Yelton, Abbe, Dvm - Southern Veterinary Ctr Llc

I took my son's diabetic dog into the vet because she was getting really sick. I was told that she would have to stay overnight and to give them a call in the morning. When I called I was told that she wasn't doing well and hadn't improved overnight. Something told me to ask about the cost of the treatment that they were doing, because no one had even mentioned what was being done and what the cost might be. I found out that after one night, the cost was already up to $588 and the office was suggesting that she stay through the weekend. Her prognosis was really poor and when I asked about the cost of her being there over the weekend, it was going to be over $1200. The vet had more tests scheduled that were going to cost another $200 without ever mentioning what our total would be. Finally, I went into the office and made the decision to discontinue treatment and put our baby down. It was a hard decision because the dog was my son's dog and he is in Afghanistan. The vet proceeded to bring me paperwork to have her put to sleep and one more thing concerned me. The paperwork showed that I could be with her when she was put down but it would be an additional charge if I was there. What are they doing if you aren't there? The whole thing left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. I will not use them any longer. They are nice and caring but they need to let people know what is going on. We aren't all made of money and everyone shouldn't be in the business to make a bunch of money. They wouldn't even work with us on making payments, we had to pay the full balance before we could leave. If you are made of money and don't mind being ripped off, feel free to use them. They are nice people. more

Southern Vet is the best in Rutherford County! I have taken my cats to this office for over 20 years. Dr. Duffey is the best!!! She listens to the 'parent' and we discuss the best treatment needed for my cat Cassie. Cassie is 18+ years old and still going pretty stong. I know that the care Cassie has received by Dr. Duffey has contributed to her long life. The staff are wonderful! Of course they are courteous, professional and kind but they are more than that...they care. They all treat Cassie like she is their own. You can just feel the love when you open the door. I have recommended Southern Vet to many people and now they take their pets there. I give them a 20 out of 10!!! more

Southern Vet is the best in Rutherford County! I have taken my cats to this office for over 20 years. Dr. Duffey is the best!!! She listens to the 'parent' and we discuss the best treatment needed for my cat Cassie. Cassie is 18+ years old and still going pretty stong. I know that the care Cassie has received by Dr. Duffey has contributed to her long life. The staff are wonderful! Of course they are courteous, professional and kind but they are more than that...they care. They all treat Cassie like she is their own. You can just feel the love when you open the door. I have recommended Southern Vet to many people and now they take their pets there. I give them a 20 out of 10!!! \r more

Southern Vet is the best in Rutherford County! I have taken my cats to this office for over 20 years. Dr. Duffey is the best!!! She listens to the 'parent' and we discuss the best treatment needed for my cat Cassie. Cassie is 18+ years old and still going pretty stong. I know that the care Cassie has received by Dr. Duffey has contributed to her long life. The staff are wonderful! Of course they are courteous, professional and kind but they are more than that...they care. They all treat Cassie like she is their own. You can just feel the love when you open the door. I have recommended Southern Vet to many people and now they take their pets there. I give them a 20 out of 10!!! more

I have been using Southern Vets for 12 years and have always felt they are caring and compassionate. Some may say they are pricey but as the saying goes "you get what you pay for",\r My 17 year old lab Rex had to be put down in January and I just received a letter from UT Knoxville Veterinary Collage that Southern just made a donation in his name. \r \r THANK YOU Southern Vet!\r \r Ellen more

Loved my entire experience at Southern vet!! Receptionists were friendly and compassionate. I had a very sick dog and they rushed me right back and the veteriary technician assessed him immediately. The veteriarian Dr. Robertson was on top of things and explained what she needed to do and got me an estimate for these things. I had been to another vet in town before but they were too busy to work me in when I called earlier. I will defintely be going back to Southern and my dog is doing great!!! more

