Bellingham Veterinary

In many ways this visit was a four star. Unfortunately the wait was extremely painful. I’ve used this Veterinarian for other animals a couple of years back and the issues were resolved handily after a few visits in the passing of a total of about $ 50. Tiger Lily (aka Blondie, Matilda,?)… ok the seven-​year-​old stray was called Matilda at the shelter, Blondie when I first got her, and rechristened Tiger Lily a few days ago but she is equally as unresponsive to anything she is called. Despite mixed reviews I xame here as I thought I should have some continuity since we had developed a rapport. Tiger was trepidatious upon entry into the vet’s office and began panting heavily. Handed over my packet of information and filled out their paperwork in about 1 minute and then sat down for another 40 minutes. Was screaming so I let the receptionist know that I had to jam. So I let the receptionist know that I had to jam. Im leaving is apparently the abracadabra of this office… magic words because the Veterinarian suddenly appeared. My dog fell in love. The Veterinarian fell in love. Tiger Lily began to prance around, nuzzle against him, and wiggle like a young pup. He gushed about her wonderful purebred markings, her sweet disposition, and traits like loyalty. I grimaced with back pain and rejection but I managed to suppress a guffaw as she continued to flirt with him and totally ignore any attempts for attention on my part. The man was very thorough and gave me a plethora of information. He wants to see us in a month… well Tiger Lily in a month. The Veterinarian was very thorough and competent. He was so gentle and loving with tiger Lily. Once we connected he moved along in a timely manner. Unfortunately I was already behind the eight ball with pain from sitting in their furniture which is created for practicality rather than comfort. He called in the order for her medication at the dog pharmacy and we were off (almost). Her last hurtful action was to rip one hideous fart that had the receptionist and me swooning then to break away from me while I was at the front counter and traipse to the back hollows of the veterinary clinic in search of her man. My total bill was zero. The dog has game. I can’t complain about anything objectively except the ridiculously long wait. I just cannot sit for an extended period of time for an appointment. It is not because of impatience or feelings of self-​importance. It is because by the time I left I was practically in tears and felt like somebody snapped my spine in half… gheez.

I don’t take my dogs here for their veterinary work because we already have a vet we’re happy with (Fountain), but i do take them here to donate blood, so that’s what this review is about.
If your pet qualifies to donate blood, they will receive a free check-​up, a meal the day of donation, and a dose of anti-​flea medicine. My dogs have been donors for most of the year, and even the shy one who doesn’t like strangers still eagerly walks right into the clinic, so i know they’re treated well.
Recently when i arrived to pick up my pets, it turned out one of my dogs refused to give blood. When i asked for details, they explained he kept pulling his foreleg away when they tried to put the needle in. Instead of being insistent and forcing him, they just put him back in the kennel, fed him, and moved on. I really appreciate that they respected his agency as a living creature, even if he is just a dog. They also still gave me his flea medicine, even though he didn’t donate.
The reason for only four stars is that a few times they have forgotten to call me and tell me when the dogs were done. Even though my pets like to go in initially, i know that listening to other animals making sad/​lonely noises is stressful, so they shouldn’t be there any longer than they have to. I was disappointed the times i’ve had to call late in the day and ask if they’re ready, then find out they have been for hours.

I’ve been taking my cats and dogs here for about 5 years now and I’ve really liked their down to earth approach to animals and the time they’ll take to explain things to you so you make an informed decision about your animals care.
Their prices are pretty comparable to other vets in the area, and if your animal donates blood you get free flea treatments, nail trimming and regular shots for your animals as well as discounts on service which is pretty great while also offering a way to help other animals.
They used to have a front desk lady that was a little brusque. While not mean she just came off a little abrupt, but I haven’t seen her for a while. The new front desk people are attentive and quick.

Had an appointment for 1 pm. When I got there I was told every exam room was full, and people waiting for their 12:15 appointment were still waiting. Front desk person could have called me and asked if I could come in later – but why bother! She actually claimed that she didn’t know they were backed up until I came in! I note this is the third or fourth negative review about the same person: Dr. Sullivan, wake UP.

