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Vets4pets-any good?

39 replies

jocesar · 22/04/2012 22:07

I,m very fussy about my vets, have had some excellent and some dire. I have just moved area and a few dog walkers have recommended vets4pets which I believe is a franchise. I've driven past but not yet gone in. The place looks very smart from the outside. Has anyone got any experience- good or bad? Oh and I'm not looking for the cheapest I just want really good veterinary care.

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BeerTricksPott3r · 23/04/2012 13:35

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wizzler · 23/04/2012 18:19

I have just started to go to my local Vets4pets and have been v impressed. They have run a free puppy party, and a seminar evening for owners of young dogs. All the vets seem to have been there a long time, and the vet I have seen with my puppy has been great.

However, like Beertricks says, it is a franchise so there will undoubted be some good and some bad .

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jocesar · 23/04/2012 20:21

I suppose it will be down to the individual vet really rather than it being a franchise. Certainly I have always used independent practices before and have encountered both excellent and dreadful vets there. Do you think I could make an appointment to have a look round before committing?

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BeerTricksPott3r · 24/04/2012 07:59

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Hana90 · 30/09/2014 02:03

I took my kitten to Vets4Pets for his vaccinations, I was told that he had worms and they couldn't vaccinate him until the worms had gone. They palmed me off with oral paste (twice a day) a tablet (once a day) and gave him an injection. I walked out with a £90 bill, fortunately that day I had forgotten my purse so they had no choice but the allow me to pay next time. I was wasn't happy with the price and everything I'd been given so u called my old vet. They told me to bring him in. They gave him a quick check over and said almost everything I had been given was useless all he needed was the pill because it wasn't that severe. I went back to Vets4Pets and gave them the medication back and told them I would only pay the £29 for the Appointment. Letters were sent back and forth and it went on for weeks but eventually they backed down.

A couple of years later I thought is try again, I just needed my dogs nails clipped and all other vets were closed so I thought how bad can they mess that up. They did quite a good job of it actually they cut one of his feet and as I noticed him bleeding he squeaked as they cut another one, needless to say the vet got an earful!! As did the woman at the desk so they chose not to charge me the FIFTEEN POUNDS for the clipping!!

All in all I strongly advise you NEVER to use Vets4Pets in Pets At Home as they are nothing but incompetent and money grabbing!

While I'm ranting never use their grooming service either I took my patterdale terrier in last year and he came back with 5 cuts on him!!

Sorry about the essay I just had to inform and plead with everyone not to use these services!!!!!!!!!

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soddinghormones · 30/09/2014 06:35

We've taken our dog to the groomers at pets at home and they've been fantastic - quite a bit cheaper than the other local alternative and they've looked after him very well and he loves going in and being made a fuss of (and getting biscuits)

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Lonecatwithkitten · 30/09/2014 07:49

Vets4pets are a venture capital chain and are actually the same group as companion care. It will all come down to who the lead vet is in a practice as to how it is run.

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TheHobbit · 30/09/2014 07:56

I was really pleased with Vets4Pets. I went to the one in Newbury. I had three pets registered there. They were really helpful and loved my cats.

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Ilovefluffysheep · 30/09/2014 15:02

I moved my cats to vets4pets after going there with RSPCA foster cats and being very impressed.

I have to say they have been great. Very reasonable prices (in fact a few times I haven't been charged for consultations when I really should have been), caring staff from receptionists through to vets, phone calls to enquire on pets recovery after ops, and a really understanding vet who has never pushed any treatments, and actually cried with me when I had to have my 16 year old kitty put to sleep.

I think they are great.

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Owllady · 30/09/2014 16:38

The nearest to me is very expensive but it has a good reputation.
I use a vet that's part of a franchise (medivet) and the one I use has a resident vet and is very good imo, though it is expensive also but I honestly think all veterinary care is expensive and that should be taken into account before getting a pet

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BabeRuthless · 30/09/2014 18:31

Our vets4pets is brilliant. They took amazing care of our pup when she was spayed and the aftercare was faultless. They did free puppy health checks for the first few months of us having our pup just to get her used to going to the vets and it's worked a treat as she loves it there! If we're passing on a walk I'll drop in so she can say hello and have a fuss made of her!

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Hoppinggreen · 30/09/2014 19:20

Ours is good but she is the only vet there so can't offer out of hours.

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ARightOldPickle · 30/09/2014 21:51

Another very satisfied customer of Vets4pets. When we got our new pup we decided to go there rather than our old vets which had expanded and we never seemed to see the same vet twice.
We have been more than pleased, pup absolutely loves going there and the care she has received during and after her recent spay op has been first class.
Whenever we go in the shop we pop along so she can say hello and be weighed - she loves it!

