Petsmart for vet? - YorkieTalk.com Forums

hommie · 05-05-2007, 05:08 PM

Just wondering if anyone has taken ther Yorkie to Petsmart for all of its vet needs?

My breeder recommend this place and I just want a second opinion.

Yorkieluv · 05-05-2007, 06:42 PM

If you want a personable experience with your vet and stuff like that, then I don't recommend petsmart. Some people get the plan for the first year simply because you pay an initial $100 and then something like $25 per month and it includes all the vaccinations and neuter/spay. BUT, if you need anything extra like extra fecal exams or any medications or bloodwork or anything like that, then they charge you sooo much for that. Their fecal tests cost like $40 here, when my regular vet charges something more like $15-$20....
Most Banfield vets (not all) are not personable. They're kind of like, get you in and out. I used to have the Banfield plan because we used to get Miko's bloodwork and urinalysis and stuff like that done there because we could pay monthly...But we would take the results over to our regular vet who would then diagnose him and prescribe whatever was necessary. See, I used them for the convenience, but not as my furbabies' regular vet.

Ashley V · 05-05-2007, 07:02 PM

[quote=Yorkieluv;1104494]If you want a personable experience with your vet and stuff like that, then I don't recommend petsmart. Some people get the plan for the first year simply because you pay an initial $100 and then something like $25 per month and it includes all the vaccinations and neuter/spay.QUOTE]

Right now we are using Banfield for this purpose. Chip is only 16 weeks old and our monthly fee pays for everything except for medicine, flea/tick repellant, and heartworm meds. Regular meds are 10% off and microchipping ended up only being like $20 for 2 microchips instead of the regular price. Chip gets vaccines every 3 weeks and will get neutered in another 8 weeks or so. So far we've had him since March 14 and have saved about $400 on basic puppy vet needs. I don't like one of the vets at the Banfield in my town though. When we brought Chip home, he was sick from a numerous amount of things - car sick, stress, and he had vaccines the day before. He kept throwing up and wouldn't eat anything so we gave him some nutrical and took him to the vet in the morning. The vet freaked out and said that he had Parvo this, that, and the other thing and said that we HAD to give him a bunch of xrays and blood tests and the total cost would be about $450. Of course we just bought the puppy the day before and didn't have $450 to dish out. We didn't expect to get a "sick" pup so she tells my husband "You bought a puppy and don't even have the money to take care of him." Well, hubby called the breeder, told him the situation, and the breeder told hubby to bring Chip back to him for him to look at. When he got there, the breeder gave Chip some wet food, nutrical, and water and Chip has been fine ever since! We still tried to give him dry food, but he was so tiny, he just couldn't seem to pick it up and chew it so we gave him the wet for about a week, then the vet goes "You know your going to take him off the wet food right? He can eat the dry." I almost told her where to shove it because she doesn't live with Chip and she doesn't see how he reacts to things. Even though we had only had him a week at that point, we knew what was in his best interest and what could and couldn't do. He couldn't eat the dry... he had tried several times. Now he's just fine with it, but that's just my personal experience with my Banfield vet.

Yorkieluv · 05-05-2007, 07:20 PM

Ashley, don't let the vet tell you that he HAS to eat dry food. Wet food is just as good for them. You just have to take care of the teeth. That's the thing about petsmart. Convenience, not necessarily, great vets though. Good for shots, microchipping, etc. But not the one-on-one relationship with your pet. I have heard good reviews on Banfield though, so I can't knock all of them.

hommie · 05-05-2007, 07:54 PM

Well I found some other vets that come highly recommend by other users on this forum. So I think I might check those out instead. I would rather spend a extra buck or two to know I am getting good service. Not to mention that the vet will take care of me and my dog, and not sell us something we don't need.

Yorkieluv · 05-06-2007, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hommie

Well I found some other vets that come highly recommend by other users on this forum. So I think I might check those out instead. I would rather spend a extra buck or two to know I am getting good service. Not to mention that the vet will take care of me and my dog, and not sell us something we don't need.

