Bluebonnet Animal Hospital

South Lamar Animal Hospital is great! As a first time dog owner, I wanted to make sure my puppy had a great veterinarian that new what they were talking about and actually cared about their customers. So I heard about South Lamar. I took my puppy on Christmas Day of 2011 because I thought he had contracted parvo. I called and made an appointment and they were more than happy to check my puppy out. After the check up, they diagnosed him with roundworms and hookworms. They gave him some medicine to make him all better! What I love about them is that after they check your pet, they bring you an estimated bill amount. So they tell you I think this is how much we estimate the bill will be if you want the treatment and medicine etc. You can pick what you want and what you don't and they go ahead and do it. They were so kind and loving to my puppy:) I will always be a loyal costumer to south lamar animal hospital! The veterinarians are amazing and they know what they are talking about! The staff is so friendly and loving! and the environment is very comfortable. Don't listen to the other reviews on here, if you want TLC for your pet and yourself go to South Lamar Animal Hospital! more

I have been working with rescue dogs for over 20 years and over this time have had alot of experience with veterinarians. We took out beloved Suzie to 2 vets over the span of one month but her condition continued to worsen. We were recommended to go here from some other rescue dog lovers we trust. We saw Dr. VanTrease when we went there. He went through all of Suzie's records, and there was alot. He examined her and suggested what he thought the problem was. He was right. She had a rare autoimmune blood disorder. Dr. VanTrease was extremely available. In fact he gave us his cell phone to call over the time it took Suzie to get better and that was 3 weeks. There is no doubt that Suzie would not be here today, doing all she loves to do, had it not been for the amazing help Dr. VanTrease gave us. We can't say thank you enough. I have seen the other female vet and our experience with her has been the same. We recommend this veterinary practice to all our friends. Several have gone there and they too have found the doctors and staff amazing. more

This clinic cares for all of my foster dogs--and there have been quite a few since we moved close to the SLAH in 2006. The doctors have taken care of everything from missing toes to heartworms, and I have gotten loving care for my animals from everyone in the clinic. Dr. Buck even spoke at a seminar that I organized for my clients--after hours, on his own time, at no charge. Dr. Vantrease's knowledge and willingness to share it have helped me greatly as I care for so many animals at one time. more

Dr. Buck VanTrease provided excellent customer service. more

I went to this vet because my puppy had worms in her stool and our normal vet was closed for the day...mistake! After explaining to them that I wanted something to treat the worms and to keep it as cheap as possible, they explained to me that I could get some package deal that included everything for a puppy or some nonsense. I was foolish enough to ok this proposal and ended up paying $86 dollars for shots that my puppy did not need...the gave her a kennel cough shot...WTF! I just wanted something for tapeworms!! Basically I went, paid, and got absolutely nothing that I wanted and left confused and broke! That's not the worst part: Dr. VanTrease is a friggin nutcase!!! I swear the first thing I said to my wife after bringing the dog home was...wow, that guy is weird! I was even commenting playfully to my puppy on the way home how strange ""Buck"" VanTrease is. I feel almost bad saying this but it is honestly like he had a child's mind. He would start sentences without finishing them, talk about the most random stuff, explain things over and over, mumble nonsense, say half of one word and half of another, I just cannot explain to y'all how weird this man is: by the end of the visit he was trying to explain my dogs personality to me: ""you see, she's a little shy but maybe also a little dominant..."" etc. no joke. ""Uh, um, you, got, we're gonna, you see, um,if she, I'll, how'd you name her?"" - Dr. Buck VanTrease (average sentence) He just jacked her full of a couple of shots and then talked to the stars for about 15 mins. He made the tech go get something that he seemed pissed she did not have in the room just to show me an advertisement for some medication with pictures of worms like I was a child or something. Just read the other reviews!! This guy is crazy! It only takes about 2 sentences to come out of this guys mouth before any sane person can see that he is mental. I also thoroughly made it clear that the only reason I was there was that my normal vet was closed and I just wanted to treat the worms...""Dr"" VanTrease got out a pad and paper and started outlining a plan for my puppies future visits as though he had no idea what I had just said. I just ended up smiling and nodding to him by the end of the visit half out of confusion and half out of desire to just get out of there!! Wow, I could go on and on but I am tiring of even thinking about that man and his clinic. DO NOT GO THERE UNLESS YOU WANT TO TRUST YOUR FAMILY MEMBER TO THE HANDS OF A MADMAN who will not listen and not make sense. more

