Animal Emergency Care of Braselton — Local services in Braselton

Our experience was terrible. Coming from a vet tech myself, I wouldn’t recommend this animal hospital. We visited last Sunday, 8/24/25.

My 4y/o black lab was suddenly exhibiting a lack of desire to eat, but drinking plenty. She was less active and tender in her hindquarters. I did a full-body physical exam with palpation and came to find she had absolutely no issue with this, even in her hindquarters — she just wanted to lay down rather than stand.

We decided to bring her here as they were the only ER vet near us open on a Sunday. I was under the impression that she was either sore from playing too rough and maybe strained something, or had a blockage. However, I didn’t want to chance anything by waiting to have her seen.

When we arrived, the receptionist got us back to a room. About 10-15 minutes later, the vet tech came in to ask about our dog. She took her back for her physical exam and vitals, stating she’d “be right back”. They proceeded to keep our dog in the back for an hour and a half. We continually tried to flag someone down, no success. Finally, I went to the receptionist to ask how much longer she’d be as we hadn’t gotten her back after her physical yet OR heard how her vitals were. Upon checking, the receptionist told us that they hadn’t even looked at her yet! Instead they kept her in a kennel in the back, alone and waiting for all this time, for no reason! If the wait really needed to be that long, she could have waited with us (there were 6 cars in the parking lot, including ours and staff members — inside, there were only two other exam rooms both of which were empty when we arrived, with one family in the waiting room with their dog — the clinic was NOT busy enough to warrant all of this wait).

She told us that they’d check her right away and let us know. When they came back into the room a good 20-30 minutes later they did not tell us anything about her vitals, only that she did the same palpation exam I had already done, and that our lab “tried to growl and bite her when she touched her rear end due to discomfort”. Mind you, we were whispering in our exam room while waiting and could hear everything — not only do we know our dog would never do that, but we didn’t hear anything of the sort either. The vet, an older woman who was both very condescending and would interrupt every time we tried to speak, immediately jumped into how we needed to get her emergency X-rays, pain medication and anti inflammatory medication, and an injectable of the same medication. Her reasoning? She wanted to check for hip dysplasia or arthritis. Those are BOTH things that no one should ever pay an exorbitant amount at an ER clinic for, and rather have your usual veterinarian check for. Not only that, but I knew due to our dog’s behavior and the sudden onset that this was not the issue. She is a very hyper, agile dog who loves the car but suddenly was not wanting to stand much/jump. We declined everything but the pill medications for her comfort until we could see our regular vet the next morning — this got a laugh from the ER vet (the older woman) and a discussion about how we didn’t know what we were doing and we needed to reconsider. How unprofessional!

I held my ground, and they snarkily said they’d get her ready to go and bring her back. That took another 20-30 minutes. We FINALLY got our dog back (who was friendly as ever with the tech) and while I was paying, my husband took her outside to potty hoping to get her to go before getting back in the car. Turns out, she took a HUMONGOUS #2, and immediately started running around and playing in the parking lot. When I got out to the car, she jumped right in and never whined. We got home, and she ate all of her food. She was simply very constipated and only really needed help with the impaction. It’s now been a week and she’s not regressed once, but is back to her normal self as she was the day we left the ER vet.

This clinic pushes expensive “care” that isn’t necessary or helpful, and disregards anything owners say — unprofessional and rude....

