SMITH & SHEDD FAMILY PET HOSPITAL

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We brought a new Cocker Spaniel puppy into our family and needed to search out a new Vet. I did an online search for a Veterinarian who was an Graduate of Auburn University Veterinary School, since our vet back east had come from there and he
was excellent. Through him I learned that the Auburn Vet School is one of the best in the nation, and being new to San Antonio didn’t know where to start in looking for a new Vet.
The search turned up Dr. Lane Smith and Dr. Linda Garza at Smith and Shedd family pet Hospital. The office was only about 20 minutes from our house, meaning I probably drove by more than a dozen vets offices on my way to Smith and Shedd but I am really
glad I did.
We had called and made an appointment ahead of time for our new puppy visit, and spoke with Robin over the phone who was great about telling us what to bring and what to expect on that first visit. Surprisingly they were not available until the following week, but I guess that is a good sign that they are so busy.
Once we got to the office things went very smoothly. There was a girl scout troop touring the Hospital that afternoon and I thought that would mean we would have extra waiting as the staff worked around them, but that was not to be the case.
As soon as we walked in, the staff saw the puppy and knew who we were. Calling us by name as we walked through the door was a nice touch normally only found in elite hotels… certainly not something you expect at the vet office.
After confirming our information they moved us into the treatment room right away to wait for the technician to come in. The office was well appointed – and very clean – which is very important to me. These kinds of details are lost on many vets but I was very favorably impressed with the cleanliness of the offices.
The technician came in and went over our immunization records, and asked a series of questions about our new pet. She was young and energetic, but you could tell she knew what she was doing which was nice to see. She put us through the Qand A and then did a complete exam on our puppy. She discussed the immunizations that were due, and the schedule for future exams to
let us know what to expect in the coming weeks and months.
Once the technician was done, Dr. Linda Garza came in to see about our puppy. She also put her through a very through exam, and patiently answered questions from my 7 year old son about what she was doing and why.
She immediately found two small problems, neither of which was serious, but which we needed to address. The
first was a slight ear infection which was beginning in our puppy, which is quite common for cockers, and she took time to instruct us on cleaning of the ears to prevent future infections- demonstrating for my son how it was to be done.
She also prescribed benedrill and a medicated shampoo for a sight skin rash she found.
We watched as she gave our puppy her 3 injections, none of which the puppy seemed to mind, because Dr. Garza was smart enough to distract her with some treats she put out while she gave the injections. Again, the thought and caring for the puppy
to try and make sure it was a pleasant and not stressful visit for her speaks volumes about the care they give here.
I know the vets are normally very busy, and sometimes run big volume clinics where they rush from patient to patient not taking a lot of time with any of their clients, but that was not the case with Dr. Garza. She took the time to get to know us, and we talked about our families and had a very nice visit with her I really appreciated this since it was our first visit to the clinic.
We did not have a chance to meet Dr. Smith, nor was there any reason for us to on this visit, but we did learn that Dr. Smith and Dr. Garza are brother and sister which is really neat. We went to check out wih the front desk, and I was expecting the bill to be in the $700 to $800 range since we had 3 injections, the benedrill, medicine for the ear cleaning and the medicated shampoo, as well as the exam. I was very pleasantly surprised that the bill was only a little over $200.00 which I
thought was very reasonable.
We have found our new vet, and we couldn’t be happier with our choice.
I am delighted to drive past a dozen other clinics to make sure our puppy receives the best treatment
possible!

I like them because in the first place, they seem very knowledgeable. It's a larger facility so they can do a lot of stuff, a lot of lab testing and a lot of surgery on site instead of having to refer you to somewhere so that's reassuring. You know who is handling you're pest. They do followup calls. The thing that I like that wouldn't matter to most is I like to be in the room when my pets are being handled or treated. I think it makes the pest a little more secure that mommy is not abandoning them and giving them to these strange people to take away and do rude things to. Rude things may happen but mommy is still there. Some vets will not allow that. These people do. They're very patient with me. They let me assist, I can do a little more. They're also very considerate about passing out free samples of medications and stuff when they can.

Lousy to no treatment (where is the ID micro chip?), no customer care, no communication!!!! I guess since I was a cat owner, I wasn't considered an important customer. I'm not sure I would even trust them with a dog after this experience with my cat.