I used to take my dog to this vet back when the older gentleman ran the place--He was totally awesome and always had reasonable prices. A new vet seems to be in control, and frankly, she's in it for the money. I took my cat in there with a minor stomach ache because my other vet (Dr. Rogers) was out for the day. The current vet was like a salesperson and wanted to make me pay up to $700 in ridiculous fees for excessive treatments. What a freaking joke! She wouldn't even give me stomach medicine until I agreed to pay for X-rays, blood work, etc... Basically, she said unless you can pay me copious amounts of money, she cannot do any stomach treatment on my pet. Last time I checked, when I goto the doctor with a stomach ache, the doc doesn't make me get X-rays, bloodwork, etc... The doc simply gives me some medicine and if it works, I am done. If not, I go back and then the more costly treatments can begin. I highly recommend going to Dr. Rogers on Burleson. I typically never pay over $65 and that includes medicine, office visit, and shots. He is honest and will give your pet the utmost treatment for a practical price. SOUTH LAMAR ANIMAL HOSPITAL WILL ROB YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! more

I've been taking my pets to So Lamar Animal Hospital for over 5 years now and have always happy with the care given to my cats. One of my cats recently suffered a severe wound requiring surgery which is what has prompted me to write this review. First, they have excellent hours. When I discovered my cats wound after 5:00 on Friday evening, I thought I would have to use an emergency hospital (and the higher fees). But, South Lamar was open. They are also open on Saturdays and early mornings. Second, all of the staff and Doctors are wonderful with every animal that comes in there. It's just amazing to watch how they treat each pet as if it is their own, with the same loving and care. Two notable employees deserve special mention. Ryan, one of the Techs, is amazing. He took care of my severely wounded cat on that Friday night. One example of his compassionate care was that he called me that Friday evening after surgery (rather than waiting until Saturday morning) to reassure me that the surgery was successful and that my cat was resting comfortably. You just know that he sincerely cares about the animals in his care, as well for their human companions. Holly also deserves special mention as she is that ""face"" we all first see upon our arrival and the one who schedules the appointments. Such a happy, friendly person who is a joy to work with. She makes getting a convenient appointment a pleasure, and really works to accommodate a difficult schedule. If one is in need of vet services, I whole heartedly recommend South Lamar Animal Hospital! more

We've taken our pets to South Lamar Animal Hospital for over 15 years. We were sad when Dr. Taylor retired - he helped us take care of a cat with FIV that lived to be 10 years old. We've had nothing by but excellent treatment of our 4 cats and dog by the vets who have followed. Recently our dog was hit by a car and sustained serious injuries. Dr. Van Trease and his staff stayed late into the night performing surgery and making sure he would be fine. The office staff is helpful and welcoming, and we've always received timely reminders for all of our pets for their checkups, vaccinations, and medications. Their prices on anti-flea meds are competitive with the mail order places, too. I've heard several people say the place isn't the same as when Dr. Taylor was there and I'll be the first to admit we were wary of new faces, but we're very pleased and grateful that we have South Lamar Animal Hospital close by to provide such great care for our furry family members. more

The office did not keep track of my dog's rabies vaccination. Less than a month after I took him in for a check up, and was given the all-clear, I found out his vaccination had expired and he now has to be quarantined for 10 days to the tune of over $300. more

