Veterinary Specialists of Birmingham — Local services in Birmingham

My 5-pound Maltese was attacked by a large dog and suffered a large back wound and open fracture on his leg. I immediately took him to Auburn University where his wound was cleaned and he was bandaged. The vet at Auburn said they can try to fix his leg or amputate it. I called our local vet and sent her the x-rays. She felt that I should get a second opinion and spent the day researching clinics for us. She found VSB and felt confident they would be our dog’s best bet since they have board-certified surgeons. I drove the 2.5 hours to Birmingham and was met by an ER vet. Our dog was taken to the back, and I was left in the exam room. After about an hour the ER vet spoke with me and suggested amputation. He said it wasn’t likely his limb would survive. The reason I had brought him to VSB was to be seen by a board-certified surgeon. The ER vet kept pressuring me to make a decision…amputate or repair. I told him that I would need the recommendation of the surgeon before I would be willing to make that decision. When he realized that I wasn’t budging until I received a surgeon’s professional recommendation, then he finally sent the x-rays and info to the on-call surgeon. She phoned and spoke with me and said she could repair the leg, but was more concerned about the large wound on his back. At that point I decided to proceed with the surgery due to her confidence. I drove back to Birmingham the following day to pick up my dog. I received medication and vague discharge instructions. There was no follow-up care. Our vet and I had many questions as to the post surgery care. I made many phone calls to VSB trying to get answers. I received minimal help. My dog would need wound cleaning and bandage changes for both his leg and back every 3 days. So, every third day I would take him to our local vet and she would clean and re-dress the wounds. The first time she removed the bandages and we saw his leg I was shocked. It was very swollen (which is to be expected), but the sutures around the carpus/metacarpus joint area looked really tight and constricting! As the swelling reduced, the sutures still looked to be strangulating and the foot began to turn black. Our local vet tried everything! Unfortunately, he ultimately lost his leg due to gangrene. His back wound, on the other hand, made a full recovery! I am well aware of the difficulty of operating on a tiny dog. My last Maltese had atlantoaxial subluxation (she had her 1st and 2nd vertebrae fused due to a birth defect, and she was barely 5 pounds). She had surgery at WSU (Washington State University Vet Hospital). Not only did she survive, but she made a full recovery and was able to walk and run again! The care and post-op care she received at WSU were phenomenal! My disappointment isn’t just that my dog lost his leg, endured a second surgery, and was put through unnecessary pain, but in the lack of “specialty care” received from a facility that boasts their board-certified vets. The pushiness, the absence of an honest surgical prognosis, and the deficiency of detailed aftercare instructions was severely disappointing. Lesson learned…I spent $6,000 for a surgery that should never have been attempted...

Dishonest, incompetent, and unprofessional. This happened a year ago. Our cat was vomiting and barely eating on a weekend and our normal vet wasn't available. My wife was out of town. I took the cat to VSB late Saturday morning because it had "specialists" in the name. The vet immediately started talking about keeping him overnight (it was only 10am), which made no sense to me. Then the vet told me the fee (thousands of dollars) and then asked for 50% right there, upfront and nonrefundable. Obviously a dishonest scam. I paid it, foolishly, and left the cat there. I got a bad sense about things that afternoon and went back after the vet called and asked me if our cat gets nosebleeds. (No he doesn't.) They made his nose bleed when they forced something deep inside his nostril. I demanded to see the cat and went to the back room where they had him in a cold steel cage (no blanket). His face was covered in dried blood, an IV was in his arm, and 5-6 people were sitting around reading their phones (ignoring the animals). As I was looking at our cat in disbelief one of the doom scrollers started lecturing me about rabies shots. A dog in the cage next to our cat looked mortally injured. I asked to just take our cat home but the vet advised against it. So I went to our car and brought in a blanket to put in the cage and left again. But halfway home, I realized how stupid the situation was becoming and went back to get him. When I got there, I told them to bring him out in his carrier. They did, and he was soaking wet, covered in urine. I don't know if it was urine from him or from another animal. They didn't clean him or offer to do so. (Our other cat was terrified of him for the next week.) He still had blood on his face from them jamming something up his nose. It gets worse. The next morning, someone called me on the phone and read a script asking about my VSB experience. I told them everything. 30 minutes later, believe it or not, the exact same person called me back and read the exact same script verbatim. They didn't realize they had already called me. Monday morning, I took our sick cat to our normal vet. They immediately gave him a shot and he started eating again and perked back up that day. I am posting this as a public service. I know someone else who recently had an experience there. Do not take your pet or an animal to VSB unless it is a serious emergency and there are no other options. There are several other emergency care centers. In my experience with VSB, they were dishonest, incompetent, and unprofessional. Their desire to keep our cat all day and then overnight was an unethical ruse to make money and I believe it would have harmed our cat if I left him there that long. (Wife would have killed me.) Going to VSB for a non-critical emergency and listening to their dubious guidance was my mistake. Don't make the same mistake. I've since learned that VSB was acquired by a PE group, which is likely why it transformed from a good and reliable service provider into the horrid outfit...

First off, let me start by. This is a very clean place. Staff was great. We have arrived about 11 PM with my dog just basically lethargic. We really didn’t know what was going on with her. I called Every emergency vet when I left my house they was not the busiest and could see her right away after about three or four hours she came in after she done bloodwork And a sonar told me that her liver enzymes was way high. Her white blood count was off. She had fluid around her intestines that should not be there and they think that it could be a possible Gallbladder rupture Said they wanted Start her own IV pain medicine and they would keep her overnight and do more test when whoever it was that was coming in at 8 AM this is at 4:45 AM so I told her that I would be contacting my vet At 8 AM when they opened up, she then told me that most vets do not have a sonar machine nor could they do the gallbladder surgery that it had to be a board certified Surgeon so then I asked well how much does the surgery cost? She said between eight and $10,000 thousand dollars Me, knowing That is very expensive to be treated at an emergency vet because I just went through this six months ago With my other dog, the bill was $5000 so that’s the reason why I wanted to take her to my vet and get a second opinion because who has $10,000 And then plus a $2000 Just laying around…… So I called my vet the next morning at 8 AM They told me to bring her in so I called this place back at 8:45 and they still have not diagnosed Roxanne Saying they needed to do a second sonar at like $500 a pop. My vett said no, we will do everything here Within 30 minutes of me, taking her to my vet I had answers. She did not have a rapture gallbladder us leaving at 4:45 in the morning, thinking we would never see her Again, just the emotional roller coaster we had answers within 30 minutes,(also they didn’t find fluid around her intestines) thank God… She did have to spend an additional three days at the vet They just diagnosed her with she ate something toxic if we don’t have a clue what It could have been they were thankful she’s still here with us after three days in the vet. It was only 600 bucks compared to the $1800 the 11 hours they had my baby. Yes, I’m very grateful they were there for if emergency happens But I do feel a lot of people have to surrender their pups because they cannot afford places like this or either Euthanize them…… I asked my vet how much they would’ve charged me for the surgery if that would’ve been the gallbladder They said around 3000. It’s just crazy how much is overcharged and I thank God that I have such a great vet. That guided me through the whole process…we need more vets who actually understand or animals are our babies Like I said very good in a emergency just always get a...