Shawsheen Animal Hospital

I was suprised to read the few negative comments posted about Shawsheen Animal Hospital. I have been taking my pets there since they first opened there doors. My rotti, greyhounds and now pitbull have received the best care from Dr. Caruso, Dr. Leblanc and their staff. Vet care is expensive. Especially when you go to a vet that wont cut corners. They care about pain management and quality of life for animals. Both Dr. Leblanc and Dr. Caruso are able to provide great bedside manner and are well versed in Veterinary medicine. I have seen them save an animal in a diabetic coma, provide emergency surgery for my greyhound who had a black area on his side. They are amazingly talented in their field and anyone who says otherwise is basically just WRONG. I love my dogs. I feel at ease knowing Shawsheen Animal Hospital is there to take care of my dogs needs and my piece of mind. Keep up the great work Shawsheen & Thank you:)

I bring my dogs here every year for there annual checkup and routine doggie health care. Dr. Leblanc is very knowledgeable and very attentive towards my dogs needs. I have two German Shepards and one of them is very ADHD. But given that in mind they are able to still provide the care to him and my other female GSD. Going back again this year for there annuals again!

Ever since we moved to Tewksbury in April we have been bringing our 13 year old cat and recently rescued, 7 month old lab mix puppy to Shawsheen for checkups, shots, and most recently, our puppy’s neutering. The doctors and staff at Shawsheen are professional, kind, and keep you aware of future appointments and information as they truly care for our pets. The team at Shawsheen deserves a lot of credit and we can’t thank them enough for giving us some peace of mind!

We’ve been taking our cats and dogs here for the last 14 years. As the animals age, it’s 2 checkups annually in order to stay on top of health concerns. In addition, multiple visits for issues like dog paws cut on glass in the woods, ear infections from swamping, cat bites from squabbles, and on and on. That’s a LOT of visits, and I can say that not once have I been exposed to attitude or rudeness or guilt trips. These people are CARING and are going to advocate for the best treatment possible, if it’s a budget concern, just say so. Options are always presented, wait and see is never scoffed at if it isn’t an urgent issue, additional information is made readily available. Staff will go the extra mile in an emergency. With my furry family, I’m grateful to have them in town just a mile away.

Doctor’s perform the wrong surgery on my dogg and think its fine and theres nothing wrong with it. We got no apology or anything along the lines of okay how can we make you happy or what can we do for you, nothing was said to that extent. This place is a joke you would think people in the animal profession would actually care about animals well you thought wrong. My family and I have been going here for over 10 years and we are going to finally stop. This place is just a money hungry business That just cares about extracting money from your wallet. I’ve never in my life seen a business so pushy about adding things on to your bill you almost feel like it’s a joke cause it’s so bad. READ THE COMMENTS BELOW PEOPLE SAY THE SAME THING. AND THE REASON WHY THEY DO THAT IS BECAUSE THE OWNER TAKES THEM TO THE BAHAMAS if they exceed a SALES GOAL.
DO NOT bring your pet here they truly don’t care about your pet it’s disgusting.

After moving last year, I was pretty stressed about finding a vet that could even come close to our last. We tried out 2 local vets right away when our dog needed a vaccine and annual check-​up etc. The first one was horrible. The second one was okay. Finally, this year, we decided to try out Shawsheen for a yearly check-​up. So relieved to have found such a great place! The staff was great with our dog. The vet tech even followed up the next day to see how he handled the vaccine. We’ll definitely be sticking with Shawsheen going forward.

I am in love with the staff at Shawsheen animal hospital! Every time I go there they make me feel so welcomed! They make you feel so comfortable and like you have known them forever. They are never pushy, and always show a genuine concern for your pet. I wouldn’t take Tobie anywhere else! They always give him tons of extra treats and are so gentle and sweet with him. Love it there!

I have been taking my dog there for 11 years and have never found them to be anything but concerned about her welfare. She has had a few physical problems over the years and the staff has been very caring, comforting and understanding and I trust their recommendations. My dog is always excited and happy to go there despite knowing she will be poked and prodded. I have gotten to know the staff well and cannot say enough about them. I recommend them highly.

