Banfield or NOT??
 

Hiya YT peeps :) So we will be bringing Izzy home in about a week and a half. Our original plan was to use Banfield as our Vet, but then i figured it would be silly not to see what everyone thought. lol. Would you suggest i go elsewhere? Good or Bad? All that jazz! Thank you for your advice and help.

Worst vets out there. Private vets especially those who specialized in toy breeds will be best.
Those insurance they have are there to rip you off. Glad your checking them out before going to them.

I am not fond of banfield either...sorry to say

banfield is a training facility for new vets. they don't have as much experience and they aren't very good at what they are doing from my personal experience. i liked their wellness puppy plan and it did get us through Sadie's shots and spay which all were fine, but anything not included on the plan is way too expensive and outrageously priced and the fact that all their medications and prescriptions are made by banfield in house and have been given names that banfield chooses so that you cannot recognize them for what their brand names are is kinda scary and hard to research....

my final decision is THUMBS DOWN. :thumbdown

I would go for an experienced private vet.

i wanted to add that i've heard far more bad things than good and google them for reviews and you may see what i mean. more negative than positive.

We are planning on doing the wellness puppy plan. Just to get her shots and spay. Do you think we should just take her somewhere else all together. We have another vet here that i know, but getting an appointment on a date you need is hard. Even when you have an appt your still looking at a good 30min+ wait in the lobby.

For a more experienced vet I would wait the 30+ minutes. I love my vet and the staff know us by name. When I am waiting I think back to when I had a thousand questions and how they spent a lot of time with me. I never felt rushed. So when they run behind I just assume that another new mommie or daddy had to be reassured or helped just like I did. Hope you find someone you both love and trust! Congrats on your new baby. Post pics when you get a chance.

I use to work at a Banfield, I couldn't stand working there!! I would try to find a different Vet, ask around, see where your friends and family go, Google places around you, see what people are saying about it, And google the Vet;s name as well

I have had to use Banfield for a few of our kitties and one our bunnies in the past, when I could not get an appointment with our regular vet. I have always had very good experiences at this Banfield office. The vet at this location is very good, very thorough and even calls to follow up on how the "patient" is doing.

I have never had to wait more than 5 minutes at our Banfield vet office. I never feel rushed and feel comfortable with this vet.

I use Banfield as well and am on the pupply plan for shots, spay program. I have never waited more than 10 minutes. The doctors and nurses where very informative and answed all my questions, never rushed out. Although I'm still new to puppy vets, my experience has been pleasant. Also, I did get follow up calls to check on my Kody to see how he was doing as well.

Maybe after the first year, I may choose to find a private vet.

:thumbup::thumbup: Although I have never waited more than 10 minutes, I am more than willing to wait as long as it takes because the vet takes his time with each patient. Healthcare shouldn't be treated like a trip to McDonald's. :)

One of the biggest complaints I have read here about Banfield is that they push way too many vaccinations and unnecessary procedures and medications.

I recommend finding a vet with small breed experience.

Oh never never never go to Banfield I was taking Gatsby because it was the closest vet to me and I did not drive. well his first summer we got fleas bad and I was a wreak Gatsby started to get a little lethargic and then he completely stopped moving and eating I took him into banfield and the vet told me it was hypoglycemia. It could not have been because i just gave him syrup before we left the house and an hour before that i asked if it could have been from the fleas and she said no she was positive it was from low sugar she would not do a blood test because she was so sure
3 days later Gatsby was so sick he almost died he needed a transfusion and because he cell count got so low he has developed chronic anemia so It is now something i have to keep an eye on the rest of his life (not that I mind I love him to death)

if the vet at banfield had listened then The whole thing could have been avoided.

I wouldn't recommend Banfield. We took Teddy Bear to Banfield because he had an ear infection and we were out of town. They were super nice but we paid an arm and a leg for something that would have been about one third the cost at our vet.

They wanted us to come for a follow-up visit and we told them we are 50 miles away from them. We called the Banfield that is 10 min from our house and they told us that they are not affiliated with other Banfields and their computers don't even link up with other Banfields so if we brought him in for a follow-up visit, they would have to charge us for an 'initial' office visit. What's up with that???

They also had certain hours posted that they don't charge for a visit. Since we were within those hours we thought they wouldn't charge us for a visit. Not so. They explained to us that if we brought him in and there was NOTHING WRONG with him, the visit would be free. But since he had an ear infection we had to pay for the office visit. What kind of SCAM is that??? Why would you take your dog to the vet when there was nothing wrong with him???? We thought the whole thing was a rip off and scam. We'll never go there again.

My niece told me the same thing. Her dog had an ear infection and she was taken for twice the price we paid. I'm not surprised that I never see anyone with their pets back there in the back of Petsmart. Petsmart won't take complaints about them either.

I would stay away from Banfield. Just wanted you to know our experience.

Since each Banfield location has different vets and management running the onsite business, some will be okay and some won't.

You can go meet the vet(s) and see what you think.

I have heard that many Banfield's overvaccinate. One was using euthasol as a spay/neuter anesthetic! Very bad. And whatever the plan doesn't cover, but prepared to pay a ton (and it really isn't right to just do puppy care at one place and then go somewhere else when there is a problem because then you aren't developing a vet/client/patient relationship).