Niceville Animal Clinic

We have a cat.  We use Niceville Animal Clinic and they're very good.  I don't they can improve on anything.  We've been going to them for thirty years.  I would grade them all A's across the board. 

We unexpectedly rescued a 6 week old kitten from a nearby church parking lot and were able to get an appointment at the Niceville Animal Clinic for an initial check up the next day. There, we met Dr. Jenny, and she did a complete exam and administered the first set of kitten shots. When all was complete and we stopped at the checkout to pay, the assistant told us it would be COMPLETELY FREE! She said that Dr. Jenny was very grateful for folks like us that took stray kittens (and other animals) in and provided them with good homes, and that this was her way of saying "thank you." I was very touched and astonished that she just waived the $80+ bill. I have been taking our beloved cat, Shadow, there for 3 years now, and have been extremely pleased with Dr. Jenny's expertise, friendliness, and "matter-of-fact" approach to explaining her veterinary advice. Thanks, Dr. Jenny!

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They are a little more on the expensive side. When my older dog was not feeling good I went to some other vets who told me they did not know what to do. I went to Niceville and they outlined what they needed to do and asked if I was okay with it. I told them to go ahead so when I left there I knew what was wrong with her and I had the medicine. That is what I liked. Instead of trying things and then having me bring my dog back, they figured it out right there so I knew. One thing I did not like was that every time I had my dog groomed there I had to get her shots, even if I had just had them several months prior. They seemed excessive about getting shots. It seemed like my animal was always getting shots all the time; it was too much.

Sigh. Where do I start?
My husband recently separated from the military and we moved to Niceville to be closer to family. For the past 4 1/2 years, we had been in Missouri, were we got our wonderful dog. When me moved to Florida he started having problems with excessive itching...and I'm talking ALL the time. I didn't think a whole lot about it, and tried to use several at home remedies (using oatmeal shampoo, making sure he had a flea collar/Frontline, etc). Then my dog got this red abscess sack in his groin area. We scheduled an appointment and brought him in. We were taken to a small room where we waited for the doctor. I guess some emergency happened and we ended up waiting for about 30 minutes.
She came in and asked us the standard questions about our dog. This included what type of food he was on, and what treats he normally ate. She didn't say anything about his food, which was Iams, but she did comment on his treat intake. She mentioned that he did need to lose weight or he would get diabetes. He is a mixed breed (lab and rotty) and his legs are a little smaller than his chest, but he is by no means fat or overweight. Strike 1. She also proceeded to tell us about how bad certain treats were and that we should do frozen vegetables instead.
She then looked at the abscess and said it would need to be removed surgically. She also said his skin itching was most likely due to the humidity that he was not used to. It didn't seem she even really looked at him. She didn't want to approach because he was very shy and scared, yet made no effort to make him more comfortable. Strike 2. She gave us two different pills (a steroid and antihistamine) for him to take, and told us I would need to call to get a quote on the surgery. When I went to pay, there was a sign saying that if I reviewed them on google, printed the review and brought it in, I could get $30 of my next bill. That definitely rubbed me the wrong way. Strike 3. I was shocked at how expensive the general vet bill was, but I ended up calling for the surgery quote. It was going to be about 800. She did say that every once in a while, I could get a refill on his prescription.
It was then that I decided to get a second opinion from Dr. Harris at Bluewater Bay Animal Hospital. He spent time getting to know my dog, and was able to get a good look at the abscess. I had pictures available showing the progression, and he did say that if he had seen it at the time she did, he probably wouldn't have know what to make of it either. However, he suggested I change my dogs food as many dogs develop food allergies around 5 years old. Well it turned up not being humidity and ended up being food (saving me tons of money on pills).
Long story short, I really did not like Niceville Animal Hospital, and felt I did not get very good care for my dog compared to the other vet, who went above and beyond, and was also less expensive.

Outstanding veterinary practice. They have been our vets for 5 years.

