Suburban Animal Clinic

We have been bringing our elderly cat to Suburban Animal Clinic for years and they have been excellent in their care of him. Everyone that I have met that works here is deeply passionate about giving the best treatment possible. I can’t recommend this place enough to anyone that wants to make sure their furry family member gets the best care possible.

This is going to be a lengthy review, so I apologize in advance. TLDR: Buyer beware. The $65 visit fee may get you a visit with the doctor, or might get you a visit with a tech (definitely NOT worth $65). They use IDEXX for their labs, which is extremely expensive and you can either pay for a panel, or individual labs which cost even more. The 2 view X-ray my cat had was about $250 and does not look like it's read by the vet as much as an AI program. A visit for constipation ended up costing me $818. I have taken my cats to Suburban Animal Clinic for 10+ years. We recently moved and won't be returning, but I felt it necessary to speak on this with a clear mind and heart, and not give an emotionally-driven rant. At the initial meeting when ownership changed (yet again) and at the first several visits, I really enjoyed seeing Dr Burkholder and the staff at the clinic. I felt that Dr Burkholder examined my pets thoroughly and gave sage advice. She was also very quick with following up regarding results. In early June of 2024, my sweet German Shepherd suffered a seizure and what we believe to be cardiac arrest. My partner called the clinic (we live 6 minutes away WITH traffic) and we were told to take him to MedVet as the clinic does not see emergency patients. Unfortunately, our boy died in our arms within 20 minutes of the call. Our cat then started acting off, so I scheduled an appointment for two days later as that was the earliest they could get us in. At the visit, we were roomed and asked to wait for the doctor (which is completely fine, I work in the medical field and I know patients can take longer than their actual scheduled time slot). Dr Burkholder came in to advise me that she would be a while as an emergency came in and that animal must be attended to. Understandable... but I was just told 48 hours earlier that they did not accept emergencies. As I waited there for nearly 40 minutes, I became very upset. The vet tech came in and examined my cat and told me that she recommended blood work and X-rays, however, the doctor still had not even seen my cat visually or laid hands on him to verify the necessity of the X-ray. I was okay with the blood work but apparently did not voice loudly enough that I was not okay with the X-ray without the veterinarian's examination, as she took him back and did both anyway. Eventually, she brought him back and the doctor came in at which time I voiced my concerns; I was not comfortable with a technician ordering the X-ray without a physician present or at least examining my cat, I was incredibly upset that they interrupted our appointment for an emergency but didn't have time for our emergency less than 48 hours ago. Would our beautiful boy have made it if we had gotten him over there immediately? I don't know, but the fact that the choice was given to another client and not us deeply disturbed me. I was so upset that I nearly decided to just leave in the middle of the visit and take my cat elsewhere, but he had already had blood drawn and was mad at being crated as it was, and the comfort of my animal is paramount to my feelings. $800+ later, turns out he has early kidney disease, dehydration and constipation. They recommended an enema, so I agreed to that and returned two hours later to pick him up, at which point he was covered in his own feces. I have absolutely no idea why they could not have used a wet wipe or paper towel to at least get the fecal matter off of him before jamming him in his crate and giving him back to me; quite frankly, it was like adding insult to injury.

I have been going here for 10 years. And. So with that being said I obviously like this vet up until recently. As the other post say they want to charge you for everything. The new owners only want money and not what's right for the owner and are best friends are fur babies. I have decided I will find another vet that would be happy to not want to charge the owners for driving on there road. And this stinks because my dogs like it here so it will be hard but I can't care for my pet if there want to double and over charge for everything. And yes they need there money i get that. But everyone it was not always this way here. Like shot only that was a life saver and saved money guess what they took it and added extra or making me feel like crap because I don't want a full blood panel that is like 400 on top of everything else! I wish you all the best I really do. I know I am a drop in the bucket but I am done.

Made an appointment for our 4 year old cat. She has what we think is an infection in the corner of her mouth and to check her ears. When we arrived for our appointment, we were taken to an exam room. But before our cat was examined or seen by anyone. We were handed a bill for over $600! I was very confused but looked this bill over anyway. Turns out they just decided to charge us for many things we didn't ask for or need. I won't try to remember them all. But one stood out for a flea treatment, and they wanted almost $250 for it. That's not the only thing that stands out. Our cat doesn't and has never had fleas. And they never examined our cat for fleas or anything else in the first place. Our original reason for the appointment (infected lip) was never even addressed. Needless to say we did not pay the ridiculous "bill", and left. We will find a veterinary office that actually cares about our pets more than money.

Good people at this vet and been going there for a long time. I would like to thank the entire team for taking care of my dog Sadie. I took her in on Monday and she was diagnosed with pyometra and would need surgery. They usually do not do surgery on Tuesday’s, but Dr Allyson Bond performed surgery Tuesday morning. Sadie is now recovering well and I am deeply grateful for what everyone did. Thank you all!