Society Hill Veterinary Hospital

They are the best in town ~ I send everyone I know with an animal there. Dr. C is best as well her entire staff more

I posted this review on one other site as well, in hopes of reaching others. In my family, there are 4 adults (all of whom work in health care) who have lived in Philadelphia with their pets. After our favorite veterinarian left the area, we decided to take our pets to Society HIll and see how comfortable we felt with their care. Our experience was nothing short of atrocious. When one of our animals fell ill, they charged us hundreds of dollars for tests, and then informed us that the results were unremarkable. When we asked for a copy of the results, it turned out that the tests were never actually performed. Initially, we wrote this off as an accident and emailed the vet to notify them (never heard back). However, when one of our other pets became ill, the exact scenario played out AGAIN. They also misdiagnosed one of our animals (based upon these ""negative"" results) and referred us to a specialty center, where we would have paid thousands of dollars for unneeded and invasive procedures/tests. We were appalled at the treatment we (and our animals) received -- and we worry about them taking advantage of those who are not in the health care field and don't know to second guess the answers they receive. more

I have been a client at SHVH since 2004. I went here for the first time when my old vet closed down - immediately, I saw the difference between this vet and any other vet I have been to. I have worked with several doctors there, and aside from Dr. Meister (who is very competent but ridiculously busy and hard to get a hold of) I have found them all to be very attentive, thorough, and accessible. The doctors have email addresses and are great about answering questions between visits. The staff are pleasant and very helpful. As long as I live in Philly, I will never go anywhere else. I have interacted with SHVH in pretty much every situation one might encounter having dogs. I recently got a puppy, and have gone through that whole process (they were extremely helpful in teaching us everything we needed to know about taking care of her). She had a UTI and they were very helpful with that as well, both in terms of squeezing her in for an urgent appointment, and in terms of following up to make sure she was doing OK at home. I also have a middle-aged dog with Cushing's disease (which, by the way, my previous vet missed completely), and have worked with SHVH to manage his symptoms through diet and medication. For years, SHVH imported a medication for his Cushing's that was not yet FDA-approved for use with Cushing's but is used off-label (it has since been approved). Prognosis for Cushing's with standard meds is not great, but using this medication, he has lived a happy, relatively symptom-free life for many years. I greatly appreciate being offered that option by SHVH. I also went through the process of losing a dog to old age with SHVH to support us through it, and I have no complaints. Our dog had developed a brain tumor and SHVH worked with us to balance what she needed with what we could afford. When it was finally time to put her to sleep, they made the process as painless as possible. They let us leave through the back entrance so that we didn't have to be seen crying by people in the waiting area, and we were not rushed or pressured at any stage of the process. One sort of morbid but necessary thing to consider, however, is that it is not automatic for you to receive ashes, nor is it at all affordable (apparently, wherever they send them, it's a communal cremation). I don't think this is normal; I have had a dog die before at a hospital and it wasn't even an option to not get her ashes. They did give us a card with her paw print and a lock of her hair, which is kind of cooler than ashes in my book, so I was not that torn up over the ashes thing, but if ashes are important to you, make alternative arrangements. Lastly: one way in which I would NOT recommend using SHVH is for emergency care. I hear about them doing emergency surgeries sometimes, so I know they do it, but frankly, if it's an emergency you should go the emergency room. Penn's emergency room is ridiculously expensive, but at least you can be sure your pet will receive immediate care. SHVH is a smaller clinic and they work by appointment, so it's not the best idea to rely on them to see you immediately. My only complaint about my experience at SHVH is that a few times, I have called in a med refill and the person I talked to never processed the order (or did so incorrectly). However, upon discovering that this has happened, they have always overnighted the meds to my home free of charge. That makes up for the oversight in my mind - and saves me a trip to the vet. Pros: Great staff, very competent, convenient parking Cons: Not great for emergencies, occasional organizational problem more