Today is August 24th, 2010. In July 09 is when my last visit with Southern Vet occured. Long story short my dog needed her teeth cleaned, she was nine years old at the time. They managed to get the fee up to 597 dollars to give the dog antibiotics, put her on a heart and oxygen monitor, clean her teeth, and clip a stye off of her eye. Really, 597 hundred dollars, and they were going to get a day of boarding because the dog is old and would have to stay one night for observation, and in addition needed another two shots to stay in the kennel. So I went down the street to TSC and bought the two shots and presented the dog with the receipts and the vials for her shots. Southern informed me ""by law"" that only a licensed vet could give those shots. Well, next days research and a couple of phone calls later I find out the only shot required by law to be given by a vet is a rabies shot. Which the vet had given at the April 09 clinic, that in fact I could very much under law buy the shots and administer them to the dog. (I work in the medical field and am most capable of giving an appropriate shot the appropriate way.) Well the money mongering vet is called to the front and she obviously takes great offense when I nicely tell her what I have found out, and that I am actually more qualified than there ""techs"" to give the dog the shots. Vet tells me that their rules are as they are, and that I don't need to come back there if I don't like their rules. Fine, I wasn't going to anyhow, when I found out that they can't budge on the 597 dollars to put an old dog on a heart monitor, pulse oximetry, and all the other things, plus tell me information other than what the state Veterinary board told me. Anyhow, Premier vet in Smyrna cleaned my dogs teeth under sedation for 113 dollars, and an additional 40 while the dog was already sedated clipped off the stye on her eye. And her teeth still look good today. They indicated that they had had several people come to them mentioning extremely high prices at Southern Vet in Smyrna, which had gotten them there also. 597 dollars at Southern Vet, 153 dollars at Premier Vet in Smyrna, same job done. You do the math. Then to add insult on top of insult, three months later we go to board our dog a Custom Care in Murfreesboro, they call Southern Vet to get the dogs rabies verification faxed over to them, and Southern tells Custom Care that they wouldn't board our dog because of the shot issue mentioned above. Southern just should have kept their mouth shut. Custom Care did not have a problem with the fact that we gave our dogs the shots that under law we can give to the dog. (Parvo 7 in 1 shot and the Kennel Cough shot) Now, the group of women vets at Southern have no male doctors on the staff. But in this age of ""tolerance, and political correctness"" where others are to be tolerant, I think the group of vets at Southern Vet need to be more tolerant themselves, and stop being such over the top money mongerers, and stop charging over the top medical fees, and unecessary extras, and understand that they are not practicing human medicine and try to charge accordingly. Thats why the law allows for people to give certain medicines to their dogs, and they need to be alot more flexible and work with the customers for whats best for the health of the dogs, instead of their bottom line. I would strongly recommend NOT using Southern Vets on Mayfield Dr in Smyrna. Look around, there are other vets very near that DO have your pets health in mind over their bottom line. more

Today is August 24th, 2010. In July 09 is when my last visit with Southern Vet occured. Long story short my dog needed her teeth cleaned, she was nine years old at the time. They managed to get the fee up to 597 dollars to give the dog antibiotics, put her on a heart and oxygen monitor, clean her teeth, and clip a stye off of her eye. Really, 597 hundred dollars, and they were going to get a day of boarding because the dog is old and would have to stay one night for observation, and in addition needed another two shots to stay in the kennel. So I went down the street to TSC and bought the two shots and presented the dog with the receipts and the vials for her shots. Southern informed me ""by law"" that only a licensed vet could give those shots. Well, next days research and a couple of phone calls later I find out the only shot required by law to be given by a vet is a rabies shot. Which the vet had given at the April 09 clinic, that in fact I could very much under law buy the shots and administer them to the dog. (I work in the medical field and am most capable of giving an appropriate shot the appropriate way.) Well the money mongering vet is called to the front and she obviously takes great offense when I nicely tell her what I have found out, and that I am actually more qualified than there ""techs"" to give the dog the shots. Vet tells me that their rules are as they are, and that I don't need to come back there if I don't like their rules. Fine, I wasn't going to anyhow, when I found out that they can't budge on the 597 dollars to put an old dog on a heart monitor, pulse oximetry, and all the other things, plus tell me information other than what the state Veterinary board told me. Anyhow, Premier vet in Smyrna cleaned my dogs teeth under sedation for 113 dollars, and an additional 40 while the dog was already sedated clipped off the stye on her eye. And her teeth still look good today. They indicated that they had had several people come to them mentioning extremely high prices at Southern Vet in Smyrna, which had gotten them there also. 597 dollars at Southern Vet, 153 dollars at Premier Vet in Smyrna, same job done. You do the math. Then to add insult on top of insult, three months later we go to board our dog a Custom Care in Murfreesboro, they call Southern Vet to get the dogs rabies verification faxed over to them, and Southern tells Custom Care that they wouldn't board our dog because of the shot issue mentioned above. Southern just should have kept their mouth shut. Custom Care did not have a problem with the fact that we gave our dogs the shots that under law we can give to the dog. (Parvo 7 in 1 shot and the Kennel Cough shot) Now, the group of women vets at Southern have no male doctors on the staff. But in this age of ""tolerance, and political correctness"" where others are to be tolerant, I think the group of vets at Southern Vet need to be more tolerant themselves, and stop being such over the top money mongerers, and stop charging over the top medical fees, and unecessary extras, and understand that they are not practicing human medicine and try to charge accordingly. Thats why the law allows for people to give certain medicines to their dogs, and they need to be alot more flexible and work with the customers for whats best for the health of the dogs, instead of their bottom line. I would strongly recommend NOT using Southern Vets on Mayfield Dr in Smyrna. Look around, there are other vets very near that DO have your pets health in mind over their bottom line. more

