Sunrise Veterinary Clinic LLC

20 years ago, this was the place to go in Rio Rancho. As of the last couple years or so, this place has gone downhill. Customers are required to "Leave a Voicemail Message" and wait for the front desk staff to get back to you at their convenience...and when they do, they are unfriendly, rushed, and unorganized. Dr. Abernathy used to be a caring doctor. but it appears he is burned out with his profession. Compassion and thorough care is NO longer a part of this facility! I do NOT recommend going to Sunrise Veterinary Clinic in Rio Rancho.

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They gave me some medicine and will tell me how bad it is when I go back on Thursday. I took a video of him because he was having trouble breathing. Because of he video they did not have to do an Xray and they noticed a severe heart murmur. He has been going to this vet his whole life and I asked why didn't you notice this heart murmur before and they said heart murmurs can come about, doesn't mean they are born with them. Everytime he goes to the vet he is overly excited so it is easy to miss them. I love them, I have used then for 10 years and my mom for over 20 years. He is great, he is very popular in Rio Rancho.

My cat was sick with a sinus infection and they had to keep him overnight. They had to give him medicine and all. He was real sick. 

The wait time is way too long. They make appointments but you don't get to go back in to see the vet at your appointment. You usually sometimes wait an hour past your appointment time. 

The pets like the vet, or I wouldn't be going there because of the wait time. They have several vets in there and Dr. McCollough is the one I use and I have cats and she loves cats and I know she is going to take care of them. And the other vet loves all kinds of animals, he owns Sunrise Veterinary and he is just as nice as he can be. 

Even though they keep you waiting, they do care about taking care of your animals. They do a good job. They care about the animals or I guess they wouldn't be veterinarians. 

They are good at diagnosing.

Not well at all. By the time the owner called back several hours later, the dog had expired. Had he called back promptly or answered immediately, the outcome would more than likely would have been the same. During the callback, he said he forgot his phone, and asked me what do you want him to do about it. At no point did he offer any condolence. So as a somewhat cathartic process I sent him a detailed email, that I mentioned portions might be used as a review, explaining as I understood it, the events and my opinion what he did wrong and how he should improve himself. His response was, an email that contained virtually only the image of a page of the state's law on extortion. I took my letter and his letter to the city's police department and they informed me that I had not done extortion and I was safe. They did however say that he potentially committed extortion on me, to get me not to write a negative review. They said they would talk to him if I would be willing to press charges if they couldn't get him to understand he was wrong. Anyway, the owner of this facility in a compassionless bully. I never had any trouble with any of his associate doctors. I happen to like the vet we were seeing on a regular basis. Other that this incident, we like the place. Unfortunately, because of this incident, we won't go back and never refer it. We will, if asked tell this story instead if asked.

The office staff is not very responsive to answering phone calls and questions.

He is very reasonable. He's very difficult to get an appointment. The price is reasonable. I've been pleased with him every time. It's not easy to see him. He takes a lot of time. I've been using him since I've been here.

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They kept our girl for 2 nights and conducted a barium study. They put off surgery to see if the blockage would relieve itself. They updated my husband and I every few hours with her progress. The cost and care were excellent

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The doctor called me and said when he opened her up he didn't see anything and I guess he was upset because of all the X-Rays. But he didn't charge me for the surgery or anything and I thought that was outstanding. I saw the X-Ray when she was diagnosed but I didn't take her to get it removed until a couple months later. The doctors there are very nice and protective of my cats. The only problem I have is that you have to wait a long time to be seen but when you get in they don't rush to get the pet out. They take their time. I don't know why they don't make the appointments further apart so the patients don't have such a long wait.

They have knowledgeable staff, they really care about animals and the vet that we see is their cat specialist. The regular vet is so busy, it's hard to get an appointment with him. So it's nice that they have someone else that we can see that we have confidence with who specializes in cats that we don't have to wait for another vet. The only thing is that sometimes you have to wait a little bit in their waiting room.

