Tampa Bay Veterinary Specialists

This group is simply the best. Expertise, compassion, communication, and care were all exemplary.

My first impression was that these guys know what they are doing. They knew what they were doing and I felt reassured that I got the best care I could for my dog. They offer comprehensive specialist care and emergency services.

It was a long drive from where I live and when I went there I ran into the guy who had saved the vision of my other dog many years ago. They are all specialist. It was a long drive from where I live and when I went there I ran into the guy who had saved the vision of my other dog many years ago. They are all specialist. They have always been less expensive than the alternative.  They have excellent staff and they do the job exceptionally well.

They did all the appropriate tests on her. I was there until early the next morning. The dog is fine. They have specialists.  They have a 24 hour emergency clinic. The price was better than I expected for the work that they did. They asked me before they performed the tests and explained to me what percentage chance they could give me a good diagnosis. They explained that 10% could be enough to be fatal to the dog. Very punctual. They worked on her constantly until she was discharged. They have multiple vets that work there. They have a vet 24 hours a day for emergency care. The emergency staff have always come through. I've never lost an animal.

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She was compassionate, explained everything and was very caring. She took her time with me. She was very professional. The office was clean. The trip in was well worth it. The whole experience was exceptional! I beyond highly recommend her. The front desk staff was wonderful. An "A" rating isn't even good enough to explain the wonderful experience and treatment I had at their office.

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First when I got to the Tampa Bay Veterinary Specialists office, the waiting room was empty and there were no other emergency patients. The tech wanted to take my dog back to the doctor without me even having the opportunity to tell the doctor what was wrong directly. I objected so I waited for a while and they did comply and the doctor came in to talk to me about my dogs pain. The Dr. Soyka decided to run tests after I explained what was wrong, she guessed it was pancreatitis. However having looked it up on the internet while waiting, my dog did not have the symptoms except for the curled back and pain. They said the blood work would take about an hour and they would bring my dog right back to me. My dog was in a lot of pain and they left us sit there and sit there. I kept asking what the problem was no response. After hours of waiting someone then informed me when they got back from lunch that the machine has broken down for the blood work. So I asked the doctor to come out and talk to me. She re examined my dog and after charging me $600 for the tests and realized that it was just her back. I kept telling them she had had previous injuries to the back and to her leg. My dog is 12 years old. I said please be gentle while examining my dog.Then in the waiting roomwhere she reexamined my dog the doctor kept pushing and pushing on her back. After she was finished my dog could barely walk and is now in way more excruciating pain than when she got there and can barely walk. I asked her to stop and Dr Soyka told me to back off and let her do her job. Bottom line, they were very unprofessional, very much overcharged me for tests that were unnecessary, and did not own up to the wrongs that they did including not telling me their blood machine was not working for a few hours and hurting my dog worse than what she was when we got there. They still had no more emergencies come in that i saw. I continued to wait and wait and wait and told them that they could call me with the blood work later because my dog was now in way more excruciating pain and crying and I wanted to leave because she was getting worse by the moment. I said please bill me because this is taking way too long to just get me paperwork. I waited an additional hour. They finally gave me pain medication and I said I cannot wait any longer just please send me the bill. They threatened to call me call the sheriff on me. It took another half an hour I finally paid the bill and left. Horrible horrible horrible experience!. I got to the office before noon and left close to 3 and there were no other emergencies that I saw while I was there. I wish I could call the Veternary Police on them!! And my dog is lying next to me crying in pai, way way worse than when I got there. Ahhhhhhhhh

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They botched it. My dog lost his eye because of the surgery.

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I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Cayette and her diagnostic ability. She diagnosed my dog's problem in about 10 minutes which the regular vet had been playing around with for months. She is so nice and kind and even personally follows up by phone. Alnother of my elderly dogs had her teeth cleaned by Dr. Peake, who is also wonderful. He actually called me while my dog was still under anesthesia to tell me that my bill would be LESS than his original estimate. The techs there are also very kind and caring.I personally feel that whenever possible it is better to go directly to a specialty vet and skip the regular vet when there is an ongoing problem. You end up paying less than you do at the regular vet.

They finally did an exploratory surgery on our cat and they ended up removing his gall bladder.
The cat is recovering and so far doing well.

