Central Texas Veterinary Speciality And Emergency Hospital

Gave them a call about a possible emergency situation and they were super calm, knowledgeable, and quick. Saved me an emergency visit at 2am and all I have to worry about now is possibly waking up to some cat barf :^) Read Less

This is a tough place to work. Super high stress, customers who are impatient and expect to be treated like they are at a resort. Here's the reality: Your beloved pet is in need of specialized care, so are several other people with their pets...let the staff do their jobs. They are amazing at what they have to handle with your pet, allow them to focus on that. Sometimes a situation happens (like a venomous bite) that takes precedence over less time critical events. This staff wants to deliver incredible care, take note of that and let them go to work. You're in good hands with these peeps. Read Less

We loved this place, they have a great staff and very well prepared team. Jamie and Nick were great!!! They were very nice and helpful, and they took great care of our dog Queso. Definitely recommend this place, especially in an emergency situation! Thank you!!!!! Read Less

My Dobie, got a chest laceration on a Sunday afternoon that absolutely required stitches. I was dreading the thought of driving in to be seen, but was VERY pleasantly surprised at how things went. We were seen within 20 minutes of arriving and done with his surgery within an hour and a half. The staff was courteous, caring and professional. Additionally the associated costs were more than reasonable, and actually less than their initial estimate that I had already agreed to. His wound has also healed very nicely, considering it was a "funky" laceration. So, overall I'm very pleased with my experience and wouldn't hesitate to use them again or recommend their services to a friend. Read Less

The staff is amazing! Our sweet 15 year old dog was not doing well and we walked in and they took him right away at 10pm. They checked us in quickly and we spoke with a vet within 15-20 minutes. We made the difficult decision to let him go and they were so kind, compassionate, caring, and really listened to us. We will always be grateful. Read Less

DOUBLE CHECK TIME BEFORE YOU GO. Here's the deal - this hospital shares a space with a vet's office that runs during the day. If you show up before 6pm, no one will help you. The Central Texas Veterinary Specialty Hospital operates there during the day, and come the end of their shift, they're clearly not interested in your problems. I was told to wait with my bleeding dog until the other business came in to get started. Thank god my dog wasn't injured enough to be about to die - but they were in no rush to provide assistance or to triage my dog - so I wouldn't expect them to help you either. I certainly will NEVER drive here again in an emergency - there are other hospitals nearby that are willing to make sure your pet is taken care of in a timely fashion. I am completely shocked that two businesses run this way - they don't seem to get that emergencies are just that - and when someone googles "emergency animal hospital" they're not paying attention to the time being during a shift change. Stupid setup, stupid idea, stupid implementation, and not worthy of anyone's money or tears. Read Less

Took one of my boys in for what I assumed was a serious issue because he was in so much pain. The staff was friendly, helpful, efficient and thorough. Thanks so much for your service, you were a huge comfort! Read Less

My experience with this facility was only to the extent of a phone call -- enough to put me off from considering it. I called because my vet referred me for a minor emergency for my puppy (she ate a bunch of lifesaver mints, nontoxic but not good). I told the woman at the front desk (I will call and get her name) that I had a minor emergency and needed to be sure that bringing my dog in would be the best choice. Instead of discussing my options or attempting to get me on the phone with a vet, she interrupted my explanation and said "yeah if you have a minor emergency, bring the dog in". I then had to explain again that I didn't want to bring her in unless there was due cause. She interrupted me again and told me to call the poison control line (there's a $60+ fee for calls). I tried to explain again that I am trying not to spend any money unless necessary, and need to do what's best for my dog, and the woman was even more rude and short with me and completely unhelpful and not pleasant at all. I'm disappointed and a little upset with the treatment I received in just a phone call. Read Less

Incompetent "doctors" and ruthless management. The on-staff doctor was unable to catheterize my cat because of lack of both knowledge and proper equipment. Their recommendation to me was a radical surgery to the tune of $3,000 instead of them trying to re-catheterize. There is no wiggle room at this horrible emergency animal hospital with their hours, availability of staff, and billing. The ONLY reason for my cat being here is that city of Austin veterinarian practices do not provide overnight care and they require that owners transport sick and scared animals to a "hospital" at night and back to the Vet in the morning. EVERY DAY. How is this good for the animal? Austin is supposed to be a pet-friendly city, but this common practice of back-n-forth is a detriment to the health of our companions. Please help. Challenge your local vets!! Just because it's "always been done this way" doesn't mean that it must continue. Stand up and fight for your pet's life and healthcare. Read Less

