Thank you Dr. Carlson for saving my fur-baby, Snowball. I am truly grateful to everyone at your clinic. I moved to Wonder Lake a couple of weeks ago from Chicago, so when Snowball became very ill, I panicked. Thankfully, your wonderful manager was able to schedule an appointment the same day I called. I can't thank you enough for saving Snowball. Needless to say, my other fur-babies will be visiting soon! read more

Riverside Animal Clinic - Snowball; Bubbles, and Sugar-Plum. - Veterinarians Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

This place is amazing! We've come here twice with emergencies and both times they were helpful, knowledgeable and proactive. The vet delayed his lunch to care for our dog. read more

HEMP oil...seriously!!! What a waste of time and money!!! Some of the staff are disorganized. read more

Wonderful experience - very caring, very knowledgeable and professional Have recommended Dr. Carlson to many of my friends read more

Extremely kind staff. Dr Carson is amazing! They took our dog in and we're very helpful on treatment for cancer.

Wonderful! Dr Carlson and staff are empathetic, patient, knowledgeable, and take their time with you. Don't think twice about seeing them, just do it. You won't be disappointed which their holistic approach w modern up to date medicine. read more

it sounds like you people suck over there my friend bought dog there and you gave them nothing but BAD BAD service DR. CARLSON you should be ashamed of your self and you call your self a VET people beware of this place if you love your PETS my friends dog is in bad shape because they kept giving them the runarounds' and lying to them for years if you have to take your pet to a vet go to Richmound vet in Richmond riverside you should close the doors and lock them for good find some thing else to do like shoveling S### read more

Dr Carlson cares and is very knowledgeable about animals- He has treated our German Sheperds for years- always caring-

Customer service very poor, walked in for the 1st time tonight have been wanting to try this place for sometime sad to say zero customer service tonight. I don't know if the young girl behind the desk had a long day or bad day but I gotta say she didn't try to make a sale at all! Explained my dogs issue and she told me that most dogs do the same thing! I mean maybe she was trying to save me money but she surely wasn't promoting the products they are selling I guess they don't need to because they make money off there clinical services?? Very strange vibe that is for sure not welcoming very cold. read more

terrible customer service , called for an injury for my dog and no help at all. The girl on the phone was rude and offered no help. How does a vet have a website online and offer services but then you call and they tell you no sorry we aren't accepting anymore patients. Terrible service. read more

Very unprofessional stuff.Never reply on your email.My dog has some bacteria and med didn't help.I was sending email for weeks about my concern and never got back from doctor.Would not recommended read more

Very unprofessional! Who ever is in charge of posting and other medias is extremely vindictive and not customer friendly. This person or persons has posted people's charts, called them names like calling someone a Karen. The people in charge of checking out are very slow and many appointments are late. We've had to wait from 20-40 minutes. The saving grace is that they offer great acupuncture. I wonder if the vets every read these reviews. I can't believe they allow this to go on. read more

I made an appointment thru Riverside's website and was offered a 9:45am appointment on September 4th by Ashley. I arrived at 9:40am and was informed that I DID NOT have a reservation but I could be served as a walk-in but I couldn't be seen for a long time. I showed them my confirming email from Ashley but they informed me it didn't matter. Ashley failed to updated their computer so I'm out of luck. I advised I would NOT be back. read more

I really wanted to support Dr Carlson and his clinic. But it is increasingly difficult to do so especially after my most recent experience. His practice sent out a reminder to contact the office on July 1 if our pets would need medicinal help to deal with the Jujy 4 fireworks. I placed a VM and email to them by early afternoon requesting such prescriptions for my dog. At 6 pm the office called to notify me that Dr Carlson approved CBD drops for the anxiety and would take my credit card over the phone with an email to explain where to pick up the meds. I asked how I could retrieve this since the office would be closed. The vet asst wasn't clear where these would be stored for me to pickup so twice noted the instructions would be in an email with receipt. Well sure enough they billed me the $60 for drops but no instructions where to pick them up. I sent a text, email and am still waiting 25 hours later. Meanwhile my dog is suffering from pre- 4 th fireworks locally. Another issue was presented when I brought my dog in for checkup and basically had to ask why they didn't do a heartworm test on my dog after I saw the receipt and asked for Rx for heart worm prevention medicine. AND the vet fails to do a face to face with the owner on the visit. You communicate through his assistant. I understand there may be his medical issues but why can't he do a conversation on my phone during the visi? I went to Dr Carlson as he was highly recommended but his office's issues and lack of communication with the pet owner on a visit is not effective for my pets' health. I would caution others if they are looking for a personal touch from their vet and effective screening and preventative care. read more

