Bute Street Veterinary Clinic

I am torn. This (when just a small though burgeoning business) used to be a place that was great to take my many cats. Some of whom are wild, though now tame-ish to us and some are house cats but only used to me and my husband. I trusted Bute St. They were always good. Let me be clear that Cheryl has ALWAYS been great...helpful, kind, sweet, caring. However the vet and some front desk assistants were always a slight issue but now the assistant tech is also a huge issue. Snotty, rude, just quite simply deplorable. We had a sweet and darling teacup chihuahua whom THEY misdiagnosed with bad teeth...by which I mean her teeth were bad as she was very old but that was NOT what was wrong with her. She had kidney issues. Due to their misdiagnosis we wasted 2 months with her suffering all the while, in trying to get a tooth removal procedure set up in Victoria and finally going to them were CORRECTLY DIAGNOSED and sent back with nothing done. We never received any sign, word, anything admitting that Bute St even cared that they had messed up. Instead they told us to change her diet and give her iv fluids once a day. After the first day we no longer gave her the iv fluids. After a week of her not eating (she was quite headstrong) unless I played at giving her food to the cats she had lost so much weight I feared iminent death from starvation even though she was so super hungry. I finally did my own aggressive research (previous research was not aggressive enough) found a site which said you could feed regular food. I went back to giving her food she would actually eat - just cooked meat, she had always spit out anything she didn't want. I fed her in teeny increments throughout the day (as always as otherwise dithering would ensu) and she started to be herself again, to be happy. She rebounded amazingly and we decided that instead of making her remaining time a misery (she now looked at the ar in fear) we would simply let her enjoy her time...she had some amazing last months with us and was so happy. She was very old so prolonging her life would only have made her remaining time with us miserable...instead we gave her love, close care, and an enjoyable (as she had always had till we took her to Bute St whom we had before trusted) last few months. I am greatly saddened at the decline in trustability of Bute St. as it seems more about money (and treating the owner like dirt) than it is about the health and life of the animal. It has been a fair number of months since we lost our dearest, sweet Lucy and I am finally able to write of her without breaking down. The cats miss her terribly as well as she was our little sheriff who kept things in order. Again, Bute Street, I understand a vet who doesn't want to interact with patients and was fine with that but one who hires terse and degrading assistants and who misdiagnoses animals causing needless suffering and stress to both the animal and the 'owner' is just .. well just too much. I've tried other vets in town. This isn't a one off. All of them seem more about bilking the 'owner' than the health of the pet. Bute street used to be different. With great sadness (and much trepidation) I am at a loss as to where to turn should I need a vet....James Herriot where are you?

posted: 11/02/2024

The ladies were amazing but the vet was AWFUL! We went there to have a pet put to sleep and it was a super emotional process. The vet came in with a mask on and doesn’t say a word, the dog yelps with the first part of the procedure, and he turns around…walks out and the loudly closes the door on his way out. He still hasn’t said a word. I comment to his assistant on his poor bedside manners and offer some social couching to the guy and he comes back in the room and does the exact same thing for the second part of the procedure. Absolutely insensitive!

posted: 09/20/2024

The staff were friendly but something is going on with their communication and organization. I took my cat here for the first time and it was nothing but issues form the first time. First visit their card machine was down and I drove from my town two hours away. They ended up taking my number down and charging me later. Second visit was supposed to be a neuter but was determined my cat needed a urine analysis so they kept my cat for hours attempting to get him to pee. He didn’t so they sent me home with a kit. I had a small window to get the sample back to the vet but I got it and had my friend drive it down. Never heard back with results so I called them and whoever received the sample had put them in the wrong fridge and now the sample was not viable. So I had to get another sample and drive it down immediately. I did end up getting the results back but after all the driving and mix ups, I will not be going back.

posted: 07/31/2024

What a waste of time. Went in person called 3 times was very polite requested for my pets file to be transferred from another vet as I just moved here.wasted 3 days trying to get an appointment to be told sorry we are going to decline as we have no room for your pet? Why didn’t you tell me when I went in person the first time.i don’t own a large animal. Waste of my time and effort don’t waste yours!!

posted: 09/23/2024

My dog had surgery here and ended up with terrible stitches and an infection! The assistant was very aggressive with my dog and he was extremely arrogant and very rude!! I’ve seen him act nice with pets in front of their owners but then get aggressive with pets in the back hallway. Don’t take your pets here!!

posted: 07/06/2024