I went to the South location for emergency care for my cat and I am still stunned at the low level of integrity with their billing practices. I am very sad and disappointed that a clinic would take advantage of people who are in vulnerable positions and scared. After coming into the clinic my cat was taken back to see a doctor and I was asked to wait in a waiting room for the doctor to come in. By time he came in I had calmed down enough to figure out that my cat had a back choking episode after coughing up a fur ball. Doctor said he wanted to do x-rays and a battery of tests. I told him I am on a strict budget and I need to ok everything but he could do the x-rays . He agreed and left the room. A tech came into my room with an invoice to go over with me that had a low end of $450.00 and high end of $750.00. I was stunned and in shock!!! The tech asked how do you want to pay for this? I said I can make a deposit payment and then a payment plan. The tech said no, you need to pay in full. She asked if I had a partner I could call or someone that would loan me the money or a credit card. I said I have none of those and I needed to leave to get money. The tech told me that I could not leave and they would not give me my cat until the bill was paid in full. So now I am a prisoner here. I was in shock she said that!! I told her I felt powerless, I am by myself, vulnerable, scared and you are trying to shame me and shake me down for money and if I dont pay I am going to lose a very dear companion. I have been to emergency vets before and have never experience this level of non-compassion and mafia style business practices. Thank God my earth angel called at that very moment and I were able to work a deal out with the clinic. I was told that I could be released once the bill was paid in full. The bill was paid and I was told I could pick up my cat in two hours. Well two hours turned into five hours and they charge you by the hour as well. When I picked up my cat the doctor brought her out to me and gave a general report of her condition. I said So she had a bad choking incident bottom line. He nodded his head and said yep. This clinic has adequate medical care but their billing practices are that of a Sopranos episode. Fur baby owners beware. Read Less

I just called to ask a vet after hours about a concern I have with my dog and Mel, who answered the phone, was so absolutely rude and yelled at me over the phone for asking a question. By far the worst customer service ever and the girl should be fired. End of story. Read Less

Do yourself a favor and AVOID THIS PLACE-->drive another 20 minutes to AVES (Austin Veterinary Emergency & Specialty), unless you have a true emergency with your pet. These are SALESMEN, not careful medical professionals. The first thing they do upon entering the prison-like setting: separate you from your pet to assess the pet. They then put you in a room without your pet, Vet comes in and proposes plan, making sure to stress the urgency and scare you about the worst case scenario. If you question it, the Vet will essentially roll his eyes and leave the room. Then, an incompetent and nervous technician returns to offer a cheaper course of treatment, stressing that you'll be settling for it and most likely harming your pet. The entire experience is designed to strike fear into your heart, such that you become willing to pay pay pay. And all of the documents they want you to sign makes you agree to pay for any additional necessary treatment while under their care. I didn't trust these people at all. For my pet, they proposed an invasive, costly plan with several overnight stays. THANK GOD I TRUSTED MY GUT AND LEFT. I went to the pet ER in westlake, called AVES. There, my pet received only the minimal necessary treatment and left a happy camper. My pet's medical condition was not nearly as dire as Emergency Animal Hospital made it out to be.Read Less

This has taken some time for me to write due to the outcome of my visit ( as you can imagine, it didn't end well). My partner and I had to take our dog in for weekend hospitalization due to rapidly declining kidney disease. We left our veterinarian's office Saturday morning with the instruction to head over and the emergency room would be waiting for us. When we arrived, it was absolute chaos. Understandable, it's an emergency room. However, the front desk staff didn't provide us with a warm and welcoming demeanor. When we were trying to explain why we were checking in the receptionist just slapped a clipboard at us and told us to fill it out. Our nurse was ok, but just as soon as we thought we were in the clear we met our doctor, Dr. Tawney. Again, no warmth, no empathy. We attempted to communicate with her our concerns but she just kept asking how long we allowed our dog to decline. Our dog IS a priority. I hesitated to leave her, but she needed to be cared for outside what we could provide at home. The only remarkable thing I can compliment this business on is how well their evening staff was. The receptionist Krista, and the only one at that, made me feel at ease when we came in to Visit or called. She absolutely insisted we call as frequently as we wanted to which was not the impression we got from the day staff. The nurses in the back joked with me, and made every effort to make our dog comfortable. Our evening doctor was a tremendous improvement from Dr. Tawney as well. Overall we felt Dr. Tawney was not interested in our dog's improvement or comfort. Various phone calls yielded short answers and left us thinking she was electing bare minimum care for convenience. Because of the noticeable decline despite the 48 hours in hospital, we decided it was best to put her down at our vet. I didn't expect any follow up when we left, but we did receive a care call from Krista several days asking for an update. I truly appreciated her reaching out but it was tough updating her regarding our decision. I don't know who dropped the communication, but it would have been in better taste if the emergency room knew we had put our dog down. I appreciate the care and kindness we recieved from the evening staff, but I wouldn't wish Dr. Tawney on my worst enemy.Read Less