Nine months ago, we were told to take our dog, Walker, home and enjoy our last week with him…read more It all started with diarrhea, soft stools, and gradual weight loss. At first, our local veterinarian thought he had low protein. Then he was treated with antibiotics. By the time Walker was finally diagnosed with pythiosis in his GI tract, we were told his case was terminal and that there was nothing more that could be done. We were absolutely devastated. Then our neighbor did some research and came across the incredible work of Dr. Justin Walton at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. That research changed everything. Dr. Walton and the entire UF Veterinary team gave us something we thought we had lost--hope. Their expertise, compassion, and willingness to fight for Walker saved his life. Today, nine months later, Walker is pythium-free, off all of his medications, healthy, happy, and back to being himself. What once felt impossible has become our reality. There are no words to express how grateful we are to Dr. Walton and every member of the UF team. Thank you for dedicating your lives to advancing veterinary medicine, for never giving up on dogs like Walker, and for giving our family so much more time with our best friend. If your pet has been diagnosed with pythiosis, don't lose hope. Seek a second opinion and learn about the work being done at UF. Walker is living proof that there can be hope, even when the prognosis seems impossible. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, Dr. Walton and the entire UF Veterinary team. You gave Walker--and our family--a second chance.

The worst Pet ER service ever. I took my pug with difficulty breathing and the receptionist told me…read morethat I need to wait until the morning for the next available veterinarian because she thinks my dog was stable. My dog can't breathe and have cough. No compassion, nothing good about this place. There were no other animals waiting, no cars. The place was empty.

My German Shepherd/Pitbull mix woke me up at around 4:30am on a Thursday morning, he was throwing…read moreup water in the kitchen, I got out of bed and let him out, he came back in a little later and was staggering.... I took him to the VEC ER on 466A in Fruitland Park, his temp was 107.8. I didn't realize how dangerous that high a temp can be, it is deadly..... does brain and organ damage. I was not told he really had very little chance of surviving. I was frantic and threw my credit card down for 3,000.00 to 6,000.00. They were able to get his temp down, and he stayed overnight. They called on Friday morning and said come get him, adding $400.00 to the $3,000.00 I had already paid. I brought him home, he didn't know who I was, and wouldn't eat anything and when he drank water, he had explosive diarrhea. Not only was his brain damaged but his organs were too. He just wanted to go hide under a large bush in the yard, and die. My vet came Saturday morning. Told me if a client comes to him with a dog with that temperature he recommends putting them down. They are basically toast. No one knows why his temp was so high, he was fine the night before, ate dinner, acted normal. Took his pills at 9:00pm. VEC diagnosed heat stroke, but he was in an air conditioned house, so clearly that wasn't it. He was an old dog, not sure how old, with health problems. I knew that when I adopted him a little over 3 years ago, but in spite of his problems, he was a happy, seemingly healthy boy. His blood work was always excellent. I am beyond devastated, and annoyed that the ER didn't tell me that he had almost zero chance of recovery, so he ended up suffering for two days while I thought he would get better. Now, I have a $3400.00 Visa bill, and a broken heart. I wrote them, to see if they would give me some grace on that exorbitant bill, but they didn't bother to respond. Beware.

Sadly, my German Shepherd passed away very unexpectedly Saturday night while we were sleeping. As…read moreyou can imagine, we were devastated. I called our regular veterinary office, but they were closed. However, their voicemail suggested we contact Veterinary Emergency Clinic. We called and explained what happened and that we wanted to have her cremated. They were very understanding and told us to bring her to them. When we got there, they directed my husband to take the car around the side of the building where they would meet him with a stretcher. In the meantime, I stayed up front with the receptionist. She took me into a room which was clearly for people mourning the loss of their pets. She was very comforting to talk with. My husband arrived in the room and we waited for Casey to be brought in. A gentleman brought her to us. He had wrapped her in a nice blanket and told us to take all the time we needed with Casey. Both my husband and I were beside ourselves with grief. We loved on our baby and let her know how missed she will be. My husband went outside the room and met with the gentleman. Together, they made the final plans for Casey while I had a little more time with her. He was so kind, I really appreciated him and all the staff there. My husband, with his help, picked out a very nice urn for Casey, and the price was really reasonable. On Thursday, I received the call that her remains were ready. I arrived and was greeted by a different lady than last time. When she brought Casey's remains to me, I got a bit teary eyed and she offered me some words of comfort. They did everything so compassionately and professionally, I was very pleased with them. They made a very difficult decision go a little easier and for that, I am grateful.

