Blue Cross Animal Hospital

I have 4 dogs and 3 cats.  They've changed because unfortunately, Dr. Brown sold his business to a corporate company and I'm not real happy about that.   If you have an emergency, you don't wait.  If you take something in, they just take it from you.  I would say the wait time is no more than five minutes at the most unless obviously, they've had some emergencies come in; it's run like a hospital, you know?  If there are no emergencies, then your appointments are kept.  If they've got emergencies going on, it's not any different than if it was your dog or cat in the back that was an emergency.  They do surgeries there and everything.  We continue going there because of the remaining staff that we know, and Dr. Brown is still there.  He sold it - he's entitled.  He's getting ready to retire - going into retirement phase.  I'm not good with change.  It's not going to get any better anywhere else. 

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My experience with them has been wonderful.  They are great over there.  They are wonderful with the animals.  The dogs are just very calm when they go there.  Two of the dogs are hyper at home.  They listen to us and check everything out.  They offer advice and solutions.  They don’t do unnecessary procedures or prescribe unnecessary medications which is important.

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The experience went very well. They have excellent customer service and their coverage is great. Usually they call back.

I like that it is a larger practice and is accomodating with last minute appts and is open pretty late into the evening. It is not cheap, but I am ok with paying their costs since I am overall pleased with their services. There are many times that I have received excellent care, particularly from Dr. Tierney, who is my favorite vet. She is kind to my dog and a great vet - I feel that she has a sincere interest in my dogs' wellbeing - never rushes us, calls to check back on him, and at times has researched my dogs' unique condition and called us back with additional suggestions for his care.
They are usually very prompt, sometimes running behind schedule, but I don't think that is a problem as I realize they take emergencies, just as they do for my dogs. They have always sincerely apologized for the inconvenience.
However, I did receive a quote for a teeth cleaning and one tooth extraction for my older dog that was extremely high - it was a few years ago but I think at least $700 - I was shocked! A different vet at the practice had told me his back tooth was cracked and needed to come out. We had just adopted him from the SPCA who had cleaned his teeth and extracted some, so I was disappointed that he already needed dental care. I could not afford that price and took him to the vet my mother uses in Alden who charged us $250 for the cleaning. It turned out that his tooth was not cracked and did not need to be extracted. It's been two years since and his tooth is still fine. If they had not told me the tooth was cracked in the first place, I would not have had the teeth worked on at all at that time.

In addition to identifying my cat's problems, their pet emergency fund defrayed $270 of the bill. I am still reeling from this. They also accept payment plans.
AND, they loaned me a carrier until I get a new one because mine broke on the way over there. Unbelievable.

They got us in right away. They have been amazing. They call and routinely check on him. He pulled his stiches out and they let us come back in and did not charge for it. they are wonderful, friendly, and caring.

Brought cat it for routine spay surgery. All was well day of and day after surgery. My cat had some immune deficiencies and apparently contracted a virus post op.
Two days after surgery my cat was feeling really bad. Brought to Hospital where antibiotics were given. Cat still was feeling horrible the next day. Brought back to hospital where it was then noted that a fever was present. Not a good thing. It was suggested that cat be left over night for proper care.
Follow up call from vet the following morning indicated no change. They/I were quite concerned. That evening I got a call saying the fever finally broke. Kept cat one more night at vet just to be sure everything was going to be ok.
Brought cat home next day and after several days of medication she is back to her old rambunctious self. Great relief.
I have to extend a gracious thank you to the staff at Blue Cross Animal Hospital. They were so caring and concerned as I was for Karma's well being. It really helped during a period of what seemed might not have as ended as well as it did.

My mom's dog was not acting like she normally did, and Mom was out of town. We didn't currently have a vet, so I had to choose blindly. I did use Angie's List to find the animal hospital, and even though there were one or two negative comments, I was not at all nervous about going in there.
I was greeted immediately upon walking in. The office atmosphere is very welcoming and the staff were friendly. I had called the night before to make an appointment and wasn't sure I'd get in so quickly, but Lisa felt my concern and was extremely comforting on the phone. She was able to get me an appointment for early the next morning.
I waited only about three or four minutes before I was taken to the examination room. The vet tech was wonderful with both me and my mom's dog. Mom's dog is very skittish and afraid of strangers. She was shaking and nervous, and the vet tech noticed and talked to the dog, but didn't attempt to touch her. I was glad to see that she played it safe and didn't any extra stress to Sadie's experience.
When Dr. Brown came in, I loved him instantly! He was all smiles and very friendly. You could tell by the way he talked to me and Sadie that he is an animal lover and treats each fur-patient with care and concern. He waited to let Sadie get used to him before he touched her. He was thorough with the questions and with the exam. He put me at ease as well. It was nerve-wracking enough for me that this was my mom's dog and not my own. I wanted to take the best care of her dog I possibly could, and I believe I chose the perfect vet to help. Dr. Brown is a good listener. I felt that all my questions were answered and all my concerns were addressed. I felt that we were cared for and important to him and his staff. I didn't feel rushed through as though I were just an appointment on the schedule. I would definitely recommend Dr. Brown and Blue Cross Animal Hospital to anyone who has a pet they love.

