecting my dog to get better instead she's not. I asked for refund or negotiate the fee since they didn't provided proper services. They refused to work with me. I had to take my dog back to my local vet to get a correct diagnosis, explanation, and services. Overall, this place didn't provide the service I expected to get.

Came here when we first got our puppy with an emergency. It was fantastic service, great vet. We are back again, believing she may have ingested some roach poison. I am writing this from the waiting room. The vet told us to call Pet Poison Control, and that she would come back in and take our case number. It alarmed us that she did not have the knowledge to tell us, instead we had to call someone else and pay a fee. It is now been 3 hours since that call, and nobody has seen us. Very, very disappointed in this clinic, will NOT be back.

PLEASE DO NOT COME HERE!! I was tricked into coming here out of fear! All they want is to turn a profit, not help out your animal. I had the worse experience bringing my 8 month 19lbs that day old puppy in for an upset belly. It was Sunday and this was the only place in town open. Next time I am driving to which ever city has an open vet close by weather it be Atlanta, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Huntsville or even Nashville. It would have to be life or death for me to come back to this establishment. First of all this place was absolutly disgusting. There were numerous stains on floors, walls, and medical equipment. I would have rather been seen in a fraternity house bathroom than one of these examining rooms! Now the vet tech was amazing!She came in and had my puppy playing, rolling over for belly rubs, giving kisses to the tech, my puppy was in heaven! My vet tech was so helpful, professional, and educated I thought she was the vet! And to be honest I really wish she was! Everything was okay at this point other than the cleanliness. But when this "Vet" walked in her energy was so negative I could sence it of course my dog did too. She took one look at my dog and kicled her foot in front of my dogs face and was shocked somehow when my dog did not like it. And didn't ask if she could mussle her just walked out and came back in with "muscle" a muzzle and a chocker collar!! My baby was terrified I should have walked out then and there! I have never seen an adult to bad with an animal in life let alone a vet.... I was so disappointed in the back of bedside manner this alone. But after only touching her belly for 10 seconds she asked no further questions, she suggested we ran some test and she scared me into it with an infomercial full of a 1000 was for my dog to die if I did not run these tests IMMEDIATELY. Of course I pay what ever they want to run these life saving tests! After a miserable 6 hours in the waiting room with chairs that dont have back reats in this filty vet after forking over $675.00 in testing. They now think it is a good idea to ask if I've changed her diet recently. I had and the smart ass response I got back had me appalled. This vet asked ME, why I hadnt brought that up sooner like she was paying me to find out what was wrong with my dog!!!!!! Of course me not being the vet who appeared to be a doing this for 60 years plus now did not think to bring it up first thing. Before the tests were complete I was sent home and told just tonchange her food back. She was fine after changing her food back of course. Something a vet should have been able to tell me over the phone! Safe to say you pay for testing up front. I was beyond pissed!!! Please do not make the same mistake I did!

Brought my dog in when she was bitten by a venomous snake on a Sunday afternoon They were quick to see her and had several treatment options available. They warned me up-front that the antivenin was on back order and if my dog needed further treatment they could offer plasma transfusions. The initial quote was $730 and if plasma was needed it would be $1400. Thankfully the next morning she was much improved, having received fluids, antibiotics, and pain medication through the night - she did not need plasma so the $730 I paid the previous day covered the entire visit. They left a catheter in and I was to take her as soon as possible to a regular clinic for follow-up treatment which I did the subsequent 2 visits did total me at $1400 in the end but who puts a price on the love for your pet?. It really hurt my wallet and was a good 30+ minute drive from where I was living but the building itself was easy to see and in a nice location. Nice staff if a bit unfriendly. They made me fully aware of all the costs that could be incurred before I was to sign any paperwork and payment did have to be up front. They explained the treatments and assured me of my dog's chances of survival as I had never experienced a venomous snake bite on a dog copperhead we think. I'm satisfied, my dog was treated quickly and well and I paid what I had to, I don't expect an ER clinic to come cheap.

Took my large mix dog, Abbey, because she was just acting like she didn't feel well one weekend. I probably could have waited to go to my vet Monday, but when my dogs hurt, to me it's like when a baby hurts. You don't know and they can't tell you what's wrong. She had pancreatitis. An easy fix. They were crowded that night but we still had great care. I see terrible remarks on here complaining about the cost. It's medical care. What do you people expect? Would you complain about the cost to treat any other family member? Your comments say a lot about the kind of pet owner you are.

Many thanks to Dr. Birk and Carl. They were amazing with my greyhound, Maybelle. Her lip was torn late this afternoon Sunday when she got into a tiff with another dog while playing. Dr. Birk did a thorough exam and then perfectly stapled the area closed, all without sedation. This is no small accomplishment because Maybelle has limited patience when she's uncomfortable. Everyone was so nice, from my initial phone call to the end of the appointment. They were clear about pricing from the beginning and I left with all my questions answered. Our time was managed well, too. It only took about an hour from arrival to departure. Bonus: She was prescribed a half tablet of an anti-inflammatory twice a day. I just gave her her first dose and found that they split all the tablets for me! Now I don't have to dig for a pill cutter in my kitchen. You guys could not have done anything better. A solid five stars earned. Maybelle is comfortable now, enjoying a post-dinner nap on her bed as I type this.

They saved our dog from intestinal cancer. I had a great experience with the emergency vet, the surgeon and the internist. Yes, it's expensive. Yes, in the middle of the night or on the weekend, they might be very busy, but they gave our sweet girl wonderful care and four months later, it's like it never happened. I really can't believe our dog is still alive but I'm so happy she is!