Pets at home vets?

[PookieDo]

I am registered with a small local vet practice, they are nice and I have no issues.

But pets at home nearby now have a vets too and that vet is open a lot more than my small independent one and I am tempted to move for that reason of more choice of appointments, especially weekends and evenings. I have looked online for reviews and they all seem positive - I don’t know which vet is more expensive or better in practice so I am not sure how to compare them.

Does anyone have any opinions or experience of large commercial vet practices vs smaller independent ones? What should I be looking for when deciding?

We've used pets at home vets for the last 7 years and they've been excellent. The only issue I have is that they don't do direct insurance claims as standard (although they have on a couple of occasions for me for major planned ops) so normally you have to pay up front and claim the money back.

The vets themselves at my practise are amazing and so kind and caring (although I can't speak for other practises of course).

The extended opening hours are a real plus point as it means you can get an appointment evenings or weekends if needed.

They also do a good scheme where you can pay a monthly fee to cover annual injections, worming and flea treatment, etc. I find it really helpful to be able to spread the cost. I'm sure other vets offer similar though.

Please check it isn't the one who has been in the news of late.....

We use Vets4pets in Pets At Home and they have been fab. They just accepted our claim forms for a long standing condition then we just paid the excess, so no huge vet bills.

Varies a lot as they are franchises so it really depends on who runs them
Our local one wasn’t great as the vet tended to just grab ddog so he would growl at her and have to be muzzled but at his new vet they chat to him and give him treats and he’s happy to be examined
Also, the OOH was 35 minutes drive away, not ideal with a very poorly or heavily bleeding animal

I used pets at home vets with my amazing cat who we lost this year due to her heart problem. They were always excellent & gave her fantastic care including diagnosing her with a heart problem & managing her treatment really well.