CENTRAL HOSPITAL FOR ANIMALS

had to put my cat down

I've been taking my dogs here for over 10 years and can't say enough good things about the doctors and staff. My 4 pound Chihuahua needed luxating patella surgery and I called MANY vets in the area. All referred me to Dr. Rhine. Over these years I have had to euthanize 2 pets and was treated with the utmost concern and sympathy. Drs. Rhine, Harper, McKnit and the staff are truly wonderful, caring people!

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As always things went smoothly. I called ahead of time because I was in a hurry. The girl looked up my file, knew what flea treatments I needed for which cat (based on one being allergic to my preferred brand and the others having different weights), and had everything ready for me when I walked in the door.
We have used CHA for every service that our cats have had.They are gentle, caring, and professional. CHA is the only vet I trust my furbabies to.

It's easy to get in, they have good staff, and good doctors. We've been going to them since 2009.

The pace is very busy, clean and well staffed. The doctors seemed to take a genuine interest in my dog, but the problem I had is that there will be a different doctor on duty every day. No chance for the doctor to get to know my dog and for me to get to know my doctor.
Prior to moving to the area, I was with the last Animal clinic for over 17 years. Lots of good times and very sad times, but both the doctor and I knew each other and what to expect. You want the same for your personal doctor and i want the same for my pets doctor.

A few weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, our dog fell off the back of the recliner. I called the emergency phone number given and talked to Dr. Jefferson. He told me what to do and bring her into the office on Monday morning. She broke all the bones in her paw. When he came to check Sammi he remembered that he had talked to me on Sunday morning. He got her all fixed up and told us what we would have to do for her. He told us it would talke a few weeks for xrays and checkups.

We made an appointment the week before, came in, filled out paperwork, and waited, waited, waited. Maybe half an hour, maybe twenty minutes. Then we took our dog to the scale and the exam room, the vet tech did the preliminary exam, and we waited quite a while for the vet. So they were slow.

On the other hand, the vet was really good once she got there...made much more effort to become friendly with our dog than any other vet we've had (in Indy and Chicago). She answered all our questions.

We purchased medication (heartworm pills, flea/tick treatment) and overall it seemed just as expensive as Lincolnwood/Chicago, so the price was certainly no cheaper than we expected.

Overall i would recommend this vet office or its other location in Carbondale. I will also continue to bring my dogs and cats here for regular checkups and any surgeries needed. The office staff know me by name and remember my pets (even the more aggressive Shar Pei). They are confident in their handling of the aggressive older Shar Pei I own, but do not anger her even more by being mean or abusive. They understand she is being aggressive because she is not used to being away from home, is a stereotypical more aggressive breed, and she is an older dog.
As far as their treatment of cats i have never had any problem at all with the services. My cats do not seem any more stressed then usual (riding in a car can be stressful to any cat) when i leave the appointments or pick them up from surgery recovery.

This is a busy practice, so I wasn't surprised that I had to wait to drop our dog off on the day of surgery. You must pre-pay at least part of the surgical fee before surgery, and their computer was down so processing the credit card also took extra tme. The staff member who took our dog was friendly, greeting the dog and talking to him before attempting to lead him away. The vet called us later in the day to let us know how surgery went, including details on how the joint looked including comparison to the other knee (just done last November). We picked the dog up the next morning. He was not particularly stressed or anxious - indicating to us that he had been treated well by staff. A vet tech reviewed after-care with us and answered all questions. I should note that on previous occasions we have met with the ortho vet when we picked up our pet after surgery, but we have been through this so many times by now that we were comfortable not talking with the vet that day. Followup visits have taken place at the Carbondale office, so I'll review them separately under their listing. The staff at Herrin arranged the first followup visit at Carbondale for us.