College Park Animal Hospital

The college Park Animal hospital is one of the best vets in the area. My family has always gone to this vet. When I was younger I remember us always going to Dr. Mic Michael. Now for the last 3 years I have always seen Dr. Beck. She is one of the best doctors in the world. When we brought my cat tiger in for his shots and a check up we knew something was not right with him. She took excellent care of him and we did many test to find out what was wrong with him. When we did find out he had cancer Dr. Beck was so helpful and kind. She continued taking care of him every visit we went to.

She is by far one of the best doctors. The rest of the staff is wonderful also. As long as I live in this area and even maybe when I move away I will continue to come to the College Park Animal hospital.

Before I adopted them, my dogs received medical attention from the College Park Animal Hospital. Based on high recommendations from the rescue group, I continued using CPAH for their ongoing care. I have interacted with Drs. Mc Michael and Beck, and have found them, along with all of the technical staff, to be warm, helpful, and fully engaged in their dealings with animals and their people. On his first meeting with my beautiful girl Leah, Dr. Mc Michael got down on his knees to examine her and noticed an old leg injury that her previous vet had missed. He is also the first veterinarian that has ever talked seriously with me about dog behavior issues and possible links to food and calorie intake. Dr. Mc Michael and the rest of the staff are focused on the health and wellness of the whole dog. I have been more than satisfied with College Park Animal Hospital, and recommend it without reservation.

Two of my cats have been treated at CPAH. Both experiences have been EXCELLENT! My first experience at CPAH was after one of my cats was treated at a local emergency vet. They diagnosed him with FIP--a killer cat disease. The vets at CPAH, particularly Dr. Beck, immediately put my mind at ease. They did a multitude of tests, each one indicating that the FIP diagnosis was incorrect. Though no specific diagnosis was determined, Dr. Beck continued to monitor WB until all of his levels were "normal". She continues to monitor him and ensure his good health. Dr. Beck is a caring, loving and an excellent vet!
My other experience was when another of my cats had an emergency. I called CPAH and they told me to come immediately. I did not have to wait for an appointment. A test was immediately run and results were very PROMPT.
Follow-up is excellent. The vets are VERY accessible and easy to speak with. I would highly recommend this veterinary hospital!

I've been a client of College Park Animal Hospital for 20 years.
I originally lived in the area, but 11 years ago I moved an hour away.
I still bring my cats and dogs (both personal and rescue) to CPAH because I have always received the best veterinary care possible. All of the doctors and technical staff have provided great care and have been very accommodating. I have had emergencies late in the day and both Dr. McMichael and Dr. Beck have waited for me to get there at the end of the day to see my dog or cat. They are outstanding in diagnostics, surgery, and I am certain they have saved the lives of several of my animals. They have assisted me in providing the best end of life care possible for my seniors which is most important. They are compassionate and caring. I could never imagine going anywhere else and recommend them highly.

I just transferred my dogs to College Park Animal Hospital for several reasons. In no particular order, I am impressed that CPAH is the only animal hospital I know of that openly discusses AAHA recommended vaccine schedules and options rather than "pushing" yearly vaccines. I also like that CPAH offers one-stop-shopping in that it offers laser surgery, ultrasound, orthopedic surgery, etc. not found at many non-specialty veterinarian offices. The veterinarians are thorough, conservative and offer a range of options to consider. How outstanding to be considered a thinking person and not told what to do. Drs. McMichael and Beck are superior in their diagnostics and technical expertise. It's not often one can say "thank you" in a public way, and this is a great forum to do so.

I have been a client of College Park Animal Hospital (CPAH) for two years. During those two years, I was satisfied with the care my pets received and with the manner in which the hospital staff communicated with me and my family. However, in January 2008, my old cat, Smokey, became very ill. I took him to CPAH three times and twice to the ER. CPAH missed a serious and potentially life threatening heart condition in Smokey, even though it was obvious on the X-rays taken by one of its vets (recognized immediately by the emergency vet, by which time it was too late). As a result, Smokey deteriorated quickly without any medication for over two weeks. Alarmed by Smokey's symptoms, I began doing reading on the Internet, which lead me to believe that Smokey might have a serious heart disease and should be treated urgently. I called CPAH, and one of the vets there agreed to put Smokey on rescue medication and refer him to a cardiologist. The medication started helping Smokey right away. Unfortunately, it was given too late, and the disease had progressed and weakened Smokey beyong where he could be helped. The heart condition could have been treated more successfully if caught in time. Smokey died on January 29th at the ER after a sedative was administered to him. One of the veterinarians treating Smokey at CPAH admitted missing the condition, but the other one and the owner of the hospital refuse to acknowledge that mistakes were made (even though one of his staff member admitted them) . To add insult to injury, the owner became defensive and vindictive against me and my family. He has distorted facts, given me false medical explanations, and when I confronted him, began stonewalling. He refused to release Smokey's records and X-rays to me and stopped allowing me and my whole family (including my son's girlfriend) to come onto the premises in order to volunteer with rescued dogs cared for at CPAH, leaving these dogs without the walks and socialization that the four of us have been providing to them prior to the incident.

This is a very sad experience because the hospital has some good people working there. However, when mistakes are made, we should be able to expect maturity, honesty, professionalism and integrity. Instead, in addition to loosing a pet, I was confronted with dishonesty, evasiveness, and nastiness.

