University Of Sydney Small Animal Hospital (Vet)

Not very happy with the service at Sydney University Vets.

My 3 year old dog was diagnosed with an Immune disease the first bill ending out near $9k which I accept and understand.

6 months later she has returned. (bill around $5k) No discounts whatsoever given for a returned patient. Not to mention the service I receive from their end has been terrible. Contact from the vet has been very poor. Seeming unsure of themselves at times which is hard to guage and just wanting to keep your pet in there for longer.

I was given a time slot to come and visit- I waited over an hour for them to bring my dog out to me.

Today I did not receive any call at all from the clinic regarding how my pet was going at all. I called myself to check. "A Vet will be in contact within an hour" No call 3 hours later. I called 3 times today only to hear from the receptionist on how my dog is progressing and not by an actual vet. Very Poor form.

Charging exclusive prices for your pets and delivering anything but exclusive service in my eyes. I would recommend SVES over them as also recommended by a friend who is an animal doctor.

I expected far better care and service the way they charge however seems to be always lagging there with a short number of staff but still happy to take in more pets regardless.

I'm aware they are busy and doing their absolute best however It seems to be more of a money maker their rather than an honest emergency veterinary service with poor follow up.

Will not be returning.

Approximate cost: $5000

I attended there for my old dog early morning. I did expect to pay some fees which was fine. I felt the vet was good she explained things and asked a lot of questions. She gave me some scenarios on what could happen. I don’t think they over charged me , he did need an X-ray which was the same price as any other vet and the emergency consult and medications were priced average . It is an emergency service so I was expecting it may be expensive. Nothing was pushed onto us.
The only thing is I would say they don’t let you stay with the animal while they review it unlike other vets. But I was happy with the service

Approximate cost: $800

These people, especially the CEO are absolute scum.

After falling on hard times , losing my job in COVID , my cat got unwell with a tumour. I exhausted my savings with her care and running out of money, I enquired about their ‘animals in Need program’ because I had ready stories published on the university website about the vet hospital ‘coming to the rescue’ for seriously sick animals whose owners could not afford extensive care.

My urgent appeal to the vet hospital was immediately rejected by the CEO without any reason, so I asked how the decision to support people is made. the receptionist was clearly not confident and honest in her response ( a lot of ‘umm’ and ‘ahh’s’) and she acted as though she had no clue about this program and the reports of their wonderful assistance to pet owners posted online.

She said ‘we don’t run a charity’, to which I said I was aware, but noted that I knew the program was a possible avenue for people with extenuating circumstances. It was obvious she was beginning to say that I shouldn’t have a pet if I could not afford the care, but she quickly cute herself off. Despite the fact that I told her I lost my JOB in COVID

They implied that they are a humble clinic with limited resources , but as a former student of the uni I know they have millions of dollars in resources and facilities at their disposal.

the CEO is just a tyrant, making arbitrary decisions and collecting a hefty pay check.

DO NOT GO HERE, THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU OR YOUR PET!

Approximate cost: $1000

I took my sick dog here to be checked out. The dr was lovely and caring but the price was unbelievable for a blood test and some meds..

Approximate cost: $700

I recommend avoiding this place like the plague. Their main objective seems to be selling the greatest possible number of tests. Your dog may be old and at death's door and they'll still want to inflict as many tests as they can talk you into.

Approximate cost: $3100

Vet and student were great in the original consultation. However, blood tests were taken and I was asked to call back midweek for results. I called two days in a row and was told a vet would call me back. No return calls. I emailed twice. No replies. I went in and spoke to a receptionist on Saturday. It is now 8 days later and I've had no contact at all from them. It's the worst service I've ever experienced from any business, let alone one comprised of professionals who supposedly care for animal welfare. Give them a wide berth!

I have 3 dogs (Whippets) and have taken them there for various things. It depends on which sweet young nervous student you get on the day and they fluff about for about an 1 hour !! (I know it's a training hospital but !?!?!?) Then in comes the vet and that also depends which vet you get on the day. I've had a great vet and I've also had vets that just want to up sell like there is no tomorrow, I spent around $4000 on one dog because she ate some mulch and they insisted on removing it from her stomach as they thought she would not pass it all ????? so I bent over and copped that bill! Today I went to get a benign wart removal (2 vets in the past have told me nothing to worry about) but she was started to lick it etc so I thought I should get it removed.This rude [redacted due to personal identifier] vet with would not stop adding stuff to my estimate. No other vet has picked this up ever(dog is 10) but she said my dog has a slight heart murmur and started raving on what a murmur was - I told her yes I know what a murmur is, she rudely asked if I was a Doctor I said no, but have you noticed that my dog is a trembling panting neurotic WHIPPET!! That could be a reason for an elevated heart rate. The estimate went on and on and on way over $800 (if she didn't need a GENERAL) plus $88 consult to remove a wart. Not to mention all the heart tests she wanted to do!! UP SELL UP SELL UP SELL!

This vet was mad and nasty! .This place is too hit in miss. I'm going to find a small private vet.

My cat wouldnt be alive without this vet hospital. She has internal injuries from falling from a 5th storey balcony at 8pm. The staff met us in the carpark, ran straight into emergency. They went through everything with me, treatment, cost, options, pros & cons. My cat was in a very serious condition but with their constant phone calls updating me and general support, it wasnt as traumatic as it should have been. The tests are carried out immediately in house 24/7 so the animals get treatment faster than any other vet practice. They are overstaffed, so many vets, specialists, nurses and students. I have used other vets in sydney who have reputations for being known as animal hospitals but it is a joke. No one can compare to the quality of the Sydney University Animal Hospital and Emergency. My cat has 24/7 intensive care, blood transfusion, ultrasounds, biopsies etc. They called me twice a day to update me on everything.

It's taken me many months to write this review. Firstly let me say it's great the university has this facility, that it is available to the public, and with a 24/7 service.

Unfortunately I needed to make use of it very early one morning. Now as you can imagine you are taking either yourself or your furry friend to a hospital at that time it's not great, but there can be a few things to "improve" the experience and reduce stress.

The building is very functional from an operational perspective - all white, grey and stainless steel, and really bright internal lighting. However when you're waiting at the (understandably) locked front door with a screaming (in pain) cat you don't expect to be kept waiting for more than a minute - it was several minutes before someone arrived. I understand there may have been other night duties going on, but if you are getting short staffed, please call some extras in. It's a teaching hospital.

I felt the focus was on getting major funds out of me first, instead looking at my boy and trying to alleviate his pain. Also if you're in vet science, some empathy helps. Treating my boy as if he was just an animal, and not an important part of my life did not cut it. Also the staff would disappear for ages and you were alone in the waiting or consult room with no updates and beginning to wonder if you had been forgotten. Towards to the end I was taken into room with a number of other animals (dogs and cats) who were making a huge racket at 2 in the morning (which I suppose was a good thing), and my boy was on a table near it all. They weren't able to determine what had happened (though I told them early on I suspected it was lily poisoning. Damn things are extremely toxic to cats.) The student vet advised the only options were either to conduct more tests, with significantly more expense, or put him to sleep. I felt the 'Option A' was more for their learning rather than healing. The final straw was I was not allowed to remain with my boy as he was put to sleep "for safety reasons". I can see both sides of this, but I've had friends who were able to stay with their furry creatures to the end, so I'm still unable to reason why the Small Animal Hospital does not allow this. It just adds more grief on an already painful situation.

Approximate cost: $600.00