Vanderhoof Veterinary Hospital

If you have a rabbit please have it cared for by Dr. Dawson. She is a true rabbit expert and is also very thorough and compassionate in her treatments. Dr. Dawson's knowledge of rabbits greatly surpasses all other vets I've visited. In fact, I took our rabbit to several vets before finding Dr. Dawson but no other vet could help him - and his health problem was not complicated! I admit the Vanderhoof office is slightly more expensive than other vets, but to me this is well worth it. In fact, I would have saved a lot of money if I had found Dawson earlier and not wasted consultations with other vets who knew very little. I highly recommend Dr. Dawson at the Vanderhoof office.

I was recommended to Dr. Vanderhoof when my dog was very ill and I found all his staff to be very knowledgeable, kind, generous, and well priced. I definitely recommend their office!

I'm very happy with all care that Dr Vanderhoof has given my dog. He is very calm and gentle and my dog even thinks she is given cuddles when in fact she is given a check over...

Prices are reasonable and I would recommend anyone to this clinic.

TK

I was worried about finding a vet for my new cat, a specialty breed.
However, I find Dr. Vanderhoof to be very kind and good with animals. He is really interested in their welfare. I would highly recommend him. When the first round of antibiotics we tried didn't work, I took her back and he prescribed a new one. He's very methodical in his medicine, and whatever he recommends makes sense to me. I also really liked the vet tech named "Ginger," a calm and kind influence who was fun to talk to.

However, the communication skills for the receptionist are a little lacking--stuttering, not sure what sort of deadline to give, a little "loosey-goosey." (especially on the phone) Though it's true, animal people can be pretty strange, and I guess I'd forgotten just how nutty vets offices can be in my pet ownership time lag. Other negatives-- if you own a cat, or even a sensitive dog, I observed a few dog owners very insensitively letting their dogs growl at others, wander, etc. So just keep that in mind before the trip.

Overall, the prices don't seem outrageous and they are really interested in helping your pet. They don't seem to be in it just for the money.

I have an old doxie who has suffered thru some awful experiences with less experienced vets, namely Raymond Animal Hosp. where they change vets annually. Dr. Vanderhoof is BRILLIANT, never recommends un-necessary tests and can identify the problem while calmly working over my little girl. There have been times where I'm sure he'll recommended putting her down but with a test or two, maybe some meds, she's back to her old funny self. Especially if you're new in town and don't know where to go for quality care, this is the place. Trust me, on this, Vanderhoof is good old fashioned gentle care with a wonderful knowledgeable staff.

Ok, I'm not the patient, but I have been taking my animals to Dr. V for probably close to 20 years now. I find that the drs are caring and they give the animals appropriate levels of treatment. Often I'd like sooner appointments for routine or non-emergency care, but when your animal is sick/injured, they will manage to squeeze you in (and I get the feeling that is if you are an established patient).

My old Labrador suffered from a hematoma in his ear flap. First at VCA clinic, they wanted more than $800 for the surgery and lots of bloods test, etc. ( I always do get two opinions, at least)My vet at Vanderhoof, Dr. Sloan, offered to try, at my request, an "office visit" procedure, on local anesthetic, and was able to cure this problem with only one tenth of the "VCA price" and it was a SAFER procedure for my pet, with great results!! Vanderhoof Veterinary has a "no nonsense" attitude , I & my dog really appreciated the wonderful care & treatment. . .

In spite of the bad review which said that this vet is expensive, I actually find
it reasonable. The vets do take a cautious approach to evaluating the health
of your pet, which usually means they try to avoid surgery/chemo and such
unless you really want to do it. I've been to vets that want to run every test
under the sun for the most routine reasons and I think this vet strikes a
good balance between running every conceivable test and not running enough
to diagnose problems. I have had 6 cats under care here for 5 years with
a variety of routine and severe illnesses.

My biggest complaints:

1. Make sure that dog owners leash their dogs and have control over them!
I have never had an incident, but the number of 100 pound women
busy filling out paperwork while loosely holding the leashes of 150 pound
dogs disconcerts me and (sometimes) my pets.

2. As someone else said, they do not really make exceptions for emergencies.
They will try to fit you in, but if it is a true emergency you are probably
better off going to an emergency vet. I had to wait 2 hours for my pet to
see the doctor in an emergency situation once and if you are not a
regular client then forget it altogether. I once saw a desperate man turned
away (sent to another vet) because he was not a client. I felt terrible for
the guy, but I also understand that sometimes clients will overstate
emergencies in order to avoid making appointments. The staff said that
they instituted the policy because of people who brought in seriously
ill or injured pets and then left the office never to return to claim them.
Therefore, they will only see current clients without notice.