we had to send our GSD of 12 1/2 years to doggie heaven today. Dr Love arrived examined her and…read moreagreed. she sedated our Bella, then after a few moments injected the tranquilizer...missed the vein...because Bella was still breathing....administered and shot of tranquilizer, and after apx 20 min Bella was still breathing indicating she missed yet again....Bella pooped and peed on herself....then Dr Love says oh, we have to roll her over as her heart needs to be on top.....so they roll a dog whose over 100 pounds....so her heart is atop....beca she missed the vein twice, she was going to have to inject it into her heart. I say it's time for retirement! once incompetence becomes part of the job it's time to move on. this was the most inhuman passing we've ever experienced! indignant! while my husband was still polite, I am not....hence this review....find a better vet, to care for your loved on moving on to doggie heaven. this is disgusting that a professional can be so inept.

Dr Valerie Love was wonderful. She guided us through one of the most difficult decisions we've had…read moreto make and helped our sweet Bubba Boy cross the rainbow bridge. Dr Love was compassionate , patient and allowed us to take the time we needed. Thank you so much for all you do.

Amazing team, calmed me down when I was terrified, really reassuring. They sent me home with the…read moreright medication and everything. I will recommend them to all my friends.

Great service. Super compassionate, informative, and patience with all of my questions. Impressive…read morecare and attention to your pet of what I witnessed with other patients as well. My dog needed emergency surgery and he was seen and attended right away. Would definitely recommend. Took great care of my Clyde and treated them like their own. Facility was clean, neat and organized.

Dr Little is the best!! This clinic doesn't mess around they get your pet in quickly. You're never…read moreunnecessarily billed. It is pricey because its emergency. They will listen to you and will remove unnecessary tests from your bill. I did have an experience tonight with a tech who didn't want to discuss the bill with me. But that's OK I will report it to the state. She can deal with them. I believe it's a legal obligation of a merchant. When a customer wants to know what they're being billed for That the service provider has to give that information. The doctors here are really great. So it's worth putting up with some nonsense from the technicians. Just take the good with the bad. I come out of Hernando County to this clinic. Because the Hernando emergency clinic is a dodo show. I've gone to Hernando's emergency clinic twice. Never even seen a doctor. I got as far as to an exam room. Sat there and waited another hour, then left. Found this ER in Pasco. Its a great place. Its truly an ER.

On one of the worst nights of my life, I had to say goodbye to by baby Ryley. The people here were…read morekind gentle and understanding. He was 17 years young. Thank you for being there when it was needed most. I would recommend them to anyone that needs emergency help after hours or a weekend.

Where do I begin with this incredible group? On Saturday, my shepherd mix suddenly was unable to…read moreget up or walk. I figured maybe she had a slipped disc or a pinched nerve, but I brought her in anyway. They rushed her back for evaluation and it turns out she had a mass on her spleen that burst, which, in turn, caused her spleen to rupture. She was hemorrhaging and the situation was pretty critical. The way that this team of professionals sprang to action, walked us through everything that was happening while stabilizing her, and rushed her to surgery and managed this complex case afterward was nothing short of heroic. Beyond that, the tools they have rival human grade trauma centers. The staff went above and beyond in every respect. If your pet is ever experiencing a medical emergency, you're in great hands here. 15/10, thank you!!!!

Client accommodations. The seats are horrendous. In the general waiting area there is not even any…read morecushions in the seats. Get into a treatment room and they have about 1 inch of padding and nothing for your back! The service has been poor at best. Initially it going to be a couple minutes before they could take an x-ray. 2 hours later they said it would be about 30 more minutes. 2 after that they said they are just getting started. When we first arrived we were told it would take about 30 minutes and asked if we wanted to wait or come back. With it being just 30 minutes we decided to wait. Over 6 hours later we are still waiting. Subpar service would be an overstatement!

