Alamo Feline Health Center

If you have a cat with a diagnostic quandary your local vet is having problems with or you need a second opinion, this is the place. I have taken three cats to see him, two of them still among the living (one had a high grade lymphoma diagnosed by him within hours, and was unsalvageable in my opinion). In each case, my cat was rapidly and accurately diagnosed and appropriate treatment instituted. Their prices are a bit higher than other vets. But I think you get what you pay for. Gary Norsworthy is a superb diagnostician with outstanding technical skills. His judgment is Solomonic. He’s more dedicated to his profession than I am to my own. And he’s quite responsive to emails. Quite simply, he’s the best vet I’ve ever encountered by a wide margin, and possibly the best doctor (human or animal).

Immediately, I was impressed by the facility itself. It looks more like a cat haven than a Drs office and because it is exclusively for cats, my baby Oliver was anxiety free.
Dr. Norsworthy was beyond great! Very informative but delicate on his delivery. My kitten is very sick and he gave me sound advice! I appreciate him very much and I’m sad Oliver won’t be around long enough to visit with him more. He really loves cats and from what I’m now learning, he’s an author of many books on cats!
If you’re a cat mommy or daddy, this is the place you need to come to!
Thank you so much Dr. Norsworthy and staff!

12/​31/​2015: Help! My cat is being held hostage! I need to pick up Popcorn ASAP. He is boarded at AFHC while we were out of town. Because I could not pick him up before clinic closure on Wednesday 12/​30, I advised the staff by phone that I would pick him up the following day (today). I was not told of an early closure today. I visited at 2:50 pm today and the clinic is closed with absolutely no point of contact listed. There is no signage at all at the entrance. According to the web page and this facebook page the clinic should be open. An open-​ended disclaimer on the clinic web page stating new year’s eve may affect hours is not sufficient. Staff knew I was scheduled to pick him up today. They have my telephone number and email address, yet I received no notification of an early closure. And AFHC is also closed tomorrow, meaning I can’t pick up my cat until Saturday 2 January. This is simply not acceptable.
1÷1÷2016: Yay! Popcorn is home! As there was no other way to contact the clinic, I waited until early this morning, when I expected staff would arrive to attend to the boarded cats, and indeed, someone was there. They released Popcorn with many apologies and didn’t charge for the extra night. I’m very satisfied with the accommodations and the level of attention they give to boarded cats and I’ll certainly board Popcorn here when necessary.
However, there should be signage at the entrance, at a minimum clearly stating hours and a designated point of contact telephone number for after-​hours issues such as mine. Moreover, when holiday hours are in effect, they should be clearly posted on the front door and in all online pages. This is nothing less than inexcusable inattention to elementary detail. Clients deserve to know how to contact someone on staff when they are paying to have their pet and family member boarded.
What’s more, another front office issue needs attention. During several visits in advance of my decision to make a reservation to board Popcorn, I inquired about documentation procedures. Not once was I advised that I would be required to complete lengthy forms before I could drop him off. There was ample opportunity for the staff to so advise me, and I would have been happy to do so in advance. Instead, on the morning that I brought him, on my way to the airport, I was greeted with the blank documents and told it would be necessary to complete them before I could leave him. This is an unwelcome inconvenience and interruption of my schedule, and it could have been easily avoided by virtue of simply communicating with the client.
My issues above are all administrative in nature. I’m certain I’m not the only client who has experienced them. I would like to believe the clinical staff are not aware of these types of shortcomings and would find them troubling, but someone on the administrative staff is, and that person needs to rectify these issues.
If I were rating AFHC solely on the level of care and attention my cat received while boarded, I would give 5 stars. But the front office issues indicate sloppy administration, and that colors the entire experience.

