1st Pet Veterinary Centers - North Valley

Reviews 3

JU

Judie S

I have been a client at 1st Pet - First Regional Animal Hospital for 13 years and counting and have received nothing but the most stellar care from well-informed doctors and technicians. First Regional is top-notch when it comes to both regular day-to-day care and emergency care. I have also grown to adore the front office staff who has "seen it all" and can handle any situation, including the most difficult, to which I was most grateful. I first sought out 1st Pet - First Regional when I moved to AZ in 2000, mainly for well-exams for my two cats. We saw Dr. Joyner for years who is always up to date on the latest treatments and I have been especially impressed with his knowledge of more homeopathic remedies. Dr. Joyner takes a "less-is-more" approach except when he is certain that additional tests are needed or has information that leads him to believe that more tests/treatments are necessary. That brings our journey to internal medicine, where I believe I have seen the number one specialist in veterinary medicine. Dr. Babyak is "second to no one" in her knowledge in treating complex diseases and her bedside manner with both my "babies" and this baby (me!) is amazing. It was so nice to know that an expert in complex treatment was right there and that Dr. Joyner could consult with her and pass me over to her when the time was right. I must say I have had some pretty stressful times as my two cats aged and were terminally ill. Its scary and sad and I wanted to make certain that I did the right thing but not put them through too much for too long for my own benefit. Dr. Babyak and Dr. Joyner both were caring advisers, assuring that I understood exactly what was necessary or maybe when it was becoming too much but still leaving the decision to say goodbye with me. The techs......AMAZING! I have met so many as the visits became frequent at the end. Elana, Dr. Babyaks lead tech is unbelievably good at what she does and is so knowledgeable. She has worked with Dr. Babyak for so long she is almost like an extended limb which is so comforting. Dr. Joyners techs are equally good and have also been with First Regional for as long as I can remember. Ultimately I ended up putting both of my babies down in late 08 at the age of 14. Dr. Babyak was right there with me and the staff was so gracious knowing how incredibly hard that was for me (I was a basket case). They sent me a card after the passing of each of my boys and all signed it with a note to me that I still have on my desk today. They also sent along two little cards that they put together for me with their paw prints.....so special. Recently (2010) I adopted two elderly cats from Friends For Life with the purpose of giving two older and less adoptable cats the "best rest of their life possible". They ultimately have both developed illnesses....diabetes and a pretty major lymphatic gastritis. Dr. Joyner continues to treat my diabetic cat and Dr. Babyak is now treating the other. What I do know is that I could not provide them the "best rest of their life" with any other vet than First Regional. I say this from my heart. They are hands-down the absolute best choice in veterinary care......without question!

AU

Austin Coulson

I have been here a total of 4 times and love it. Everytime i get an appointment within a day or so, this last visit was so good I had to write a review. My lil buddy Wolverine was acting funny so I took him in to get a checkup. Dr Fitzpatrick saw me and got right on the ground with him and gave him a thorough physical. I explained I was working with a tight budget and she was very mindful of that. I knew he was going to need x-rays (219$), but was surprised they had the machine on site, my pup fell in love with Dr.F and didnt want her to leave the room so she took him with her as she set up the machine. She came in to recommend a pain killer shot prior to the x rays and blood draw(45$). Prior to the Xray she told me that it could be arthritis, herniated disc, Valley Fever, or something entirely different, and thankfully she did the x-ray because right away there were two very obvious lesions. She brought me into the back to show me on the screen (and supplied me with a cd with the images) she recommended sending in his blood for a Valley Fever test (69$) and sent the X-rays to a radiologist to see if they saw something she missed. I was sent home with Steroids and pain pills for my buddy and told to wait 3-5 days for the Valley Fever results. I was very restless waiting for the results so I stopped in 2 days later to see if it would help if I started him on the anti-fungal treatment right away before the test and the nice ladies at the front desk called out Dr Horn to answer my questions. He took at least 15 minutes patiently answering all my questions and setting me at ease. I was very impressed that he took this time without charge or appointment. When i got home i received a call from Dr Horn and he told me he looked at the x rays and changed his mind about the treatment because the lesions were so large and osteosarcoma would be unusual for a dog that size. He tracked down a pharmacy that could compound the pills to save me gobs of money and called in the prescription before they closed for the weekend. All this with no extra charge or appointment, just him caring. I got the test back today and he does in fact have Valley Fever, what a relief he is on his meds. its been 5 days since his first visit and he is acting like a puppy, i never thought he would have this energy again, much less in 5 days. its not an inexpensive place to go to, but nothing in the medical field is, what impressed me was the very friendly staff and incredible attention my pets are given. Everyone there was very clear about the price for everything they did and got my permission ahead of time for everything, no added expenses whatsoever. Over the last 2 visits I saw 2 other dogs come in for emergencies, and they treated them like they were people, they came out within 20 seconds and had them in the back just as fast, one even needed a gurney, poor lil guy.

MI

Mischelle Wilson

1st Pet Veterinary Center should actually be 1st Rate!!! I cant thank this place enough!!! I brought my Jack, German Shepherd, in with a twisted stomach and they gave him a second chance at life. Dr Lunt and the staff were all amazing. Jack had a 4 hr window before death and there was no telling how long the clock had been ticking before our arrival because we came home and found Jack in this state of emergency. We raced him to the center and they immediately rushed him in and took an x-ray and discovered just how serious his condition was. The center was extremely busy when we arrived and they bumped him to top priority and raced him into surgery. Throughout the night, I could see just how agitated people were in the waiting room. It was interesting to be on the other end of that. In the past, I have been irritated at emergency hospitals. Its so hard when your pet or family member is in pain and you are being put on hold. You dont want to see them suffering for long, but you never know what else is going on behind the scene. This time, it just so happened to be my loved one... and his clock was ticking down. There was one lady that was just there for a bandage change and check up and was irritated that she had been there an hour. Im sure she was thinking that it was ridiculous to have to wait so long for something that would just take a couple minutes. What she didnt know, was that her pets bandage change was a couple minutes more off the very narrow window that my dog had to live. I will never rate a place based on how long of a wait ever again. And when reading reviews, I will disregard wait time as well. Thank you so much to Dr Lunt and the staff!!! You all have done an amazing job with our Jack. Thanks to you, we now have more time with our precious Jack!!!