I brought mt cat in to have them look at an infection in his mouth. They determined the cat needed Clindamycin to treat the infection. They charged me $50. When I needed more, I purchased it thru Chewy for $10.00. Chewy requires vet approval before they complete the purchase. The clinic approved this refill. I recently needed another refill and I needed to get another vet approval before Chewy could send the refill. This time they would not approve the refill. When I explained why I needed it they would only approve the refill thru them. I told them had already approved the earlier refill. The person on the other end explained that was not their policy. When I challenged this, they rudely indicated the policy is now changed. I was not happy and I iindidcated that I would give them a bad review. Her reply was she would send my files back to me and I would not be allowed to go there in the future. The bottom line is; they would rather you pay $50 thru them instead of allowing you to purchase it from another supplier for much less. They did provide adequate service when I brought the cat in for the initial exam. I'm not happy with how they treated me after that. I have brought other animals in for care and was treated well. With this recent event I would not go back to them. There are other vets who can offer good care that I will go to. read more

Dr decided it would be a good idea to have a colonoscopy before treating patients. Half of the staff were out. Took an hour and never saw a vet. Spent 11k on surgeries and would have liked to discuss physical therapy, but did get some $80 CBS "to try". Never again. read more

This is the most unorganized and unprofessional place I have ever dealt with. Too many people working there and no one knows what the other person is doing. Just a couple of examples: our dog somehow didn't get his distemper vaccination and our cat missed his surgery because no one was there for our scheduled drop off. Have heard "I'm sorry; I don't know what happened..." too many times in the one short year we've been going there. Our cat has been transferred elsewhere, and our dog will be too. Unfortunately, our other cat never made it to be transferred to another vet. read more

Dr. Carlson and staff are the best and caring staff. Dr. is upfront, honest and caring about your animal. I appreciate his kindness and straight forward communication. His staff is accommodating and able to help you anyway they can. They always have a smile on their faces. The groomer does excellent work with my large furry dog. I love all their services and personally would recommend them. read more

I went to Riverside and was very disappointed in the service and communication of the veterinarian. It was never explained to me at any point that I would sit in a room and they would take my friendly collie to another area to examine. I was not told ever to stand behind this taped line on floor.until the vet freaked when I walked 4 feet from him ( I'm masked.) Someone communicated with me and then relayed supposedly healrh information on the 3 body areas I was concerned about to the vet. The vet was judgemental in tone . When he asked "beside eye do you have any other concerns? ". I replied "yes I sure do".Because I showed and talked about the missing hair on one side of my dogs face and another area by otherside by chin. He misunderstood and glared at me and walked out never returning. Really? All info was through a nice woman going back & forth. Simply a disaster. I got some medicine but very unsure what was done to determine what was diagnosis. Usually they do scraping for mange but they suggested anesthesia which is totally over kill and dangerous to my breed.$160 was paid but had to make up follow up appointment with another clinic because of my lack of confidence. The vet should have come back and talked to me directly about my dogs condition. read more

I have had several bad experiences here and will not be returning. The veterinarian diagnosed my dog with food allergies and wanted to do expensive hair sample allergy testing. I was skeptical but agreed to go forward with the test. I called after several weeks with no test results and was told the girl who does it is sick and it would take some time. I took my dog to another veterinarian who diagnosed him with a staph infection. He was put on antibiotics and the condition cleared very rapidly. I never did receive the results of the allergy testing and eventually they refunded my money. Because it is my closest veterinarian I continued to take my small dog there only for nails and anal glands. I have taken him routinely but recently discovered that they never trimmed his dewclaws. They have now grown in a complete circle and he is in pain. Terrible care. Update: I went back to the office and was told we could have a free nail trim and they would put an alert on his chart to trim "all" nails. Seriously???? I insisted on speaking with the vet who did apologize and gave me "several complimentary nail trims". read more

