Double A Veterinary Hospital

Another great experience at Double A! Our new puppy had his first check up with Dr Andrea on Thursday. She spent a good half hour going over him, answering our questions and giving us advice. It was the end of the day and even though she still had appointments waiting, she gave us her full attention and didn’t rush us. Despite us moving to a town 35 minutes away, we continue to bring our dogs to Double A. They are reasonably priced too! If you’re not totally happy with your current vet, give Dr Andrea a chance to win you over.

We have been taking our dogs to Double A for many years. They are always friendly and helpful, and Dr. Andrea helped us through the emotional time of putting our dog down 3 ½ years ago. We just recently got a new puppy and have brought him to double A as well. Our visits recently have been great — the staff is so loving, friendly and knowledgeable when you are there in the office, and we have never felt as though we were rushed through an appointment.
There is grass, trash bags and a garbage as you walk from the parking lot to the building for any pets that have to go on the way In. We love the spacious waiting room, there is always plenty of room for families and their pets, big or small. At times it can be difficult to get a hold of them over the phone, and there have been some instances over the years where we have walked to an empty waiting room and are left waiting for a short period of time before someone comes to help us. Hopefully these things will improve, but hey don’t deter us from returning either.

The staff is so helpful! Also always so friendly when I call with silly dog questions :)

Only go here if you are being served by Dr. Autorino herself. We started bringing our golden there when he was young and Dr. Autorino was fantastic. Over time, as the place got busier, other «doctors» started seeing him. If they tell you to see Lynn Hettinger, run for the hills. Take your dog somewhere else. She is rude, unprofessional, uncompassionate, and seems to lack common sense. (i.e. we had to put our dog down after 12 years of happiness with him and she was screaming and laughing while doing this. Unbelievable.)
I think this is a good place to bring younger dogs, again, as long as Autorino is seeing your pup. We brought our dog there several times in the past few months for many different reasons: he was having trouble walking (even after giving him his arthritis meds), his belly was swelling, he was losing his appetite, drinking a lot of water, etc. Any joe shmo could tell you something was going on. After the number of times we brought him, Gould and Hettinger kept saying nothing was wrong with him and it was old age. Low and behold these two «doctors» missed the fact that he had cancer. They even did a blood test upon our request and claimed that there was nothing abnormal in the results. Finally, we brought him again last tuesday and said «listen. something is seriously wrong. stop telling us it is old age and do something useful.» Their response: he has a very large tumor on his spleen and he could «drop dead» at any moment. Literally, those were the words that came out of Lynn Hettingers mouth as she told me my best friend had cancer; a situation that they could have diagnosed months before but they were too incompetent to do. They said it was a very very common issue in Golden’s his age. Then why did they NEVER mention that to us the multiple times we brought him there?
They are a miserable place with very incompetent doctors. I would suggest staying far away to avoid the frustration and heartbreak that this place brings. Instead, i would suggest a place in Newington that treated our doggie and us with total professionalism when we brought him there for a second opinion. Newington Veterinarian Clinic at 177 Day Street was really great, and they have a lot of experience with older dogs. They also admit when they can’t help and direct you to the place you should take your dog for more help (they told us immediately to take our pup to a cancer center in windsor — much kinder than acting like nothing was wrong with him). After months of telling them something was wrong with our dog, Double A told us about the cancer on Tuesday, and our pup was gone by Friday morning. I know they couldn’t have changed the cancer, but they definitely could have told us sooner so we had a little more time to say goodbye.
Again, Dr. Autorino is great and this review is not a reflection of her expertise. She, however, should take some time to look more closely into who she is hiring as this place has now dipped to a three star rating, when it used to be a five. Again, cant say this enough times: keep your pup and your children far away from Lynn Hettinger. She is loud, obnoxious, and doesn’t have a clue how to be a compassionate doctor, or a doctor at all. If you are expecting any bad news, do not let her be in the room with your children when you talk to her. She might tell you that your dog is going to «drop dead».

They are extremely insensitive, and incompetent.
Our Dog was dying and Dr. Lynn Hettinger was was laughing loud and obnoxious when he needed to be put to sleep. Show some sense of professionalism your a doctor for god sake and this is a dying family member.
Doctors saw our dog multiple time ran tests yet never figured out an issue that other vets said should have been seen. We took him to another vet and they herd him bark and diagnosed things this vet missed. Only issue was it was to late as he was too old for surgery.
They can not diagnose at all. Would never ever go back here if I knew this is how bad they would be its too late for my boy but Would say go somewhere else for yours. The place center of Newington is much more professional.
I found more out from research on my own then the vet knew about what was wrong with my dog.
I would pay double or even triple if they could diagnose whats wrong. IF you do take your animal here would recommend paying for getting xrays and ultrasounds and if they can’t see what’s wrong taking them to another doctor for another opinion.

