Firehouse Animal Health Center Leander — Local services in Leander

UPDATE - the initial diagnosis by Dr Moon was that my dog had a growth in his ear that required removal while he was under anesthesia. And while under anesthesia, why not clean his teeth, afterall 2020 delayed his last teeth cleaning. I found a more reliable vet since this unfortunate occurrence. The new vet confirmed there was never a removed growth in his ear evident by the lack of scar tissue in either ear. My dog does have issues with earwax buildup but normally the vet flushes the ear and prescribes meds. They have never suggested surgery. I have filed a formal complaint with the state. Several neighbors have expressed their concerns as well. — GET A 2nd OPINION— I’ve waited more than 2 weeks to write this review to make sure I had all the facts first, emotions aside. I recently moved and needed a closer vet. I brought my 12+ year old Shih Tzu in to be checked out. He had a growth in his eardrum, decided to have his teeth cleaned while he would be under. While he was under anesthesia, Dr Moon calls me and tells his periodontal disease is so advanced, he barely has a jawbone, both canines have to be removed along with other teeth. She explained if the canines were left, they would continue to advance the disease and potentially his jawbone would rot away. She stated the removal process of the canines could cause the jawbone to break but she nor her coworkers had ever experienced this, but she had to warned me. I asked several clarifying questions to better understand. While there was a risk, it was minimal and the teeth had to be removed. I agreed to the removal based on her confidence, why would I question her? That was my mistake. An hour later or so she calls and tells me she broke his jaw while removing the first canine and would not touch the other. Terrible bedside manner, basic statements, zero emotion. I had to ask several questions to try to grasp the situation. She told me best they could do is suture the wound and send him home, he would never heal and would need to eat wet food for the rest of his life. I was beside myself and quickly started googling canine dental specialists. Come to find out there are only a handful of specialists in TX, none in the Austin area. I called one in Katy and gave them Dr Moon’s contact information - all before I went to pick up my dog. 10 days later, after increasing his pain meds, I took a day off from work, traveled to Katy and saw the specialist. The specialist had to take new post op X-rays since their requests for post op X-rays from Dr Moon went unanswered. The specialist was unsure if a tooth fracture was left behind so she wanted to surgically explore, I agreed. After 8 hours I went to pick up my dog. The specialist showed me their X-rays and confirmed that neither canine needed to be removed. while there was some decay, there was plenty of bone surrounding each tooth. Leaving them would not rot his jawbone and the break was completely due to Dr Moon not understanding the Shih Tzu anatomy nor the dental practice. The specialist also stated the break did not require a splint, it would heal in 10 weeks and he would be able to go back to dry food at that time. She showed me the X-ray showing the break and that a significant amount of bone had been removed which would make the healing process even more difficult. The specialist went on to say that if I wanted to continue to see Dr Moon, it should only be for Tech-level procedures such as updating shots. I should never allow Dr Moon to clean my pets teeth again. I will never go back to Dr Moon for anything. Not only did she give me incorrect information and unnecessarily break my senior dog’s jaw…she has zero bedside manner and is terrible at explaining things. Silly me, I thought higher prices meant more experience. Never again. My pet is my child, not your lab rat. Act like it. Dr Moon also warned the specialist that I was “hot” - I assume she meant mad. I felt I had remained calm during the whole situation considering she put my baby through all that. Believe this, I should have been...

Update 2: They came through on their promise. My dog had a recurrence of something I thought was fixed, and I called them on a Saturday morning. They were able to bring me in immediately for a drop off, and then an appointment canceled as I walked in so I was able to see a doctor immediately.

Their doctors are of course top notch.

A practice that listens to its customers and makes immediate adjustments is one that I want to support. I will be coming back here (hopefully only for the annuals now - cos I hope my pets stay healthy otherwise) - but a fabulous response from this team.

Thanks Firehouse!

Update: In a very nice gesture, their hospital director reached out to apologize for the situation and offered their full support if anything like this happens in the future. I do appreciate it and would like to make a note of that. This is an ok practice if you want to do their ‘annual’ exam, which costs a bomb but covers the usual. However, part of having a regular vet is the ability to be able to see them on a short notice during business hours. In January, my dog started to have uncontrolled vomiting during a weekday morning. I call them and they say “Oh bring him in 4 days later”. I was beside myself. If you are a patient with a vet, they do everything, in business hours, to see them. I have lived in several states, seen many vets and have NEVER encountered this attitude. I was always able to get same day appointments, as they were flexible to move things around. More recently, my other dog was sick, and - same response. Take her to emergency (even though the issue I called for was not a real emergency-just something I wanted to get checked out).

My other vet in Austin, with a 10x successful practice was able to see me same day. No issues.

The only reason I chose them was they are close to where I live, but if I can’t rely on them even during regular hours to accommodate my dogs who are registered patients there, and I am told to rush to emergency everything time, I am not sure what utility this practice has for me.

So I will be quitting them and going back to my old vet in Austin. It’s a bit of a drive, but at least they accommodate me.

So keep that in mind while...

What a breath of fresh air! After struggling with another vet in the area for the past year or two, I finally decided to give firehouse vet at Crystal Falls a try.

I’ve been a pet owner for over 15 years and we received the warmest kindest, most loving reception toward me and my dog that I’ve ever experienced. I liked the vet that I had for many years when we lived in Dallas but the staff at Firehouse immediately felt like family. They took the time to get to know me and my dog & gave him a very thorough exam. They asked all the right questions and made sure that any questions or concerns that I had were addressed. The appointment was efficient, but not rushed at all.

My dog is on a long-term prescription and we also needed the years worth of flea and tick meds and without me asking, the vet tech looked into mail order pharmacy, as well as pharmacies in our area to see where we could get the lowest price on both meds (their office supplied both medication’s, but she took the initiative to look into all options to find the best price for me).

Scheduling was easy, Dr. Moon and the vet tech that we worked with were fantastic and the front desk staff all gushed over my dog when we walked in. Plus, they gave us a new goodie bag which included a personalized tag for my dog, abandon, Anna, and info packet and a bottle of wine (They know how to win affection right off the bat, lol).

I can’t say enough great things about them and I am so glad. I finally took the initiative to switch vets. I wish I had done it a long time ago; the care we received there was compassionate, warm and extremely knowledgeable. We look forward to working with them for many years in...