British Columbia

[Nancy]

Please post good vets you have been to in British Columbia. Name the vet clinic as well as the name of the veterinarian you saw as sometimes a vet clinic can have both good and bad vets. Put the city as the subject line.

Thanks

[Faifai]

Dr. Hugh Upjohn
Eagle Ridge Animal & Bird Hospital
http://www.eranimalhospital.com/index.html

I hear he's really good. I'd like to hear more reviews from other people.

I had a bit of a misunderstanding with him but the two of us worked it out in the end. I recommend him for those in the GVRD.

[Jd In Van]

I will second the vote for Dr Upjohn. He's the exotic vet that SARS (the Small Animal Rescue Society) uses, as well as my personal vet for all my little exotic critters. From proffessional experience as well when I worked in medical supply, I always had very good experiences with him and his staff. They've always been knowledgable, courtious and friendly.

They offer some additional services as well that are very handy if you're in the lower mainland, primarily he sells many very high quiality exotic pet foods in bulk that aren't always widely available in Canada, and even less available in places that don't sell live animals (such as oxbow's brands of guinea pig foods and such).

[HappyHedgies]

Dr. Ken Macquisten
Whatcom Veterinary Hospital
Abbotsford, BC

He really knows his stuff, even though we have only had 2 vet visits, he is very easy to talk to and really knows how to handle a hedgehog. We have been to other exotic vets and they all just seem so scared to hold or touch them.

Dr. Macquisten did a skin scraping awhile back for mites on one of our hedgehogs and even though it came back negative, he still was able to prescribe us with some revolution just in case. Our hedgehog eventually stopped itching after the treatment

[HappyHedgies]

Originally Posted by HappyHedgies

Dr. Ken Macquisten
Whatcom Veterinary Hospital
Abbotsford, BC

He really knows his stuff, even though we have only had 2 vet visits, he is very easy to talk to and really knows how to handle a hedgehog. We have been to other exotic vets and they all just seem so scared to hold or touch them.

Dr. Macquisten did a skin scraping awhile back for mites on one of our hedgehogs and even though it came back negative, he still was able to prescribe us with some revolution just in case. Our hedgehog eventually stopped itching after the treatment

**Update**
I also want to add that for the past 7 months we has changed our vet at Whatcom Vet from Dr. Ken Macquinsten to Dr. Elizabeth Borgmann. Dr. Macquinsten only works on certain days and was harder to schedule. Dr. Borgmann is there 5-6 days a week from 8am-8pm most days.

Elizabeth is such a wonder and definitely a kindred spirit. She knows all of our hedgehogs personally, as she has looked over everyone of them and she has really gone the extra mile for our herd to make sure they are all treated with the best care.

[Annie&Tibbers]

Dr. Uri Burstyn
Arbutus West Veterinary Clinic
West 16th Avenue (corner of MacDonald)
Vancouver, BC V6K 3C5
604-736-6701

Dr. Burstyn is exactly the sort of obsessive geek that I want researching and caring for my tiny troublemaker. He's the owner of the clinic -- the other vets are apparently hit and miss as he's slowly building up a reliable team over the years -- and is clearly dedicated to doing whatever it takes to make the animals he meets happy and healthy again.

He took my concerns seriously, and my description of behavioural changes as absolute truth that was up to us to investigate. He answered all of my questions, and took the time to explain the whys, hows, and whats of what he was doing, even teaching me how to look at the x-rays so I could see what he saw. When nothing was obviously wrong, he went consulted other exotics-specializing colleagues to come up with theories we could test.

Dr. Burstyn works with the local shelters, and will find ways to work with people on limited incomes (students, seniors, un- or under-employed) to provide the necessary care. If you bring cats or dogs to him, he's a huge proponent for pet insurance as a way of controlling healthcare expenses and budgeting in preventative care; it makes me wish hedgehogs were covered by any of the pet insurance companies in Canada!

All that said, he's intense, and has better animal-skills than people-skills. He might overwhelm you with information (although he'll happily follow-up with you and re-explain as needed). He likes to sedate and take x-rays as a general diagnostic step, which I both understand and don't want. For hedgehog nutrition, he gives the advice popular on zoo forums, which contradicts what is popular on this forum.

My experience at the vet closest to me was, "Competent enough when I already know what's wrong and can give specific instructions," which isn't reassuring when working on mystery-problems. Instead, I commute from North Vancouver to Kitsilano so my hedgehog can be taken care of by someone as obsessive about him as I am.

