Ann Arbor Cat Clinic — Local services in Ann Arbor

I just had a shockingly bad, unprofessional, and insensitive experience at the Ann Arbor Cat Clinic. If I could give zero stars I would. My cat has been cared for by the vets at this clinic for the last 3 years. I was most recently there last week when my 18.5 year old cat fell ill. She was sent home with $150+ of medication including antibiotics for the next 6 weeks. Unfortunately, she did not do well, and today I had to put her to sleep. I chose to do this at home, but brought my dear kitty's body in to the Ann Arbor Cat Clinic to be cremated. When I arrived, no one offered to help bring her in from the car. I was told to go ahead and go get her. When I handed the body over, I also mentioned that I'd brought my leftover food and litter to donate. Again, no one offered to help me bring it in. I made several trips to and from the car to bring in the food and litter. No one even said thank you. THEN, I asked about the $150+ of medication I had been sent home with. I wanted at least a partial refund. I was then left to sit in the waiting room for 20+ minutes while they went to talk with the owner about this. The owner refused to come out and speak with me, but sent someone else out to convey the message that they wouldn't refund any of the money for the medication because they can't, by law, reuse it. I said that I understood the law, but that is a different issue. This is a customer service issue. They should refund (at least partially) the money especially given that I was sent home with so much medication. I was then left to sit and wait again. After another 15 the same person came out and just repeated that they can't refund the medication because they can't legally reuse it. And they wanted to call the doctor to understand why they prescribed so much mediation. Why does that matter?, I asked. They did. And they didn't mention that I might want to take it in batches just in case my cat didn't do well and wouldn't need all six weeks of mediation. And then, the person said, "WELL, THE DOCTORS DON'T LIKE TO HAVE THOSE TOUGH CONVERSATIONS, THEY ALWAYS WANT TO THINK THE BEST." What?????? it is their job as vets to have those conversations! At the end, they didn't give me even a partial refund, the owner never came out to speak to me directly, and when after I paid for the cremation the reception person told me to "have a nice day". HAVE A NICE DAY????? How about "I'm sorry for your loss?" Or "my sympathies" or ANYTHING to recognize that I just had to put my beloved cat to sleep. Also, how about Thank you for donating your food and litter? Nothing? Totally insensitive, inflexible, terrible customer service. And greatly concerning to me that, apparently, the doctors there only want to hope for the best rather than offer realistic care that takes the cost of care/medications into account.

DO NOT GO TO THE ANN...

As someone who had to change careers and go back to school full-time in my 30's and owns two older cats, I can't even properly tell you how grateful I am with how understanding the Cat Clinic folks have been when I'm deciding what I can and can't afford to do. They don't ever guilt me or try to up-sell like VCA always did. I always feel like they genuinely care about the welfare of my little buddies and appreciate my business.

And to address another review, they have always looked to find the underlying cause of any illness in my experience. However, just as with humans, sometimes it's next to impossible to find out what the cause is unless you spend thousands upon thousands, and therefore it's necessary to just give supportive treatment for symptoms. That's even more true with viral illness. Also, I was unaware that there were ANY vets who do in-house blood analysis like CBC and chemistry. I know there can't be many of those or places like Idexx Laboratories (where the Cat Clinic sends their blood work, which is SO fairly priced it's borderline ridiculous) wouldn't exist. I do agree that having to go elsewhere for an ultrasound would be very inconvenient, but thankfully I haven't had to do that yet.

Finally, let me just say that I've had generally good experiences with the doctors at the Cat Clinic, but I really want to point out that I think Dr. Taylor is truly exceptional and more than a pleasure to work with. Her passion and compassion are abundantly evident. She's the type of person you should want taking care...

I am consistently surprised at the lack of organization at this clinic. I never post reviews but I have now spent thousands of dollars here so I need to say my peace for others to see. 1) I was told one of my cats had allergies and needed to lose weight and details would be sent in an after-visit summary. None of this was ever sent and when I called asking for it, the vets were confused by my request. I had to call several times to get an after visit write up with instructions related to the right cat. 2) I had a teeth cleaning scheduled for my cat in October and received a call in July about the cat’s appointment set for a few days later. My cat’s appointment was moved with no notice to me and thankfully I had just gotten back from vacation so I could make it. 3) I was offered a payment plan for the teeth cleaning and signed a document indicating details of the payment plan but then when I called to make payments, the staff member was very confused and kind of rude to me and I had to let HER know the clinic had me sign a document about my payments. I think they’re doing their best but the obvious disorganization at the office and need for me, the consumer, having to communicate what I was told/signed regarding policies, is simply something I don’t have time for as a busy professional. I have paid a lot of money for good cat care and though they have provided great care, I’m so off-put by the backend that I’m...