Nothing at the South Boulder Animal Hospital has ever been overtly wrong but nor has it ever been completely right either. My dog and I have seen Dr. Watrous 3 times and Dr. Kay once, and I haven't be... Read More
Nothing at the South Boulder Animal Hospital has ever been overtly wrong but nor has it ever been completely right either. My dog and I have seen Dr. Watrous 3 times and Dr. Kay once, and I haven't been super impressed with either one of them--Dr. Watrous has a little better of a bedside manner while Dr. Kay was a bit more abrasive and did less to make sure that my dog and I were comfortable. I rescued my dog ( a pit bull mix) about a year ago and in that time she's presented an array of behavioral and medical issues that have been very challenging to deal with and treat. We've gone to the SOBO Animal Hospital for a variety of issues--bald spots and lumps, gastrointestinal issues, a VERY itchy ear, lesions on her her paws, and behavioral issues. Both vets have provided very average care for my dog, just treating the symptoms rather than trying to figure out the cause. To be fair to them, these treatments worked in the short term, but failed to solve the larger problems. In all of my visits, the vets made some assumptions about my financial situation which made me uncomfortable and which I feel compromised care for my dog--just because I am a young owner of a stigmatized dog doesn't mean I am not willing and able to pay for diagnostic tests and effective treatment. While I appreciate the effort to keep costs down for their patients, I feel like I should be the one deciding if it's worth spending the money. Instead, both doctors quickly dismissed options on the grounds that "you don't want to go there because it gets expensive." Both vets have also dismissed some of my concerns and questions about my dog's health, making me feel ridiculous for even bringing them up. One of my initial concerns with my dog, which I brought up on our very first visit and have continued to ask about since, is that she has allergies. Neither of the vets took my concern very seriously and offered very little support in diagnosing and treating the issue. On our last visit, I was given a recipe for homemade dog food after some prodding (the initial suggestion was "you can always find a recipe on the internet."...Really?) but I wasn't given any further instruction (changes I might notice in my dog, how to transition from current food, etc.) I also asked the vet on our second visit if my dog might have a problem with immunity since she gets sick so often and he quickly wrote it off as too soon to tell and probably just being related to being a rescue dog--while I understand that this is an equally plausible explanation, it would have saved my dog and I a lot of time and money if he had talked to me about diagnostic options right then as we recently found out from another veterinarian that my dog does have a rare auto-immune disorder. Finally, they completely wrote off my concerns about my dog's separation anxiety and offered no support what-so-ever. On two of our visits, I was made to feel like I was an irresponsible pet owner for requesting behavioral medication (it wasn't my first step with her, as I told both vets--we've been working with a behaviorist and a trainer). They asked me very minimal questions about her behavior and did nothing to try and diagnose a behavioral condition. Overall, my feeling is that this is probably a good vet's office if you have a pet that only gets sick in average ways. I've always found the reception staff and the vet techs to be exceedingly friendly and helpful--they call after every visit to follow up and have had same day appointments on the occasions that we needed them. The prices here are in line with other vets that we've visited. However, if you have a "difficult" pet like mine who has many issues that require in-depth diagnostics and care, I wouldn't recommend this place. Building relationships with pets and their people doesn't seem to be a priority for these vets, and for this reason, if you're expecting to see the vet more than once or twice a year, I would suggest looking elsewhere. Read Less