[SarahH]

Dr Schild at Kennedy Heights Animal and Bird Hospital

Kennedy Heights Animal and Bird Hospital
8614 120th Street
Surrey, BC V3W 3N6
(604) 591-5304
[email protected]

She was great, we took our baby there for a wellness checkup, she's seen several hedgehogs before. None of the staff had any problem handling Sprinkles (although Sprinkles is *very* easy going and uncurls and explores on absolutely everybody so far) but they described doing nail trims on less outgoing hedgies where they used water baths in a shallow pan, and some of the other techniques that I've read about here. They knew to have the entire table covered in a fleece blanket for her, and Dr. Schild gave her a scrape exam for mites, and prescribed Revolution even though it came back negative.

I would definitely recommend her!

[kendonintendo]

Dr. Ian Hardin at Eagle Ridge Animal and Bird Hospital
www.eranimalhospital.com

He was very friendly and professional. He wanted to weigh Gilbert right away to insure he was not overweight or underweight. He did have to sedate Gilbert because Gilbert was not uncurling for anyone at this point...mind you we plucked him out of his cage at 1:45pm for his 2:30pm appointment and it was -1 C outside. Dr. Hardin led us to the back room so we could observe everything he was doing once he had Gilbert sedated. Which was very considerate and informative for myself and my boyfriend. Dr. Hardin did a mite scrape just in case even though there were no signs of mites and Gilbert passed with flying colours Dr. Hardin also photocopied a couple of pages from his exotic animal manual regarding the diet of hedgehogs just for further knowledge and to insure that I am providing a well balanced diet for Gilbert.

Dr. Hardin did put on a glove to handle Gilbert at first because like I said Gilbert wouldn't even uncurl for me or my boyfriend. He was not a happy camper but afterwards when he was sedated, Dr. Hardin handled him quite nicely. I'm under the impression if Gilbert was more cooperative, Dr. Hardin would not have needed the glove initially. Also the vet called the day after to check up on Gilbert and had some follow up questions because he was sedated. I found that also very considerate as a pet owner.

Overall, I would take any of my animals back to Eagle Ridge to see Dr. Hardin

[SamatranTiger]

Dr. Uri Burstyn
Arbutus West Veterinary Clinic
West 16th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6K 3C5
604-736-6701

I took my hedgehog, Ace, to Dr. Burstyn at Arbutus West Veterinary Clinic as Dr. Upjohn at Eagle Ridge Animal and Bird Hospital had retired and the other small animal vet (or so I was initially told he was) at the clinic, Dr. Stockley, was away on vacation. I am beyond glad that I found Arbutus West Veterinary Clinic as Dr. Burstyn is wonderful and his approach to diagnostics is methodical and logical. And just as important, he is extremely knowledgeable, skilled, and confident in his abilities.
Do, however, be aware though that should your hedgehog need an ultrasound, because they do not have the equipment on site they have to call in an ultrasonopgrapher and the fee is $350! Aside from this, all other fees have been reasonable and comparable to other small animal veterinary clinics.

As for Eagle Ridge Animal and Bird Hospital, I received a call after making an appointment with Dr. Stockley to inform me that he does not see hedgehogs and that Dr. Ian Hardin was the small animal vet who would be seeing hedgehog patients now that Dr. Upjohn is retired. Now, this was very confusing to me as I was told that Dr. Hardin was NOT a small animal vet and that he did not know vet much about hedgehogs when I made the appointment with Dr. Stockley yet a later call would completely contradict this. This, however, did not matter in the end because I had already had a bad experience with Dr. Hardin in the past (at which time I was told that he saw small animals) and was never going to be taking a hedgehog back to him EVER. I strongly suggest that you DO NOT take your hedgehog(s) to Dr. Hardin as he does not have the experience or knowledge to be treating them. I took my hedgehog, Holly, to him a few years ago (as Dr. UpJohn was not in that day and I was told he could her) and he missed something so obvious on the radiographs (which, after consulting a textbook, he pointed out at a later date when comparing them to a second set of radiographs that were done), that ultimately led to me spending a lot more money than need be but more importantly, it resulted in Holly's unnecessary suffering and eventual passing. This was unacceptable. Period. If he can't do something as simple as know what normal hedgehog anatomy looks like on a radiograph then he should not be seeing hedgehog clients.

Please do not take your hedgehogs to Dr. Hardin at Eagle Ridge Animal and Bird Hospital. If he wants to pursue a career looking after these "pocket pets" then he needs to do so under the supervision/guidance of an experienced small animal vet.
I highly recommend Dr. Burstyn at Arbutus West Veterinary Clinic as he is the best of the best when it comes to treating hedgehogs.

[Weylon]

Dr. Ann Signorella
Victoria, BC
McKenzie Veterinary Services
3888 Carey Rd
250-727-2125

I had to take my baby hedgehog in for a visit with a suspected URI. Dr Signorella was very patient and kind with both Weylon and myself (I am a first time hedgie owner). I would highly recommend her. The staff are all very friendly, the clinic is bright and clean. 10/10