Pets At Home instore vets - any thoughts?

abankerbutnotafatcat

Hello everyone,

we adopted a cat from our local Cats Protection a few months ago and her initial appointment was with the vets used by the Cats Protection who they also recommend. This vets seems great and is close (we would happily walk if we didn't have a stressed kitty in her carrier) but is unfortunately a £3.50 each way taxi ride for us as we don't have a car.

Alternatively, there is a local independent vet that we know nothing about and a instore Pets At Home vet. Both are easy walking distance even with the cat and the Pets At Home vet has very long hours which suits us as we both work and also gives some comfort in the event of an emergency.

Does anyone have any experience of Pets At Home vets services?

Yolina

I use the Companion Care in my local PAH for my cats and have been for 13 years - the opening hours are great and they're fully kitted out. Obviously it can vary from one vet to the other but mine is very good, though I try to avoid weekends unless it's an emergency. It's actually not my nearest vet, but the one's that's round the corner has not-so-practical hours and doesn't have all facilities on site, so the cats would need to go somewhere else for x-rays for example.

Edit: find out what on-site facilities both the one in PAH and the independent have, what the out-of-hours arrangements are etc, then maybe see if you can have a chat with both and see which you prefer.

Artytarty

She/he will still be a fully qualified vet I presume?
If so then I would go to the PA Home one for ease especially if it is something routine.

moi68

I used the PAH one, the opening hours a great and you can make an apiontment which you couldn't do at the other one in my town it was only open a couple of hour in the morning and at tea time and it was first come first served.

tizerbelle

Artytarty wrote: »

She/he will still be a fully qualified vet I presume?
If so then I would go to the PA Home one for ease especially if it is something routine.

Of course they are qualified vets and vet nurses. Each Companion Care practice is registered with the Royal College of Vet Surgeons. The veterinary practices are effectively a franchise and run by joint venture partners usually 2 or 3 of the vets and/or vet nurses that work there. They are subject to all the normal veterinary practice standards.

Pets at Home staff have nothing to do with the Companion Care practices. You are not going to be getting treatment or advice from a PaH shop assistant, no matter how knowledgable they are.

The opening hours are great for the branches in the PaH stores as you usually get 7 days a week and typically they are open the same hours as the store just closing an hour earlier - you can find out more about your local store and who works there here

The added advantage is there is generally plenty of free parking available as well as they tend to be sited on big retail parks.

Just to confirm I do not work for companion care or pets at home. I do however have my pets registered at the local CC practice and have never had anything other than excellent service there and the various mutts and moggys are all absolutely adored by the staff and treated like royalty.

abankerbutnotafatcat

Thank you so much for your comments, must admit I am quite surprised - I was expecting people to say they were a bit anonymous and not as personal as 'normal' vets. One question, humans have to be registered with a certain doctor to be treated. How does it work with animals? Can I just book an appointment anywhere? What happens with medical records?

Artytarty

Thanks for making that clear!
As the mother of a student vet I should try to know more about what goes in the working world.

UKTigerlily

abankerbutnotafatcat wrote: »

Thank you so much for your comments, must admit I am quite surprised - I was expecting people to say they were a bit anonymous and not as personal as 'normal' vets. One question, humans have to be registered with a certain doctor to be treated. How does it work with animals? Can I just book an appointment anywhere? What happens with medical records?

You will need to register, it can normally be done over the phone & occasionally online too (I don't use CC but know other practices you can register on their website). If you then move I imagine the new vet could get the records, though this has never been asked when i've moved. However I do think my current vet has my pets info from 1 other practice locally I used twice.

fatballs

They just opened an instore vet at my local PAH a couple of months ago and I took my cat there for her vaccinations - they had a promotion on for half price! The vet seemed okay but spent a long time lecturing me about how I should be giving her only raw food. We gave it a try but the only meat she'll eat is beef mince so she has a little golf ball sized amount every time we're cooking it in addition to her regular food. Oh and she'll lap up egg yolk!

littleun

I use the one in pah (companion care) and my vet is fantastic.

danetastic

I use my local companion care at pets at home and they have been fab. Get an appointment easily and on same day most of the time . Had emergency recently where one of my cats had broken leg and we were taken straight away . Care has been excellent . They do have several vets but you can ask to see the same one when you make your appointment and they are open and give appointments on Sundays
I have been very happy with the and all the gang seen there. Only down side is that sometimes they are running late but it is offer due to emergencies or they've had to give someone more time. I have required them to do the "final " care for my pet and they gave me a later appt so didn't have to leave with a full waiting room when I knew I would be upset and let me settle the bill later