Today is August 24th, 2010. In July 09 is when my last visit with Southern Vet occured. Long story short my dog needed her teeth cleaned, she was nine years old at the time. They managed to get the fee up to 597 dollars to give the dog antibiotics, put her on a heart and oxygen monitor, clean her teeth, and clip a stye off of her eye. Really, 597 hundred dollars, and they were going to get a day of boarding because the dog is old and would have to stay one night for observation, and in addition needed another two shots to stay in the kennel. So I went down the street to TSC and bought the two shots and presented the dog with the receipts and the vials for her shots. Southern informed me ""by law"" that only a licensed vet could give those shots. Well, next days research and a couple of phone calls later I find out the only shot required by law to be given by a vet is a rabies shot. Which the vet had given at the April 09 clinic, that in fact I could very much under law buy the shots and administer them to the dog. (I work in the medical field and am most capable of giving an appropriate shot the appropriate way.) Well the money mongering vet is called to the front and she obviously takes great offense when I nicely tell her what I have found out, and that I am actually more qualified than there ""techs"" to give the dog the shots. Vet tells me that their rules are as they are, and that I don't need to come back there if I don't like their rules. Fine, I wasn't going to anyhow, when I found out that they can't budge on the 597 dollars to put an old dog on a heart monitor, pulse oximetry, and all the other things, plus tell me information other than what the state Veterinary board told me. Anyhow, Premier vet in Smyrna cleaned my dogs teeth under sedation for 113 dollars, and an additional 40 while the dog was already sedated clipped off the stye on her eye. And her teeth still look good today. They indicated that they had had several people come to them mentioning extremely high prices at Southern Vet in Smyrna, which had gotten them there also. 597 dollars at Southern Vet, 153 dollars at Premier Vet in Smyrna, same job done. You do the math. Then to add insult on top of insult, three months later we go to board our dog a Custom Care in Murfreesboro, they call Southern Vet to get the dogs rabies verification faxed over to them, and Southern tells Custom Care that they wouldn't board our dog because of the shot issue mentioned above. Southern just should have kept their mouth shut. Custom Care did not have a problem with the fact that we gave our dogs the shots that under law we can give to the dog. (Parvo 7 in 1 shot and the Kennel Cough shot) Now, the group of women vets at Southern have no male doctors on the staff. But in this age of ""tolerance, and political correctness"" where others are to be tolerant, I think the group of vets at Southern Vet need to be more tolerant themselves, and stop being such over the top money mongerers, and stop charging over the top medical fees, and unecessary extras, and understand that they are not practicing human medicine and try to charge accordingly. Thats why the law allows for people to give certain medicines to their dogs, and they need to be alot more flexible and work with the customers for whats best for the health of the dogs, instead of their bottom line. I would strongly recommend NOT using Southern Vets on Mayfield Dr in Smyrna. Look around, there are other vets very near that DO have your pets health in mind over their bottom line. more

