Veterinary Internal Medicine Referral Service

Ok, I’m really not sure how this place doesn’t have more stars. I met with Dr. Yohn today and she couldn’t have been more pleasant, more knowledgeable, more patient, more kind, more thoughtful than she was. She took her time. I had a ton of history to share with her — and she spent almost an hour with me discussing how we got to the visit today. I have a 10 (almost 11) year old Maltese. She has heart disease, chronic bronchitis, back leg issues — so has taken rimadyl quite a bit — and recently had an ear infection that required some predinosolone and mometemax — so after all this she got some gastro issues for over a month — which led to some blood work that was off on her potassium calcium which was a scare for potential Addison’s Disease. She tested negative so I ended up at Dr. Yohn. I felt so at ease, which is rare when dealing with my dog who is sick. I didn’t feel rushed AT ALL. Typically I do. I usually have a lot to share and many questions — and she answered EACH and EVERY one of them — without frustration — without annoyance with my detail — I mean honestly I left there feeling relieved about my dog. However, even if the results were not as good as they turned out — I am confident she would’ve helped me through it. It turns out the blood work was re-​run and her levels were back. I had a specific plan of what to do to move forward, and what to do if things changed. I feel confident, informed, and so much better about my Baby even with all her problems because of Dr Yohn and her calm empathetic professional lovely nature. She truly loves pets and clearly people as well.

Dr. Yohn and staff treated my dog, Max, on multiple occasions, including at the end when he was diagnosed with a vascular tumor. They are highly competent, very kind and compassionate. I recommend them without reservation.

BEWARE, I called this doctor out of desperation. My dog had surgery, had a mass removed from her head and after the surgery wouldn’t stop coughing, the original vet, which also will have a «review» gave me antibiotics and not one time mentioned that she could have either kennel cough or collapsing trachea. Nor did they mention that intubation can cause the trachea to collapse especially in an older dog. Not one warning.
After the original vet, I went to another vet and all they did was prescribe steroids and sent me off, So I found Dr Yohn, who I thought was a specialist.
(Steroids have side effects and cause damage, and if the dog has an infection, can reduce the healing of the infection, which I found out later from the last vet I went too, who was hesitant to prescribe them.)
I made an appointment after explaining to her assistant, I believe Julie, what was happening and what we have went through and they sounded great.
I showed up on time, waited 45 minutes for the Dr to show up to my room. Finally she listened to my dogs heart and lungs said it was fine. I asked her if we can do x rays, something to see if it collapsed trachea, or something in her throat and she said no, x rays wouldn’t show – COMPLETE LIE– said she would have to put my dog under again and with a surgeon look down her throat in case surgery was needed, and prescribed steroids again, charged me $ 250 for a 10 minute visit with her and sent me off.
It turns out, my dog has collapsed trachea, collapsed bronchi, pneumonia in her lungs and this «expert» said she sounded fine. As write this review, my dog is dying. I finally took her to Chicago Vet Specialists to find out what is happening, but its severe, was prescribed a bronchulater, a very low dose of steroids, antibiotics, sedatives and hydocoden for cough, 2 weeks and unfortunately she is not doing better as she is not getting oxygen to her brain.
If you have a small dog breed, mine is a shitzu, MAKE SURE they NEVER get intubated, (a tube down their throat) My dog was perfectly healthy until this happened.

I have a long history of having Boxers, and have had many wonderful vets. Early in my dog «breeding» experience, (1992) I had a litter of puppies at the first location of Animal 911. It was an emergency Caesarian birth and the mother dog and the puppies had a struggle for the first several weeks. I became quite well acquainted with the founders of Animal 911… Dr. Share Siwek and Dr. Kelly Rasch… who a few years later recommended Dr. Yohn when kidney issues showed up in two young puppies in particular. Dr. Yohn was at that time much farther away from my Evanston home than she is now in her Skokie location.
For many years after that, I had various reasons with grown and some younger dogs to see Dr. Yohn. Upon her move to Skokie a long drive was not necessary for me. I was elated, though I would have continued to drive the longer distance to see her. She was then and still is lovely and compassionate. She is extremely knowledgeable in her own areas of expertise, but in many others as well. She communicates well and listens to the details the pet owner imparts.
When she notices something new, she will give you a good understanding of the problem, but will also refer you willingly to whatever other specialist she feels is needed. She and her staff are great about communicating with other vets on the case. They keep great records of all that has been done to date, and walk into your room ready for you and your pet.
Dr. Yohn has treated my dogs with kindness, and even has been known to shed a tear when delivering less than happy news. She has helped me at life’s end with several of my Boxers, and helped me extend the lives of others. Her staff (currently Gina and Justine) are savvy and kind, and the premises are new, warm and immaculate. The front desk people, especially Lamour, have a bright and businesslike manner that seems unshakeable. I have spent a lot of time over several years hearing Lamour answer phones, attend to payments, and welcome people while I wait my turn, and I marvel at her way with all of us. It is rare to find this much consistent good service in any field, and in medicine it seems to be very much on the wane.
I have been spoiled by my beloved Dr. Yohn. I cannot recommend her and her group enough.