Anyway, this is supposed to be a good review, so I will close by saying that
the staff is very nice and cares about the pets. Dr V. personally will call with
status updates on your pet. Dr. Dawson is reknowned for working with small
animals and has a way with even the most skittish pets. The front desk
remembers my pets' names just by hearing my name. The medical care is
first-rate (I am the the type who does a lot of research on the Internet and
every time so far Dr. V has been 'by the book' and sometimes even a little
avant garde in terms of trying drugs and techniques that are not yet widely
accepted if nothing else seems to be helping.) He also has a lot of
compassion, encouraging me not to destroy a FeLV cat I found as a stray
as long as she was isolated from all other cats. I never get the feeling that
I am a walking wallet or that my pets are 'just animals'. I haven't tried every
vet in the area, but I've tried a few (and some in other areas) and he is
the best that I've had. I found him by word-of-mouth and he has a lot of
very happy customers. In one case, a new acquaintance was telling me how
his old cat had died of kidney failure and how traumatic it was for him, but
how the only vet his cat seemed to trust (and seem happy with) was Dr.
Dawson (who now works here and who has also seen my cats). This forum
is the only place I've ever heard anything bad about this vet, although I've
certainly heard bad things about (and had bad experiences at) some others.

We have been taking our dog to Dr. Vanderhoof for ten years. They have always provided excellent, caring treatment for her. They are conservative in recommending expensive surgery/treatment. She did recently need surgery to have some benign cysts removed. They've been watching them for years and told us we didn't need to do anything about them unless they ruptured. One did and it wasn't healing well so they then recommended we do the surgery to clean it out and remove the others. The final bill was only 60% of the original estimate. They have always treated us and the dog with respect and care. I highly recommend this clinic.

We went to Dr V. ten years ago when we took our elderly boxer to him, he wanted to do all these extra tests with all the bells and whistles ( and pricey) just "to see IF...' When we already knew he had cancer. Fast foward ten years later, we take our second boxer to him to get a small lesion on his face looked at, to "look" he charged almost $300. He wanted to do a battery of tests and the estimate given by the office was close to 1000 bones, that was not including the treatment (of course) which would be unknown!After a good cry and feelings of being a horrible owner because we weren't zillionaires we went to anothe vet which knew what our dog had, did ONE precise test and fixed our little buddy for less than Dr. V's "look at" fee. He seems sweet and nice and smiles an awful lot but you will pay...oh how you will pay...

PROS:
CONS: thin wallet.

STAY AWAY!!!!!Don't trust your pet's life to them.Very rude staff!!! Incompetent vets. Will turn away your pet even when it's an emergency!!Worst experience ever.

PROS: NONE
CONS: Rude, unprofessional and jerks!

We brought Dr. V our senior cat near death's door, and he and his staff nursed her back to a point to give her a fighting chance. Dr. Vanderhoof is very competent, dedicated, and conscientious. He called us almost every morning (weekdays and weekends) to give us a progress report, in addition to the reports in person when we visited our pet @ the hospital. I wish that physicians would treat their human patients with as much consideration.

Roberta, the chief nurse and hospital manager, is amazing. She really runs the place and sets the tone-- they take excellent care of their animals and keep the hospital and cages spotless. The staff really seem to love the animals. They're constantly thinking of ways to make th pet more comfortable, recover. They knew most of their patient by name and are always ready with a treat for the pets. The receptionists visit and pet the hospitalized animals when they have a spare moment.

We highly recommend Dr. V and his terrific hospital.

PROS: Kind, caring staff. Very competent vet and nurses.
CONS: none.

Vanderhoof Veterinary Hospital is a great hospital. I took my cat there with a heart problem and he got treated and felt fine within days. I love the veteranarians working there. It is definately worth a drive.

Good, caring, warm and friendly doctors and staff. Very clean office and rooms. Its well known that other veterinarians bring their pets to doctors at Vanderfhoof. They take care of a wide range of animals from hamsters to exotics to crows.

I've been going to Dr. Vanderhoof for years. He's very caring. I trust him.

Top quality veterinary care with a warm, caring, attitude. Definitely the favorite among the local pet owners, though some travel some distance to go here. Animals are treated like family.

I know of veterinarians who have taken their animals to Dr. Sloan for complex surgeries. Dr. Dawson's bird, rabbit, and other exotic pet owning clients travel great distances to take their pets to see her here.