Amwell Veterinary Surgery

I would give zero stars if possible because on both occasions I’ve been in touch with this vets regarding my cat (one being a visit to the vet six years ago and recently another a phonecall when I was in shock and upset at something that had happened to my cat) the woman receptionist Margaret has been extremely rude, cold, judgmental and left me close to tears. Completely lacking in empathy and people skills. I’ve had three cats with many, many occasions of needing to contact and visit vets over the years. Also for my my neighbour’s cat as well. This has involved dealing with quite a few (two private including this one and four low cost) veterinary practices and I have never experienced anything like the attitude this ever. Nothing even close.

Been using amwell for a few months now, they have been very helpful, Dr dale have always been helpful for issues of my dog, Margaret is also very knowledgable about immigration and general health issues. I lived with my dog I three different countries, amwell is hands down the best vet I have been

Today was Dexter’s first visit to Amwell. The purpose of the visit was to get a refill of Loxicom and since we are new to the area and to the surgery, the vet wanted to check Dex out. No problemo.
Our visit was free; all new patients are given a free consultation. So, that’s awesome.
Both the woman running «front of house» and the vet were super nice and smiley. I learned that the surgery is a one-​man show which means the vet works a ton of hours! The surgery is super clean. Like super duper clean.
His bedside manner was awesome. Dexter is generally not a huge fan of vet surgeries but he was more relaxed here than at any other vet surgery in the England. Perhaps this was because — since it is a one-​man show — there were no other pets in the surgery waiting room, making him anxious. Perhaps it was because the examination room is twice the size of any examination room I’ve seen in England so he didn’t feel boxed in. I don’t know the reason. All I know is that Dexter was calm and wasn’t trying to crawl under the table and that was nice.
All of the above is great but the best thing about this surgery is the vet himself. Dex is an old chap. At 15.25, he’s got his share of issues (arthritis, carpal hyperextension, poor eyesight, lumps, grumpiness) and our prior vet would always push us to do tests on his lumps or require that he do bloodwork to ensure Dexter’s liver was handling his pain medications. I never agreed with this approach because Dexter is 15 years old. 15! There is no reason to run tests on his lumps because my husband and I have decided that we will take no action on said lumps. Why? Because he’s 15. He is four years beyond the average max lifespan for his breed. This would be like giving a 100 year old human chemotherapy. I mean, that sounds a bit silly, right?
Anyway, this vet shares our thoughts on tests and treatments and never once pressured me to run tests and that was the most wonderful thing ever. He respects our standpoint and since he never suggested running tests, I never felt guilty about being a bad human for not «running every test imaginable to make sure my dog is absolutely taken care of and we know every single detail about his hemoglobin.» I wish all vets were like this!

So far, so good…
I found this veterinary practice on Unilocal based on an older review, and hoped that all the facts still rung true. My luck (and Tillie’s!) they certainly did.
My pup is getting on in years, and that comes with its own set of challenges. I wanted to have her throughly checked out to make sure nothing was terribly amiss before we left on a long trip. I easily and quickly made an appointment with the very polite receptionist and was booked in for a Friday evening appointment.
We arrived rain-​soaked to a happy, warm office full of the vet’s own pooches. We were greeted warmly, seen quickly and the good doctor gave her a once over and sent me home with instructions to collect a urine sample (I had my husband do that job, thankyouverymuch) and return the following day to have it tested for any irregularities, etc. Dutiful dog dad did just this, walked it back over, paid £20 for the test, and they called us later that day with the results: your dog is old and her kidneys are slow, but she isn’t in any pain or distress. Well, all good… best case scenario and we now take many trips outside to use «the loo» to accommodate the kidney-​deficient canine.
Big plus: the initial exam and registration appointment is free of charge. I had no idea this was true… but what a great way to be introduced to a practice. I’ll surely be back. Very friendly folks that won’t try to upsell you and leave you bankrupt. Practical solutions for your pets.

The folks running the show here are incredibly professional and full of love for animals. They were so kind when helping us cope with the loss of a family pet and have been incredibly helpful now that we have a new set of kittens. We chose them because their office is close to our flat, but even if I lived in another part of London, I strongly consider keeping them as our vets.