They couldn't diagnose (even with x-rays) a burst spleen! They charged me $85 for antibiotics for a burst spleen! Then they wouldn't refund it when I DID find out (from another vet) what the diagnosis was! All they were interested in was money! They essentially killed my dog! I reported them to the state vet agency who said they couldn't do anything about it. I flipped them off every time I drove by. They are idiots! more

I just searched for South Lamar to get the phone number and felt compelled to write a review because the last one written was so negative. We have been taking our animals to South Lamar for a year now and have no complaints. The staff has always been very friendly and the service has always been great. We never have to wait long for the vet, a plus since our dogs can be a little difficult to handle. They have never pushed unnecessary services on us and as we have four animals there have been plenty of opportunities. We found South Lamar by reading reviews and have been pleased so far. Pros: Friendly staff Cons: Nothing yet more

Be very careful with these people. We went there because they were convenient. The vet and tech seemed focused on selling us drugs and services for our cat - who was just coming in for a check-up as we are new in town. They spent very little time with the animal and most of our time was about what services we would buy and writing up invoices. After negotiating down with them to just one drug - we escaped. The prescription they directed us to give our cat (oral metacam) turns out to be not recommended for cats. (Yes, there are overblow scare stories on line, but the vet did not mention any counterindications and we were trying to get him discuss the various drugs he recommended.) I'm glad we didn't listen to them. We'll be finding another vet. Pros: Parking? Cons: Poor vet care more

Overall I have always had very positive experiences at South Lamar Animal Hospital. The Vets I have seen have been knowledgeable and understanding and the front desk staff is always friendly and engaging. That said, after what I witnessed today, I am not at all surprised that I see new faces working there every time I come in. We seemed to have walked into a war today, there was a woman yelling and swearing at one of the front desk girls and then she threw a handful of papers at her . It was as if we weren't even there. The girl who was helping us was noticeably shaken up (understandably so) and needed a minute to compose herself after the assault. After reading some of the other reviews on this site I would assume that this woman was the office manager. I am giving the hospital as a whole a good review because this is the only bad experience I have had, but I must say I am thinking twice about the care my pets may be receiving if someone this unprofessional is running the hospital. Pros: Great Vets, Great Front Desk Staff, Reasonable Prices Cons: High Turnover, One Extremely Unprofessional Employee more

We came to use SLAH after having just obscenely bad luck with vets all over Austin, as the proud guardians of four dogs. Our gripes went from the trivial--one called our female dog ""him"" on a consistent basis--to the irritating--another was too afraid of our dog to look in his ears. There were worse problems. One vet refused to do anything about a fast-growing 6"" long wart on our young dog's face but didn't refuse to perform a $800 emergency operation when puppy scratched it, and it became infected, and, we were then told, it might be cancer. We got used to being treated with indifference, even negligence, and feeling railroaded into expensive procedures with fear. Things came to a head when our aging terrier went into ketoacidosis (a consequence of extreme diabetes). Our vet did a bunch of tests which obviously showed problems all over the place -- liver dysfunction, ketones in the urine, glucose about as high as a dog has ever survived--basically a dying dog. The message we got was that we needed to approve about $2500 in advance or they would recommend euthanasia. more

DDr. Van Trease has been treating my cats for 12 years. He has been unfailingly committed, thorough, honest, skillful, knowledgeable, reliable, and far beyond competent. After my cat Pia spent a whole night in an emergency hospital without a diagnosis, it took Dr. Van Trease 20 seconds to notice Pia's broken and bloody claws, probably caused by her digging her nails in and trying to hold on during the impact of a car, and that her other symptoms were probably due to swelling of the brain and liver (which they were). Dr. Van Trease showed me and my step daughter how to read a normal MRI, and how to read Pia's. Dr. Van Trease's office closes at 6 pm. Two nights in a row, he stayed after hours with me till almost 7 pm, so I could keep Pia comfortable until the emergency night hospital opened. Once, I was an hour late, and Dr. Van Trease had waited an hour after closing time just to keep our appointment?even though I was the one who was late. He ordered medication from Arizona because it would be less expensive. He occasionally does things for free, like giving a pain medication for a cat staying overnight. He always answers all my questions, no matter how long it takes, and he's great about returning calls. He is driven to keep learning, updating technologies, knowledge, and practices. He approaches each challenging case like a devoted detective would, carrying it with, trying to fit the pieces together. Dr. Van Trease is a vet hero. Pros: Amazingly competent, trustworthy, intelligent care by Dr. Van Trease. Cons: None. more