No problems. Fibrosarcoma of this kind is extremely likely to re-occur, and this is my cat's 3rd removal of it. Surgeon was appropriately aggressive in degree of removal, and gave professional unbiased advice as to any further treatment. So far no re-occurance.

Surgeon was Dr. Bruns. I would trust him to provide treatment for each cat's particular needs.

I HAVE REFERRED HUNDREDS OF DOGS TO THIS FACILITY AND TOTALLY BELIEVE IN THEM.

Unfortunately I needed to use them for a euthanasia.  It was after normal hours and without an appointment or call ahead. Everyone was polite, caring, and understanding and got us right in. Everything was explained ahead of time and for an emergency Vet clinic I thought the price was very reasonable.

THEIR ROOMS ARE CLEAN AND HAVE CHAIRS TO SIT ON.  THE TECHS ARE VERY CAREING WITH THE ANIMALS

We like many of the doctors there -- Dr. Kimberly Cox, a surgeon who is not knife happy and who has a real gentle manner, Dr. Peak who is a wonderful dentist and a good overall doctor, and Dr. Cayette, the doggie dermatologist who solved a problem our regular vet couldn't.

What brings TBVS score down is Thomas R. Miller, the opthamologist who performed surgery on our dog's eyes. This experience has now made us skittish about getting surgery on any of our dogs for any condition (non-opthalmic) if they're even remotely normal.

Here's why:

1. He failed to give us any indication of any complications that might occur from surgery.

2. He failed to tell us our dog had dry eye and only told us after surgery, so we had no chance of asking whether this could be his problem, whether he really had cataracts or needed surgery, etc.

3. When we picked him up from surgery, we had to insist that someone come out to talk to us (it was surgery day and they were going to send us home without us talking to anyone). The assistant was rushed and gave us no information on what to expect, what problems to look for, etc. Just give him the drops and whether or when he could start eating again.

That evening, with his eyes still and quot;gluedand quot; shut (i.e., he couldn't open them and we were afraid to pry them open for fear we could damage them), we called the emergency line, they called someone who said not to worry about it, but that meant a day went by where his eyes were shut. (We found out from our next day's follow-up appointment that it may have been as simple as using wet paper towel to clean off g*** and likely get the eyes opened -- if only someone had told us that when we picked him up or called.)

4. Throughout the follow-up visits, we expressed concerns, which the doctor minimized. Then on the next visit, it would turn out something more needed to be done -- including a second surgery that was needed to save his eye..

That was it. We totally lost faith in this doctor and there was no way we were going to take him back there. Bottom line is we took a dog who had some problems in one eye and none in the other (we got this one done because the doctor said it would go bad and possibly quickly and wanted to spare our senior dog two surgeries) and came out with a dog whose eyes were worse -- all for the bargain basement price of $3,700, which by the way, was about $800 more than what we expected from the doctor's quote (turns out his quote didn't include drugs, anesthesia, etc., it was just HIS price).

In the end, we changed to Southern Eye Clinic for Animals on Hoover Blvd. in Tampa, and are beyond pleased with Dr. Wolf (see my review there). We keep apologizing to our dog for having not taken him to Dr. Wolf to begin with. Dr. Wolf says he'll likely have to have multiple drops each day for the rest of his life. His vision will never be the same.

Meantime, while we like other doctors at TBVS, we are far more cautious.

My recommendation: Screw the fact that you're in Pinellas County and go over the bridge to see Dr. Wolf (whose office is close to Tampa International Airport).

I've used them for 15 years. Either my dog or I need some Valium because we are both going crazy. They are very professional. They are excellent surgeons. It is like a specialty place so they have an orthopedic surgeon, an ophthalmologist and a skin vet. They are all under the same roof. Each vet does his own specialty so depending on what is wrong with your animal; they have a vet there. I once had a dog that had a tumor in its eye and the ophthalmologist removed it. It is kind of a neat place that way.

An added compliment to clinic - although we live fairly close to clinic, my husband was delayed on way to appointment by our dog having a serious accident and messing herself and her carrier. He had to return home for clean-up. We called ahead expecting that the doctor would have to reschedule us but, fortunately, they were still able to take us and thanked us for calling. Lovely staff on phone and in person. Please note that this is a 24 hour emergency facility and you should know about it if you live in the area.

Excellent! They treat the animals with respect and love. They are a group of all kinds of animal doctors including dentist, cardiologist, skin specialist, etc. Whatever you need, they have a specialist for that!