Humane Society Of New Orleans

I have had two experiences with Dr. Saacks-- both emergencies-- and both times he took the utmost care and he was concerned for the animals as if they were his own. To me, this is the most important quality I could ask for in a vet.When my neighbor's unleashed schnauzer ran into the road to greet me and got tumbled under by a car, Dr. Saacks was available immediately to help tend to the frightened owner and animal. He gave a thorough check up and solid care taking advice and even recommended that the owner and I grab a beer across the street while he took care of Klaus (the schnauzer). It was very sweet, very human and kind. And Klaus was just fine and never went out of the house without a leash again. :)With this experience in mind, he was the first one I called when our 6-week old kitten became very ill. Although she didn't make it, Dr. Saacks could not have been kinder, more attentive or concerned for our tiny baby throughout the last two days of her short life. He even offered to keep her for observation while we had to go to work. It was far beyond his call of duty and I will always appreciate the lengths he gave to help. No, his office isn't bright and shiny and new. I don't care about that. That man cares for animals and that is all I want in a vet. We will take our other animals to him as long as he's around. Reasonably priced and thoroughly explains his observations and reasons for taking action. He has great staff who also put their hearts on the line. He's a good man and a good vet.  Hope this helps. Read Less

I absolutely LOVE this clinic.  In a city where everything is expensive and "hoity-toity"....this place is a gem.  Dr. Saacks absolutely loves what he does - he has a great sense of humor - he is efficient and my dog Lucian loves him.  My dog was dropped at my door in February of this year.  When I couldn't find his owner, I decided to keep him.  I had him neutered and tested at another facility (which was entirely too expensive) and they informed me that he tested positive for HW but they were going to wait 3 months to start treatment.  As Lucian started to get worse, I took him to an emergency vet - they at least confirmed the diagnosis and got him started on anti-biotics.  Wanting to get this process started IMMEDIATELY - I was lucky enough to find AMC.  My dog wouldn't have lasted so much longer, his infection was so bad.  He just had his final HW test and he is FREE!!!!  My dog loves his vet and I love my dog - so Lucian will be with Dr. Saacks as long as I have him. Read Less

I am typically not a person to complain, but I had a very poor experience with a member of the staff.  I am a veterinary internist attending the 2012 ACVIM conference.  On my way to the conference, I happened upon a sickly, distressed and abandoned/orphaned 8-9 week old kitten.  I attempted to contact the LASPCA in Metarie; however, received their answering service which stated that they would likely not return my call before my return flight home.  With limited available transportation, knowledge of the city and its animal control services, I had exhausted most of the reasonable options to help this kitten.  I discovered this clinic listed on the internet as providing 24-hour care and thought I would be able to receive some insight, guidance and support from a local colleague.  My telephone call was answered by a "Dr. Anton".  I began to explain my situation and my assessment of the cat to Dr. Anton and while at first he seemed willing to help, he quickly became dismissive, belligerent and unhelpful.  He mentioned several times that the cost I would incur for helping the kitten would be hundreds of dollars.  I explained that while there was a limit to what I would spend on the kitten, I was willing to contribute some money to getting this kitten some help.  He next suggested that I return the kitten to its natural environment, which I thought odd considering that I had explained its age, fragile medical condition and my concern that it would die of exposure and starvation.  He once more returned to cost.  I quickly came to what I had hoped he might offer and asked if he knew of any emergency hospitals that accepted strays for Animal Control or if he would be willing to consider extending the courtesy of accepting the kitten on behalf of the hospital.  He once again informed me that this strategy would incur a cost, but never offered to accept the kitten.  Having felt that I had exhausted every *reasonable* option, I asked him how much it would cost me to have the kitten humanely euthanized.  Evidently, this desperate option was one he was unwilling to consider and he made one final personal castigation on my veterinary competency before he abruptly disconnected the telephone.  Dr. Anton and the entire animal loving community can think what they like of my last desperate and frustrated measure, but humane euthanasia for an orphaned kitten is certainly better than returning her back to a certain, protracted and painful death at the whim of nature.  I tried to explain this kitten's severely debilitated condition to Dr. Anton, but I was frequently interrupted and he was simply unwilling to listen to the details of this animal's poor condition.  No matter this kitten's condition, to suggest turning it away and allow it to die from exposure and starvation is insensible at best and morally repugnant at its worst.  I have absolutely no reason to doubt that Dr. Anton is anything less than a competent practitioner, but I am certain that he has room to improve in three areas: 1.) Engaging himself as an active listener; 2.) Improving his critical thinking skills and 3.) Establishing a focus on empathy (even infinitesimally).  Like many of you, I have encountered numerous stray animals while traveling away from home.  It is only the extreme cases that I involve myself in.  Sadly, in the half a dozen or so instances that I have personally involved myself in, this is the first one where a fellow colleague was unwilling, unhelpful and unprofessional.  I'm simply at a loss for words as to explain his apathy.Fortunately, there was a good outcome to this story.  After being rudely dispatched by Dr. Anton, I contacted Metarie Small Animal Hospital who quickly and readily agreed to accept the kitten, provide her the minimal necessary care and surrender her to animal control for whatever her fate may be (hopefully a good home).  I wrote their office manager a positive letter, praised their front staff attendant, Brian and made a donation to their hospital for helping me and (especially) the kitten out.  In the future, please let Dr. Anton know that Metarie Small Animal Hospital will accept strays for the local animal control at a total cost of a $40 cab fare and a (voluntary) small donation. Read Less

