Animal House Vets - Speedwell

Rewriting as I was angry when I wrote the last review. Firstly, the medical team are great. Friendly, good for the appointment. I do always struggle getting the flea and wormer after. Seems to be at least a 20 min wait for reception to be free to do it after the appointment, which when you have a very anxious pet Is more than frustrating. Glad the new location works well for staff and other visitors, however I did choose this clinic specifically because it was walking distance and my pet is very very afraid of the car- so it’s a shame for my pet that is has moved as there are no other walking distance vets nearby for us now. In the past I was told his trouble puffs had descended and would be ready for fixing, but durin the surgery I was phoned and told only one had descended, and it would mean extra fee and more intrusive surgery to fix. I do feel that situation could’ve been well avoided. If not for the pet health plan I would be looking elsewhere

The vets have been pretty good so far with looking after our pets, it has been easy to book the appointments, most of the staff is nice and polite. As someone else mentioned though it does usually take awhile to be seen by the vet when arriving for your arranged time. I'm mainly writing this to share the last experience with them which was not so great and to bring awareness for anyone owning a sighthound. We had our whippet spayed and the healing process was very painful due to the vets not having proper recovery equipment that would fit sighthound breeds which I would expect the vets surgery should provide. When we had our first post-op check-up we got a suit that would be used for our dog as she was very reluctant to have the cone on at first. They did not have anything that fit sighthound bodies, just one generic suit in a few sizes so we went with the closest match. This then ended up being a horrible mistake as the dog managed to get to the wound through the leg holes because of the awkward fitting and undid a lot of progress on the healing. We then tried the cone that was provided by the vet to just find out that her nose is sticking too much and she can reach to the wound, pull the stitches and damage it too. So unless she has a clothing layer too she can’t be left without any supervision even for 10 minutes with just the cone. I'm writing this to hopefully make a change on them providing more options to fit different dog body types and carefully test it on the dogs for successful and smooth recovery process.

Found a sick cat in our front garden. Rang Bristol ARC but as it was the weekend they didn't have a vet available to look at it so suggested I leave it with our local vet. Animal House Chalks Road agreed to take it. I rang them a few days later to see how the cat was and if it had a microchip. Surprisingly, no one knew anything about a cat being brought in. Tried again a week later but still the same story. I sent them an online message via their website which they didn't respond to. Rang again and asked if the vet that was on duty that day could please ring me with an update. Left all my details and let them know that I am a client. To date, no response from them. Sadly, as you can imagine, I'm now seriously doubting I did the right thing for this cat, and the whole experience has left me deeply upset

⚠️ Please read before trusting your pet to this clinic I am heartbroken to share that my beloved cat Bilbo passed away during what was supposed to be a simple procedure at this clinic. He was given anesthesia, and within moments his heart stopped. The staff said it might have been an allergic or anaphylactic reaction to one of the drugs — something very rare and unpredictable. They tried to resuscitate him for about 20 minutes, but he didn’t survive. What hurts the most is that I was persuaded to agree to this procedure, even though it wasn’t truly necessary. I trusted the clinic, believing my cat would be safe. Now I’ve lost him forever. I was never clearly told which anesthetic drugs were used, or why this decision was made. I believe that pet owners deserve full transparency and honest communication about the risks before any procedure is done. I’m sharing my story to warn other pet owners — please, always ask about the anesthesia drugs, possible allergic reactions, and alternatives before agreeing to any treatment. I have lost trust in this clinic and will never return. Bilbo deserved better. 💔

The vets are really friendly and incredibly caring but it always takes so long to be seen by the vets. This might be the same experience for every vets I'm just surprised that it doesnt matter if it's in the morning or whenever, I'm always seen to later than my appointed time... Just to reiterate that they are all really lovely though!

I’ve been taking my puppy here since I adopted him six months ago and have always had a wonderful experience. You can tell that the team care so much about all the animals they see, and they’re so good that Spudley gets so excited going to the vets that I have to try and calm him down! They treat owners great as well, including answering silly questions when we’re panicking and never making us feel silly for asking them. I’ve already recommended the Chalks Road practice to friends, and will continue to do so!

Been going to this vet for many years. They are excellent. Very caring and have saved the life of my current dog when he was bitten by an Adder. You can usually get an appointment within 24 hours - try that with your GP! Would recommend to all pet owners.