Last year, I moved into my first flat alone in Withington. Solo. No flatmates. I was a bit lonely, naturally, with the boyf living in a different city and all my mates living in Manchester city centre. I decided that the only thing for it was to get a cat and thus cement myself in my friends' collective consciousness as their gin-soaked mad aunt. The first place I went was the Yew Tree vet surgery, as I knew they'd have a list of rescue centres, and they did. I made plans to visit one or two, but then by chance found Alan (nee 'Taz') going free to a good home, from a good home. Instantly, I loved him. Instantly, he loved getting under my feet. It was truly special. Then I noticed that Alan wasn't eating much and seemed pretty sluggish. Obviously I did what any normal cat owner would do. I cried, I panicked, I lambasted myself for being a rubbish cat parent. I went to the vets. The service we got at Yew Tree was fantastic. I burst in with my cat carrier and lay prostrate at the receptionist's feet "I am awful!" I wailed "my cat is ILL!" James the vet was lovely and calmed Alan down instantly, with some sort of vet magic, did a thorough once over and pinpointed the problem instantly. 20 minutes later, with a prescription, all of Alan's vaccines etc, a charity catnip toy and the advice "Do not feed your cat Go-Cat, it is MacDonalds for cats!!!" ringing in my ears, I was off home, happy again, and not crying. I know that it doesn't seem much; cat ill, vet see cat, cat get better, but as pet owners know, it is so important to know that there's a vet you can trust. The Yew Tree vet surgery is a great place to go. As well as saving your fluffy friend's life, they sell a great range of healthy vet-approved pet foods, and animal toys, a lot of which are charity affiliated. Even now that we've moved into the city centre, we still make the journey into Withington when Alan needs a check up, because we know we can trust them to be thorough and professional, and nice to the cat. read more

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It's always nervewracking taking a baby animal to the vet. What if it embarrasses me, you're thinking. What if there's something wrong with it? What if I've been a really bad owner and not known it? All these things were running through my head when young three month old Phoebe was popped in her pet carrier and taken to Withington's Yew Tree vet today. First of all, I love dogs and I love cats. But good lord, this is where dogs have the advantage. Most travel so well, and they're usually keen to meet new people so the strange man with the big needle doesn't seem in the least bit threatening. Cats, well, they're the misanthrope of the animal world. They adore a few select people but it takes a while to make friends with them. Now, Phoebe likes her cat carrier, for sure, which is a huge positive for a kitten... but she doesn't like being contained and she does NOT like engine noise. So here we were, taking what is normally rather a nervous, skittish and anxious kitten to an unfamiliar place in a now more heightened state of nervousness, skittishness and anxiety. Great. Just what on earth was going to happen on that table. I needn't have worried. Not only do you get a warm, lovely, friendly welcome at the reception desk, you get James. He's amazing. He's seen it all - nervous cats, cats who are phobic of everything from bins to bags to binbags to doors to shoes... like mine, angry cats, evil cats... he has one of his own. Our kitten was very healthy, he checked her over 100% and asked lots of questions about her behaviour and diet. We got tons of great advice about cat food and what little Phoebe would be needing in terms of shots and whatnot over the coming weeks. You can't put a price on a good vet, and now that there's a feline in our lives we're even happier we're moving closer to this establishment. Yay to the Yew Tree vets! read more

We've been taking our pets to Yew Tree Veterinary Surgery for 14 years - both cats and (recently) dogs. I cannot recommend the practice highly enough. The care of our pets has always been outstanding. Vet nurses and vets alike are themselves animal lovers and do their very best to make sure all pets are and feel well looked after and at ease during examination. Staff are very knowledgeable and experienced. More than that, they are willing to further research areas in order to pass sound information even when these fall outside the limits of strictly speaking 'veterinary care' (for instance, I got some very good advice regarding GPS cat tracker devices). The best practice I have ever known. read more

Do not take your animal to this vet if it is not already on flea treatment. I took my kitten there for vaccinations and the vet checked for fleas and didn't find any. When i got home, the next day, he was scratching a lot and i bought a flea brush myself to check and i found 2 fleas. My kitten has never left the house except to go to the vet that one time and he picked them up there. When i called to ask if there was something they could do for him (get rid of the fleas) they laughed and said they don't just give out free flea treatment even though he got them from the vet. Its common sense to keep the examination room and entire building clean especially when there are multiple animals in there every day with fleas etc. I am disgusted. read more

Have only had the very best of advice and veterinary care given at Yew Tree Veterinary Surgery. Care, compassion and empathy in bounds. An exemplary vets which I can recommend wholeheartedly without reservation. read more