Today is August 24th, 2010. In July 09 is when my last visit with Southern Vet occured. Long story short my dog needed her teeth cleaned, she was nine years old at the time. They managed to get the fee up to 597 dollars to give the dog antibiotics, put her on a heart and oxygen monitor, clean her teeth, and clip a stye off of her eye. Really, 597 hundred dollars, and they were going to get a day of boarding because the dog is old and would have to stay one night for observation, and in addition needed another two shots to stay in the kennel. So I went down the street to TSC and bought the two shots and presented the dog with the receipts and the vials for her shots. Southern informed me ""by law"" that only a licensed vet could give those shots. Well, next days research and a couple of phone calls later I find out the only shot required by law to be given by a vet is a rabies shot. Which the vet had given at the April 09 clinic, that in fact I could very much under law buy the shots and administer them to the dog. (I work in the medical field and am most capable of giving an appropriate shot the appropriate way.) Well the money mongering vet is called to the front and she obviously takes great offense when I nicely tell her what I have found out, and that I am actually more qualified than there ""techs"" to give the dog the shots. Vet tells me that their rules are as they are, and that I don't need to come back there if I don't like their rules. Fine, I wasn't going to anyhow, when I found out that they can't budge on the 597 dollars to put an old dog on a heart monitor, pulse oximetry, and all the other things, plus tell me information other than what the state Veterinary board told me. Anyhow, Premier vet in Smyrna cleaned my dogs teeth under sedation for 113 dollars, and an additional 40 while the dog was already sedated clipped off the stye on her eye. And her teeth still look good today. They indicated that they had had several people come to them mentioning extremely high prices at Southern Vet in Smyrna, which had gotten them there also. 597 dollars at Southern Vet, 153 dollars at Premier Vet in Smyrna, same job done. You do the math. Then to add insult on top of insult, three months later we go to board our dog a Custom Care in Murfreesboro, they call Southern Vet to get the dogs rabies verification faxed over to them, and Southern tells Custom Care that they wouldn't board our dog because of the shot issue mentioned above. Southern just should have kept their mouth shut. Custom Care did not have a problem with the fact that we gave our dogs the shots that under law we can give to the dog. (Parvo 7 in 1 shot and the Kennel Cough shot) Now, the group of women vets at Southern have no male doctors on the staff. But in this age of ""tolerance, and political correctness"" where others are to be tolerant, I think the group of vets at Southern Vet need to be more tolerant themselves, and stop being such over the top money mongerers, and stop charging over the top medical fees, and unecessary extras, and understand that they are not practicing human medicine and try to charge accordingly. Thats why the law allows for people to give certain medicines to their dogs, and they need to be alot more flexible and work with the customers for whats best for the health of the dogs, instead of their bottom line. I would strongly recommend NOT using Southern Vets on Mayfield Dr in Smyrna. Look around, there are other vets very near that DO have your pets health in mind over their bottom line. more

I absolutely love Dr. Duffy and her staff- she has been my vet for at least a decade and is always available for questions. Very compassionate and hard-working people! I highly recommend taking your pets to the Southern Veterinary Center. more

Outstanding, caring & compassionate. We had to put our puppy Wishbone to sleep after 11 years of being in our family. Dr. Duffey cried with us. Moving more

My dog and I love Dr. Duffey. Her caring attitude and exceptional knowledge in her field helped us through a really rough time when Tigger had to have surgery. We've been taking our pets here for eleven years, and have never had a problem. We'll be loyal customers forever! more

I've been to this vet a few times in the past and was pleased with service but felt that prices were high, so have been to several other vets in the area trying to find the perfect one. Today I took a sick cat to them and it was the first visit in a few years.\r \r I must say I was very happy with all of the employees whom I came in contact with. Everyone was friendly and did not seem rushed. The doctor I worked with, Grace I believe, was so nice, and actually listened. She even talked with me about concerns she had that were not related to the visit. I've been to vets where they literally have one hand on the door while talking with you so it feels rushed. \r \r Not sure about how prices compare since this wasn't a regular check up, but I think quality might just have to cost a little more and I'm OK with that.\r \r Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was for the atmosphere in back. So.... the cat was already stressed over her illness, but then more so with being put in a cage and more

My biggest complaint with this place is that they overcharge for prescription drugs. I understand that everyone needs to make a living, but I've been charged 2, 3, even 5 times the amount I could get the drugs online for. And if these were antibiotics for something short term that I'd only have to buy once, even then, I could understand, but the prescriptions I've had were for maintenance drugs. I feel gouged when I see that they charged me $29.50 for something I could buy myself for $8.40. Other than that, it seems like a nice facility. more