Our vet at Uptown Animal Hospital referred us to Dr. Yohn after x-​raying our cat’s kidneys and determining that we needed to get an ultrasound done to figure out the cause of her rapid weight loss and acute kidney failure.
I was in this past week and I have nothing but fantastic things to say about Dr. Yohn and the techs in the office. We were helped right away and as soon as I had turned in the paperwork, we were shown into an exam room. The tech was very friendly and told me to just let the cat out to explore if she wanted… which of course she did. Dr. Yohn came in after reviewing the x-​ray and medical history Uptown had faxed and emailed to her and told me what she would like to do next. Before she did anything, she had her tech bring an itemized estimate of costs for me to sign off on. I really appreciated that because although I knew what I was getting into financially, it was nice that I knew exactly what they were doing and what I would be charged for BEFORE it happened.
Please note: if you’ve been referred here to Dr. Yohn it pretty much means that your vet can’t do much more for your pet… so be prepared to spend accordingly. I think the office visit alone was $ 120.
I waited in the exam room while they took my girl for her ultrasound. They brought her back when she was done to explore some more. After she had a chance to look at the ultrasound, Dr, Yohn came back with some awful news that I was pretty much expecting so I was somewhat prepared… yet when she said our little 6 year old cat had been born with terribly malformed kidneys and probably wouldn’t make it much longer, I did burst into tears, and Dr. Yohn was super compassionate and sweet about having to break the news and comforting me afterward.
I highly recommend Dr. Yohn and her staff. Their professional compassion has made this difficult time so much more bearable.

Our vet referred us to Dr. Yohn, when our cat was losing weight and an x-​ray showed there may be something serious going on.
We were able to get an appointment with Dr. Yohn within a few days for an ultrasound. She worked so well with our very cranky kitty (we usually have to sedate him, but he was so sick we didn’t want to). After the ultrasound was over she called us back into the exam room and delivered some very heart-​wrenching news. Our cat had cancer in several organs and his intestines were so diseased he was unable to eat much, if anything.
She was so wonderful in explaining to us exactly what she found, what it was doing to our cat, and possible next steps. She spoke of both treatment options and the euthanasia without putting any personal opinion on what she thought was best. I was so thankful to her and her staff for answering all of our questions and giving us all of the information we needed to make a decision without pressure.
We decided to put our cat to sleep that same day. I cannot say enough how kind and compassionate every single person on her staff was. They were very patient as we said our goodbyes, brought us a blanket to hold our cat while he was put to sleep, and let us hold our cat for a while after. Dr. Yohn then reassured us that we truly had made the right decision. The receptionist came and took care of our bill so we didn’t have to wait up front and took care of the cremation services.
I cannot say how much Dr. Yohn and her staff did to ease our pain. It was wonderful to be surrounded by people we hardly knew, but who cared so much for us and our cat. I certainly will bring my other cat to Dr. Yohn if she has any type of internal medicine issue!!!
If you are worried about your pet, Dr. Yohn’s practice is the place to take him.
Note: A prior posting mentions the price… it is true it is a bit expensive but also worth the price!

Our regular vet referred us to Dr. Susan Yohn at Veterinary Internal Medicine Referral Service (housed in the same building/​offices as Animal 911 and Chicago Exotics) after we had a TERRIBLE experience at Animal Emergency and Referral Service in Northbrook.
Long story short: prednisone is NOT the answer for ALL pets, the vet at Northbrook refused to stop the prednisone, which was essentially shutting our dog’s body down. It was AWFUL.
Dr. Yohn and her staff are courteous, kind and smart! From the first phone call I made, I spoke with Julie who was very understanding of my anxiety about starting with a new vet.
At our first appointment, we went into a room with our dog (at AERC we waited and waited in the very uncomfortable waiting area for about 2 hours every time). Dr. Yohn was friendly, talked directly to our dog pet her and kneeled to the floor to be with the dog!
But what is more, she is knowledgeable of multiple ways of managing complex illnesses. She knows about medical and holistic methods and our dog is now back from being nearly at death’s door. We are so grateful.
A note: It does not come cheap, but it is worth every dime. And, she respects finances as much as possible and orders tests that are needed, but gives options.
And, the waiting area is clean and comfortable with teak furniture. The staff is friendly.
If I could give 10 stars, I would.