I took my 3 dogs and 2 cats to College Park Animal Hospital for a few visits. I was never impressed by their service but the vets were pleasant enough but each time we went we saw a different vet so there was no chance of them building up a relationship with us and, more importantly, our pets. None of the doctors seemed very knowledgeable either.
Then I moved to another part of the city and started seeing another vet. When I called CPAH for my dog's records- he was diagnosed with mild arthritis last year- they actually refused to release them, especially the x-rays which they said they couldn't. I was shocked since I paid for those x-rays -- a pretty big amount, as I remember. I called my new vet and she told me that they would have to release the x-rays, although they could ask that they be returned. When I confronted CPAH with this, they reluctantly and still rudely agreed to let me have them on the condition I bring them back.
I am really shocked- I would expect a vet to put my pet's welfare above everything, not use some cheap tactic to get back at me because I was no longer using them.
I would never recommend this hospital to anyone.

My beloved dog Buster had a brain tumor. He was 15 1/2 years old. A new vet Dr. Mainer at CPAH examined Buster because he had one eye closed and wasn't walking right, he had all sorts of balance problems and what was previously diagnosed as "old dog vestibular disease" by an emergency neurologist in Annapolis. I was also told by CPAH that he has doggie Alzheimer's. This doctor said he had an eye infection and sent me home with eye ointment. Three days later Buster went completely blind. Three days after that, all he could do is walk in a circle or sit against the wall and drule. He was in bad shape and already dying. Besides losing my best friend and beautiful baby boy Buster, what upsets me is not only did Dr.Mainer misdiagnose my dog but he lied in his file. When my husband and I went into CPAH to put our beloved little Buster to sleep, my husband read Buster's file because they left his file on the table. It said, "eye infection" and the name of the medication he gave him. While I was in tears trying to reassure Buster that "it would be ok and that I would see him again and it was a pleasure being his mama" My husband was reading his whole file and there was nothing about the brain tumor in it. A few days later I called the owner of CPAH Dr. McMichael because this mistake was really bothering me. I explained this to Dr. McMichael and let him know what his vet did with the misdiagnosis. He put me on hold to go read Buster's file and he told me Dr. Mainer's comments were: "Possible brain tumor, possible brain cancer suggested neurologist owner declined!" We don't have children, our dogs are our children. Buster was our best friend for 15 1/2 years, there is nothing we wouldn't have done to save him if it was possible to do so. That vet is a liar and an incompetent doctor as far as I'm concerned. BEWARE and if you don't believe it, it probably isn't so. I knew something was terribly wrong with Buster for a long time. We had alot of doctors look at him over the last two years of is life. Dr.McMichael is the only one that finally figured it out, but it was too late for Buster. People make mistakes, but if you do, you should at least have the guts to own up to them. Don't lie to your clients and make it their fault! If Dr. McMichael isn't there, that place is closed to us and our animals. I am only still there because of Dr.McMichael. I believe he truely cares about our animals in heart. When I asked him about this error though, he stood by his staff. But, I'm not so sure he believed it. I guess I'll never know. That didn't make me happy because my husband knew for a fact this statement was made after Buster's death! NOT before!

My two cats came here for the first time just after Christmas, and while it wasn't horrible, we won't be back. My fiance and I expect the best in everything. That didn't happen here.

The facilities feel old. The waiting area consists of a scratched wooden bench running along the wall between the drafty door and the main desk. (All this could be forgiven.) But the pet owners in the lobby were more welcoming than the staff.

Before I left Atlanta, our beloved vet made photocopies of the cats' complete files. Despite the fact that the office staff here made copies of my copies, they didn't bother to read them. I felt like a jack-in-the-box, popping up and down from my spot on the waiting bench to answer their never-ending questions.

An inarticulate assistant took my little cat, in her carrier, behind some swinging doors. I assume they were going to weigh her, but they never said. A few minutes later, the assistant reappeared, carrying her at arm's length across the waiting area as she wriggled and pawed frantically, exciting the waiting dogs. Over the din, I asked "Where's the carrier?" but the guy just shrugged, then took my terrified kitty into an exam room and closed the door. No one invited me in, but I went anyway. My boy cat fared no better. He is very large and confident, but once transferred from the mystical back room to the tiny exam room, he tucked his tail, hunkered down, and tried to bite me when I went to pet him. He has been to the vet for years, for all kinds of treatment, and he's never tried to bite me!

The vet herself was a very pleasant woman, but seemed shy, and was not good at explaining things. She didn't know the cats' weight (I wanted to know because they've each had trouble being under- or over-weight at different times). And she didn't check their lungs or heart with her stethoscope, even though my boy cat has a cough. She also didn't bother to look at their existing files (she said the handwritten notes on the files were too messy - but their previous vet had beautiful penmanship!) and she didn't ask me about their history. All she needed to know was that my boy cat was throwing up and I'd noticed blood in it, and my female cat had what looked like an infection near her nails. The vet proposed a shot-gun approach to treat a wide array of possible causes without ever identifying what she felt was really the most likely. The treatments would've cost over $900 for the pair of them.

I do like the fact that she offered us a written quote regarding the proposed work. After a few minutes, we decided to pay and get out of there, clutching the quote and a post-it note recommending we give the big cat half a Pepcid daily. (Seems to be working so far...) We did some research and made some calls before coming up with our own $25 treatment plan for the little kitty, and her nails have cleared up, too.

The kitties will have to go back to a vet sometime. If it wouldn't stress them so much, we would take them back to their old doctor in Georgia! Maybe some of the other assistants or doctors at CPAH are better, but I'm not going to find out. Now I'm hunting for a new vet's office where everyone on staff, including the front desk and assistants, are committed to offering the best treatment.