Aardmore Veterinary Hospital

It’s been about 30 years now since I first used Aardmore, My spouse talked me into using another vet, I had to get a new husband and a new pet. This is the best vet ever. Over the years I’ve had two emergency cases and they did the impossible.

I’ve been going to Aardmore for 13 years. I only see Dr. Pineau. The others aren’t nearly as good. By the way, the reviewer who said that the woman who had been there for 8 years and finally left for greener pastures is just wrong, I believe. That «woman» is one of the owners and simply retired.
REASONS WHY SO MANY STARS:
1. Diagnosis and treatment (by Dr. Pineau) is always correct (except for one time, and that was remedied the next time I went). One of my three dogs is very complicated and no other vet has been able to diagnosis him correctly. Most vets make him worse.
2. Cost is lower than other vets.
3. Dr. Pineau knows when to refer out.
REASONS WHY ONLY 4 AND NOT 5 STARS:
1. I don’t trust them to board my dogs. My one dog comes home in worse shape (unless he is there for an IV or other medical care).
2. Dr. Tuckerman might care, but i have not found her to be competent. Friends have found this to be true, as well. Hopefully she is gaining skills as each year goes by. Vets don’t have to do a residency, which means new vets are fresh off of book learning (unlike people doctors). I have learned not to trust a new vet until he/​she has 10 years of work experience.
3.The smell *IS* pretty bad. I think they need to switch to an enzyme-​based or hydrogen peroxide cleaner. Bleach or simple green doesn’t clean organic messes (like poop) very well without leaving behind an stifling cleaning-​agent odor.
OVERALL:
I won’t go anywhere else. Dr. Pineau provides highly competent medical care for my dogs at a price that allows me to do absolutely everything necessary for my dogs. I spend about $ 600 — $ 2500 a year at Aardmore (depending on whether surgeries are needed, etc). I know that nothing unnecessary will be suggested, and I won’t be overcharged. I’ve taken my dogs to about 8 other vets, and that’s more than enough to know that I have it very good at Aardmore.

RUNNNN!!! It’s all about the money at Aardmore vet! And it’s an assembly line: crank ‘em in, crank ‘em out.
I’ve been going there for several years but for the first time I had to sign a note card full of fine print saying I’ll pay for ‘all the charges.’ This was new. But when I got the bill with multiple extra charges I understood the need for the note card of fine print.
My dog was supposedly anesthetized (I read online that they don’t fully anesthetize) to get a tooth pulled and teeth cleaned, but the final bill had some unnecessary blood work (heartworm that I didn’t ask for — my dog takes heartworm meds year round) and the bordatella vaccine (that I had done at a different vet several months ago, and I also didn’t ask for, but if you drop your dog off, which they require, they’ll tack on bordatella). I was also charged $ 38 for a physical exam and $ 60 for a «pre screen» and the vet never told me anything about my dog or the procedure??? Nothing before, during or after!
How is it that I had to pay nearly $ 450 and never get to see the vet? I walk in, they have me pay while I’m waiting in the waiting room, then the front desk person brings my dog out and says, ‘You’re all set!’ Seriously?
Not to mention they cleaned the hair out of my dog’s ears and there is a scrape inside her ear from that.
I’ll never go back. I would have said they ‘used to’ be practical and fairly open about what was going to happen, but NOT ANYMORE, AARDMORE!!!
Goodbye, good riddance…

Our dog has been limping around of late to our major concern. We took him to Aardmore Veterinarian based on several recommendations, but were really put off by the following things:
* Dog poop covered every non-​paved surface surrounding the building. We saw it as we drove up and were quite disgusted as we got out of the car and hopped the little grassy poop-​moat between the curb and the sidewalk.
* A strong smell of vinegar (green cleaning agent) permeated the place — although the vinegar was not at all a bad thing, it masked a very pungent overtone of used kitty litter. If kitty litter is not changed regularly it can quickly emit strong odors of ammonia from kitty urine and poop. As someone who has volunteered hundreds of hours at a no-​kill animal shelter, I can definitely say that there was a serious question of hygiene at this establishment. Poop should never cover the grounds. All it takes is a mindful sign, poop bags, and a trash can. Hello people… clientele and business… please clean up your act!
* We did not realize that their company policy does not normally allow you to be in the room with your pet during the exam. We had requested Rabies & Distemper shots as well as a physical exam; When told we would not be allowed to be with our dog, my boyfriend was very guarded resulting from a prior incident in which an establishment was negligent in administering a vaccination and his dog died as a result. In response, Aardmore allowed an in-​room exam.
Despite these initially off-​putting experiences, Dr. Pineau was very knowledgeable, and he thoughtfully and thoroughly conducted an in-​room exam. Taking the time to explain the biomechanics of our dog’s hip joint and knee ligaments, he gave us a clear path forward to diagnosis and potential treatment. He was never pushy and objectively gave us options as well as some helpful information regarding nutritional supplements, and pet insurance.
I called the office later that afternoon to discuss symptoms of the vaccinations, as our dog was exhibiting some major fatigue; The front desk was friendly, helpful, reassuring, and very informative.
While our doggie may have a few challenges ahead, Aardmore Veterinarian has facilitated our first step. If they could just keep their grounds and facilities classy, clean and smelling fresh I’d be much more inclined to become a regular customer.