They’re certainly not cheap, but if you need a cat expert with a state-​of-​the-​art facility this is the place. The guy wrote the book on cats. Seriously, Dr. Norsworthy literally WROTE the cat book that my regular vets use for reference. (Just enter «Norsworthy» and «cat» into a Google search and you’ll see what I’m talking about).
I’ve been referred here from out of town on three separate occasions for three seriously ill cats as Dr. Norsworthy offers tests and treatments that aren’t available south of San Antonio. The first cat has passed on, and the second died en route but the third was treated in October of 2013 and is doing very well.
Dr. Norsworthy and his staff have been very professional and have been accommodating with the difficulties of traveling a long distance for treatment. He did a very thorough job of explaining the condition and treatment options and was also very helpful in answering my questions. I also like the fact that this is a «cats-​only» practice.
However, I do have a few concerns. My biggest concern is that he didn’t seem to notice other medical issues that both cats had. Mind you, we were referred for specific treatments, so maybe it is not protocol to try to diagnose other issues. Maybe it is my fault because I didn’t ask. I don’t know. I just thought it seemed a little surprising. Also, I was a little surprised by the glowing reports from some of the staff about how wonderful my cat was doing and how happy she was, because when I picked her up she was obviously very weary and very pissed-​off. Maybe such things are relative.
The fact that my sweet kitty is alive and is doing better than she has in years made the expense and travel all worth it. I wouldn’t hesitate to make a return visit to this clinic. If I lived in San Antonio I would definitely bring my cats here. However, just a word of caution, Dr. Norsworthy is equipped to do many tests and so an in-​office visit can quickly become pretty expensive. You might want to ask if there are other options before he performs a battery of tests.

Don’t go here if u care about your cat. All they care about is the money not you pet.

We take all of our cats to Alamo Feline Health. Dr Norsworthy and his staff are caring and extremely competent. We also board one of our cats there without any reservation, knowing that she will be loved and well cared for. All of our 6 cats are «cast offs,» and deserve the very best in care and treatment. We were referred to Alamo Feline by other veterinarians who had run out of treatment options. To our surprise, we found that Alamo’s charges were competitive, and we could have specialized procedures done there that were not available at a normal vet’s office. Since then, we use Alamo Feline exclusively to treat our girls. I can’t say enough good about this practice.

I have had several bad experiences with other vets in town! My experience here with my cat was wonderful! The staff was completely professional and kind. The Dr. treated me and my cat kindly, professionally and respectfully. The cost of the visit, including the medication was less than any other my other visits anywhere in SA. I am not going to another vet again for me cats!

We take both of our cats here and have had nothing but good experiences with Dr. Norsworthy, Dr. Anderson, and the whole staff.
The fact that it is a cat only clinic is great and my husband and I have always been shown to a room promptly when I bring in our cats for their appointment. Since it is a bit of a drive for us across town, I appreciate that we can bring both cats in at the same time for their annual exam.
Our boy cat is a hazard to himself and we have had to take him in for bad teeth/​a mandibular separation (the front joint in his jaw split) and most recently, for managing to rip out several of his back claws in some sort of accident while we were out of the house.
Both times, the approach was minimalist, with the Doctor’s exploring what the best and minimally invasion option we needed to do for his health. For his claw issue, they are giving him time to heal and did not immediately push for surgery. They answered our questions both about cost and health issues and while he is still an accident prone cat, he is doing great! (Now with a permanent wire retainer and a few less teeth and claws).
They also provide referrals for emergency vet clinics you can go to when you cannot get in to see them for immediate issues, but except in the case of a life-​death injury (A UR block on our Male cat, surprise!) we have always been able to see them same or next day when we call.
Dr. Norsworthy is very professional and business like, but we have never felt rudely treated. Anytime we needed follow up information, we have received calls directly from the vets or have been able to call the office and have a question referred to them. The staff are also all very friendly and obviously love cats and anytime we have spoken with them over the phone they are polite and professional.
The fact that we drive across town rather than switch vets after our move speaks to how highly we think of this Clinic.

Charged me over $ 1000 to *not* give me a diagnosis of why my cat was barely able to walk and wasn’t eating. It appeared that I was double-​charged for some procedures, and nobody was able to give me a satisfactory explanation. When I questioned the bill, the Dr. Norsworthy said «You should have told me up front you were poor.» Avoid this place like the plague. There are far better veterinarians in town with much better customer service.
A competing vet’s office (which I’ve also reviewed) diagnosed her condition in about one minute. Sadly I was taking her to be put down as I couldn’t stand to see her suffer any more.

AHH! Fleas have taken over my house!
This morning, I said «That is it! The cat must go!» But what do I do? Let her out, never let her back in? Take her to a shelter and tell the kids that she is lost? I just didn’t know.
I looked up boarding places for cats and decided I would check out Alamo Feline Health Center. They were SOOO nice.
They told me to bring Daisy in right away and they would take care of her fleas once and for all. After only 1hour, a doctor called (Dr. MacDonald) and we spoken for at least 40 minutes about flea prevention. Total bill? $ 72 — 1 pill to kill the fleas on the spot (Die, Fleas, Die!!) and a heavy dose of «Don’t come back» plus a little grooming for her nails and fur. I really didn’t want to get rid of her, just the bugs.
She seems so much happier this afternoon and I now have a feline doctor.