I have been taking my animals to Dr. Carlson for 17 years until recently. I have noticed in the past year that their staff was intolerant and treated their customers badly and made them wait for hours even though I had an appointment. Due to loyalty, I kept going until the straw that broke the camel's back. I had a horrible experience from a very rude woman who works in the office. I believe she was the office manager. My cat was dying and needed to be put down. I tried calling several times with no return phone call only an automated message that someone will get back to me as soon as possible. A week goes by with no phone call. When I told the woman on the phone that I have a dying cat, your patient and no one ever returned my call. I said that someone needs to work overtime to return phone calls. She tells me it doesn't work that way. Really! Her attitude was horrible with no concern, especially when a long-time customer was struggling with losing their beloved pet. After the poor treatment I got from this office worker I decided to bring my kitty to Cary-Grove Animal Hospital to do the euthanasia. Cary-Grove Animal Hospital was so understanding and took me right away. I warn everyone not to go to Riverside, you will be extremely disappointed. I am saddened that Dr. Carlson would allow his office workers to be so insensitive and horrible. read more

I enjoyed my experience here and my puppy did too. We were only there for a regular check up but everything went well and the doctor seemed knowledgeable. I always give a place a second chance to impress me and based on my visit I will gladly come in again and have my dog in their care for any thing that can happen to my dog in the future (hopefully nothing bad happens). Everyone was very friendly and seemed to care about dog. No complaints here. read more

I took my cat in for an ear infection & spent the $500 recommended treatment. This is now the 3rd vet. It's been 2wks & my cat is still messed up. I went in for another checkup & waited over an hour in the waiting room to never see the doctor. The clinic had a bunch of double/triple bookings. I even asked the other customers what time they had their appt's and they had the same time as mine, which was already an hour past the appt time. I feel like the clinic just took my $575 (in total) & my cats still in so much pain. I don't even have money to take him to another doctor. So now, my cats sits in pain & the clinic does this to more customers. It's not right!!! Very upset! read more

Let me start by saying that I believe Dr Carlson is a good vet. It has taken me a while to be able to revisit our experience and post this review. The day we brought our beloved dog in to possibly be put down, dr Carlson was in surgery and we were seen by another female vet who I had never seen or heard of before. The experience was horrible & so traumatic. She was incompetent! We decided to go ahead with the euthanasia, our 10 lb, 16 yr old pup possibly having a stroke. The vet was nervous, not articulate & unsure of what to do. Having put another pup down years ago, we knew what to expect & the usual procedure. She talked about her farm & horses, I think she recently came out of retirement and was unsure of herself. I had to tell her to please first give our pup a sedative before the actual euthanasia injection! She was not going to do this. Her hands were shaking throughout the whole procedure. She shaved both of our dogs front legs before the injection "just in case she had trouble finding the vein, WHAT? It was so traumatic for us anyway but the vet made it so much worse! Why would Dr Carlson employ such a insecure, incompetent vet? We are not going back with our new puppy. I also find the place in general, not nice & in great need of remodeling & updating. read more

Place went downhill fast! Dr Carlson is a good vet but the staff is untrained .. dr Carlson put my shepherd down from cancer and the staff called me the next day to "check" up on her!!!! I returned recently and waited an hour without being seen even tho I had an appointment. I walked out and nobody cared.. as I waited I overheard staff (not doctor Carlson) discussing a customer in a negative way.. they seem to over book appointments ...increase their costs....but have poor service.. it's sad dr Carlson's name is attached because he is very knowledgeable and kind read more

I used to love going here for my snakes because there was no one else who had experience with snakes. I called a few days ago because my snake was very sick and I only knew of the doctor there who could help. The lady on the phone said she would talk to the vet and call me back. Well, she called me back and told me the vet doesn't want to discuss anything over the phone and that I had to call his mobile vet service and schedule an appointment??? I asked them to please help me or something and they said sorry make an appointment with the other vet clinic. My snake passed away later that night. They don't care about your pets at all. They only care about the money. If they truly cared about animals they would have at least tried to help me. read more