Just moved here with my pup from Phoenix, AZ. He got super stressed on the drive out here and had some, *ahem* butt problems. Aardmore was able to get me an appointment the next day without any problems.
The place isn’t fancy, but it was clean, and they had paintings of comic strips on the walls. The assistant was super nice and helpful, even after I told him he was going to have to do some pretty disgusting things to my dog. He laughed and was obviously not happy about it, but wasn’t rude or annoyed at all.
They took my dog in the back to drain him out, and the vet came back and said he did great and that he’s perfectly healthy, but had an infection in his glands. She said we caught it early and gave me some antibiotics and to come back in 2 weeks. She then preceded to ask be about my dog, myself, and my life. She was so friendly, and genuinely interested in getting to know her patients.
My dog loved her, I loved her, and the whole trip and medicine cost me $ 40. I couldn’t believe it. $ 19 for a visit, and it was a clean and friendly place.
I highly recommend this place!

I can’t say enough wonderful things about Aardmore. It’s a no-​frills Vet who has staff that gives quality care at a very very affordable cost. I brought my ailing cat in after an attendant at a nearby Emergency Vet suggested Aardmore when the costs at the emergency facility were way way out of my range. Sadly, my cat had to be put to sleep, but Aardmore’s staff was amazing throughout the whole process, and it cost me ½ of what it did for a couple of hours at the emergency vet (my cat stayed over night, had fluids, was put to sleep, etc). They even sent me a sympathy card several weeks later. If you are looking for affordable, caring, no-​frills care, this is the place. There are a lot of patrons so you may have to wait, but the savings and care you’ll receive are well worth it. Highly recommend.

I’ve been a client at Aardmore for many, many years and decided to change vets for the following reasons:
1. They take your pet out of the room for their exam.
2. They schedule appointments with very little time and if they don’t know whats wrong with your pet, they’ll keep it ALL DAY to try to figure it out and then just send you home with a bunch of pills. Very inconvenient for most people who take time off for an appointment and then you have to come back later to pick up your pet, and you don’t even get to speak to the doctor…
3. Absolutely miserable record keeping. They don’t have computers (it’s 2012, isn’t it?) so all the paperwork is hand written and almost every single time they have trouble finding my chart.
4. No set prices. The owner charges whatever he likes to who ever he likes. The receptionist can never give you an estimate, even she doesn’t know what’s going on.
5. The best doctor who has been there for over 8 years LEFT to go onto bigger and better things. Glad she finally got out.
6. Make sure you figure out what all those extra charges are for.
7… Oh and I forgot one more thing! I learned that they don’t put their dentals & neuters fully under anesthesia so that they can save that extra buck. Your poor pet can feel EVERY THING.
Go elsewhere! This practice provides terrible care for your pet and your pet deserves much better than this.

Here’s proof that Dr. Tuckerman genuinely cares about animals:
My cat had obscure symptoms that didn’t add up, when he suddenly went blind she stayed up all night worrying about him. She brainstormed my cat’s ailments with a specialist on her own time and figured out he has a rare disease. With a new med my cat can see again!
Also, this practice costs only a little bit more than the non-​profit vet i used to go to in atlanta, ga.