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Ilovefluffysheep · 01/10/2014 15:13

Should add they also do appointments up until 9pm and all weekend at no extra cost which I think is brilliant, as it isn't always that easy to get to a vets during conventional weekday working hours.

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Siarie · 01/10/2014 15:16

I was very happy with my local vets4pets before I moved, their main vet there was involved in all the care and accessible via phone at all times. Very caring and very decent, no problems at all.

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WaroftheRoses · 02/10/2014 23:17

I think as a franchise you will have the same experience as an independent practice-completely down to the individual(s) who has invested in the franchise. Most have a web page so you can get some idea of how long they have been running and who is the franchisee.

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3lovelykids · 04/10/2014 12:33

Me too they really looked after my boy when he had 'the op'.

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RabbitRabbit78 · 08/10/2014 21:45

Depends on who is running it. I agree that Newbury branch is excellent (I know some of the staff there but am not local to it unfortunately). Like other vet practices, find a vet you trust and ask for them by name!

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Chattymummyhere · 09/10/2014 11:53

We have two in our city owned by the same vet, one purely him and one half with a lady, both are fab the joint owned one is open longer hours and Sunday's and we can pick which one we want to use biased on which bet we want to see if we want to see a certain vet. Very friendly sliding scale for fee's so first visit £25 consult then a second for same condition £18 the third is I believe £15 etc we moved from our old vets as we never saw the same person twice and they used to just look up our breed in a book and not our individual dog. Where as our vet looks at each dog as an individual within its breed and will if we want bring books out for us to look like when one of ours had pano to show us exactly what it looked like at different stages.

But as said its going to be different in each place but we wouldn't use any other vets.

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Lynne65 · 26/07/2015 13:39

Hi all.
My pug had her first and only litter in May. I took them for their 1st injection and health check at 8 weeks old. A couple of days later they left for their new adventures in their new homes. I received a message from one of the ladies saying that when they took the baby to vets4pets. She was told that she'd only had half her first injection and would therefor need to pay for the second injection and also the half that was missing from the first. So I give the lady my vets contact details and asked her to phone them to put her mind at rest. I also phoned my vets (of which I have used for several years) and was passed to a nurse who told me there is no such thing as half an injection and told me to pass their number on to the lady and said that her vet was quite welcome to contact them.
Has anyone else had this problem.
Thanks for your time.

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Lonecatwithkitten · 26/07/2015 14:44

I have replied to your other thread.

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Lockness123 · 11/09/2015 11:10

Stay away from Pets4vets no interest in your pet only in how much money they can get out of you my dog just died because of there negligence they could have had him transferd to a specialist but never because they wanted to to extract as much as they could then when it was to late transferd him where he died with in 20 mins of arriving my dog suffered for days before his death so please stay away from this type of vet go to a local one not a franchise one like vets4pets

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chipsandpeas · 11/09/2015 11:26

I can't fault vets4pets in my local lets at home with my dogs care

Like everything else it will all depend on the vets running the franchise so the care given may be different

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Lockness123 · 11/09/2015 11:30

Angry Beware of Pets4Vets at Corstorphine Edinburgh my dog died because of 1 of the locom vets who misdiagnosed my doge illness and failed to send him to the appropriate specialist 2 day later another of the stand in vets did diagnosed what was wrong and had him transferd as an emergency but on arriving he died 20 minuets later for 5 weeks we had been asking Pets4Vets for help as 2 days after they operated on my dog he took I'll I was fobbed of every time I phoned with concerns as he developed a cough they said it's the tubes that have damaged his throat then kennel cough the when they did see him to take bloods they said may be lung worm by this time he was collapsing 2 to 3 times a day the asked then for a stool sample he kept collapsing Monday after seeing the incompetent vet Tuesday still coughing collapsing Wednesday morning collapsing wetting himself phoned vet again bring him down diagnosed heart problem sent to specialist died 20 mins after getting there I payed vets4pets near on £600 and now have a bill from the specialist for £850 this story is just the short version SO Please if you love your pet stay Away From Pets4Vets or you could go through what me and my family have Angry

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Scuttlebutter · 14/09/2015 00:03

We are very happy customers of Vets4Pets - our long standing vet (who has also become a good friend) left her independent practice and has started a franchise with them. She has a trusted team of nurses with her, many who we've also known for years and regard as friends too. It's a little further for us to travel, but we are very happy. We have four dogs and the quality of care they receive is brilliant. The extended opening hours are very helpful.

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