Small Animal Hospital

Dr. Cranfill from the Internal Medicine team is the kind of doctor you hope and pray for especially in an emergency.. She’s kind, knowledgeable, compassionate, and went above and beyond for Maggie, and for us. Getting a second opinion here gave us an extra two months with our sweet Maggie, and I’ll eternally be grateful for that. From the front desk staff, to the technicians, and doctors - everyone involved in Maggie’s care - thank you so much for caring for us. I only wish we had met you all sooner.. ❤️‍🩹

Dr. DeRuyter, the triage/ICU clinicians, and administrative staff were extremely compassionate and helpful. They even offered me resources to help with the grieving process following the loss of my cat. Thank you for doing all that you could for Leo and allowing us to be with him in his fina moments while he passed away. I cannot put into words how much I appreciate the work that you do.

Veterinarian care can be intimidating, after all, our pets are our entire world. We were referred to the U of M after our vet suspected an infiltrative lipoma in our 10 year old lab mix. From consult to imaging to surgery, the U of M care and surgical team was in lockstep with us, always ensuring we felt comfortable and confident moving forward. This even included late night emails from our surgical resident while she was traveling at a conference to reassure us and answer a million questions, which she did with patience and compassion. They always provided cost estimates so there were no surprises. They took the upmost care of our dog, who is recovering shockingly fast for such a big surgery. We are incredibly blessed that the procedure went as well as it did. I wouldn’t hesitate to return to the U of M for surgery or emergency care if the need arises in the future (but hoping not!). We are deeply grateful for the entire surgical team, ICU team, receptionists, anesthesiologists, and attending veterinarians who made a very nerve wracking process seamless. 💞

I meant to write this review back in May, but grief comes in waves. This will probably be long, but the team here deserves to have their praises sung!! While the UofM vets were not able to save my O’Malley’s life, they provided above & beyond care during his last month. & at a much lower cost compared to other ER Vets!!! In late April I noticed a lump in my cat’s abdomen. I called to make an appointment with his regular vet. However, when I returned from work 24 hours later, the lump (tumor) seemed to have doubled in size. I called the Small Animal Hospital & their 24/7 services were able to get us in. From the receptionists/administration assistance, to the students, to the full time teaching doctors — everyone was simply WONDERFUL. You can tell every individual there TRULY cares about not only your furry friend, but you (as a pet parent) as well. One thing I really appreciated was the detailed emails they send after your visits. When they called me to tell me of my cat’s diagnosis, I understood to a certain extent, but it was still very overwhelming (lots of medical words, so much information). After every visit, they send an email within 48 hours of calling, detailing the information they gave you/prognosis, options available to you for further care, & more. This was extremely helpful for someone like me who works in retail management (aka no biology/vet background!) After the initial ER visit, we returned twice for specialists visits, to see if either the surgical or oncology departments could help my sweet O’Malley. Each department apologized for wait times, but to be honest, each visit seemed much quicker compared to going to his regular vet! While neither department had good prognosis’s for my sweet boy, they never lacked in empathy & level of care. Roughly 3 weeks later, I realized O’Malley was officially at the end of his life. I brought him back in to peacefully cross the rainbow bridge. They brought us to a quiet room, brought in the payment/pin pad so I could pay from the room (instead of having to pay at the desk after he passed), & gave us as much time as we wanted to say goodbye. They partner with local agencies to provide cremation services (which offer free clay paw prints). Both of with accept Care Credit. They also have a social worker who offers grief counseling for free. I apologize, this was long. But despite losing my baby boy, I know he was given the best possible care from some amazing people. Thank you to everyone there who helped to provide O’Malley with the best of care possible.

No more. Long time clients of the UofM Small Animal Hospital, but after this last experience, we will never return. Our little dog was having respiratory problems, so we took him to the only hospital we have ever trusted to care for our pets. We were told they would help to stabilize him but would need to at least keep him overnight. Phone calls followed with requests for tests, change of shift docs had no knowledge of diagnoses and requested to repeat tests, pet was sent home without breathing stabilized, returned and suggestions for more tests. After 2 days, he was sent home again with a regiment of medications. Later that night, he clearly was exhibiting signs of dying, so we brought him in to be put to sleep. The overall bill was over $9000. While we approved the hospital stay and some tests, we in no way approved charges totaling $9000 and we were never told our dog was anywhere near death. After some research, we determined that based upon the tests performed and results in the visit summary sent home, they would have known within the first 12 hours that our little friend was dying. Instead of telling us, they continued to suggest test after test, suggested more hospital care, etc. In addition, they sent him home covered in urine, so no one took him out to go potty which would have added to his distress as he never went in his kennel or in the house. His care was horrendous, and the treatment of him and us was entirely unethical and unconscionable. We were too stressed out to recognize what was happening at the time. So they took advantage of us during a very vulnerable time.