This may seem strange, but I really love talking about extermination... meaning pests, not people, of course!. Get me on the subject and I can go on for hours. But... I never really gave much consideration to fleas. After all, I have indoor cats, so I thought I'd be safe. I figured in a world of pestilence, bed bugs and roaches were at the top of the concern list. I don't know if my neighbor jinxed me when he asked me if I had fleas. "Of course not," I replied. Indoor cats and all. Then one night as I was petting my fluffy tabby angel I saw it. A tiny nasty thing crawling on his head. I visited the Animal Medical Clinic the next day and got some Revolution after telling the reception person my woes. I thought that it wasn't yet a problem and that I was going to attack early enough that I didn't have to treat my house.Wrong! The fleas returned 5 days later, with a vengeance. I went to Petco and tried some natural topical remedy. The fleas laughed at me and had a party whilst drunk in an aromatherapeutic haze.I returned to AMC and spoke to the vet this time. He was very informative and spoke at length about my options and best course of action to treat what was by now an infestation (vacuuming everything, spraying the floorboards, couches and bedding with insecticide and then giving a Capstar AND Revolution). He also said that it could take this same course for several months to take effect. SO! While I fully expect to see fleas again in a couple weeks, I have every confidence that at some point, I will be flea-free if I follow this helpful advice. Pretty cool seeing as I didn't even have to bring my cat in, saving me a lot of $, too. Speaking of price, Capstar is about 10 bucks a pill and Revolution 18, though if you buy a bunch at a time, you'll save. And trust me, you'll need it. Read Less

I took my dog to Animal Medical Clinic and changed to a different vet after about a year...the veterinarian was condescending, and refused to explain procedures. Additionally, my dog began to have stomach problems and like other reviews, he gave my dog B12 shots monthly, charged me for the office visit each time, and refused to explain why the shots were necessary. Needless to say, I switched to Prytania Veterinary and haven't been happier - they treated my dog immediately and fixed the problem after one visit...turns out I had wasted a lot of time and money going to repeated visits at Animal Medical Clinic. Read Less