In his rebuttal to my September 21 2012 review of Dr. William Brown of Blue Cross Animal Hospital, Dr. Brown claims that I and quot;failedand quot; to state a certain fact, thereby implying dishonesty. Many facts were not included in that review because of space limitations.

However, I agree that a full exposition of the facts in this matter should be made. Accordingly, I have secured http://tcvetsabuse.com and will shortly publish there a website that will not fail to state any fact. Buffalo-area vets and media will receive a press release at that time.

The fact that Dr. Brown claims I and quot;failedand quot; to disclose is that I, and quot;verbally abused one of that practice’s clients in the parking lot because her appointment went on too long and interfered with his. She returned to the office, visibly shaken by the encounter. An associate veterinarian had to threaten to call the police when (I) refused to leave the premises.and quot;

The reason I and quot;failedand quot; to disclose that and quot;factand quot; is because it didn't happen. It is true that Brown's associate junior vet and the lady client that preceded us on that day and quot;interferedand quot; with our appointment by taking it away from us entirely, as well as half of the next client's appointment. However, what Brown fails to disclose is that during that preceding client's non-emergency appointment, the junior vet and the lady client stood chatting in the consultation room for 70 minutes, while they watched us sitting in the waiting area. There is a sliding glass panel between the rooms. We could see and hear them just as they could see and hear us.

What Brown also fails to disclose is that when we eventually entered the consultation room, the junior vet offered not one word of apology or greeting, and did not attempt to calm or make any connection with our by-then highly agitated 115 lb. dog. A word of professional kindness at that point would have prevented all that followed, but none was offered.

At that point, I said to the receptionist, and quot;Look, we’ve caught you on a bad day. Why don’t we come back?and quot; The receptionist said, and quot;Well, it’s just to draw blood. Why don’t we just do that quickly? It’ll take 5 minutes.and quot; I said, and quot;No, we have multiple questions we’ve been thinking about Hooch’s condition. We’d like to ask the vet those questions in a calm controlled environment like the one enjoyed by your prior client for over an hour, without other distractions, and we don’t like receiving the bum’s rush, through no fault of our own. Hooch is excited. We’re now thinking about other things too.Your 1000 appointment is already here and waiting and we respect other people’s time. Why don’t we let you get back on track? We’ll come back again.and quot;

We then left the building. When we happened upon the lady client in the parking lot, I said to her, and quot;Do you realize that this vet’s operates on half hour appointments and that you just took over two of those, including ours, when you could see us waiting?and quot;

She instantly lost her composure. She shouted that she was in great pain from a leg injury, couldn’t we see how much pain she was in (no, we couldn’t), that she was medicated heavily and had no idea of the time, that she was a lawyer who knew her rights, that we had no idea how much pain she was in or how heavily medicated she was and that if we did know, we would not even be talking to her.

No doubt hearing the lady shouting, the junior vet then came out into the parking lot, saw the client with whom he had just chatted for over an hour now crying and shouting and me standing there doing and saying nothing. So obviously, in his tiny blinkered mind, the only possibility was that I had verbally abused his client. No other explanation was possible. She could not possibly have lost her composure when confronted with her bad manners.No inquiry was made.The junior vet simply jumped to an incorrect conclusion.

Brown now alleges that we verbally abused the lady client because that's what the junior had to tell him. Brown wasn't in the parking lot. Neither was the junior vet or the receptionist. None of them has any personal knowledge of what happened.

Within 2 hours,we emailed the senior vet Brownlaying out all facts and demanding a written apology. An apology on the record would have limited any future potential harmful conduct from the junior vet. Again,a simple apology from Brown would have stopped this process.

Instead, what we got after 12 days was a short email that said, and quot;Dear O'Hanlon, Feel free to start arranging alternative care for Hooch and Charlie.and quot;None of the facts reported to him were addressed. No explanation was offered.

What Brown apparently failed to consider is the likelihood that I (at 58 and 200 lbs), with my wife and large protective mastiff present, having just left the building in a calm manner, which the receptionist will confirm, would then aggressively abuse into tears a 100 lb. woman who was on her own, on crutches and had her own dog to look after. None of these thoughts appear to have entered Brown’s mind. Now he is locked tight on the idiot opinion of his junior vet.

No greater thought is exercised by Brown regarding the junior vet's threat to call the police. Brown claims that the junior vet, and quot;had to threaten to call the police when (I) refused to leave the premises.and quot; No doubt that is what the junior vet had to tell Brown.

In fact, the junior vet simply told us, and quot;You don’t have to be here. Get off the property. You have no right to harass our client.and quot; I said, and quot;I did not harass her. I spoke to her calmly.and quot; The junior vet said, and quot;Well, look what you’ve done to her. Get off the property now or I’ll call the police.and quot; There was no refusal to leave the premises. Such would have been ridiculous. Look at Brown's own rebuttal statement. He admits that we had left the building and were in the parking lot at the time of the altercation. So what is he alleging - that we doggedly refused to leave the parking lot? Who would have cared? The junior vet's threat was caused by his error in judgment, not by our refusal to leave, which didn't happen. So the junior vet has to tell Brown that we refused to leave in order to justify his threat retroactively.