I brought my 4 1/2 month old bulldog puppy for a round of vaccinations. Before the vet tech provided the vaccinations, I pointed to a rash on my puppies face and asked the vet tech to take a look at it. They took her to another room (I assume where they perform procedures). They came back about 10 minutes later and said that she had recieved her vaccinations, and that she had a case of demodeptic mange. The veterinary tech told me (i.e., did not recommend the dip or provide me with other options, he basically told me) that my puppy would be dipped and that I will need to come back for her in a few hours. He then left the room without any detailed explanation of what demodex was in terms of cause, what the standard treatment was, how much the treatment would cost, or anything else one would expect in this situation (however, he did explain to me that demodex are tiny alligator shaped mites that live on puppies and can cause rashes when out of control - this was the scope of his explanation at this moment). In my naivity I agreed to come back for her later in the day. When I came back, the actual vet (not the vet tech) explained to me what demodex was, that the dip may cause sedation but that my puppy was past the point where an allergic reaction to the dip could be observed. She then prescribed antiobiotics, fish oil capsules, and a creme to put on her eyes (which was $40.00 and had nothing to do with the demodex mange). She gave me a handout on demodex and stressed that it was not-genetic, manageable, and that she would be able to be spayed before her 6 month birthday. She also said that we would be dipping her again the following week. She seemed very caring and understanding despite being so busy - and I felt she answered all my questions with detail. When my puppy came home: throughout the night she was extremely lethargic, seemed very depressed, and vomited numerous times throughout the night. I decided that I would wait the evening out and see how she is doing the next day rather then call the vets emergency line, assuming that all the medication she recieved that day was causing her symptoms. After I got home from work in the early afternoon the day after, I found my poor puppy wheezing, with froth coming from her nose, bright red skin, extreme thirst, complete incontinence and complate lack of coordination. I called the vet with my concerns and they asked me to bring her in immediatly. When I arrived, I could tell they were extremely busy and so I waited patiently for about 15-20 minutes while the lady managing the front desk took care of their other clients. Finally, she took my puppy from me and asked me to wait in a room where I was greeted by another (different) veterinary technician who asked what the issues were (even though I had explained them to a different technician on the phone.) I repeated my concerns, and he went to the back room where I heard him relay the information to the vet. I then heard her relay information back to him. He came back and told me what she said. I asked him follow up questions, and he went back into the room where I heard him relay my question to the vet. Then he came back and provided an answer. I think you can see where I am going with this. After probably 20 minutes of this back and forth, a new vet tech came back with my puppy and explained that my puppy had a reaction to the dip. Then, the vet came in, gave a more detailed explanation, then said that she had not seen my puppies symptoms "clinically" so she was unsure about the diagnosis. She then took my puppy BACK into the back room where I waited for maybe 10 more minutes, then the vet tech (I have met 3 vet techs so far) came back to tell me she had a reaction to the steroid shot they had given her the previous day in conjuntion with the dip, and that it did not seem to be the dip that caused the reaction. Confused, worried, and happy to finally have some information - I asked what the prognosis was. He said fine - she was given a benadryl and recommended I give her more later that evening. The vet prescirbed anti-nausea medication and recommended I stop the very expensive creme I previously mentioned. The person at the front desk who rand me up provided me with no more information on whether I should bring her in the following week for another dip or any other appointment information. I could tell she was extremely busy as she was quite short with me, so I figured I would call back on Monday to confirm my appointment. I recieved a call on Monday at 4:30 pm from a vet tech asking about my puppy's health status (which I appreciated as I did not have a second to pull away to call them). I told him how she was doing and asked him about the dip appointment. He said he was not sure, that he would have to ask the vet, and that he would get ahold of me before the end of the day. Nor did he call the next day. I called the morning of the appointment to ask - and the person at the front desk said that she had discussed with me that we would not be providing anymore dip because of my puppies reaction and that my puppy would instead be recieving an injection to treat the demodex. I explained to her that I was not informed of this decision, that no one called me to explain this to me, and that I was under the impression that my puppy had a reaction to the steroid shot, not the dip. She said she would call me back with nore information. I recieved a call back about an hour later from one of the many vet techs, he explained that they could notbe sure that the dip or the steroid shot caused a reaction, but that in order to treat the demodex she would be recieving an injection. I asked him if he could please let me know when I can bring her in for the injection, and if she would still be able to be spayed before May 30th. He said that the demodex mange is contraindicated with spaying, and that he would have to call me back about the injection. I responded that the vet had recommended she be spayed, and that this recommendation was made after my puppy was diagnosed with demodex. He said he would call me back with more information when the vet came in at 1:00pm. At about 1:30pm, after I recieved no phone call -I called the offices. After listening to my pleas for answers, the person on the other end of the phone said she would call me back with more information. So here I sit, with no call backs - and no information. This entire process has cost me $300.00, and this clinic as succeeded in making me feel extremely unimportant. I think, as a client, I deserve better.

We have been there for a couple of appointments. It was a very clean, well run office. The vet took excellent care of our animals. They were organized. The people were friendly.

I think they are very empathetic. They really listen to you and are very concerned about each pet. This is a family run business, a brother, sister and the sister's husband. They are very personable and clean. They have all of the state of the art equipment, they can do almost anything right there. They have a wonderful surgical suite. They can do a lot that most places can't do. I will continue to take my dogs here.

Smith and Shedd have really nice facilities. The whole place looks brand new. I like the fact that they are a brother and sister run company and that they are helpful and bend over backward for us. I would recommend them to everyone.