While I have read the other review, I find the practice to be great. They will offer you everything available, but understand when I decline items. You have to be educated to understand their service offering. They want me to come in every six months for a check up for my older dog, and I just tell them I prefer to do it annually. They make no fuss over it. I do find that they are very caring. Dr LaBlanc does talk really fast, but that is not to confuse you, he just speaks fast. I love Dr Michelle Caruso, she is fab! In the end, spend your money where you think it is best, get some thick skin and say no, but you wont find better care in my book. The food the recommended by the way had my two over weight animals acting like kids again. My cat lost 6 lbs!

I’ve had great experiences at Shawsheen Animal Hospital. The staff is friendly, and helpful, and the Vets are fantastic, and caring. I don’t find their prices to be higher than any other Vet services out there, and I love that their hours are flexible (many evening hours, etc). I’d strongly recommend them to my family and friends.

Extremely pushy! We brought our dog here when we moved to the area, and just like some other reviews have said, they are extremely pushy about vaccines and procedures. For example, we have a 12 yr old dog that they want to put under to do some dental work, and when we said we didn’t feel comfortable putting our 12 yr old dog under, they really gave us the cold shoulder, tried to make us feel bad about it, and quite honestly, treated us like total crap. They also didn’t seem too interested in our opinions and I didn’t feel like they were really listening to us.
We are absolutely done with Shawsheen Animal Hospital and will never be going back. McGrath Animal Hospital in Billerica (where our cats go) is absolutely wonderful and has a great caring staff. I’d highly recommend McGrath over Shawsheen.

I used to bring my first dog to Shawsheen Animal Hospital and while I thought Dr Caruso was extremely capable and caring, the staff always made me feel like I was a bad pet parent when I would try to refuse their vaccination recommendations. I stopped going because of their pushy tactics, but I do miss Dr Caruso.

I am sad to say that my feelings of Shawsheen Animal Hospital have changed to not good. It started with a lump on my dog’s ear that they wanted to cut off ½ her ear to remove and I was hesitant about. Thankfully I waited because it fell off a couple of weeks later. Then she got a tumor containing mast cells under her armpit and I took her to have it looked at. The veterinarian assistant was so rude and abrupt right from the start. I asked if she was having a bad day and if she would like us to reschedule. She apologized and became friendlier. Dr. Caruso then came in to do her examine and told me my dog needed surgery to remove it. I scheduled the surgery but also scheduled an appointment with an Oncologist at Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital to get a second opinion. The Oncologist was very thorough with his explanation and asked me if I would like to have the surgeon take a look at my dog and give me an estimate for the surgery. I said «yes». When he came back with an estimate of $ 2000-​$ 2500 I was a little sticker shocked because Shawsheen had given me an estimate of $ 831-​$ 981 including a dental cleaning. The Oncologist explained that Shawsheen may not be using a surgeon and was probably using a general veterinarian to do the surgery. He recommended that I check with them if I had concerns, but he thought for the size of my dog’s tumor I would be fine having it done at Shawsheen.
When Shawsheen called to confirm the appointment I asked if the doctor was a board certified surgeon or a general veterinarian and I was told he was a general veterinarian. Still being concerned I asked a few more questions. I was shocked when the girl told me that if I don’t feel comfortable maybe I should go to Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital and have the surgery done there. Say what? I was only asking a few questions to ease my mind. She apologized and explained what she meant by what she said, but it didn’t make sense. I kept my appointment and did some more research online and when I went to check Dr. LeBlanc’s license on the state’s «Check A Professional License» website it didn’t come up. Dr. Caruso’s did, but not Dr. LeBlanc’s. I called to ask about it and the girl that answered the phone had no idea why and wasn’t sure if he was licensed out of Tewksbury, she also didn’t have his license number for me to look up but did say she could ask him for it and call me back. I explained my concerns and disappointment with their office. She too told me their office had a variety of personalities and if I wasn’t comfortable I was free to go somewhere else.
I just don’t understand this way of thinking. I used to own my own business and work in a dental office, I would never dream of telling a client or patient to go somewhere else without first trying to make things right. I would think that with all the bad reviews they are getting they would realize they need to work on their customer service skills, but perhaps the sign they posted in their lobby about how many patients the veterinarians and the techs could see a year said it all… They are more concerned about quantity than quality. Too bad because I loved you guys when we first started going to your office about 4 years ago.
** Dr. LeBlanc’s license is listed under Waltham, his home town. **