I've been going to this vet for years, and I love them! The front desk peopl, the techs and the doctors are wonderful! I always feel like my pets and I are treated with the best care and compassion. When I read the reviews here I was amazed, I can't imagine how anybody could give this place such horrible reviews. Yes, I have gone to the vet and had to wait a little, but nothing compared to when I go to my human doctor! And the front staff is always good at letting me know if there is a wait and how long it will be. As far a emergencies, I've had a few scares with my dogs as well. But I called the vet for advise and one time I went to UPENN because they have a proper emergency room, but another time Society Hill Vet was able to help me and had me come in asap. Society Hill Vet Hosp is a hospital.... not an emergency room! If they had taken in the dog in the review below in, then ALL the people sitting in the waiting room would have had to wait for hours while the doctors had performed emergency surgery on the dog... then all those people would have been on here writing bad reviews for having to wait too long!!! You know, you don't go to your regular Dr. if you have an emergency... you go to the emergncy room! \r \r I say, don't listen to the bad reviews. It sounds like it is from people who had one bad experience, and write a review in anger. I think this place is wonderful, I always feel like I recieve professional and compassionate care for my dogs. I have never had anything but good experiences. Yes, it's more expensive than other vets I have been to, but I it's totally worth it, and I will never take my dogs anywhere else! Pros: EVERYTHING! more

This was my dog's veternarian for 2 years , i was happy with the office care but when I went for an emergency when my dog had gotten bloat and GDT ( intestinal twisting) , they couldnt even get a tech up there to treat my dog. He had emergency surgery in the next 2 hours at PENN Vet hospital and would have been dead if he was treated at society hill , (thank god we rushed him out of there after 25 minutes in the waiting room getting violently ill, they took all of the other animals in the waiting room before him and couldnt provide any emergency care for my animal, i could go into more detail but listen to my advice "" DO NOT TAKE YOUR ANIMAL THERE IF YOU HAVE ANY EMERGENCY, THE PEOPLE AT PENN HOSPITAL TOLD ME HE IS ALIVE BECAUSE HE DID NOT STAY THER AND HE GOT THE SURGERY AND IMMEDIATE ATTENTION HE NEEDED"" you can email me and i will tell you more but i will never go there again, oh and by the way they can call you 10 time a month for wellness check ups, heartworm and flea medication (the real money makers for those jerks there) more

I took my two kitties here on a tuesday morning bc one or both had been urinating in my apartment...figured one had an urinary tract infection...well it took $300 and until that Friday at 5pm to get any results back. And I had to call 50 times to get them!! If you care for your pets do not take them here....the receptionist and people that work there are miserable as well... They advertise that they are a hospital but they rip you off and have to send work out in order to get results.... Cons: staff, timeliness of diagnoses, parking, everything more

I had an 18 year old female tabby who was in distress from a bladder infection. I made an appointment and only had to wait 15 minutes, The bad part was that the doctor could not figure out what was wrong with my cat after he had ran tests. He told me that if she is not better in 2 days to bring her back. I brought the cat back in 2 days because she was getting worse and the vet tech told me that she has a bladder infection and an antibiotic was prescribed. Five months later my cat is beginning to have seizures and I called back and told them I believe euthanasia was the best thing because she had just had her 19th birthday and I did not want to prolong her agony. They told me that they could not accomodate me and told me to bring her to Univ of Penn. I don't drive and it would have cost me over \r $500 to do the procedure. I ended up taking her to Dr. Hammad on 13th and Reed. He did it for 50.00 and that included the urn. I will never go back to Society Hill again. Pros: good location Cons: incompetent staff and costly more

Ok, it was a little crowded (meaning all the seats were taken) but I only waited 5-10 minutes to see Dr. Casavecchia. She was AMAZING! The staff was very sweet & generous. I just moved to Philly 8 months ago and am so happy I have finally found a vet! I would highly recomend this vet to anyone. Pros: Super friendly staff, short wait time, excellent Dr - great listener. more