Two weeks before Christmas, my cat got out and was unfortunately hit by a car. We got lucky in the sense that it just clipped her paw, and the damage was minimal compared to what it could have been. with that said, I was able to get my cat seen fairly quickly (same day).  I had to leave her there before I even got an answer as to the damage caused by this, and I had to wait several hours for a phone call. When I did get a phone I asked about bringing in food and water for her since she would have to stay overnight and my cat is just about the most finicky cat in existence. When I arrived to drop the food for her, no one seemed to have a clue what was going on and why I was there. I did get to see her and love on her for a little while. I paid for the services there, and again no one seemed to know what to do. The next morning I arrived to pick up my cat to find out that she had not been given the food or water that I brought in, and instead was given whatever they had on hand, which she did not touch. Approximately a week later I received a phone call asking if I wanted to come in an pick up the food.  As a part of her continuing care, I was advised that I would need to bring her in every two weeks until it was completely healed to ensure that it was healing properly. I was able to bring her in right after Christmas, as was scheduled, but then had great difficulty scheduling an appointment with Dr, Abernathy, which was the only vet she could see. She ended up going a full month until she was seen again, and the decision was made to remove the splint. I was not aware that there where fees to have her paw checked up on, as I assumed the 400.00 dollar bill that I had already paid would include these fees. Overall, the front staff are often rude and act inconvenienced when I ask questions. I do like Dr. Abernathy, but always got the feeling that he was too busy to spend the time with us that I would have liked. My cat went there for just under a year, and I have made the decision to switch vets at this point. Also, be prepared to wait on hold to 20 minutes to schedule an appointment, and be prepared to schedule it a few weeks in advance.

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I feel that Dr. Abernathy does a commendable job.  It is obvious that he cares about animals and spends the time he needs with me and my pet.  But, before you can see Dr. Abernathy, you must go through 10-12 teenagers working at the front desk.  
Here is how it usually goes.  First, calling to make an appointment takes a good half hour.  You are told you are next in line, second in line, etc., and do you want to hold or get a call back?  If you elect to hold, that can last 15-20 minutes.  If you choose having them call  you back, it is never in a prompt manner, but hours later.  Or you just get a busy signal.
When you arrive for your appointment, it is demanded that you sign in for "EVERYTHING."  Why?  I am not sure.  Rarely is the sign in sheet consulted.  The front desk consists of 10-12 young people who have no idea what customer service is.  They are on the phone, getting files, wandering around, talking to fellow cohorts about their weekend, just basically ignoring you as you stand there, not being acknowledged at all.  The atmosphere is chaotic.  Much activity without much being done.
Eventually you get to see Dr. Abernathy.  There usually has been 30-40 minutes past your appointment time.  I honestly do not have a problem with the fact that thedoctor is late.  He is seeing other pets and spends as much time with them as is necessary.  He will also spend as much time with yours as he needs.
Now it is time to settle up your bill, so you go out to the front desk again, obviously waiting to speak to someone and pay.  And you wait, and you wait, and you wait.  I have stood for 15 minutes without even one person asking to help me.
As smart a man as Dr. Abernathy is, he HAS to be aware that staff at the front desk is doing a deplorable job with customer service. Because of the rudeness and incompetence of the staff, I will not return.  Enough abuse is enough.

It was an overall good experience.  The wait time was a little long because it seemed to be a popular place.  The vet was very informative and I was called at home before I picked him up so they could inform me that he was okay. I chose them because of their price - much more reasonable than most other veterinarians.

Dr. McCall examined our cat thoroughly and asked a lot of questions.  She determined that he was suffering from anxiety since we had recently made an international move involving a lot of stress.  We got him some medication and he his hair is growing back, and he is doing fine.
Dr. McCall is a great cat person and vet.

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Dr. Abernathy is THE BEST vet in the ABQ/Rio Rancho area!!!! Even though we moved out of Rio Rancho to the NW area of ABQ, I'll ALWAYS take my dogs there if there's anything serious going on with them. A couple of years ago we had to put down my beloved poodle/Maltese mix and he was so compassionate, thoughtful, and kind through it all! He's an amazing man, not only an excellent doctor but knows how to communicate and care for animals. He works SO MANY hrs. I don't know when he actually sleeps or has any outside activities from his clinic. He is so amazing!!!