Winchester Road Animal Hospital

When we moved from TX we had a hot mess Mama's boy Mastiff named Tobywan Kenobi, who was allergic to the TX outside, and uber-allergic to the AL outside. He would scratch and flea himself bald, sometimes even bloody. We first went to the vet we saw down the road from our youngest's school, Mt. Carmel. It was a very nice looking practice and we had noted several vehicles in its parking lot whenever we'd drive by. Three and a half hours and $300 later we were told it was mange. It wasn't mange. We brought detailed records from our vet in TX, which showed several skin scrapes with zero mites, dead or alive. Now that we had a bad taste in our mouth we made an appointment with a much smaller practice with a more modest building and signage. Fingers crossed this place wasn't another rip-off. Boy, oh boy, what a difference a mile in the other direction would make. We were able to get an appointment for the same week and when we walked in with my Toby we were instantly greeted by animal lovers, not office staff of a business. Despite my baby looking like he had leprosy, he was warming greeted, given loves, and treats. I was so grateful, and now hopeful. Sarah brought us to the scale and asked if I would get Toby on since he was nervous. They recognized his anxiety and didn't add manhandling, err, doghandling to it. Once weighed, we went into the dog room where Sarah listened to us, read Toby's medical history, and asked great questions. Enter Dr. Combs. Surely, Toby weighed more than she did! I was a little nervous about how she would handle the size difference. Psshhhh..... She warmly greeted Toby and she brought treats!! As she's talking to us she's also loving on Toby and casually feeding him treats. She's obviously a Jedi Master because she was absolutely using her mind tricks on Toby without him knowing. So, about 15 minutes morphing herself from "Stranger danger. Must flee." to "Life long friend who would never hurt me." Dr. Combs bends down to Toby's height and gives him a complete exam without stressing him out; the temp check was unexpected but a few treats solved that. As expected, no mange, but serious allergies requiring a compounded, daily medication with a steroid in the beginning to help jump start the relief. BOOM!! A smidge over an hour from entering to exiting and $90 for Dr. Combs and $300 something for the compounded medication that ended up providing my Toby relief and the ability to keep his beautiful coat. Dr. Combs is the pen-ultimate of Vets and her staff is right there with her. Every single person is knowledgeable, professional, but first and foremost an animal lover compelled to facilitate the best life for every patient they can. I even brought a bunny that I accidentally caught in my mower to her and she didn't dismiss it because it was not a pet. She sedated and x-rayed her to see if she could be saved. Unfortunately, she couldn't, but if there had been a way Dr. Combs would have. They helped us through the agony of ending Toby's pain eight years later, and Abigail von Speedbump's a year after. We have been loyal to Dr. Combs for 13 years because she is knowledgeable, but always willing to learn more, caring, passionate, and a pet owner herself.

posted: 12/19/2023

Lovely little vet, the sweetest people, very pet and human friendly. I love them and everything that they do 💚

posted: 07/13/2024

This is the best vet we have had. We switched from another local vet and could not be more happy. The staff is so nice and considerate! They also don't try to sell you services and products that are not needed just to make money. Our family recommends this vet office to everyone.

posted: 07/25/2024

Best staff and doctor ever. Our gal has never liked the vet, but she relaxes here! She used to fear getting in the car, but now she's ready to go with a wagging tail! (We don't go anywhere else in the car. )

posted: 10/21/2024

They have been taking care of our basset hound since he was a pup, he is 11 now. Dr. Combs does what is best for the animals and for pet owners too. She goes above and beyond we love her!

posted: 11/30/2021