BURKE FOREST VETERINARY CLINIC

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We have used them for 20 years. I may have waited 10 minutes for my dog to be seen. I go back because of their service and they are 1 mile from my house.

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They are very good and the vet there is very good with the animals and handles them gently and not put off by my cat who is unhappy.

unknown

The pricing seems pretty standard. It doesn't seem too much more. The only thing I have noticed they are doing a lot of up selling, but they are very good for cats. I not really seen a lot of dogs in there, but I have heard that they are just excellent for cats. He is a very good and kind of shy guy, but he is very good with the cats. They are very good on quality. They are very professional.

I am glad to have been referred to this vet by a friend after moving to Springfield from Maryland. I have already enrolled my another (12 year old cat) there for her regular/annual check-up.

I requested and received a Saturday morning appointment for one of my cats; she is an old cat, a rescue , with a long list of health issues, including a chronic sinus problem with concomitant ear infections. Dr Osten has been caring for my two cats for several years now, and his approach is always gentle and caring. He always carefully checks out all systems each time I bring in one of my cats, not just the presenting complaint. He also tends toward positive, yet conservative treatment, which has worked reliably for both cats. The office staff are very personable, the office is always clean, and they are always punctual. I would highly recommend Dr. Osten as a caring and knowledgable professional.

If you go behind the scenes at this place, they have one "procedure room," for surgical procedures. This room was filthy the day I saw it -- the day my dog's procedure had been done -- and did not look like it had been cleaned in a considerable period of time. It was clearly NOT sterile the day I saw it (not even remotely close). The cleanliness issue is relevant because of the infection my dog suffered from a procedure done at this vet. My poor dog went in because he was biting at his anus. The vet said my dog had a "cyst," that needed to be biopsied. During the "biopsy," this vet called me at work and said it was a "tumor mass" he could take out that same day. Not knowing any better I agreed to let him take it out. When I came to get my poor dog that evening, my dog had stainless steel sutures extending out of his rectum and his rectum had a large Y incision originating out of it. Needless to say the wound became necrotic (dead tissue, i.e., rotting flesh). I took him back after the smell became noticeable (2 days) and the vet said we just need to keep flushing the wound out with saline. With this laughable advice, I immediately took my dog to a nearby emergency dog hospital where the attending staff looked at the wound and asked who had done this to my dog. The doctor there said he had never seen any surgical would closed as poorly as that on my dogs rear. Surgery to clean and close the wound at the emergency hospital was an additional $500.00. Additional testing there indicated the tumor had metastasized and my dog had, at most, 2 to 4 months to live. Due to the location of the original surgical wound there would be a need to perform daily irrigation of the wound and application of antibiotics. My dog was in severe pain and had a raging infection -- it was highly likely he would need several additional surgeries to repair the wound. Given these facts, we decided to put him down. Had Burke Forest vet done the $75 blood test to determine the metastasized nature of my dogs tumor, we would never have done the intrusive surgery in the first place and given my dog some additional time on this earth.

This is a small vet clinic. There is only one vet that works there. I like that though. The atmosphere is very nice and clean. The only thing I don t like is you do have to watch him because he may recommend an extra service or two that actually you can get by with not having done.

We have been seeing Dr. Osten for 25 years now. He is very gentle and compassionate. Dr. Osten is very knowledgeable and has taken very good care of our pet's needs over the years. We would highly recommend him.