As a child I remember my mother taking our dog to Southern Vet- to see Dr. Onks, who is now retired. My mother would have never gone anywhere else! Now that I am married with a family of my own, it was an easy choice of who to take our 2 dogs to. They are such a huge part of our family & I want them to receive the upmost care. We always get it at Southern Vet. A few years ago one of my dogs tore her crutiate ligament. Dr. Abernathy was wonderful in helping to make my dog comfortable while she recovered. Although my other dog has had no health issues since he was a puppy, he is always excited to see the friendly faces when he walks in the door ... even to get his routine shots! My father also had a dog who got sick, with an unknown illness & he immediately trusted Dr Abernathy to care for her. Although she was to sick to be saved, they still tried to find out what was causing the problem & tried there very best to comfort my father. If all of this is not proof that they do a great job, more

We have used this office for a couple of years. Dr. Abernathy has been great in caring for our kitties. We recently realized our 16 year old ailing Pooky's time had come. It was heartbreaking to have her put down. Dr. Abernathy was very compassionate and understanding and helped me get through it. Then a few days later we found and injured kitty and brought it in. Unfortunately his injuries were so severe he needed to be put down also. Dr Yelton was also compassionate in this difficult situation. We have been very satisfied with care our kitties have received here. more

I have been taking my 3 dogs and 1 cat to Southern Vet for about 2 1/2 yrs and i think that my animals have seen all of the vets there i had one dog that had to have emergency surgery and Dr. Yelton did the surgery she settled my nerves and took excellent care of my baby. I have never had a bad experience at this vet i have been to others in the area and they seem to lack knowledge and the hospitality that Southern Vet exudes without trying, again I would never take my animals to any other place. Rather it be the procedures, vaccinations, products, or prices I feel that very confident in my choice of vet clinics more

This "vet" was a total scam artist!! I was a soccer coach at the Smyrna Rotary Soccer park so I thought the location was perfect to where we live. We checked into their kennel services a Saturday which was a FULL week before bringing our dog to be boarded. At first, they seemed very nice. We assured them our 6 mo old puppy had just had all of his necessary shots (at that time a front office lady muttered under her breath something about him probably not having all) but we said we would get his records faxed at the first of the week. Our current vet faxed the records to them Monday and I called that day to confirm they received them and that he had all the required shots. They assured me that he did and even when I brought my dog to be boarded the following Friday afternoon, they took him back and bid us farewell, no problems. HOWEVER, about 1 1/2 hours into our road trip out of town, they called to say that he did not have all of his shots and said that he'd need $60 worth of sh more

This ""vet"" was a total scam artist!! I was a soccer coach at the Smyrna Rotary Soccer park so I thought the location was perfect to where we live. We checked into their kennel services a Saturday which was a FULL week before bringing our dog to be boarded. Our current vet faxed the records to them Monday and I called that day to confirm they received them and that he had all the required shots. They assured me that he did. HOWEVER, about 1 1/2 hours into our road trip out of town, they called to say that he did not have all of his shots and said that he'd need $60 worth of shots-a FOURTH set of shots that our vet hadn't given him but they required?? Remember, I confirmed that he had ALL necessary shots a week before brining our dog AND they said nothing to me about it at the time I dropped him off. I called our regular vet and they reassured me that our dog was fully vaccinated by all veterinary standards which require THREE rounds of shots. Thinking we would just take their ""Bait and Switch"" lying down, Southern Vet insisted they had to give him these shots or he was not fully immune to the other dogs in the kennel. I asked why they hadn't noticed this in the ENTIRE week before as they had the records, or when I dropped him BEFORE exposing him to those other dogs and insisting this was quite irresponsible. Well, we were not willing to have our dog get shots, probably become sick and be with strangers while we were gone. It was only when they saw that we meant business by sending one of our friends to pick up our dog that they decided he didn't need these expensive booster shots afterall. Made our friend wait 30 mins. as they had suddenly misplaced our dog. Be aware that they are not concerned about your pets wellbeing but instead are a bunch of money-grubbing scam artist!! In the end, their greed left them with $zero and I encourage you to warn all friends, family and neighbors about this NIGHTMARE OF AN EXPERIENCE THEY PUT US THROUGH!!! Pros: NOT one Cons: They money hungry Scam artists more