Banfield question

[ASweetHeart]

Has anyone ever taken their pet to one? My kitty needs to be seen asap, I haven't found a good local vet, and was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the quality of this vet.

How are the prices?

Is the place realitivly clean at your location?

How would you rate the vet? If there was something wrong with your pet, were they able to diagnose quickly and correctly?

How long did it take to get an appointment?

Did they try and push services/products on you that you felt were unnessecary?

Was your pet operated on, and if so how did that go?

Pros and cons?

[pwetypweas]

I used to have mine on their program, the vets were nice but a little pricey....

Is the place realitivly clean at your location? yes very

How would you rate the vet? If there was something wrong with your pet, were they able to diagnose quickly and correctly? Pretty good - they took good care of my Cleo when she got ANemia

How long did it take to get an appointment? Fast - like next day

Did they try and push services/products on you that you felt were unnessecary? They like to push their plan but not so much services

Was your pet operated on, and if so how did that go? Yes - had both of them neutered there - they missed one of my male's testicles and charged me extra when they had to do a "testicle retrieval surgery" they still didn't find it and he had to be re-spayed later

Pros and cons? expensive but quality for the most part

[SyLph211]

Has anyone ever taken their pet to one? My kitty needs to be seen asap, I haven't found a good local vet, and was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the quality of this vet.

How are the prices? GOOD

Is the place realitivly clean at your location? Yes very much so.

How would you rate the vet? If there was something wrong with your pet, were they able to diagnose quickly and correctly? My vet(s) are awesome and I love them very much

How long did it take to get an appointment? A few days, standard time for any vet basically

Did they try and push services/products on you that you felt were unnessecary? Nope, but I do have pet insurance so I don't pay for much of anything.

Was your pet operated on, and if so how did that go? Yes both my chi's were and one had parvo and they saved his life. I certainly love them and thier staff is awesome.

Pros and cons?

Cons -Check in/out Desk near the checkout lanes for petsmart and they have small rooms. Pros - I have alot of anmials and they have been great with all of them. Large dogs, small dogs and cats and never a problem. They offer a pet insurance that you pay monthly and it overs everything under the sun. I havent paid for vet type care in a long time. They are super nice, making appointments are extremely easy and they call you to remind you of appointments etc.

[hotcouponmama]

We have the petsmart (now banfield) pet insurance for the dog. Has saved us a bundle. And whenever I go to the local vet, I am always shocked at the price difference.

For like $15 a month, it covers office visits, discounts the meds, etc. You might think it's wasteful for a pet that may or may not need to be seen in the year until your damn dog has a bump on his tail that may or may not be cancer, then he has surgery to remove part of the tail, then he can't freakin' stay still long enough to let the damn thing heal, then he needs another damn surgery.....you get the point!

So, we have had our dogs covered for the last 10 years on the pet insurance. Well worth the money.

[skyesmom]

I love the Banfield pet insurance - mine has definitely paid for itself with some of my animals. I had one pup that was in the vet's office every week for something for 6 months and I never had to pay for anything other than discounted meds.

The only bad thing about Banfield is that most are individually franchised locations so you occassionally find a vet you don't like. I had one I hated but changed locations and found another vet I just love. The vet I didn't like was pushy about cats and heartworm meds and didn't like large dogs - especially pit bulls. She was only a little better with my shepherd and doberman so I had to move. The final straw was when I waited for 45 minutes for my appointment and she decided she was done for the day and left - knowing I was sitting in the waiting area. Went to the other Banfield near me and even though it was almost closing time, the vet stayed and took care of my kitty - he needed stitches!

So - go meet the vet and the office staff (bad staff can ruin a vet visit) and then make your decision.

[britt5379]

I had Banfield pet insurance when my cat was a kitten. I rescued her on a Sunday and it was one of the only vets open at the time who allowed walk ins. (She had a respiratory infection and I wanted to get her in right away). It saved me a lot of $$ in the beginning (shots, spayed, prescription meds, etc). It was a very clean facility and I was treated okay, but not great. I let her insurance lapse the next year because she was very healthy and the insurance cost more than her yearly visit & shots. There was a newly hired vet who was NOT very nice and kept telling me I was a horrible mother to my cat because I didn't brush her teeth several times a week. She also tried to push prescription teeth cleaner, food, etc. on me constantly. Without insurance, the regular exam and her yearly shots were like $75. I didn't like the new vet, and one of my friends recommended a local vet's office. I went there and LOVED it. Her exam, regular shots and rabies shots were only $35 and they are SO sweet. They NEVER make me feel guilty about anything and treat my cat like a princess. They are very down to earth people, while the people at Banfield were a little on the snobby side.

In conclusion, if the vets near you are good and you are planning on buying the insurance, it's not a bad deal. I'd say check it out and then make the decision. But you also may fall in love with a vet only to have them leave since it's a franchise!

[Lmnde]

I personally would prefer to use a "private" vet - I have not used Banfield myself - but several of our buyers of our babies have - and in my opinion they are overpriced [probably subject to where you are located], not devoted [lots of turnover and no personal name/pet recognition], and the vets are usually employees and not owners. They have no motivation to please you, as employees there is nothing at stake for them. I have also found some of the vets to be new out of school w/out much of experience to fall back on - lots of misdiagnosing, overdosing and pushing extra unneeded stuff and meds on the owner.

I've referred several of our local buyers to my own vet after they had an unhappy or unsatisfactory experience at the local Savannah GA Banfield/Petsmart - and they are much more happy there and I know that if they need help for whatever reason - regular maintenance or accidental injuries etc, for the pups they bought from us - they get better individual care they need at our [and most other private] vets. Banfield also does not offer emergency after-hour care and if you need to use an emergency clinic - you are talking big bucks! Most/many vets are available on call after hours and on weekends/holidays.

Try finding a vet that has a longterm practise, ask friends who they use and are happy with - and shop price!

[mks18412]

I have used Banfield since day one with my Lenny. They are a little on the

pricey side, but Wednesday between 2 & 4 there is no office visit fee. So you

save the $35 office visit fee.

(Call your local Banfields) I have asked if Petsmart owns and operates the

Banfields clinic and they DO NOT it is indepentently owned and operated.

Usually the head vet is the owner. I have had only good experiences with this vet. When my me and my child took our Lenny to get his puppy shots they would take Lenny out of the room and give him his shots elsewhere so my child would not have to watch. They would give Lenny treats. They also had a great bed side manner. Letting my child hear Lenny's heart beat and happily answering all kinds of questions a four year old likes to ask.

[Tootsies_Mom]

Hello,
I have a tiny toy poodle that I got for Christmas last year. We took her to Banfield for a check up becasue she was not eating and had blood in her stools. I was amazed at the service and respect we got. They were very caring and professional and they saved my little baby. I would never go anywhere else. I cannot imagine life without my pooch and thanks to Banfield we will have many years together. I got the Banfield plan and have saved upwards of $2,000.00 in just one year.

Best wishes to you and your pet! :)

[Mommie22boys]

OK as a former employee of PS, and customer of Banfield, it all comes down to the individual location. Some are wonderful and some are awful, just as with any other vet, do some research, and ask questions over the phone (call in the middle of the day, in the middle of hte week) and if they are helpful and willing to answer any questions they should be great treating your babies. As for the insurance, as said above, it depends on how much you are going to take them to the vet, one of my dogs was there ALL the time, so it was totally worth it, the other only needed the yearly visit, so itwas a waste for her. And it was cheaper to do the check up & shots only with a local vet. And keep in mind that if some thing big does come up you can get the insurance at any time, even if the dog allready needs treatment.