When I first started going to Dr. Saacks I liked him enough, but I had a funny feeling. Little did I know I should have listed to that funny feeling and run away as quickly as possible. Since I didn't, here is my experience: Dr. Saacks diagnosed my dog with a Thyroid disease 3 months ago. He put her on a higher dose of thyroid medicine than a dog her size should be on. She became extremely frail and skinny. I called him 3 months into her taking the medication to see if she needed to be re-evaluated. He then informed me she probably should have been reevaluated already. Well, I never received any notice from him regarding that. Had I not called, I would have never known she needed reevaluation. This got me thinking, and I began to search out second opinions and I let him know I was searching for second opinions. During this time I needed a refill on heart worm medication. My dog had been tested 3 months prior by Dr. Saacks and the result was negative. He refused to write her an RX or sell me any heart worm medication because I had not physically shown him my left over heart guard pills at the previous vet appointment. At that same appointment he neglected to tell me when that if I did not show him the pills he would not give me more when I ran out. I called 3 other vets for second opinions regarding the heart worm medication. All 3 vets, told me that was outrageous and they would give any of their patients heart worm mediation refills in that situation, they just needed to have a negative test within the prior year at their clinic. I decided to go back to my previous vet, Dr. Nathan at Prytania Veterinarian clinic. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Dr. Nathan and Prytania veterinarian clinic. They called Dr. Saacks and tried to get my dog's files faxed over for proof of her previous negative heart worm test. Dr. Saacks was ""busy"" so I drove over there myself to pick up her information. He proceeded to chastise me, and refuse to pay a credit I have on my account with him from being charged for a medication twice within 5 days. Then once I left his clinic he proceeded to text messaged my phone telling me he would make sure Prytania Vet was going to make me do a heart worm test. Which they did for FREE, because he made such a big stink about it. My dog's test came back negative, but what impressed me most was Dr. Nathan took much time and care to explain why we might as well just do the test to be extra safe, whereas Dr. Saacks exact words to me where, ""I can't believe you're so cheap you'll risk your dogs life over $27"". Keep in mind heart worms normally can't be detected for 6 months after being infected so my dog wouldn't even test positive for 4 or 5 more months at least!!! If you like yourself and your pet, you won't take them anywhere near Dr. Saacks and Animal Medical Clinic. Read Less

When I first started going to Dr. Saacks I liked him enough, but I had a funny feeling about him.  Little did I know I should have listed to that funny feeling and run away as quickly as possible.  Since I didn't, here is my experience:Dr. Saacks diagnosed my dog with a thyroid disorder 3 months ago.  He put her on a larger dose of thyroid medicine than a dog her size should be on.   She became extremely frail and skinny so I called him 3 months into her taking the medication to see if she needed to be re-evaluated.  He then informed me she probably should have been reevaluated already.  Had I not called, I would have never known she needed reevaluation.  This got me thinking, so I began to search out second opinions and I let him know. During this time I needed a refill on heart worm medication.  My dog had been tested 3 months prior by Dr. Saacks and the result was negative.  He refused to write her an RX or sell me any heart-worm medication because I had not physically shown him my leftover heart guard pills at the previous vet appointment.  I called 3 other vets for second opinions regarding the heart worm medication.  All 3 vets, told me that was outrageous and they would give any of their patients refills in that situation, they just needed to have a negative test within the prior year at their clinic.  I decided to go back to my previous vet, Dr. Nathan at Prytania Veterinarian clinic.  I cannot say enough wonderful things about Dr. Nathan and Prytania veterinarian clinic.  They called Dr. Saacks and tried to get my dog's file faxed over for proof of her previous negative heart worm test.  Dr. Saacks was "busy" so I drove over there to grab it.  He proceeded to chastise me, and refuse to pay a credit I have on my account with him from being charged for a medication twice within 5 days.  Once I left his clinic he proceeded to send rude text messages. If you like yourself and your pet, you won't take them anywhere near Dr. Saacks and Animal Medical Clinic. Read Less