So I don’t normally write reviews on Unilocal,but today I was so offended by what happened at Bellingham Veterinary Clinic I had to share. About 2 years ago I took my maltese and labradoodle into BVC without a problem. I took my maltese in for a skin infection and my labradoodle in because he had an ear infection. My maltese received medicated skin lotion for her infection. My labradoodle had his ears cleaned out by the doctor and received ear wash as well as ear cleaner enzyme. Everything went fine. His ear infection was gone in about 2 weeks.
Now almost 2 years later my labradoodle’s ear infection returns :(Before returning to BVC I looked around the medicine cabinet for the bottle that I believed to be the one the doctor gave me. I found a small bottle that looked like the one I received. I brought it to BVC when I walked in there was no one at the front desk after about 5 – 7 minutes of standing along a woman in her late 60 walked out from the back room.
I told her the issue I was having with my dog and she said «let me look you up in my computer». I gave her my name. She found my file and pulled it up. She then explained that she has no record of me bringing in my labradoodle. She did however have a record of me bringing in my Maltese. I explained to her that I brought them in at the same time and there must be some mistake. She gave me a look like I was lying to her about bringing in my labradoodle and said «we don’t make mistakes.» I was very taken back by her look and comment. Because I know for a!! FACT! I brought in my labradoodle the same day as my Maltese and had his ears cleaned. Plus why would I lie about something like this? I have absolutely NOTHING to gain. I tried to explain this to her, plus I gave her the description of the doctor and the back room behind door #3 that the doctor took my dog into when they were doing his cleaning. She said, «there is no back room.» She then proceeded to treat me like I was a meth junky trying to get my hand on some pills. All I wanted was some NON prescription ear wash for my dog. Instead I got treated like a jerk. She then proceeded to ring me up for the NON PRESCRIPTION ear wash I came into buy, but after all of that I couldn’t give them my business. So I told her no thank you and I drove over to Fountain Veterinary Hospital to buy my dogs ear wash. Not exactly sure what’s wrong with that woman. If you want to be talked down to, have your records lost, and be treated like a a drug addict please check out BVC!

I went here after a friend told me this clinic had been wonderful to her and her dog. I took my dogs there for the first time today and left pretty annoyed with the experience we had. The vet came in and chatted for a bit which was fantastic, a nice guy who asked some great questions. Then the assistant came in and she was great too, but when they brought my two dogs back from having their anal glands expressed my dogs were covered in anal gland goo! I’ve been to several vets to have this procedure done for my dogs, and they’ve always cleaned my dogs up for me. At the very least other vets have sprayed cleanser on a paper towel and wiped my dogs’ rears, but usually they offer to give them a quick bath in the back. But Bellingham Veterinary sent both my dogs out covered in ick, apparently expecting me to be okay with them riding in my car like that. I was not pleased!

For over a year I was really worried about a bad infection my greyhound had on her paws that started on one toe and kept spreading to other toes and paws. I took her to Maplewood Animal Hospital but they never seemed too worried about it despite being open pussing swollen wounds. They had me giving her daily epson salt foot baths which wasn’t doing anything. I wasted over a year of my ex-​racing greyhound’s life with this infection. She was unable to run and enjoy life. I had both veterinarians there look at her hoping one would come up with something. Nope. I eventually took her to Bellingham Veterinary and he gave me some pills (just an anti-​biotic) and in a week it was cleared up. He had a few different plans of attack to help clear it up if the anti-​biotic didn’t work. Even did an small biopsy on it. None of this was ever considered by Maplewood. They just didn’t seem to care or maybe they are just not very knowledgeable. Thanks to Bellingham Veterinary my dog is back to her old self!

VERY disappointed with this clinic.
Two of my dogs have been blood donors there for a few years, for which we get discounts, etc., and the dogs have always been thrilled to go in there. They’ve also been very kind about letting us pay over time, which was vital during the long, expensive illness of one of our dogs, who we had to PTS in the end. Our first qualms were during the final stages of that illness.
Almost two weeks ago, my boys were in to give blood. The clinic got busy, and they didn’t get to them until late afternoon, up to which point they had no food or water or exercise. They took them out (to potty?), then put them into a single kennel. My dogs are greyhounds: thin skin and fur, no fat. They almost instantly got in a fight in those close quarters. I was not informed at that time, and didn’t have any idea until I went to pick them up, and was handed two traumatized, bloody and stapled dogs. There was never an apology, and they handed me a bill (not including the fight-​related charges — staples, anesthesia). I was in shock, and didn’t put up a fuss. I have since written them two emails, and when I got no response, printed them and sent them by mail, and have still received no response and no follow-​up of any kind.
I had always liked everyone in this clinic, but my trust has just been blown up completely. This shows a true lack of compassion for the pets, which is a baseline requirement of a good vet clinic.

I have nothing but good things to say about them, although we’ve only used them for routine medical care.
They are affordable, friendly, and very gentle with our 11-​year-​old dog. It took us a while to find a good vet, and our dog gives them his vote of approval (even though he cannot type).