Burlington Emergency Vet Svc

Although we really appreciated their hours and availability to see our sick pet, we were certainly taken back by how rude they were to us. Our pet is quite old and is really not in good health. Instead of being sensitive in this very delicate time, the vet there was extremely judgemental of us, in particular Dr Tom Hecimovich. They ran tons of tests, charged us hundreds of dollars - to find no answers. If your pet is suffering and there is no other place to go, certainly go there. However, if it can be avoided, I would not recommend.

Posted 12/04/08 | Report Abuse

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The place has a price but it is well worth it. All but one staff member was amazing to our dog and us. Our dog is sick with cancer and is not going to make it much longer. Each person that works there knows this and really encouraged us to call when ever we wanted...even just to know how she was doing.

You can call to see if you can stop by and as long as they are not treating something major they said 'come on in'. We could go in the back and sit right in her crate with her for as long as we wanted. 1am or 6am they let us come see her,and we did!

The reason for the higher price tag is your pet is getting 24 hour care. They are right in front of the staff to keep and eye on all day and all night.

Posted 07/04/08 | Report Abuse

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My dog was impaled by an underwater tree in a lake on a hiking trip, and there was a pretty significant time lapse before I could get him off the mountain and to Burlington (the local vet referred me up there for emergency surgery, since he was, incredibly, stable enough to move and would have a full staff up there).

He was given pain medication very quickly, once they assessed him they gave him pain meds and let me stay with him until they'd treated an immediately life-threatening situation with another dog (and let me sit in his cage with him, which was huge, clean, softly bedded, etc.), and continued to let me stay with him, talking to him and patting him, until his anesthesia kicked in.

The vet irrigated out huge pieces of tree, bark, etc., had to cut out large pieces of his shredded muscle, stitched him in three layers, put in a drain, then closed him up with seven staples. When his surgery was done the tech came out and promptly told me how well it had gone and was very sensitive to my feelings both of worry and wishing I could have prevented the accident. The vet came out shortly after that and did the same.

His follow up care was with his regular vet, but the surgery BEVS did has left him with no infection, no problems, no limp, and three weeks later his incision is barely visible.

My experience with BEVS was excellent: he received an extremely high quality of care and was treated with gentleness and compassion, and the staff were communicative and focused on his well-being.

Posted 06/29/08 | Report Abuse

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That's all this place cares about. After spending $4000+ and ending up with a deceased dog, they continually hounded me over a $100 bill that they "forgot". I was treated like a criminal when I asked for an itemized invoice.
Money wasn' t the issue for me. Spending the money and being told "we don't know what's wrong with your dog" is. They didn't even try to figure out what was wrong with him. They had their money and that's all that mattered.
Rude, unprofessional, heartless. It's a sad day when the veterinarian no longer cares about the animal anymore.

Posted 03/21/08 | Report Abuse

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Kind, caring, efficient staff. Very reasonable fees for excellent service. Our cat declined rapidly on a Sunday morning. Upon calling our vet's answering service BEVS was recommended. Our cat was taken into an examination room before we even had him all the way through the door. The staff treated us and our cat very kindly and compassionately. The vet and techs we saw gave us all the information we needed to make an informed decision. They also gave us plenty of time to say goodbye without any interruptions or rush. I hope we never have need of their services again, but if we do I wouldn't hesitate to bring my animals there.

Posted 01/14/08 | Report Abuse

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On one of the worst days of my life my best friend (dog) of 12 years had a rapid decline due to cancer. My regular vet's office was closed for the evening, so I went to BEVS. My dog had become paralyzed and was having seizures. The only choice was to euthanize her. The techs and the veterinarian were incredibly professional and compassionate. They explained my options very clearly, gave me advice, responded very rapidly to my dog's distress, gave me as much time as I needed with her after she had died. They all seemed to understand how difficult this was for me, some even had tears in their eyes. They even showed concern for my safety driving home, and made sure that I was in a good condition to drive. It was a terrible situation for me, but the people at BEVS made it as good as it could be. I had great faith in them from the moment I walked in, and they never let me down.

Posted 09/29/07 | Report Abuse

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I have had to bring my Bernese Mountain Dog to BEVS twice, once after he opened his neutering sutures (about 5 minutes after my regular vet's office closed!) and a second time when he contracted pneumonia.

Each time I was at BEVS I was impressed from start to finish with the
personable, professional service. The waiting room is spotless and
roomy. With the stitches issue, we did not have to wait more than a couple of minutes before being brought to an exam room. The vet tech was very friendly to my dog and the vet (who also attended to us right away) took the time to explain what had to be done (sedate Calvin so he could be restitched) and how long it would take. Because Calvin would be there for a couple of hours, needing time to wake up from sedation following the procedure, I opted to leave and come back. When I phoned to see how he was doing, the vet tech patiently described how Calvin was doing and how well the procedure had gone. Calvin
received the same caring, professional service when he had to stay
overnight because of the pneumonia. I was told I could call at
any time during the night to check on him. Yes, emergency vet
visits are expensive, but I was very appreciative of the service!

More recently, I took a baby cottontail bunny to BEVS which had been
slightly injured. I learned that BEVS does not treat wild animals, but the vet tech gave me a long list of animal rehabilitator names and let me use an office phone line to contact a rehabilitator immediately.

I would not hesitate to use BEVS again, although I hope, for my
animal's sake, I won't have to.

Posted 07/26/07 | Report Abuse

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After dealing with the local vet (Tanenberger) who seemed to not care about our emergency, we called BEVS @ 10:30pm. They took our sick cat right away. Everyone seemed to care deeply about our cat Sebastien who wouldn't eat for a whole week. They took a blood test right away and we had results within a half hour where as Tanenberger screwed up our blood test and wouldn't get our cat in again for a week to take another one. Unfortunatly, the results came back that our 15 year old cat had cancer and he probably was not going to make it for very much longer. The BEVS vet explained our options and was very up front with us and was very sympathetic as well. We left our cat overnight with them to get fluids in hopes that he would bounce back a little. I came back in the next morning @ 8 am to check in on him and give him a little company. To my suprise the vet and her staff stayed with him all night long. They had taken him out of his kennel and played with him too. The atmosphere in the kennel was very pleasant. They maintained a warm temperature in there and had a cd of nature sounds playing in the background to calm the animals, and after I left the room I noticed that one of the staff members was talking to Sebastien and petting him. I was truly impressed with this operation. I only wish that I could find a primary veterinary office that executed at this level. I will definatly recomend this staff again!!

Posted 03/09/07 | Report Abuse

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Our 6 year old rottweiler was diagnosed in December 2005 with cancer. We brought him to BEVS on March 6th, 2006 because he was experiencing labored breathing and his gums were pale. He'd lost alot of weight and was pretty lethargic and it was clear that his time left with us was coming to an end. The vet tech didn't want him to lick her face and said to us "I don't allow dogs to lick me. I like cats better." I told the tech that I wanted to pick his remains up at their office.Today is March 13th and I returned home to find my dog's ashes on my porch -in the rain. When I called BEVS to ask them about the mix up I was treated rudely and spoke to the same vet tech we saw the week before .The tech told me "I just don't like dogs to lick my face. Is that okay with you?" I am waiting for the owner to return my call. I can't believe they could be so insensitive and indifferent to someone experiencing a loss such as this.

PROS: Open nights, holidays and weekends for emergencies
CONS: $95.00 to walk in the door. Insensitive and rude vet techs.

Posted 03/13/06 | Report Abuse

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