This vet was friendly and recommends high quality food for your pet so he gets an extra star for that.  Otherwise I would only give him one star because when you schedule an appointment with someone at 8 AM you shouldn't be 20 minutes late, that is, if you are a professional interested in keeping clientele.  Also, a nice thing to do is a follow up call  to make sure everything is going okay when you are dealing with a client with an ill pet.  It lets us know you care.  Maybe you are too busy rooting around in that junk yard VW bus you store across the street?  I guess you think that just adds to the "ambiance" of the neighborhood.  Another thing that would be nice is discussing the cost of the treatment with your client before you give their dog a shot of something like B-12 at $25 a pop.  And lastly, why did you have to shave my dogs neck to take a blood sample.  I've never encountered that before.  Seemed a bit unprofessional.  Overall I'd have to say that perhaps when this vet matures he might be a good one to go to, but until that day there are so many other options in the area, why bother with him? Read Less

When reading these reviews, I get the sense no one ever told Dr. Saacks they were unhappy with their services. That is the first and foremost thing to do- not run to a computer and voice one-sided complaints. There are two sides to every story. Also, blanked statements about erroneous healthcare is really touchy- you may not like the answer you hear but again, open communication with your doc is key to moving forward. Read Less

I am an animal rescuer in New Orleans and have a well established relationship with Dr. Saacks. I used him for my own animals as well. He helped me treat, spay/neuter, and hospitalize some of my rescues who were very sick. He is efficient, caring and his pricing can not be beat. If you want a vet who truly cares not only about your animals but every animal he's your guy. I can't recommend him highly enough! Read Less

Do not--i repeat-- do not use this vet. First impression of this office was that the vet tech was very genuine and friendly. I waited for nearly 45 minutes for the vet to show up (he wasn't even there!). When he did grace me with an appearance he smelled like weed and was considerably slow to respond to my questions and gave rather rude responses. What a waste of time and money; I will never come back here again. Read Less

Dr. Saacks has taken care of my dog since before Katrina- my dog's entire life! He has never forgotten my dog's name, has never overcharged, has always been patient with my silly concerns, and is a very caring vet. I suggest him to people all of the time. Read Less

he slipped under my radar about 7 months ago. Up until today, he was ""God's gift to small animals"" Today I brought in a 7 pound cat for an upper resp infection. Evidently, his veterinary skills have deteriorated , as my cat escaped while being ""restrained"" by him and his tech. I was astounded- he just got indignant and advised me to neuter my cat immediately - ( suggesting... excessive testosterone levels in my still virile cat resulted in his technical ineptitude? ) I was then informed that he didn't accept checks. Fortunately, I had the cash to buy my cat out of veterinary hostage. However, he has withheld his antibiotic, and so I must return tomorrow when the bank opens.God's gift to animals! No. Just an Animal Read Less

Absolutely would not recommend this vet. Between myself and my family we have brought several pets, both cats and dogs, for a number of ailments and he has proved to be utterly imcompetent every time. Not only is he imcompetent but he is also rude and careless too and to top that off he is OVERPRICED! And BEWARE of any prices he gives you over the phone because by the time the service is over the price has tripled! He has made it very clear that this is only a job to him and he does not care about animals. I have brought rescues off the street in desperate need of medical attention and all he sees are dollar signs. He is an absolute creep! Do not waste your time with him! Read Less

I have gone to this vet twice in the past year. Both times they were prompt, but when it comes to the prices I became a bit uneasy. New clients are asked to fill out paperwork, like all doctors, but when asked what my profession was... i began to think that maybe they were charging by what sort of income i was making. Other than that, I felt that they're services were sufficient. Read Less

The ""clinic"" is awful, unfinished and unhygienic. There is no staff. Vet sent my animal home highly sedated after a simple dental procedure and we spent the entire night with the animal, terrified that he would pass out in his water bowl or fall down the stairs. Over priced for inadequate service. Totally misdiagnosed a serious issue with one of our animals and we had to take her to a decent vet to get proper care, thus paying twice and causing the animal undue stress. . Read Less