That's wonderful!!!

05-05-2007, 05:08 PM	#1
hommie Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Everett, WA Posts: 57	Petsmart for vet? Just wondering if anyone has taken ther Yorkie to Petsmart for all of its vet needs? My breeder recommend this place and I just want a second opinion.

05-05-2007, 06:42 PM	#2
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,745	If you want a personable experience with your vet and stuff like that, then I don't recommend petsmart. Some people get the plan for the first year simply because you pay an initial $100 and then something like $25 per month and it includes all the vaccinations and neuter/spay. BUT, if you need anything extra like extra fecal exams or any medications or bloodwork or anything like that, then they charge you sooo much for that. Their fecal tests cost like $40 here, when my regular vet charges something more like $15-$20.... Most Banfield vets (not all) are not personable. They're kind of like, get you in and out. I used to have the Banfield plan because we used to get Miko's bloodwork and urinalysis and stuff like that done there because we could pay monthly...But we would take the results over to our regular vet who would then diagnose him and prescribe whatever was necessary. See, I used them for the convenience, but not as my furbabies' regular vet. __________________ Miko 's his Mommy

05-05-2007, 07:02 PM	#3
Ashley V YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Leesburg Posts: 767	[quote=Yorkieluv;1104494]If you want a personable experience with your vet and stuff like that, then I don't recommend petsmart. Some people get the plan for the first year simply because you pay an initial $100 and then something like $25 per month and it includes all the vaccinations and neuter/spay.QUOTE] Right now we are using Banfield for this purpose. Chip is only 16 weeks old and our monthly fee pays for everything except for medicine, flea/tick repellant, and heartworm meds. Regular meds are 10% off and microchipping ended up only being like $20 for 2 microchips instead of the regular price. Chip gets vaccines every 3 weeks and will get neutered in another 8 weeks or so. So far we've had him since March 14 and have saved about $400 on basic puppy vet needs. I don't like one of the vets at the Banfield in my town though. When we brought Chip home, he was sick from a numerous amount of things - car sick, stress, and he had vaccines the day before. He kept throwing up and wouldn't eat anything so we gave him some nutrical and took him to the vet in the morning. The vet freaked out and said that he had Parvo this, that, and the other thing and said that we HAD to give him a bunch of xrays and blood tests and the total cost would be about $450. Of course we just bought the puppy the day before and didn't have $450 to dish out. We didn't expect to get a "sick" pup so she tells my husband "You bought a puppy and don't even have the money to take care of him." Well, hubby called the breeder, told him the situation, and the breeder told hubby to bring Chip back to him for him to look at. When he got there, the breeder gave Chip some wet food, nutrical, and water and Chip has been fine ever since! We still tried to give him dry food, but he was so tiny, he just couldn't seem to pick it up and chew it so we gave him the wet for about a week, then the vet goes "You know your going to take him off the wet food right? He can eat the dry." I almost told her where to shove it because she doesn't live with Chip and she doesn't see how he reacts to things. Even though we had only had him a week at that point, we knew what was in his best interest and what could and couldn't do. He couldn't eat the dry... he had tried several times. Now he's just fine with it, but that's just my personal experience with my Banfield vet. __________________ I suffer from MYTS

05-05-2007, 07:20 PM	#4
Yorkieluv Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,745	Ashley, don't let the vet tell you that he HAS to eat dry food. Wet food is just as good for them. You just have to take care of the teeth. That's the thing about petsmart. Convenience, not necessarily, great vets though. Good for shots, microchipping, etc. But not the one-on-one relationship with your pet. I have heard good reviews on Banfield though, so I can't knock all of them. __________________ Miko 's his Mommy

05-05-2007, 07:54 PM	#5
hommie Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Everett, WA Posts: 57	Well I found some other vets that come highly recommend by other users on this forum. So I think I might check those out instead. I would rather spend a extra buck or two to know I am getting good service. Not to mention that the vet will take care of me and my dog, and not sell us something we don't need.