My dogs are current patients from the Buffalo Grove Office which recently closed as Dr. Carlson moved full-time up to the Riverside Clinic. We are happy to travel quite a distance to see Dr. Carlson. He is a lifesaver and the most knowledgeable, kind, thorough and accommodating Vet we've ever worked with......and we've had dogs for over 30 years. He has literally saved the lives of our two rescue dogs. They both had terminal diagnoses from the emergency room and have both outlived their expected life span by 5 years! This is all due to Dr. Carlson. His wife, Cristen, has been there immediately via texts when needed as well. They're so great, that our daughter who lives in NYC, had just received a dire diagnosis for her dog there, that she is now dealing directly with Dr. Carlson to have her dog treated with him via video consults and his Holistic treatment. I was pleased with our previous vet, but Dr. Carlson is even more incredible. I highly recommend Dr. Carlson and this clinic. Easily worth the long drive and treating our daughters dogs long-distance. He offers both Holistic and Traditional treatment....a real win-win. I could go on all day, but I think you get the picture! This vet is a true healer. read more

Riverside Animal Clinic - Veterinarians Near Me - McHenry, Illinois

Dr. Carlson is the best vet and has compassion for your pet like it was his own. I do not know how anyone could rate this place any less than 5 stars. Sure you have to wait at times, but if you go to a great vet... then it gets busy and they get behind. Give the staff a break, they are trying to keep up. read more

I've been to Riverside Animal Clinic many times over the years, due to a healthy dog I only need to go for annual visits. So every year I see the changes that have occurred. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed with this place. It seems that the clinic has jumped on the band wagon to be very pushy to sell you stuff for the money, and not really caring about your pet. Met a new Dr., Dr. Jason well let me tell you all he did was ask me how everything was going at home with my pet, I said fine. He bent down to feel her belly, as he did that I had a few questions for him, which he proceed to answer but not really answering my questions fully. He proceeded to tell me why I should have a certain test done on my 91/2 old pet, which I have denied for sever years now, oh look I don't have a problem not having that test done. Dr. Jason proceeded to pretty much tell me I'm a bad person for not doing the test and that my dog could die either from the disease or the treatment..really like I didn't know that, but she's 9 1/2 and so far so good haven't had a problem yet! After the vaccines were given I asked about her eyes, oh he said they looked fine, I said oh I didn't see you look into them, he told me he did...I'm sorry did I leave the room? You didn't look in her eyes. All he did was feel the belly asked me how everything was going and made it very apparent that I'm not doing my job as a pet owner because I didn't want a certain test. On top of all that, I was told I needed something for traveling with my pet, a piece of paper for homeland security, I said really he said yes..stupid me should of asked more questions, especially the one how much is it! Yep an additional 40 bucks! This place was good and caring back 9 years ago, but today NOT SO MUCH! read more

Dr. Carleson and his staff are amazing....I tried the Mchenry office about 5 yrs ago and have never looked back. Courteous and helpful front desk and kind compassionate care with our old crabby chihuahua that never received any kindness or understanding from our former vet. They are excellent at pin pointing a diagnoses and follow up. Prices are outstanding and they really embrace the animal community in their area. I also love that they are pet owners themselves and rescue. So thankful to have found them. read more

The wait times to be seen at this vet clinic are quite long and cumbersome (they always seem to be double-booked - no matter what day of the week - or what time of the day you go there - do NOT go to this vet office prior to work and expect to return to work or anywhere else, anytime soon). Bottom line, we spent an inordinate amount of time and money (over $500) on our very ill dog here, only to find out the underlying medical issue was NEITHER diagnosed nor corrected by this vet office. Our dog nearly died, because EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) was Completely MISSED - and it should NOT have been missed. We have since learned that EPI is an EXTREMELY COMMON genetic problem in German Shepherd dogs (GSD), particularly, when our GSD displayed all the "CLASSIC" EPI symptoms of loud, rumbly, gurgling gut noises, constant light-colored "cow patty" diarrhea, being severely emaciated (our dog's weight got down to an alarming 45 pounds), fur was falling out (bald spots), constantly hungry/food aggressive, coprophagia, SIBO, severe vitamin deficiencies from nutritional malabsorption, etc. EPI can also occur in other dog breeds, as well. A dog diagnosed with EPI will need to be put on high-quality digestive enzymes (google "enzymeDiane"), as well as other supplemental vitamins, good probiotics to help keep gut flora healthy, etc. - - for the rest of their LIFE. Bottom line, to save your dog's life, please request to receive a TLI (Trypsin-Like Immunoreactivity) blood test ... as well as a Full Metabolic Blood Panel work-up of your dog (and ask that they also test for Parvo, Giardia, etc. to be safe, as well). Very disappointed that this vet office never ordered any of these Lab tests on our dog. If anyone needs additional information on EPI, this website provides a lot of useful information: epi4dogs. We sincerely hope that this helps somebody else. read more