My family has trusted our pets to SLAH for about six years now and we wouldn't take them anywhere else. I live in north Austin and choose to make the drive south instead of switching to a closer clinic, just so that my pets can be in the most comfortable vet environment possible. The staff is knowledgeable and kind and throughout the years they've treated every one of my pets as though they were the most important animal in their facility, and it's that level of care and commitment that our previous vets were lacking. Dr. VanTrease is amiable, understanding, and compassionate, and when he delivered the news that my fourteen-year-old cat may not make it, it was done gently enough that it took some of the sting out of hearing the one thing no pet owner ever wants to hear. Even then, I was still given other options of treatment, just in case there was a way to save/help her outside of euthanasia, though that was the eventual, unavoidable outcome. (As I'm unfamiliar with technical jargon, the explanation was given to me in layman's terms to avoid any misunderstanding and it was very much appreciated.) Katy/Katie was excellent with my cat and treated her as though she cared for her as much as I did and that's such an important quality in any vet technician, considering how stressful those offices can be (especially for cats!). Dr. VanTrease understood my financial situation and did whatever he could to ease the burden by doing as much as possible for as little money as possible. I have never had the impression at any point that any employee of SLAH was in it for the money: They're there because they love what they do. Every single one of them love their patients and respect the patients' owners and oftentimes go out of their way to make the visit as easy and as pleasant as possible. For as long as SLAH remains in business, I will continue to take my cats in for any and every form of treatment, no matter which part of Austin I live in. Pros: Staff, treatment, honesty Cons: Occasionally difficult to schedule immediate appointments, though they do have a drop-off system more

This clinic has a lot of good things going for it. The staff does care about animals. The female vet is very good overall with quality, care and running tests. They have slightly dismayed me by forgetting to give me my cats meds or running an extra test when it wasn't needed but they made up for it by apologizing and taking the charge off the bill. Katy the Vet tech is always very kind to my cat and calls her beautiful even tho my cat is old now and does not bath her tail anymore and has black, gland residue. Overall it is a good place-you just have to have in your mind what followup your there for and the meds you need to pick up and keep them on track. Oh and the one female at the front desk with the eyeglasses is a really nice, fun person and makes you feel comfortable arriving and paying. I read the other comments and yes one girl at the front seemed to have some issues with being bitchy but hopefully she'll quit or see the light. Pros: Katy-the vet tech, female vet Cons: absentmindedness with running an extra test or forgetting to refill the meds more

This is one of the worst vet clinics I have ever seen. Dr. Buck is horrible and frankly ""off his rocker."" I wouldn't let him near my animal ever again. He appears to have raging mood swings with his staff hence why most of them leave and why there is such a high turnaround. I saw him yell at a tech for undercharging me (when he thought the door was shut to the room I was in.) Pros: great front desk staff, cost Cons: horrible vets, quality of care poor, untrustworthy clinic more

been going to slah for 7 years. dr buck has been as kind and compassionate and caring as dr. taylor was in the past. dr buck is great about explaining everything in easy to understand language. more

My experience here was extremely positive (with Dr. Buck?). A homeless cat was run down by a car and I couldn't watch him suffer. I took him there (because my regular vet was closed). Buck was so impressed that I cared so much for a cat that wasn't mine that he performed surgery on him for next to nothing. The cat healed beautifully and is now happily living with my friends!! I'm perplexed by the negativity but my friend can't stand Dr. Buck for his treatment either. Very puzzled. I will go back and do. I recommend this clinic. more