Robbins Road Animal Clinic

Reviews 5

MI

Midwest Girl

We brought our cat to RRAC and we were so pleased with the care she received, we are moving all of our pets there as patients. We wrote the above review after a visit with Dr. Heidi, who is unfortunately no longer with RRAC. We did move all three of our pets to RRAC and did not receive the same level of care with the other veterinarians. In fact, we brought our very ill dog in and were told we had to take him to Blue Pearl in Grand Rapids if we wanted our dog to survive. He needed an ultrasound and to have fluid drained from his abdomen and chest (he was in liver failure). I point-blank asked the doctor if there are any other animal hospitals or clinics along the lakeshore (closer to home) that could provide these services for us. Our dog hates car rides and doesnt do well in strange settings and I wanted to avoid stressing him any further. The doctor told me "no". He told me my options were Blue Pearl, U of M, or over to Detroit (worse options). He told me if I didnt want to take him to Blue Pearl, I could just take him home and he probably had a couple days to live. My husband and I decided to do a little research on our own and made some phone calls. The very first animal hospital we called (in Holland, much closer to home) said they could provide my dog with the ultrasound he needed and they could drain the fluid from his body. They told me I could bring him in that day and they would take care of him. My charges at the Animal Hospital that day were $200 (including medication) - compared to the $2000 "guestimate" the Vet at RRAC quoted me to take my dog to Blue Pearl. My only conclusion is that RRAC (and all the other veterinarian offices around here that refer everyone to Blue Pearl) must get some sort of referral bonus or kick-back from Blue Pearl. Needless to say, we have switched all our pets over to the Veterinary Hospital that saved our dogs life. Shame on you RRAC.

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Janet MacKeller

The doctors and staff are the best. They have taken care of our animals for over thirty years. After we lost our Bassett hound, Priscilla, we vowed no more, but broke down and adopted two basset hound puppies, Tillie and Charlie. We we excited to bring them in for their first vet visit at eight weeks with Dr. Jolene and for the next three years have either seen Dr. Jolene or Dr. Heidi. Recently our three year old Bassett hound, Tillie, had gotten sick with what we all thought was an infection in her glands. She was running a fever and her throat was red. She was put on meds but not getting better. A long story short we found she had Lymphoma cancer. Drs. Jolene, Heidi and Tom were great with her. They cried with us when we got the diagnosis about her cancer and Dr. Jolene was very honest with us and what she would do. It came down to what was best for Tillie and us. She could have suggested chemo and it would have been money it their pockets, but it wouldnt have been the right thing to do for Tillie or would it cure her since this type of cancer is incurable. It would just by her a few months and the chemo would be terrible on her. Through the meds they gave her, we had three more weeks with her. We called and talked about what to do as she was getting closer a d closer to the end. They knew how much we were hurting and guided us through whatever we wanted to do. Dr. Tom was there when she passed. I cant say enough about the staff and doctors at Robbins Road Animal Clinic. They truly care about your pets, your furry babies, and also care about the families when their pet passes. My heart is still hurting greatly with the loss of Tillie, but I know Charlie will always be in good hands with Dr. Jolene, Dr. Heidi and Dr. Tom and their staff.

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Bethany Erdman

Depends what vet you get...I took my cat in on a Friday evening after he started walking funny and just overall more lethargic. Thought maybe he had some arthritis in his back legs. Tom gave me reassurance that my cat would be ok, and that yes, it probably was just arthritis and he gave my cat a shot of depo for "pain". Said if my cat improved, he was probably in pain, if not, hes just old, but his heart and eyes and everything checked to be normal. Re-read that, EVERYTHING ABOUT MY CAT WAS COMPLETELY NORMAL AND HE WAS FINE. Didnt take my cats temperature, do any sort of blood work, and didnt listen well to what I was noticing was different about my cat (who knows an animal more than the caregiver?). Over the weekend, my cat progressively got worse, not eating, more lethargic, not improving, etc.. Wednesday morning rolled around and my cat had peed in our bed and it didnt smell like urine (he has NEVER gone outside his box, EVER, even after moving 6 times with us). I brought him to the bathroom which was the place he seemed most comfortable in, and he pooped. He could not walk and didnt care if I bothered him, he just did not care about life AT ALL. I called the vet and made an appointment to come in that same day. This time I got Heidi, and she was the sweetest. She checked his temp, and listened to his heart and came to the conclusion my cat was experiencing some type of organ failure. She was very nice to us and completely understanding and just calming about the entire experience of euthenizing my beloved cat. I will never bring another pet to see the male vet, I will from now on request Heidi.

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Cathy Weitz

We just started taking our goldendoodle, Jake, to Robbins Road Animal Clinic. We decided to go here after a very wonderful, albeit sad, experience of bringing my moms dog here to be put down. My mom was here visiting and needed to find a vet to take care of her dog, Benny, who suddenly became very sick and weak after a long illness. Dr. Tom and everyone we encountered was so very kind and supportive. They couldnt have been nicer. Although it was a truly sad day, we were extremely impressed with the staff at RRAC. They even took the time to send a sympathy card which each of the staff signed. My first visit with my own dog was equally impressive and the care provided by Dr. Tom was again, excellent. I dont normally take the time to write reviews, but I couldnt let this opportunity go by without due praise for the wonderful job RRAC does.

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PJ McCarthy

I started bringing my shepherd-husky mix as a pup to Jolees Dad in 1974. Then there was our samoyed mix, followed by cats Oreo, deaf/diabetic/epileptic Motown and then his buddy Cosmo. Jolee, her Dad George and now Dr. Tom, have helped us take all of them from cradle to grave. Then we moved to another part of the county and purely for the sake of convenience went to another Vets office that was closer to home. But we were having some recurring issues with one of our cats and out of frustration wanted a fresh perspective, second opinion, and came back to see Dr. Tom. He had some insight that helped us to understand what we were dealing with and some suggestions how to handle it. The other Vets office is good but the visit at RR was like coming home.

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