I will never go back. Not due to the doctors, dr. Hepperly treated my pet and he was wonderful. I will never return due to the owners wife. She was extremely rude, and she treated her employees like trash. She yelled at the 2 girls behind the desk in front of myself and other clients even swearing at them and calling them rude names. In my opinion that is very unprofessional, I don't want to give my business to anyone like that, and I will tell every pet owner I know. read more

Long wait times and outrageously expensive. Do not expect to be out any time soon it you come here

Our 17 year old cat became ill in March. She could not keep food down and had no energy at all. I called Riverside and they told me to bring her in right away. Dr. Carlson examined her with great care and gentleness and explained his experience with the effectiveness of aquapuncture for a wide range of ailments in animals. My cat got her first treatment right then and there and showed improvement within hours. When her bloodwork came back it showed liver and gallbladder congestion and kidney deficiency. Dr. Carlson took the time to explain the results to me and options for holistic treatment (aquapuncture) which we chose to use for my sweet cat. I'm thrilled and deeply grateful to say that 2 months later my 17 year old cat is incredibly healthy, strong and happy and looks like she is only 10! Dr. Carlson is an extraordinary vet who is extremely knowledgeable, caring and gentle. His entire staff is so sincere and kind, I can't imagine anyone else caring for our sweet furbabies. read more

Our precious Rottweiler partially tore his acl and we wanted to take a more conservative approach and purchase a custom made brace. After a lot of google searching, I found Dr. Carlson and he's truly a blessing. He helped cast our dog for his brace and also offers prolo therapy. He took the time to answer all my questions thoroughly. He's is very compassionate, patient, and kind. His wife Cristen was also very welcoming to us when we visited and gave us her direct cell number to contact if we have questions. The nurse Nancy is very kind and also is very patient with my questions. I will be switching both my dogs to this clinic. Our 40 minute commute to see Dr. Carlson is so worth it!! read more

I adopted a cat in January and have taken my cat to Riverside for laser declaw and followup visits since. The staff is super friendly and helpful and have answered my questions over the phone so I didn't have to come in unnecessarily for an appointment. This was not my primary veterinarian but has become just that with these wonderful experiences. read more

I know Dr Carlson through a business group. He is very knowledgeable and accommodating. Really takes an interest in your pet's natural well being. The facility is clean, staff is friendly, and seems the doctor sticks very well to his scheduled appointments. One of the best vet's offices I've seen in the area. read more

First visit here today for my baby. It was just for a yearly check up with some shots. I called for appointment and got right in. The doc and staff were all very nice. My baby seemed to like them all. The only thing I had a issue with is when I went to the counter to leave and pay it took a few minutes for them to say anything to me even though I was the only one there. The price for all the services were right on par with what I planned. I will be back !! read more

This vet is just, awesome! I have been to other vets in the area-never had a "bad" experience, but needed to find a place a bit closer to my house. They have never been anything but kind and caring. Sometimes the front desk gets a bit overwhelmed and you may have to wait to get checked out, but to me, it's worth it since I know I am receiving great care for my fur baby! I recently had heartworm treatment for my dog there, and it was a great experience despite the severity of it all. Dr. Carlson personally took on the case. I would like to mention both Emily and Nancy (vet techs) who I just absolutely love! Everyone is great though! Highly recommend. read more

I recently had my 13 year old dog's teeth cleaned at Riverside. Every one involved in the process was really great. They had him for 8 hours or so, so that they could give him IV fluids to remove any fear of the anesthesia harming his kidneys and they also used the kind of anesthesia that is better for older dogs and their organs. They did a great job on his teeth. While he was under they took the opportunity(with my permission) to cut his nails in a better way than I could when he's awake. And the awesome Dr. Carlson did an excellent job of lasering off some funny little growth by his mouth(it was not life-threatening, but was bothersome for the dog). My baby came out looking great and recovered with no issue, although I do worry and everyone there, especially "Saint Nancy" did a superb and much appreciated job of addressing all my concerns.There are other great techs involved and all were great. My dog has been going there his whole life and always was given caring and expert treatment. I figured it's about time I said so! So thank you every one at Riverside! Sue E. read more