Albany Veterinary Hospital

I have been taking my pets to Albany Vet Hospital for over 30 years when it first opened. Recently I lost my beloved dog Bella unneccarily due to a heart murmur that was not investigated or treated despite it being diagnosed 3 years ago. Due to the rapid turnover of veteriarians there was no consistancy of care of my pets for many years. The last vet she saw for a cough noted that Bella's heart murmur had deteriated to a serious stage 3-4 level This was the first time a vet ever recommended investigations of her condition to determine the diagnosis and treatment. She referred her to Parkhill Veterinary Hospital for X-rays etc
The vet was not a qualified radiologist and only had an 'interest' in radiological procedures for heart/lung conditions.
Bella was perfectly energetic and happy prior to being taken to Parkhill Veterinary Hospital. She was loving daily walks, had a healthy appetite and as frisky as she normally was.
During the early part of the ultra-sound testing after being given a mild sedation she became suddenly ill. She was extremely stressed, panting desparately and her gums turned purple due to lack of oxygen. The ultra sound was carried out first in priority to putting her into an oxydgen chamber, this was done later.
She was examined before the procedure and was fine. During that examintation the vet unnecessarily swabbed her ears and cytology of the sample was performed for what reason I am not sure- I was billed for this.
She continued to deteriorate rapidly. The vet called me to return to the hospital urgently as Bella was 'decompensating'.
I quickly arrived there to find Bella her in a terrible state. She was given numerous injections with drugs to try to improve her heart function and t3 injections of diuretics to try eliminate fluid from her body, but to no avail.
Before she was euthenased she suffered excrutiating pain till her last breath. It was incredibly distressing to witness the severe suffering Bella had to endure. I took her home wrapped in a towel to bury her in my property. My family and I were incredibly shocked and devastated.
Bella had been a patient of Albany Vet Hospital for over 11 years. After her death I did not receive a single call to express condolences from any of the staff. They did not call me by land line or mobile, send a card or flowers. Nothing!
Appalling considering the motto of the practice is- 'we care for your pets as much as you do'! What a joke in my case!
I hate to think of how much money I have paid Albany Vet Hospital over the past 30 years for treatment of my pets. It would be vast! Despite this, to get no acknowledgement of sympathy for Bella's unfortunate and most likely unnecceary death is so unacceptable to say the least! I certainly wouldn't be proud to be part of the Albany Vet Hospital team!
I paid over $1200 that day for the priviledge of having my dog taken away from me in the most ghastly and cruelist way possible!
I wrote to the director of the practice asking questions about the treatment my dog and other issues. Two weeks later I received a reply. None of my questions had been answered directly. The content of his letter was simply just general information about heart murmur. His letter ended with his statement that he was satisfied with the course of action the vets took. Of course he would protect his vets and not admit that there were avoidable issues that had been overlooked and professional errors that had been made.
As a dieitian sand having some medical knowledge and I consider the treatment of Bella was totally unsatisfactory. I am now taking legal action and also taking this case to the Veterinary Society for investigation. It is too late for Bella, but I do not want this to happen to anyone elses beloved pet.

Friendly staff
Great with the animals.
I was confident they knee what they were doing and would definitely recommend.

Highly-qualified staff and a great range of health products for the pets. Would strongly recommend this vet clinic as it's also priced reasonably. Deeply indebted to them.

We have just recently had our dog euthanised because of renal failure. 17 years old and 2months. We have taken both the cat and dog to this vet over the last 4 years of being in this area. A celebrity friend of mine has just recently received a card of condolences from all the team at the vets with all their signatures for the loss of her pet. Now everytime I’ve taken my animals there we’ve had no bedside manner at all from the vets. They didn’t say sorry for your loss. Nothing! Nada. And the vet who euthanised our dog suggested not giving her a sedative before the lethal injection (which I’ve been told should be the way it’s done cause if they don’t sedate them they can fight the lethal dose and that would be extremely upsetting for us watching, and our pet). So I requested he did sedate her cause it was traumatic enough for me making this decision based on their findings, and we walked out with out pet in our hands. Not even a sorry from the vet nurses at reception. So I won’t ever go back there again with any future. And they miss diagnosed her to start with so I took her to the emergency animal hospital in Wairau. What a different experience. They we amazing. Highly recommend them.

We were sending my son's cat over to Melbourne recently and there was some confusion with the NZ Government MPI form required as vet had ticked the wrong box. Luckily Karen, the manager was there on Monday morning and knew the process for pets getting into Australia so she saved the day and Scooter flew out as scheduled the next day. If you're relocating and taking your pets overseas just make sure the documentation is all correct and no photos for copies or you could have issues with customs on the other side.

Just received the sweetest sympathy card from the team in the mail, we had to put our much loved cat Lucy to sleep last week- the card had her paw print inside and it meant SO much! Thank you Genna for the care you showed Lucy & us, and for the continued awesome care of our other pets.

We were sending my son's cat over to Melbourne recently and there was some confusion with the NZ Government MPI form required as vet had ticked the wrong box. Luckily Karen, the manager was there on Monday morning and knew the process for pets getting into Australia so she saved the day and Scooter flew out as scheduled on Tuesday

Lovely service. Sadly We had to put our fur baby down the lady was very sympathetic to our wishes and needs.

I highly recommend the team at Albany Veterinary Hospital, they have been amazing during our visits, friendly and compassionate.
Daniel is very thorough, explains everything well and genuinely cares about the animals he is treating.

I have not been to a single veterinary centre that does not have friendly, welcoming & helpful people on their team and this place is par for the course. (Must be part of the requirements for this field, cause it seems like they're all like this place!)
Great welcoming smiles from the moment you walk in the door. Amazing energy in this place with "real" people who are really lovely to have genuine conversations with. (Special mention to Jayde for putting up with my "nana" moments). But kudos to the entire team!

We were referred here for a specialist procedure for our small dog and they have been amazing. Described the procedure and after care very thoroughly and took such great care of my wee dog, highly recommend.

Love this place. Top, friendly service. They know their stuff. Staff are communicative and friendly.

When your little loved one is ill or hurt you want expertise, professionalism, communication, & empathy. The team at Albany Veterinary Hospital have displayed these traits in spades to which we're extremely thankful

Penny and the team are amazing and looked after my girl so well when she needed knee surgery recently

Amazing, caring vet - highly recommend. I struggled to find somewhere who would see my dog as I am just visiting in Auckland and not registered to any vet. These guys were more than happy to see my dog as a one off after being declined by 5 prior vets who weren’t taking new clients. They were kind, gentle and happy to help her, and made me feel like they care about the pet and not just doing business.

Our dog recently died and the care shown by Danial and the team was fantastic, they are very caring and compassionate.

My elderly cat broke his leg and Albany pet were so good with him for all my visits. Even though its a journey for me to get there and I go past about 4 or more other vets, I would highly recommend them. So kind and patient and did the very best for my boy.

I got a little rescue dog they didn't seem interested in helping so I take her to onewa rd vet they are so helpful and loving when it comes to you're baby they have got her seizures under control

Very professional team
Kind caring and understanding.
Many thanks for your service and support.
Richard

Friendly staff, always willing to answer the phone and answer any questions.
Quality service from the times I've been.