Churchman Animal Hospital

The only place I'll take my cats moving forward. The vet has a small bit of bedside bedmanners, bit he does care and the (nurses?) Are top notch. Never feel like I'm being ignored or my cats are at risk. He means well and is super knowledgeable

posted: 08/16/2023

This was the first time me and my boyfriend have taken our dog to the vet by ourselves. Seal has anxiety and sometimes doesn’t like people. The vet techs were amazing and super nice and treated seal like a dog. The veterinarian Dr. Christopher Drista however, treated seal like the most dangerous dog on the planet. He didn’t take the time to learn seals history or take the time to have seal get comfortable, when he brought in the shots seal needed he didn’t tell us what he was giving our dog. The veterinarian also spoke to me and my boyfriend like we didn’t know anything about taking care of our dog, or how he can be around people. I understand it was the last appointment of the day, but as someone who works in healthcare i know how speaking to patients and patients families can affect the whole experience. Overall, the vet techs were great. I will be taking my dog to another clinic, but the clinic was clean and had lots of room. I just don’t think the veterinarian really cared about my dog and wanted us out of there. It made our first experience taking seal to the vet even worse, we were already anxious and the veterinarian didn’t help at all. We just felt like a burden and that our dog wasn’t worth the vets time. AGAIN THE VET TECHS WERE AMAZING, OUR ONLY ISSUE WAS WITH THE VETERINARIAN.

posted: 06/12/2023

I’ve been to CAH 3 times, largely because other veterinarians had long waiting lists for new patients. All three times, they were very short and dismissive of the information and concerns I presented. As someone who has owned dogs my entire life, I know a bit about the basics. I know what fleas and flea allergies look like. As the owner of my current dog for the last 7 years, I have a very good idea how he reacts to various issues. I explained on multiple occasions that the skin irritation he was experiencing did not seem like fleas ( in my experience). They also told me that oral flea treatments don’t really work and that I needed to find a topical treatment if I wanted his condition to improve. This is after trying different types of flea treatments throughout the years and knowing full well that topicals do not work nearly as well as oral treatments for my specific dog and the breed (German Shepherd). We also have other animals in the house, which would likely be affected if it were fleas. They also explained that they do not diagnose the cause of conditions, they simply treat the symptoms, in this case, with a steroid shot. Then they told me he needed an additional 4 vaccines at a price of $400, and when I explained that I didn’t have the resources for that at the moment, they proceeded to make me feel like a neglectful pet owner and what little bedside manner they had seemed to vanish. As the caretaker of this animal over 7 years, across 5 states and 2 countries with nearly a dozen different veterinarians, I was curious as to the “must have” $400 annual vaccinations they recommended, but was essentially told that he needed them and if I didn’t purchase them I was putting him at risk. During the approx. 1 hour appointment, the veterinarian spent a maximum of 3 minutes with my dog. I don’t actually think he ever touched my dog. He simply came in and told me what was going to happen and explained that I didn’t know what I was talking about. The rest of the time was waiting and being talked down to by the vet tech. Long story short, the steroid wore off, the topical flea treatment didn’t solve the problem, and I eventually booked an appointment with another vet in town (City Way Animal Clinic). They contradicted almost everything I was told by CAH. Two veterinarians at the new facility confirmed that they saw no signs of fleas and that it was likely a dermal yeast infection. They treated him for his skin condition and provided a number of free samples of products we could try. They also thoroughly explained the various vaccines, what they’re for, and what types of doggy lifestyles call for each. I got 3 of the 4 vaccines recommended by CAH, and they cost less than $200 total. In addition, one of the veterinarians told me that she has a German shepherd, and topicals have never really worked for him, so although they didn’t think the skin condition was due to fleas, they recommended an oral flea treatment going forward and provided a free sample. She was very confused as to why CAH would tell people that oral treatments don’t work as well as topical and explained that due to the size of the dog and the type of coat, topicals are not nearly as effective as the oral chew she recommended, at least for 100lb German Shepherds. In the 45 minutes I spent at CWAC, the vet was with me and the dog for at least 20 minutes, answering every question I had politely and fully explaining the whys, when’s, and hows. There was no attitude or judgement, and they actually took care of the problem. So if you would like to pay double to be treated poorly and not solve your animal’s problem, I would highly recommend Churchman Animal Hospital. If you prefer to solve the problem the first time and be treated with respect by people who are willing to listen to you and consider your knowledge and experience of your own animal, I would highly recommend going elsewhere.

posted: 07/19/2023

I went to this place for a senior wellness plan towards the end of the summer. My dog was turning 13 and I need help managing his healthcare. During check-in, the receptionist argued me down about just euthanizing my animal instead (in front of my daughter). My pet passed away Monday. I wish I had gone somewhere else instead

posted: 11/30/2022

Went here because they didn’t have any sort of waiting list and got me in quickly. They lack bedside manner. I had been coming here a handful of times before I felt fed up with not feeling like my dog and myself were valued here. Ended up switching.

posted: 12/27/2023