I cannot recommend Aislinn Rooney enough. I took my pet rats to her, and although they are quite niche, Aislinn was happy to listen to any suggestions I had from past experiences/research, and consult one of her colleagues who specialised in exotic animals. Most importantly, she handled my animals with love and care, as well as being very empathetic towards me as their owner when things weren't going great. She never gave up when treating a particularly nasty respiratory illness, and tried multiple variations of antibiotics, steroid injections, sub-Q fluid and even an inhaler. If I had any questions, she made me feel very welcome to ask them, and my animals felt at ease with her (as much as can be expected towards a needle bearing giant anyway).
The receptionists are lovely, and always try to have a chat if they're not busy. Their attitude is great and again they make you feel very welcome.
Onto the negatives then...
One of my pets unfortunately died, and upon my next visit to the vets for an unrelated matter, they wrote 'Service provided: Euthanasia & Cremation: Died at Home-Small Animal. No=1. Amount including VAT=0.00. The vets played no part in my animal's death, he died at home. I don't see why this was put on my receipt, and it really upset me. That being said I did point this out to a nurse, who took down details and said it shouldn't have happened.
The biggest negative: Alistair Boyd. Went to him with my rat who had a swollen eye. This could have been a large number of things, however he looked at it, and instantly decided it was 'something viral' to which he couldn't do anything. I would have accepted this diagnosis if he had first asked about the rat's living environment to see if preventative measures could be taken in the future, used a ophthalmoscope for a more accurate insight into the components of the eye, tried staining the eye to check for breaches to the cornea. He also never mentioned home care to help the rat had it had been a viral infection, although he did prescribe metacam (although the rat was already on it). Compresses and flushing the eye can provide the rat comfort, and he failed to point this out.
My rat was on death's doorstep - wouldn't eat and was gasping for air. When I tried unconventional methods such as giving my rat a human inhaler, Aislinn pointed out that although we don't know how safe that is, if the rat appears to be dying, the worst it can do is speed up the process. However I gave my rat ibuprofen (according to the Exotic Animal Formulary 2001, 2012 and Drug Dosage in Laboratory Animals : A Handbook, 1990, as well as another vet's recommendations) to which he bluntly told me I could have killed my rat, and when I told him I had researched it and another vet had said it was acceptable, he began patronising me telling me 'not to believe everything I read on the internet'. I ended up with the same medicine I already had. Although for the metacam, which was the dog solution, he was genuinely going to give me a DOG sized syringe for a rat. I had to ask for something more appropriate, with Aislinn this was done automatically. Secondly, although the dose of the tablet provided was one eighth of a tablet, he didn't think to cut the tablets up into single doses, unlike Aislinn. I would advise you to keep your animals far far farrr away from this man, who I have perceived to be in the industry for the money alone. read more