My partner and I adopted a lovely blue brush coat shar pei last year, in September. She is lovely, adorable and very affectionate :) :) We chose Yew Tree Veterinary Surgery because of the reviews you can read on that website. In fact, reading that there was a trustworthy vet there, and seeing on their website that they had good facilities.. Well, next time, we'll think twice! It's been a while that our shar pei is sick but we don't know what is wrong. We went a few times to Yew Tree to ask why she was losing all her fur. We said that since we gave her Yumega, it was better but we weren't really convinced that she will be cured only with that.. Mr Vet's answer: "well, just carry on with Yumega! But you know, you shouldn't give her Pedigree food as it is not good for them". While saying this, Mr. Vet was giving our dog some dog treats with beef in it. You may wonder why I'm saying that... Well, most shar peis have very sensitive skin and many allergies. These allergies include BEEF ALLERGY! So, well done Mr Vet! But well, he said it was not so bad and she will get better soon. She ate, she seemed fine and healthy + the vet said she had nothing... OK then! But after another month, we could see that her condition was worsening so we went back, saying that it was not normal. Mr Vet said to Mr Vet 2 that she was fine, she was on Yumega and that she'll get better (really, after one month it's worse but you still think she's alright?). Mr Vet 2 said she was not fine, she had a skin problem, some kind of yeast infection. MIRACLE: he gave us a shampoo. 3 weeks later, still no improvement, so let's go back! Mr Vet 2 didn't even examine her and just asked me "what do we do today?". Have you seen her? Maybe you could start to have a look at her skin, her ears, her paws? No? He didn't examine her at all, I had to show him where she was a bit red, where he had to have a look. He didn't do and say anything! Apart from the same crap he had told us already; yeast infection! I asked "maybe it is more some kind of eczema coz she's scratching a lot, you know?". His answer: "well you know, yeast infection, eczema and all these skin problems, they're all the same! But you'll have to give her antibiotics! The assistant will give you everything." He was showing us the door when I asked "I don't know if you've noticed but she also has a limp". "Yeah yeah I've noticed it, you'll buy something for that too". And that was it! He didn't even examine her leg! We just left with all the medicine and started the treatment. It's been now two weeks that we've started it, her skin has improved a bit but she still have a limp and she still loses her fur. I contacted the vet I used to go to with my other pets back in France, someone I really trust and who is not only into money as people from Yew Tree are and he told me that unfortunately, our baby dog had a Demodicosis. I explained to him the situation and he told me that the treatment Mr Vet 2 prescribed was not too bad but 1 month of antibiotics was not enough given her condition, and that one medicine (a VERY important one) was missing to kill the Demodex. How can this be possible? How can a vet not examine my pet when there is obviously something wrong? I was really disappointed in them and if you truly love your pet and you want the best for him/her... Well, four words: do NOT go there! read more

I have two pets a dog and a cat . When my dog was a puppy the vet gave me puppy food, not so long after I noticed bald patches on her body which I was told was the mange !! skin scapes and expensive treatments were prescribed . This did not work and the skin scrapes came back negative ?? A dog trainer recommended that I change her food which I did and immediately the problem ceased , great !! however I felt that the vet should have know that the food could of been a cause as the protein content was high ?? But apparently not ?? Then I wanted to have my dog neutered .When my dog was in season I contacted yew tree and was given an appointment at what I believed was the correct time frame .Not so long after my dog was acting strange and I was told it was due to a "phantom pregnancy" and my dog would now suffer from this for life as she had been neutered at the wrong time !!! I was prescribed very expensive powders to put in her food but I refused to pay for this so didn't receive it . At this stage I should have never returned but I did as i still presumed the vet knew best !! My cat had something rather strange in her mouth , I was told that it was probably a tumour and would need an operation to remove it !! How much would that cost ?? As the vet was writing the notes on the computer the " tumour " fell out of my cats mouth onto the table ? It was a chicken bone ? Surly this is obvious to a qualified vet ? And again yes the alarm bells were ringing but I carried on bringing my pets for vaccinations . Then recently my dog contracted a rather nasty skin infection . I again went to the yew tree vets and was prescribed more expensive treatment which didn't work and the vet then cut my dogs nails that short that it bled and she limped for over 5 days !! so when I went back I refused to see that particular vet and was given an appointment with the manager who recommended more refined testing which I brought my pet in for . About two hours later I received a phone call from a receptionist telling me my dogs treatment probably wouldn't be covered on my pet insurance because of when she had been a puppy (six years ago) and the skin scrapes which she had been given ( the negative ones ) so I would have to pay £650 !!! Well that was the final straw as you can imagine !! I demanded to speak with the vet who defended his colleagues diagnostics which of course he would but surly morally this treatment of my pet and myself is do wrong . I was under the impression that a vets job was to help the animals not make a profit ?? The conversation I had with the over zealous receptionist has been written word for word on my dogs medical history ,so my anger at my dog being mistreated is now immortalised !! So unprofessional . I now see a wonderful vet who had gone through everything with me and my dog had now nearly made a full recovery .It had cost no where near what yew tree vets tried to charge me so please please think twice as I have since heard several terrible story's from people about their treatment at this vets !!! read more