My 15 yr old best furiend had a seizure about 2:30ish a.m. my husband called braselton emergency vet & was advised to bring her in. Thank goodness we did. She had a temp of 107.5, dehydrated, and still convulsing. Now I am very grateful that they gave her an some medication that helped her seizing and some fluids for dehydration and pretty meds that sedated her. This is the part that has really made me mad and I understand this is their profession and know more about what’s going on than I do. But I know my little Maltese and I know she is a major fighter! So when I was being told to maybe “consider” other alternatives or options for her, my blood started to boil a bit. After we got her home and sedation was wearing off I could tell she was trying to be herself but was a bit confused. Now the vet did warn me that bc she’s an older dog and her temp was so high and it was so long of her seizure was that I should expect brain damage. So after giving this vet every last penny I had to my husband and mines name, I took my Daisy home. I made her comfortable and she slept right by my bedside, not in the bed bc I DID NOT want her to fall out of our bed and further injure herself. 2 days after letting her rest, giving her pedialyte and being by her side I had to run a quick errand, and was Maybe gone 15 min & was quick about it bc she was there by herself. When I returned she wasn’t in her bed where I’d left her. I frantically look for her & I find her standing up wagging her tail ready to go outside looking like herself again! This dog is truly amazing. I could not believe my eyes. All I could do was cry and get so angry at the vet I took her to bc she was basically telling me to euthanize my best friend! I’m not one for euthanasia but on the other hand I didn’t want her suffering either. What made me so mad is how quick she was to suggest “other options” which I took as end her suffering. That’s why I’m giving this vet a 1 star review. You can’t listen to everything a vet says or even a dr. They can definitely be wrong also and make mistakes. But to jump the gun so quick. As soon as my finances do recover from taking her to braselton emergency vet, I will be getting a 2nd opinion and I’ve already found a really great vet that came highly recommended here in Winder. Please do your homework even with vets. Bc you dog is worth it! 4/13/2021 UPDATE: I still feel this way about them telling to put her down. But had I did when they told me, she wouldn’t have had 3 more seizure free months and her having a happy life of running around chasing her little balls & chew toys. Unfortunately she did have another major seizure in which I took her the UGA vet school. They did inform me there was a mass on her brain pushing on it causing the seizures more than likely, also her liver was severely damaged. I waited a few weeks & prayed & cried but this times she was losing the fight but she gave it all she got. So I did have to make that choice no one wants to make for their best friend. But going back to the braselton ER vet, I’m thankful they treated her back months ago. My issue was them advising me to put her to sleep then. Again, had I listened to them she wouldn’t have had some really awesome last months. That’s the issue I had with them. Every vet since then, not once did they ever bring up putting her to sleep as an option unless I brought it up. PS thank you to UGA vet school, Four paws, & Winder...

I've been here twice over the last few months and received excellent care both times. The first time, my cat was suffering from swelling in his jaw. I had to wait for quite a long time in the parking lot, which sucked, but I understand that's how things are. Once we were in the room, they were extremely patient and I didn't feel rushed at all, even though I know they had lots of other people waiting to come in. They gave my cat great care and to be honest, the price was not significantly higher than it would have been at many regular vets I've been to. I overheard other clients being extremely rude to them about various things that were out of their control, and all the staff that I heard were patient and polite.

I had to go in yesterday with a friend's dog that was showing signs of extreme pain. They were not as busy as the day I had been before and got us back within 15 minutes. They were very, very patient and gentle with her, understanding that she was not feeling well. I did not feel like they pressured me at all to go a certain route for treatment just because it cost more, and they were very understanding when I said my main goal was to get her comfortable through the weekend so that we could get to my vet on Monday for further diagnostics at a lower cost. They took a ton of x-rays for me, gave them all to me on a CD to give to my vet, gave her IV pain medicine and plenty of pain pills to last through the weekend. The vet that was on shift showed me the x-rays on an iPad and was very thorough in her explanation of possible causes for Layla's pain. They trimmed up her nails for free without even mentioning it to me, I only noticed when I was riding home (I had happened to apologize for her nails being so long and said that I was constantly telling the dog's owner to trim them). The price was, again, not significantly higher than it would have been at most regular vets.

I do animal rescue and have been to dozens and dozens of vets over the years and these are some of the kindest employees I've ever dealt with. I didn't feel talked down to or like they were just trying to get money, and they genuinely seemed to care about my animals. I don't normally leave reviews for businesses, but I really appreciated the excellent care I received and wanted to put in a good...