It is very unorganized there. The vet techs do more and seem to know more than the actual veterinarian. I paid $40 for a visit and spent more time with the techs than the actual person we we're suppose to have an appointment with. The groomer gave my youngest dog a bald spot. One of the techs put my dogs harness upside down and backwards. They have also tried to charge me for extra days and forgot to give my dogs shots before boarding. In most of the cases it ended up being the same snotty front desk person. The other two girls there are nice and have helped.


I in the end will never take my furry babies back to this vet.

My experience with them was overall very good. It's a comprehensive veterinary practice.

They are very good.

Niceville animal clinic was very responsive in getting me in today to see and treat my dog for fleas that he picked up while on an extended visit to the Niceville area. The medicine my dog was on from his home state of North Carolina had no effect in keeping fleas off him. I wanted my dog treated for the fleas he picked up while visiting the local area. It was a bonus that this vet office also provided grooming services even though i had never been to a vet that provided grooming services.
I was informed that they would need to see his vaccination record. I had it faxed from my vet at home before I arrived. When I arrived with my dog, I was nicely greeted and informed that my dog would also need K9 influenza and Bordetella vaccinations to be seen since those two vaccinations were not part of his vaccination record. I asked for a pamphlet for the K9 influenza vaccine before authorizing the treatment. After consulting with one of the vet techs, I authorized, K9 influenza and bordetella vaccinations, grooming service, and a dose of Comfortis flea medication. The vet tech mentioned that Trifexis is what she gave her dog and it included heart worm and flea medicine in one chewable pill. I asked to proceed with the Comfortis and left my dog in their care.
In a follow-up phone call to the Niceville Animal Hospital, I asked about changing the medication from Comfortis to Trifexis since it incorporates heart worm medication. The person who answered the phone said they would need to see proof a negative heart worm test before they could administer the heart worm preventative. I called my NC vet back, they did not have a heart worm test on file. I called Niceville Animal Hospital back and authorized the blood test and upgrade from Comfortis to Trifexis.
I received the call at about the promised pick-up time stating that my dog was ready. I arrived five minutes later to pick him up. He was ready and looked great, however, the office staff seemed a little confused about that services he had. I think because I was at the office during lunch hour; the on-duty staff did not know what all had been done/asked to be done.
They did have record of the two vaccinations and grooming, but i had to ask about the flea preventative medicine, Trifexis. After some stumbling around with the office clerk, we finally identified the correct single dose that I had requested. Only then was I informed that I would need to administer the medication when I got home (no big deal, just was expecting everything to be done when I picked him up).
All of the office staff seemed nice. No one was rude, everyone was nice, but they didn't seem to value my business. As far as business skills, I would give an F if there was a category for general office logistics. They had my name listed as Mr/Mrs. First Last name, my North Carolina city where I live on the second line, then Niceville, FL on the city state line with my North Carolina zip code. How on earth would they ever contact me at this address?! And, do they really have a problem being able to identify that I am a man and list me as and quot;Mr.and quot; instead of listing my name as and quot;Mr./Mrs.and quot; First Last name? I never indicated that I am married. It is wrong for them to assume that if I was married that my wife would want to be addressed as Mrs. First Last Name. Why go to the trouble to insert a generic and quot;Mr/Mrs.and quot; when this does nothing but to exemplify laziness in getting to know and value your customer. They should have just put my name and avoided conveying to me that their office and business skills are lacking.
I'm sure the vet/owner, Dr. Jennifer Fortune is a great vet, however, since I never saw or met the vet, the face of the business I saw was that of the office staff. This left an OK impression with me, but not one that would entice me to return.
If the office staff seemed discombobulated, what kind of care would my pet receive behind closed doors? Would they mixup vaccinations or other mistakes occur in the back? Since I have no children, my dog is like my child and I probably have higher than normal expectations of any service providers for my dog. Overall, it was not a negative experience, but it was not a truly positive one either. My dog did look good, so kudos to the groomer, whomever that was, but overall, my experience was just OK. Would I return again the next time I'm here visiting family? Maybe, but probably not.