FOR PET'S SAKE

unknown

They're avian and exotics only so they don't vet for dogs and cats. He's just always been very kind. He will listen to what we have to say. He's just a very gentle technician. Their office is nice. It certainly looks like it caters to exotics. It's avian and exotics so there are bird paraphernalia all over the place. They sell a nice variety of avian and exotics feeds and treats and play toys. The staff there, I've never had them be anything other than wonderful. The staff is very caring. They all seem to just love animals. They call after visit to see how things are going. It's good. There is no other avian and exotics vet in the area that I'm aware of so I don't have anything to judge the price by.

Firstly, the ladies out front were very friendly and helpful. (They were the same way on the telephone.) The lobby is peaceful, with a big Amazon parrot sitting quietly in her cage. Bubba and I were the only appointments at that time, as far as I could tell, and Jo-Jo the parrot didn't seem to mind us being there.
When the appointment time came, Bubba and I were shown to a room to wait for the doctor. The room was clean, comfortable, sunny, and compact, which I imagine is good if you have to chase a loose lizard or ferret around.
Dr. Hutcheson entered, and I introduced Bubba. I probably started shouting questions immediately. Dr. Hutcheson picked Bubba up and got right to work checking him out while deftly fielding my barrage of questions. Dr. Hutcheson is friendly, knowledgeable, and practical. He offered tons of advice in every aspect of Bubba's care. I appreciate getting real answers instead of touchy-feely comfort answers. I want to know the real deal, and I feel like Dr. Hutcheson is delivering that.
The price for the checkup and consultation was $65. I didn't know what to expect, so that was a pleasant surprise. I assumed there would be a charge for the nail clipping, but no charge was mentioned. That's okay, I figured it wasn't free, and that charge turned out to be $18. The bird seed for gut loading my feeder worms did not have a price on the bag, but turned out to be $49.95. I want whatever is best for my little Bubbles, so I slapped my debit card down and asked no questions. But others might not be so quick to forgive extra costs when they creep in. If this is a concern, ask up front what the charges are for services and goods so you don't get sticker shock at the end. The feed was indeed pricey, but the worms love it and it will last a long time, and all that nutrition will end up in my lizard, so all's well that ends well.
For Pet's Sake also offers boarding, and I plan to take advantage of this service when necessary. We will be back!

The service was lousy. I would not use him again. I had an appointment that was scheduled for my bird to get a micro chip and on the day of my appointment I had already left and they kept calling me. They gave micro chip to other person's bird and I had appointment at 4:00 clock. The person was there for another reason but he enquired about micro chip and the micro chip which was there for my bird was given to him. I lost gas as I had to get there and come back. I became verbally abusive as I was upset for what they did.

This visit, like my previous ones, went very well. I should mention that I did not find Dr. Hutcheson until about a year after we moved here. I had a terminally ill ferret who had lived longer than I'd expected, but I had never felt perfectly comfortable with the vet we found initially even though the vet was solid. I stayed with that vet for so long because they were quite good and we only disagreed on a few things, plus it always takes me a long time to come to trust a new doctor of any sort; but one for my babies takes much more, so I wanted to give them a fair chance. However, at some point I knew I needed to at least check out a different doc, which is not easy when you're looking for a ferret specialist in Atlanta for some reason. I got lucky to be pointed to For Pet's Sake when I was at my cats' Vet where the tech happened to have worked for a ferret specialist that wasn't local but who would always refer to one of the other doctors there. Desperate for a specialist and a second opinion, I made an appointment as soon as I got home. They got us in the next day and I have no doubt that the changes Dr. Hutcheson made to Rose's medication regiment allowed her to live a bit over a month longer and feeling better than she had in a long time. I am grateful for Dr. Hutcheson and his amazing staff/vet techs for that gift they gave Rose and the rest of our family. But back to this particular experience. The staff and vet techs are always very pleasant to talk to, and they were part of my experience of having to help Rose "cross over", so they were especially happy to see me come in with a new baby girl, Zooey. However, they did not ignore my other guy, Ziggy, who they know quite well by now and he likes them right back. I did not have to wait longer than 5 or 10 minutes to see Dr. Hutcheson. Time flies in the waiting room because the girls are so fun to talk to, and they exhibit genuine interest and affection for my ferrets, a.k.a., my babies. When we get to our room, the kids are allowed to run around and examine everything. The relaxed atmosphere is very helpful for the ferrets. In this case, it was especially helpful for Zooey as it was her first time to a vet, I wanted to make sure it would be a positive one. I had no doubt it would be. Dr. Hutcheson is also fantastic with my babies. While he was listening to my concerns about Ziggy, he held Zooey in a way that allowed her to use up some of the seemingly endless amount of energy baby ferrets have so that it would be easier for her when it was her turn. It was obvious that he could both listen attentively and play with her at the same time, which is a great quality to have in a Vet who works with ferrets. While that was going on, he had his tech get the shots ready so that he could spend the entire time with me and the babies. And whenever the ferrets need shots, they get treats to help distract them. This is not an ordinary practice as far as I've experienced after having ferrets for 16 years in 4 different states. I usually have to bring my own treats for them. In addition to the treats, he is quick--something we all appreciate in the person giving us shots. Once he was finished giving her an exam and required shots, he put her down and let her run around while he picked up Ziggy to check him out. Dr. H is very patient with my babies and with me and my arsenal of questions that I always bring. Some Vets seem offended when a concerned mom, who is a researcher by training, and who has had a lot of experience with ferrets and the ferret community which includes other Vets, comes in and wants to know why they are recommending one treatment as opposed to another, or brings the results from the latest studies to the appointment to see if it's something we could try, but Dr. H is not one of them. The more information the better, seems to be his attitude. Getting back to this particular visit, one thing I wanted to test was Ziggy's blood glucose level because his behavior seemed like he might be what's called "insulinomic". We were able to get that information immediately, and when it came back it sounded very low to me and I asked him about it. As per usual, he explained why the numbers might seem low but that it isn't cause for concern. I hate to admit this, but when I got home because I'm a neurotic mom, I checked with an independent source who I've known and trusted for many years, and she confirmed exactly what he had said. That just reinforced my confidence in Dr. H. This appointment was on a Friday, and the rest of the blood-work had to be sent to another lab. I was notified on Monday of the results, which showed everything was working well. This was just one of many times we've done blood tests, and every time they are as competent and quick, which is something I appreciate given how stressful it is to wait to hear back about test results. I plan to continue taking my ferrets to Dr. Hutcheson at For Pet's Sake as long as I'm in Atlanta, and I highly recommend him to anyone who has ferrets. He also works with other exotics and birds. I can't speak from experience about that, but I'm guessing it would be as excellent as his treatment of my ferrets is.

They specialize in exotic animals. The top avian vets in the country practice there. The woman vet has achieved top honors for her work with birds. They do not see dogs, cats or cattle.