Windhover Veterinary Center

I have been taking my pets to Windhover for the passed 15 + years, They are so compassionate and caring. Dr Holmes and Dr McMillan are by far the best I have seen. The staff is so friendly and caring. I would never take my dog anywhere else
A++++

I found Windhover Veterinary Center several years ago when I was unhappy with my current veterinarian. Over the past three years I have brought my two dogs, a shih tzu and a beagle mix to Windhover regularly for routine visits and vaccinations. Last year my Shih Tzu «Biscuit» had developed pulmonary hypertension. Dr. Karen Holmes cared for … and ‘cared about’ my little Biscuit and helped both of us through the difficult road we had ahead. All along, she told me what we could do for him and what we could expect as this disease progressed. Throughout the good days and bad days that followed, Dr. Holmes always checked in to see how Biscuit was and gave treatment and medicines that undoubtedly extended his life. Biscuit lost his battle with his disease in February … Dr. Holmes called me as soon as she found out about Biscuits passing and made me feel so much better with her kind words and her heartfelt sorrow that he was gone. Shortly after loosing Biscuit, my beagle mix «Trixie» developed breathing issues and significant arthritis. Dr. Holmes treated Trixie gently and with great care during her sickness, always checking in with me between visits on her condition. Last Saturday morning Trixie lost her ability to walk and was having difficulty breathing, she was in very rough shape. I called Windhover, but was disappointed that Dr. Holmes was not working that day. The receptionist who I spoke to that morning called Dr. Holmes (at home) and told her what was happening. I was stunned when she called me back within minutes and asked about Trixie. She recommended a change to her medicine doses (to make her more comfortable) and called me throughout the day to check on her progress. Keep in mind, this was her day off and she cared enough about my dog to keep calling to check on her. When I lost my Trixie, she was there with heartfelt emotion and caring. I know this description of events is ‘wordy’, but I felt it necessary to explain all of this to let people know about her caring. It is what we all want for our pets, they are our family. If you care about your pets, I strongly recommend making Dr. Holmes your veterinarian …

My cat somehow broke her tail so I brought her in this afternoon. Every single person who works here is really wonderful, just patient and kind and knowledgeable. My cat doesn’t have the easiest personality but she always relaxes in here, and the woman who had her dog in the waiting room with me was saying the same thing. Long story short, Dr Holmes initially thought amputation would be the best option but quickly realized she had feeling in her tail so was able to repair it. Price estimate was $ 570 to $ 650 and ended up being $ 477. They also gave me a small bag of ‘pill pocket’ snacks, removed some tartar from her teeth and advised me on the cat’s recent weight loss. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

We have two parrots, and Windhover has been a great place to take them. Both of the vets are avian certified, but we always see Dr. Holmes out of habit. She is amazing handling out birds and so sweet with them. She also has lots of recommendations for dealing with nutritional, social, and behavioral issues that come up with parrots.
One of our birds was injured in a fight with the other bird one evening, and they squeezed him in between other appointments, no problem. Dr. Holmes also called the next day to see how he was doing.
They have ample parking in the back, open most evenings, and on Saturdays. I wish they could see emergencies off hours, but they only have two vets and that would be pretty hard for them.

Background: I took my kitty to Angell where they indicated it was likely she had an intestinal obstruction, and it would cost $ 2.5K to admit and conclusively diagnose her and $ 2K for a subsequent surgery with possible complications, e.g., need to remove parts of the intestine. I took my kitty home, she continued to vomit and I cried thinking I would have to put her to sleep. It cost my $ 556 to know this.
In comes Windhover! I called around all of the suburban vets looking for someone, anyone who might be able to give her a conclusive ultrasound for less than a $ 2.5K hospital admission. I spoke with Sandy, receptionist at Windhover. She reluctantly gave me the first available ultrasound appointment for Mon a.m. (it was a Thurs evening) and urged me to keep calling around because if it were an obstruction that would be too late for my kitty. As I was calling around, she called me back. She had spoken to the practice owner, and board-​certified radiologist, Dr. McMillan. Dr. McMillan asked if I could bring my kitty’s x-​rays from Angell over that evening. It was 5 p.m. — she was leaving at 6 p.m. and wouldn’t be in the office the following day. I rented a Zipcar, fought with Angell to get copies of the x-​rays (yes fought!) and then battled rush hour traffic to get to Walpole. I made it at 6:25 and was practically crying as I burst through the door expecting it to be too late, but Dr. McMillan had waited. She looked at the x-​rays for about 30 secs and said my kitty had an enormous hairball in her stomach. I questioned her diagnosis, explaining that Angell told us it was food in her stomach. She drew a circle around the hairball revealing a thin layer of air between the mass and the stomach lining — food would have been evenly dispersed — this was clearly a hairball, she said! Notably Angell had missed the diagnosis, and I was on the verge of putting my cat to sleep — Dr. McMillan saved her life.
The next day I brought my kitty in to see Dr. Postman who added that my kitty was far too healthy to have had an obstruction. She called Dr. McMillan on her cell phone (since it was her day off) and together they came up with a treatment plan. While given the size of the hairball surgery may be indicated, they did not want to put my cat through that unnecessarily. They suggested we do another x-​ray to see if the size had decreased or increased. The technician did not stretch my kitty to give a full look of her entire abdominal cavity — she said the kitty’s comfort was more important than a pretty picture (Angell missed the boat on that too). The hairball was smaller! Drs. McMillan and Postman concurred we should try and manage this medically, not surgically. However, if it did not work they would do the surgery there for under $ 2K.
They suggested a course of special diet and major hydration. Shannon, a tech there, showed me how to give her subcu fluids and they gave me non-​Rx food and hairball medicine to help. All in all, they CORRECTLY diagnosed my kitty for $ 286. The next day they called back to let me know they had discussed more and felt this was the right course. They wanted me to know that even though it was the weekend I could reach them at any time.
Also it is notable that Angell called my kitty a «bad cat» — at Windhover they explained that calico cats are known for being «special» and requiring «special handling». Thank you Windhover for recognizing my distressed kitty is not bad and being compassionate with her! Thank you Windhover for not price gauging me! And most of all thank you Windhover for your intelligence and aptitude– because of you my 6 year old kitty is still here! For regular check-​ups I will still use Charles St Animal Clinic because Walpole is far away, but I will never take a sick kitty anywhere else but Windhover again.