I strongly recommend that you do not go to this vet at all cost. Maybe you are stuck in the position I was and could not find a vet in the city that was accepting new clients. If this is this case and you have no other choice but to use Society Hill Veterinary Hospital, then here are a few tips. DO NOT let the vet talk you into pulling baby teeth on a dog or a cat during an operation. We were told that are dog should have 2 baby teeth pulled during our dog having spaded surgery. I said ""No, they will just fall out"". The vet said each tooth pulled would cost between $5-$75 dollars for each tooth (depends on how hard the tooth was to pull) and he estimated that our dogs teeth would cost $5 each. So I gave the ok to have the teeth pulled. I got the bill and we were charged $30 dollars for each tooth. My bill was $50 more than I thought it would be and I asked to speak with someone and no one was available. I was told that I had to pay for the bill now and someone would contact me to explain why pulling the teeth cost $50 more dollars than supposed to. I never got the call. On top of this, I had made the appt. for my dog to be spaded on a friday and I took my dog in the morning and the vet called me around noon and said that there was an emergency with another dog and they would not be able to give my dog surgery. So my wife left work and went and picked up our dog and we had to take the dog back on Monday. I understand that emergencies happen, but we planned to have the dog's surgery on Friday so we could be with her the first few days out of surgery and now we had to leave work and pick her up, and then take our dog back on monday AND THEN we were charged $50 extra bucks for pulling baby teeth. Pros: Two streets away from apt. Cons: Unorganized, overcharging, disrespectful, very short during visit more

I've taken my puppy to Society Hill since the day she came home from the breeder and I wouldn't consider taking her anywhere else. The office staff is very friendly and very willing to answer ALL of my questions (even when I call seeming like an overprotective parent!). Appointment availability has never been an issue and they offer an online service (free!) so you can track all of your pets appts, shots, scripts etc from home. My doctor is Dr. Erica Morgan and she is amazing. Very smart, lots of common sense (not at all alarmist) and so loving of all the animals she treats. Likewise, the vet techs are incredibly sweet and knowledgeable and I trust them with my pet. I never feel pressured to buy unecessary products or services and everyone at Society Hill truly seem to have the animals' best interests at heart.\r \r While some may say Society Hill is pricey, I feel it is well worth it for the quality of care they provide. Pros: Vets and vet techs smart and knowledgeable; staff friendly and helpful Cons: Pricey, but worth it! more

i have had my 5 month old boston terrier back and forth to this vet numerous times. something always goes wrong. like when we needed an ointment for mange, the vet said they didn't have it in, they would order it and call us when it was in. 5 days later my husband calls up and asks if it is in yet and the receptionist says ""oh, didn't you order it?"". ""no, you were supposed to"" he replies. she said she knew nothing about this. she then saud she would order it. 3 days later my husband calls back and it hasn't been ordered. he spoke to a really nice guy who ordered it on the spot and it came in the next day.\r \r then there was the time when i was called to confirm the appointment for the next day. i confirmed it, all was well. about 2 hours later we had to call and cancel said appointment. my husband called and said someone had comfirmed it with me. they said ""no-one called your wife"". eh? so he says we need to cancel the appointment anyway. she couldn't find the appointment. she tried the pups name, my name, his name nothing. checked the time. ""found it, he's coming in for boarding"". ""no, just a check up"" my husband replies. the woman then says ""if i see the appointment i'll believe it"". \r \r it gets worse.\r \r puppy has loose stools, is losing weight. vet prescribes hills w/d and tylan powder. 5 days later he is better but still losing weight. a new friend who is a vet tech elswhere tells husband that hills w/d is for OBESE dogs. i do my research and see that the hills website says w/d is not for puppies and not for underweight dogs. within 2 minutes i myself find a more appropriate prescription food for him. next day we go to the vets. vet can't see us, too busy. vet tech tries to answer our questions. one of which is ""why did the vet prescribe w/d"". tech says ""only the vet can answer that"". ""can we talk to the vet?"" ""no, the vet is too busy"".\r \r most of the staff are friendly but i don't trust them to get it right, we changed vets Pros: friendly vet Cons: awful incompetant treatment more

The vets and staff at Society Hill really go out of their way for their clients! When my cat was having a severe ""upset stomach"" (among other unpleasantness), they gave her an appointment as soon as possible and chose a conservative treatment plan, rather than ordering the expensive tests and medication right away. Dr. Morgan called regularly to check up on my kitty. I appreciate that whenever I have a question, a vet tech or doctor will call back and let me know whether I need to bring my cat in, so I can avoid unnecessary vet trips. My only complaint is that the prices are a little more than other clinics, but you get what you pay for. Pros: fantastic service, excellent vets and staff, convenient hours Cons: a little pricey more