Brown further states in his Angie's List rebuttal, and quot;These comments provide an excellent example of why reviews on Angie’s List should be taken with a large grain of salt..... Bullying takes many forms, whether it leaves a woman in tears or electronically, with an inappropriately bad review of a business on Angie’s List.and quot;

Mine is the only negative review on Angie's List. Do the positive reviews have to be taken with a large grain of salt also? Or just those Brown doesn't like?

Google and quot;Blue Cross Animal Hospital Amherst.and quot; Look at the dates on the various review sites. All from 2005 to 2006 are positive. All I could see in 2011 and 2012 are negative. One reviewer states, and quot;Used to be great when smaller. Now too corporate and money-grubbing. Quality uneven. Office rude.and quot; Another says, and quot;Not good place anymore.and quot;

Our event happened at Brown's other practice in the Turks and Caicos Islands. That practice is a veterinary vacation timeshare where member vets rotate in and out, practice about 3 hours a day and are essentially on vacation. There can be little doubt that Brown does not like, and did not expect, an Angie's List intrusion onto his home turf. Brown does not want local Buffalo pet owners to know how he conducts himself in business matters when he thinks he will not be called out.

As far as and quot;bullyingand quot; is concerned, who was bullied? We turned up 5 minutes early,

Everyone in the office was extremely friendly, and the care they provide is second-to-none. Dr. Jeffrey was great with my puppy and took the time to answer all my questions and give me advice. Dr. Donovan was great with my cats.
Blue Cross isn't cheap, but I think it's a good price for the level of care they provide.

I originally changed over to Blue Cross in April of this year due to a bad experience at a different vet that I had been going to for five years. I have two Wheaten Terriers that are six years old and they both have a Wheaten disease that cannot be cured but can only be treated. When I took my dogs there for the first time they saw Dr. Donovan. She was immediately kind to them, she knew exactly the issues related to the disorder and knew exactly what tests needed to be ran to see the severity of the condition. While my Wheatens were being dealt with having regular blood work and what not, we adopted yet another dog from the SPCA. This dog is a 4lb. Yorkie/Chihuahua mix. Upon adopting her, everything seemed fine. After four days, I noticed a large lump near her genital area. When I took her to Dr. Donovan, she knew immediately that it was an inguinal hernia. She said that it needed to be dealt with but that it wasn't an emergency. Unfortunately, the next day it did turn into an emergency. Trixie started to vomit and pass blood in her stool.Dr. Donovan saw her immediately that morning and ran every test that she thought would show us what was going on. The x-rays revealed that she needed her hernia stitched up. It was the Friday before Memorial Day and Dr. Donovan had only done this type of surgery one other time. She was very, very honest with me about it but also said that she was comfortable doing it. I had complete faith in her after the way she took care of my Wheatens.Trixie was taken into a somewhat emergency surgery situation and came out with flying colors. Dr. Donovan did an amazing job. Her personality is better now than it was even before surgery. The incision looks fantastic and the surgery amount was on the lower end of the quote I was given.I also know that another vet (that was off that day) came in to assist Dr. Donovan with Trixie's surgery which I also appreciated. I think they are a phenomenal practice and everyone is very friendly and kind. I love Dr. Donovan and thank her for the care she's given my three dogs!!

We have been going here for years. That should say something there. We knew it was time and didn't want to make our Hershey suffer anymore. We also wanted him to go with dignity and love. Dr. Brown and the staff there provide that to us and to our animals. They let us take our time and they cry with us. They feel our pain. They come to love them like we do. There have been more good memories there then bad. It just hurts when we loose them. Our daughter got herself a beautiful dog and she takes her baby there. As does our other daughter with her 2 cats. They wouldn't think of taking them anywhere else.

I have many dogs. After trying four veterinarians over the years, this is the clinic I feel most comfortable with. The overall experience is excellent. They are punctual, responsive, and professional. You will be hard-pressed to find a vet who will give you a better price on treatment and meds. They are very generous. They are the friendliest and most knowledgeable bunch of people I have ever known. They have multiple doctors working there. They have evening appointments, and they are open on the weekends. There is an emergency clinic right down the street. They work hand in hand with other doctors. I really like them.

EXCELLENT ALL AROUND

The staff were very caring and professional. We especially valued the fact that they felt comfortable communicating with us as dog owners rather than just doing the job and giving us instructions.

Blue Cross Animal Hospital was an excellent choice. Compassionate, professional, affordable, and excellent service. Costs were reasonable and the oral surgery expenses came in under the low estimate presented initially. Would highly recommend this group to pet owners.

I've been taking them for for at least twenty years, all the time they have been professional and courteous which is why I keep going there.

I have to say I have used Blue Cross' services for years now and am quite pleased. Yes, I think they are high but to be fair, I really have no other vet stats to compare them with for price. Other than that, they are extremely pleasant, professional, and caring in their treatment of animals.

Wonderful. Our dog is just a puppy and very very jumpy , but they were so understanding. We felt as though we had been going there for years.

Last visit was a follow booster for my dog. We were welcomed by name, waited our turn, were treated well and the fee was reasonable.