Veterinary Regional Referral Hospital

If you care about your pet, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT choose to go to this hospital. This office prioritizes profits over the wellbeing of their patients. I had our first visit with this facility on December 30th due to our dog not being able to put any weight on one of his rear legs. We paid for blood work, an X Ray, and a CT scan to determine the issue. The total of these procedures was a little over $3,800. The veterinarian at the time diagnosed our dog w/ a mass inside his body that was pressing on a nerve and causing this issue. They took a sample of the mass and sent for testing on 12/31. Over the next month we were strung along with delays and false promises. We did not receive results back from that biopsy until the beginning of February and those results weren’t even provided to us. They believed it was adequate to send the results to our primary vet and toss us to the side and not return any calls. The results from that biopsy were inconclusive due to an inadequate sample being taken. In the meantime, our dog’s health had only gotten worse to the point he is bed ridden and we have to carry him outside to use the bathroom if he hadn’t already went on himself. To this day we are still met with excuses and lies. Our dog’s issue has yet to be resolved and we have been forced to seek medical treatment elsewhere to save our dog’s life because this office will not return phone calls or communicate in any way. To this day I have not received any correspondence after simply leaving a voicemail wanting to know what was wrong with my dog and where we could go from there.

If I could put zero stars, I would, do not take your pet here if you are desperately trying to save their life. My mother's black lab was bleeding really badly from something it had eaten. She loaded him up and rushed him up to this place from Hillsboro this morning. She rang the doorbell multiple times to try and get assistance. When someone finally came to the door, she was told the vet isn't here and that they weren't open yet. You are an emergency animal hospital "supposedly" open 24 hours. This person didn't ask or care to be bothered with my mom's situation and proceeded to walk back inside and shut the lights off to the lobby. Not even going to ask what's going on or at least try to help. My mom's dog died not much longer after that in the back of her car. Do not call yourself a hospital if you can't show another human being any sort of compassion. Don't call yourself an animal hospital if you aren't even going to seem bothered by someone's pet dying in their car. Whoever this person was doesn't need to work in a place like that period.

I had an awful experience. My father and I made the drive up there all the way from Cullman on a late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. Got there with our large dog that had to be carried by us because she could hardly walk and when she did she was struggling to breath. They took her back on a gurney, several minutes later the vet came dragging her out by a rope leash saying “YOUR DOG IS CURED! SHE CAN WALK AGAIN!” We were appalled to say the least, our poor girl had her mouth hanging open and was panting uncontrollably as she CONTINUED to struggle to breathe. When we got back into an exam room we were met with a bill of $700 and we wanted to do what we could for her so we paid it. After all of the testing we were told she possibly had a liver illness/disease but they had no medicine for her there and to visit our normal vet on Monday. After paying $900 as our final bill we took her to her normal vet, where her x-rays were sent from this place. Our normal vet was able to easily see that she had a spleenic tumor and her chances of recovery were almost nothing. By this point, she could not walk at all and after tears we had to make the decision to put her down. This place diagnosed her wrong (we were in and out within 45 minutes) and therefore the medication they did give to help her was wrong and ineffective. If this vet had, at the very least, done her job then my poor girl could have at least been given something for her pain at the very least. Instead, we were rushed in and out and given NO COMPASSION for our dog that was visibly struggling to breathe and walk.

Awful, just awful. I’ll start by saying this was a non life threatening situation. That being said, my dog was hurt and needed help. Before they would even see her, they made sure they received the preliminary money. I Was put in a room and sat there for over 10 minutes while I listened to the dr and nurses in the back holding a loud conversation about some girl. . My dog can’t walk, she is shaking and breathing hard. She is a dachshund, so the odds are, she hurt her back. But, sit we did. A nurse finally came in and I told her that I wasn’t happy about the time it was taking for someone to come help us. She said that they were waiting for payment to process but that the animals were their number 1 priority. I said, no, payment is your number 1 priority. I asked that since I was the only client there at the time, why I was made to sit with a hurt dog for so long before we were seen. I again reiterated that I wasn’t happy. The nurse said she was going to get someone else to help me with my dog and left. The doctor and another nurse came in a few minutes later and she said that she heard that I wasn’t happy. I said can we please check out my dog. She precedes to tell me that they weren’t just goofing off in the back but that they were working on files. 1. I don’t care. Quit talking about anything other than my dog who can barely sit without hurting, 2). I’m the only customer there. Stop working on files ( they will be there when we finish) and come check on my dog that is shaking and breathing heavily and 3) be a little more gentle in handling a hurt dachshund. Explaination further down. The Dr. feels Ella’s back and hips and says that she does have some pain in a few areas. The Dr. then picks Bella up and flips her around. She even said to Bella , oh I know I’m being so rough with you. I’m sorry. So, a dachshund with a hurt back may now be more hurt because you weren’t gentle. The Dr. said Bella needs to have either at ct scan or X-ray, neither of which they can do because they don’t have the machines, so I’ll have to see my primary care vet tomorrow but we will do blood work and check her pancreas. What!???!!! Wait, isn’t this listed as a hospital? Yup, it’s in the name. Veternary Regional Referral HOSPITAL and you don’t have the necessary machinery to do anything? You just said it was her back and that nothing could be done there. Dr and nurse leave the room and the front desk nurse comes in with paperwork to have bloodwork done and a pancreas check. I refuse the offer and she leaves and comes back with more paperwork. Says that I have to sign it releasing the dog without Dr recommendation. The recommendation is $344 above the $150 walk through the door fee to do blood work and a pancreas check. Are you kidding? Thus far, I’ve had a Dr feel my dogs back and hip and a nurse hold up a stethoscope to her chest. $150. Do not come here. Do not trust your animals here. The main concern is money and catching up on gossip. Concern for the animal is low on the priority list as seen by the amount of time it took to be seen, the way the Dr handled my dog and the concern for finishing up files and a conversation . True,10 minutes isn’t a long time to wait to have the initial contact with the nurse but when you are the only client there, it is. I will never go back there. Just my little warning. Stay blessed

Can not thank everyone that was involved in saving my dogs life. Everyone was courteous and prompt when I brought in my four year old German Shepard mix. He ate mushrooms outside that were poisonous in the middle of the night when I let him outside our fenced front yard. Luckily I noticed them after I let out my other two on a leash as they can squeeze through the fence. Anyways, he started twitching, then it went to slow breathing and he did not want to get up at all. All of this was during a tornado watch. When we got to the animal hospital everyone could not have been more comforting to me let alone Rusty who is leery of strangers. They induced vomiting, gave him activated charcoal and then administered intervals of something to help with kidney and liver toxicity. I got him back about 12 hours later and he was bouncing around like nothing had happened. Can not express my gratitude to the Doctor and staff! The photos are of the mushrooms so you can be aware to look out for them if you’re in North Alabama. The second photo is how happy he is now. ❤️ FYI that is his brothers bed but he is content with whatever bedding he finds. Lol