Durham Veterinary Hospital

I have been taking my dogs to Dr. Kumar at Durham Vet since the early 2000's. The genuine care you receive from Dr. Kumar and his team is second to none. Although my drive is 30 minutes one way and I pass many other vet hospitals on my drive, I know I am getting the best care I can possibly receive, so it's definitely well worth the travel for me to get the best for my dogs.

posted: 01/11/2024

1) Great doctors and staff. Very caring and inclusive of your pet's health. 2) They recently built an addition to their original building. It is very large, clean and professional. I have been taking my pets (dogs) to them for at least 10 years now. I highly recommend them.

posted: 09/12/2023

“I would definitely get a second opinion. My pet needed minor surgery. The first quote I received was extremely high. I went to a different vet for a 2nd opinion and was able to get the same surgery for 50% less.”

posted: 02/06/2024

PLEASE read if you're considering putting down your pet: I needed to take a few days before writing this review to make sure my emotions that day didn’t get in the way of what needed to be said about this practice. My family has been going to Durham Vet for years, trusting them with all our fur babies. A few days ago, when we had to euthanize our dog, I lost any and all respect I had for the practice. I want to walk through our experience for anyone also thinking about the hard decision we had to make. We made an appointment for that day and when we arrived, we had to wait to be brought to our room. After 15 minutes of waiting, which seems so much longer with these situations, we were brought into the room and there was minimum compassion considering the circumstances. It went right to business, asking us “are you sure” and starting to tell us about medication options. For some background, our dog was 13 years old, he could barely walk and stand up because of arthritis in his hips and back legs, his breathing was heavy and unhealthy, walking hurt him to the point where he would no longer go outside to the bathroom, and he had stopped eating. All of which they were made aware of when we made our appointment. After having to reiterate, for the first time, that our decision was final, we were then asked the payment method that we would be using for the day, read the charges, and asked for the payment as we were still sitting in the room with our dog. We had to wait even longer while our payment was put in. It’s disgusting that you need the money SO bad, you must ask a grieving family right then and there, before anything is even done. After that was over, our dog was taken out to be prepped for the injections. While he was out of the room, the veterinarian that was administering the shots came into our room and asked us AGAIN if “we are sure” and continued to speak about meds. We had to cut her off (I want to name drop but I won’t) and tell her, we are sure, and our decision was final. As she was getting up and about to leave the room she stopped, turns to all of us and says, “but he looks good”, to which we had to say AGAIN that our decision was final. Let me be VERY clear he may have looked heathy according to tests, but living with him and seeing his decline, his quality of life was diminished, he was in pain every day and he wasn’t doing good at all, he was just surviving for us. That is something that she would have seen if she spent more than a minute looking at him before she came to talk to us. As you can imagine, that made the following process even harder, as if this decision wasn’t already one of the hardest things you have to do. The whole experience from start to finish was agonizing. I will add a thank you to the vet tech that must’ve heard the aftereffects of that comment from outside of the room and switch us to Dr. Kumar, who we love, and took me out of the side room after the process was over, so I didn’t have to walk through the lobby in tears. I hope the owner of this practice, Dr. Kumar sees this and really rethinks how the practice goes about addressing these specific situations. Mention medication on the phone if you need to and note it down so patients aren’t asked repeatedly, have the room ready for these visits, send the bill in the mail, and make sure everyone knows how to address these situations and what to say and NOT to say unless they are absolutely sure. If you’re reading this and you’re going through the decision of having to put down your fur baby, my heart is with you.

posted: 10/26/2023

"A number of hidden costs that were not explained upfront. Zero transparency as to cost estimates and the actual work performed. Always trying to upsell their services and products."

posted: 01/25/2024