Right now I’m 3-​staring their service — though leaning on 4… I brought my cat in for urinary problems. After 5 days earlier spending $ 300 for an emergency visit to Falls Road Animal Hospital for a 15 minute visit that didn’t resolve the problem it was refreshing to be seen quickly, to have more questions asked of me and answered — I did get more «personal attention» I suppose and the bill was MUCH less expensive (to the tune of $ 120 *including* new meds AND an overnight stay for liquid IV too).
The next follow up was fine but left me less impressed — it’s hard in the evenings as EVERYONE is coming in and it’s a cacophony of animals at times. So it can be noisy and busy, and frankly stressful for the pet. As the one reviewer noted you do bring your animal into the examination room and then they bring them back to the actual operations area and that was a little weird — but no different than Falls Road Animal Hospital keep in mind. But it also doesn’t help the pet’s stress. I think that’s part our expectation of how «human health care» operates though too — I don’t think what they are doing is wrong, so much as «efficient» perhaps. The bill was a little more this time as I paid for a urine culture, more meds but was $ 140 — still two visits and under the price of Falls Road.
All in all I’m reserving judgment still as I have to go back a third time to get the kitty’s urine problem sorted — and that’s a little bothersome — I’ve done my homework and it’s not likely any fault of a vet (Aardmore or Falls Road) — however no one has to this point told me that what my cat is experiencing could be idiopathic either.
Aadrmore, like one reviewer noted and I’ll back, doesn’t push services or drugs on you (the injection for treating an infection from Falls Road for example done WITHOUT a urine culture and thus not knowing IF there was an infection is a waste of money for example, and really should NOT have been done). The place is small, but neighborhoody too… it’s a little too «warm» which makes all the animal/​animal food smells give it a slightly sweet smell — not particularly antiseptic which I prefer when going to a clinic.
Overall staff is caring, polite and knowledgeable. I’d recommend them for regular day to day pet care though evaluating them for more serious ailments you should do more homework.

Don’t be fooled by clients who find themselves bamboozled by Dr. Pineau’s confident demeanor; what you see and pay for is what you get, and you’re not paying for a lot. You’re paying for minimal services at best. Two [brief] walks and one meal a day in the kennel, no computer system as of yet, and mouse feces ALL over the Hills Diet food in the lobby bins. I was absolutely disgusted to find the latter in both the front room and the exam rooms. If they were in those two locations, one can only guess they’re all over the rest of the hospital as well. Be sure to do your homework and come prepared with questions, because it seems Dr. Pineau’s only focus is getting you out of the exam room and back into the overcrowded and over-​booked front lobby. In-​room examinations are permitted, but you MUST ask the technician or your pet will be whisked away to the «back», where god-​knows-​what actually happens. The point is: keep an eye on what is going on if you can only afford these bare-​bones services.

Even though some people might be put off by Aardmore’s somewhat bad location, don’t be fooled. This place truly is a gem! They provide excellent care and at a reasonable cost. The staff and vets there are very good at handling animals. They are knowledgeable and competent. Very open to any questions. They don’t try to sell you services or things you don’t need.
Like the other reviewer, Justine H, I’ve heard of many people moving far away from Aardmore and still going to them no matter what. We know someone who used to have seven dogs and does animal rescue who lives far up in Baltimore County. She’s been using Aardmore for many years and now has 3 dogs. So they must be doing something right!
Aardmore though is a blessing. You aren’t going to have any regrets taking pets there.

Dr. Lenny Pineau and his wife Dr. Pat Bradley-​Pineau are the most down to earth, loving and caring veterinary doctors I have ever dealt with. We have been going to them since they bought the business from the previous veternarian Dr., which has been around 30 years ago. When they hire employees whether it be vet techs or other doctors, they look very long and hard to find employees with the same values they have. They don’t hire just any olé’ person to care for your pets. They go above and beyond the call of doctor duty for your beloved pets. Dr. «P» has met me at the office on his day off when I called him because something was wrong with my «baby» on several occassions. He has even taken my parents dogs home with him and kept a close eye on them while they were very ill instead of leaving them at the office in crates or cages. He treats us and our «kids» like we’re his family. And the staff they have is top notch also. You couldn’t ask for a better bunch of gals and guys to take care of you and your pets. Even the staff treats you like family! I love them all. We recently moved 25 miles farther away from them. I refuse to find another vet closer to us. If we moved to another state I would not find another vet. And they are quite reasonable in their prices. They DO NOT over charge or try to get you on any xtras, They are very honest folks. I couldn’t have chosen a better veterinarium doc even if I tried. They’re the BESTEST EVER :=)