We lived in Richmond for about 8 years, and during that time we took our cats to Cary Street Vet. Our first vet was Dr. Faulkner, who diagnosed my baby (17yo cat) with nasal cancer and helped us make ... Read More
We lived in Richmond for about 8 years, and during that time we took our cats to Cary Street Vet. Our first vet was Dr. Faulkner, who diagnosed my baby (17yo cat) with nasal cancer and helped us make difficult decisions about his care. He was with us every step of the way and came to our house when it was time to put him to sleep so he wasn't suffering. We were really sad when he moved back to his home state of North Carolina, but it was a blessing in disguise because we started seeing Dr. Amy Learn. Literally, she set the standard by which I will judge vets going forward.We got into rescue after our sweet kitty died, and through three adoptions, one foster-fail (when you end up keeping the foster instead of adopting it to someone else) and one foster that was so fussy and sassy that we couldn't find her a home, we ended up with a house full of 5 cats. Yes, we own our crazy cat person status :)Anyway, about Dr. Learn, she has so much compassion and empathy toward people and animals. I've never worked with anyone who was so gentle and loving toward my cats. And her knowledge was unparalleled. She even has additional training in behavioral problems, which we had due to the fussy, sassy cat. I really cannot say enough good things about her on all fronts.Earlier this year, when we were getting our house ready to sell and move across the country, one of our cats became sick. We brought him in and she referred us to the VESC. Turns out this is standard protocol for cats who are suspected to have wet FIP, an incurable auto-immune disease that moves very quickly. Dr. Learn took many phone calls from me, listening to small changes in his behavior or demeanor over the course of two weeks, trying to decide if we needed to put him to sleep sooner than later (we were waiting on the official blood results to make sure it was definitely wet FIP). When she came to our house to put him to sleep, she was absolutely amazing. If you've ever gone through this, you know how hard it is. Again, it was as if she had all the time in the world, and let us set the pace. I was the one to say it was time. After he had gone, she reached over and gave me a big hug, even though I was truly ugly crying. When she took him, wrapped up in a special fuzzy blanket that he'd gotten for Christmas, she was so gentle as if he was still there. Respectful comes to mind.As for the clinic, they always got us into a room ASAP so the cats weren't upset by dogs coming and going and Dr. Learn was always on-time, but seemed to spend as much time as needed with us - no idea how she does that, though. Checkout is quick and efficient. They are a bit more expensive than other clinics in the area, but I truly believe that you get what you pay for, and if you want the best for your animal, this is the place to go. Try to get in with Dr. Learn, you won't regret it! Read Less