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Vet in or near San Antonio, Texas

2K views 6 replies 2 participants last post by  Ally's_Oliver 
#1 ·
Hi all!

I'm looking for a good vet in San Antonio. The reason I'm asking on the forum is that I used the hedgehog welfare society listings to find a vet (well, two vets), but I'm not entirely confident in them. My two oldest babies are a couple of months away from their annual check-up, and I was hoping to find a new vet before then. There's a long explanation as to why I'm looking, but you can skip to the very last paragraph if you're not interested in the details :lol:

I've been to Broadway Oaks Animal Hospital, and while they're not *bad,* they're not as good as I had hoped. I've taken Anya there three times. The first was for a URI, and I saw a great doc (whom I can't recall by name) who seemed knowledgeable and cleared everything up right away. The second time, I was looking for a mite treatment because I suspected she might have them. The older vet who saw her couldn't get a skin scraping, so he just told us to mosey on home. However, he also mentioned that they perform sulfur dips or inject Ivermectin as their only options for treatment, and they don't carry Revolution. There ended up not being any mites, but I was still a little apprehensive. However, my next visit was an emergency when Anya's eye proptosed. I didn't take her there personally, as I was out of town and she was with my boyfriend (who had as much experience as me at the time, so I wasn't worried). He said they barely glanced over her before prescribing some eye drops. There was no explanation, no nothing, just drops and a "see you in a week;" the entire appointment lasted less than 3 minutes. He was panicking, and I was a little frustrated with the lack of care for my little one. I don't know which vet he saw, but I decided they weren't my cup of tea.

The second vet I went to when I got back from my trip. Town and Country Animal Hospital. They showed more care, but the vet I spoke with argued that the cat food mix I was feeding was dangerous, and that I should switch to Exotic Nutrition Hedgehog Complete. Not happening, but not a *real* issue, since I know that most vets say something to this regard. The reason I'm not sticking solely to this office, despite it's very ideal location (24 hr vet with no emergency fees and less than 5 minutes from where I live) is because when I got my new hedgie, I again suspected mites (she was a surprise from the pet store) and I called this vet to find out if they had Revolution. The lady was very kind, but told me they only offered Ivermectin to hedgehogs.

I ended up going into a large animal hospital/resort (Becker Animal Hospital) and was able to get Revolution by pretending that I had a cat. If I need revolution again, I'll probably head back in with more false information, since it's been nearly a year, but I worry that they'll ask me to provide them with my little one next time. I should have bought more than a single tube, but I'm not sure of the shelf life.

So to sum up this long-winded post, I'm just curious as to if anyone has found an awesome, experienced hedgie vet in the San Antonio area. I do *have* a vet if I can't find a better one, but of course I want the best of the best for my little ones, and I'd like to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to treatments. :grin:
 
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#2 ·
Hello! I am from San Antonio! To treat a respitory infection I took my hedgie to Broadway oaks animal hospital. They are inexpensive, and seem to care about your animal. However, I'm not sure the exact level of knowledge as I've only been their once. Give me a second to find the website that referred me to them. They have other vets listed as well.
 
#4 ·
Haha it's no problem - like I said, the first guy I saw there seemed really knowledgeable, to the point where he recommended Kaytee Clean & Cozy over Carefresh because the latter is more dusty. It's only the revolution thing that makes me hesitate. Also, they're always able to get me an appointment right away - the three visits I made got me an appointment within a few hours of my call! Do you happen to remember the name of the vet you saw there? I can't recall for the life of me and I want to make sure that if I end up making appointments with them again I know who to ask for. As of right now, they're my preferred/non-emergency/non-mite-issue vet :)
 
#5 ·
I don't. I saw an older man, that I remember. My hedgehog was brand new at the time, so very huffy and hated the nurse, so they really just weighed him and asked me his symptoms. That's why I'm a little iffy on their knowledge base. But basically I went to them because of the fast appointments. Your assessment of them is not far off from my own! Depending on where you live, it might not be a bad idea to look into vets in new braunfels, seguin, or San Marcos. Somewhere that's not too far, and just use brodway for an emergency type thing. I know I will probably be looking for a vet in that area when I return home for the summer (I'm from seguin, but attend college in San Antonio, so I live in SA during the school year)
 
#6 ·
Hmm, that does remind me - I had to tell them about her cough before they would prescribe an antibiotic for the URI, since the boogers in her nose had subsided. I remember a weigh in, but I really can't recall any more specifics that far back.

Also, if you ever need Revolution, keep in mind that Becker Animal Hospital just hands the stuff out without a vet visit and without even seeing the animal. When I asked over the phone if I could have it for my "cat" and they told me I could just walk right in, I almost couldn't believe my ears. :lol: I did have to make up a color, weight, and age, but that was pretty much just on the fly.
 
#7 ·
thanks for the info. I'll be sure to keep that in mind! I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help! I hope you find a good vet soon though, and be sure to share! Should I ever (hopefully Never) have a serious emergency requiring anything other than basic care with any of my hogs, I would probably want to go somewhere else as well. The vet at Camalot animal hospital, Robert Lee is a close family friend of my moms and very good, but unfortunately, I've yet to find out if he does hedgehogs (he's a bit far from me), however if you have any other pets that need care, he is the best I know of here, he's assisted in the care of a great number of my pets over the years.
 
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