I've sat on doing this review for a month but I will share my experience. I think having a true…read moreemergency vet is extremely important and I commend all the staff for this difficult job. My experience - extremely long wait. The pricing is insane but they are your babies so you basically just take a deep breath and sign away. My animal wound up needing emergency surgery after sitting there for about 6 hours. I was told the estimated price and the deposit needed. I did ask if they had a payment plan which the tech said "no it must be paid up front" which later one I realized that you can do care credit so I didn't appreciate that that wasn't recommended as an option for me. So I gave them $5,500 as a deposit and was ready to visit with my baby before leaving. As I was visiting they approached me and told me they didn't have what they needed for my cats surgery so basically I had to bring her up to UF animal hospital 2 hours away. They did refund about $3,900 back onto my credit card for the surgery deposit. I started my journey with my cat at 10am and didn't get to the UF hospital until 6:30pm. It was an extremely long day I'm proud of my girl for getting through it. All in all I would obviously go back to this hospital for an emergency just know the wait will be long, the price will be high, AND you can definitely apply for care credit and use it the same day. I was immediately approved at the other hospital and used it that night to pay for the surgery.

The wait was FOREVER but when we finally spoke to a vet she was kind, caring and offered us a lot…read moreof support. We arrived at 7:45pm on a Tuesday night and didn't leave til well after 11:15. The only thing that really irked me was they told us we were "next" at 9:45 and we still weren't seen for close to another hour. I get how triage works, so we were patient. This place is definitely an ER for life or death type emergencies, at least 1 animal was put down while we were there tonight. I really don't think a lot of their negative reviews are fair.

Everything. For something that is so heartbreaking, Dr. Gary…read moremakes it very peaceful. It has been a tough year and a half in our home. Our first experience was with Greta in July of 2023. 16.5 year old Greta was giving us the heads up that she was ready to go. Dr. Gary came in and Greta went peacefully across the rainbow bridge. Greta's brother Wesley, made it to 17.5 years. Ands just has his sister. He moved on peacefully with the help of Dr. Gary. Bella. Our big girl. Still jumping in the couch and chasing the rc car all the way up to a couple weeks ago. In just three days. She stopped eating and was giving us those eyes that we have seen to often non the last year. I am sure Wesley was calling her to walk with him along the mystical canal. Bella. Also just short of 17 years. Not the most touchy feely girl. She came and laid down on the bed where Dr. Gary and I were sitting. All three are together now.

1-29-25: My cat of 15 years passed at home…read more After about 6pm I was crying and still had her body in my arms. I called and they asked if I needed someone to come out and put her down. I said no, she already passed and I still had her body in my arms and was calling about cremation services and how much it would cost. The person on the other line went silent. I kept saying hello, hello for awhile, but realized they disconnected the call. We went to Cedar Veterinary instead and took her and paid for her cremation. Not a good way to handle a call after a person's pet has crossed the rainbow bridge.

I see a lot of bad reviews , which in turn gives this emergency animal…read moreHospital only 2 stars total. There are some 5 stars. And I agree with both. But would surely give at least 4 stars all day. Dr Kusinski found an issue that my vet never bothered to look I to into ! She's thorough! She's very smart and may come off as a little uncaring. But surely is not. The staff surely could be a little better trying to explain fees and not make you feel like you are being dismissed. Overall. My fur baby is feeling better because of them !

Worst place ever, my pup had broken toenail that was causing her to limp. After "estimates" of…read moreover $417 for all sorts of stuff I kept declining they were trying to hold the dog hostage until paid. Big burly guy threatening as well and even admitted they were holding dog hostage. The fee for walking in door is $105 which covers nothing. After I paid that and the $35 for cutting her toenail I finally got my dog back. Never go there!

I cannot say enough good things about the entire staff at VHA. In the past week I have had 2 cats…read morego thru urgent care and admission to ICU. I spent almost the entire day there for 5 days in a row. The desk staff were so kind and caring and hugged me when I needed that. The doctors were amazing. Special thanks to Dr Anna for taking extra time to reassure and calm me. The ICU staff was were so kind and caring. Special thanks to Destiny, the cat whisperer, and my cat Charlie's new girlfriend. my cats are doing much better but it helps to know these people are there when and if I need them. Ruth Hileman. and Dewey and Charlie

Pricey but good, their pricing is SHOCKING!!! Ultimately, we had to euthanize our fur baby because…read morewe couldn't afford to treat him, as the extraordinarily expensive price was more than we were able to finance. On the flip side, the vets and staff were mostly superb; easily among the best I've ever dealt with in 58 years of pet parenthood! * Special mention goes out to triage nurse Char, who is the most kind, caring, compassionate & helpful person that we've ever dealt with in veterinary medicine!!! She is a true Gem! (and VHA needs to show appreciation to an employee of such high caliber!) As an aside, the facilities are beautiful (and huge!) Bravo VHA!