Location — located on a side street off the Silas Deane highway. Quiet neighborhood. Parking lot has adequate parking though it seems small. I’ve never had any trouble parking when I had appointments there.

Aesthetics — Small grassy area just before you enter in case the pooch has a sniff of the grass and wants to go. There’s available bags outside in case you didn’t bring any with you and there’s a trash can there as well (though you shouldn’t take my word for it and still bring your own poop bags as sometimes there aren’t any available). Upon entering the office, the waiting area is fairly big in case you have a large breed dog and lots of seating as well. There’s a large scale for weighing your pet while you wait if you’re brave enough to operate it (usually your pet gets weighed when they’re inside meeting with the vet. Sometimes when you enter, there’s no bell or buzzer to tell staff that someone has entered the building so sometimes you can be waiting there for more than a couple minutes for someone to check you in. (–1)
Service — Although staff are super friendly over the phone and when you visit the office, the falter when you have to call to make an appointment. If you must call to make an appointment, their phone can be busy for a long time, and if you do get through, you are usually asked to hold also for a long period of time. (–1)
Rating — ³⁄₅. I only come here because the two vets that respectively take care of my dog and cat. I wouldn’t dream of having anyone else take care of them as the two vets do; however if it wasn’t for their sloppy office management skills, e.g. not answering the phone, putting clients on interminable holds, and not checking clients in promptly upon their arrival the place would’ve garnered a 5-​star rating from me.

I cannot say enough good things about this place, and in particular Dr. Autorino. She is seriously an angel to me. She saved my dog’s life twice (had a small Yorkie who was twice attacked by a large dog). She gave such sincere and loving care to my pet, right up until the very end. She kept her healthy for a nice, long life. We put her down when she was 16. And she was so sympathetic and understanding — she truly understood our feelings. We would have wanted no one else to handle that day but Dr. Autorino. Again, very loving and gentle throughout… even followed-​up with a beautiful hand-​written card and a paw print from our pet. She was a wonderful part of my dog Courtney’s life (and my childhood growing up), and my family and I trusted her completely. Andrea helped ease Courtney’s pain and we put her down peacefully in 2009. It was so hard, but she was an indescribable help and source of peace during such a sad time of loss. Now a few years later, I just recently adopted a Yorkie puppy with my husband and we have been taking the new pup to a vet close to our home, only because we moved out of town and Double A wasn’t close to us anymore. However our new vet made us realize how good we had it with Double A and Dr. Autorino! It’s just not the same at this new place, and thus we will be taking our new pup to Double A as well. It’s worth the long drive because Dr. Autorino really is THAT special. I think it says a lot when we have a perfectly fine vet next to our home, yet we’d rather make the treck back to my hometown for truly exceptional veterinary care. Dr. Autorino is an amazing woman and an amazing veterinarian. I’m so happy our new puppy can be a patient there. We can’t wait to go back to her!

I have been bring Dogs to Double A for 9 years now and my girlfriend even longer. She has had 5 dogs cared for at Double A. The staff is patient and friendly. The Vets are knowledgeable, kind and gentle. They are always close to on time, unlike Dr.‘s for humans, and show respect that I too have a schedule. Our dog is not the most flexible animal but she never seems any «worse for the wear» after a visit to the vet.

I’ve been bringing my dog there for about 3 years now. She was an abused animal who has fear issues. They are most kind and gentle with her. Their prices are way lower than my previous vet and the vet techs who speak to me on the phone are extremely helpful and if they can’t answer a question, they go ask the vet and get right back to me with advice. As for people complaining about drop offs, I too experienced that as well but it was because they were booked that day and I needed immediate assistance. I really didn’t find it a terrible idea because it was explained to me that I had my choice, wait for a few days or drop the dog off that same day for a quick check.. Well, I would rather have a vet check an injury out right away than wait. Just my take on it. They never told me that I had to wait months for an appointment. I called yesterday and they took her in for x-​rays today.

Woods,
…WOW, i am shocked… GET THIS!!!
I was just telling hubby of your difficulties and he told me i spoke too soon! He called TODAY to get an appt for our older dog’s annual (due mid June) and he wanted to get it before he goes back to work (he recently had two surgeries) and I’ll be DAMNED but they told him if he wanted to be present they couldnt schedule it until JULY, or we could do a DROP OFF appt in June!
WTF??? I am just as furious as you are (altho they sd we could drop him off between 8 to 10 and pick up 3 to 4 hours later, so he would not be there all day. I would never do that with our younger dog who was a puppy mill dog, but for the big doggy who doesnt mind kennels, we might.
I am stunned and I had no idea, i wonder if they have just started accepting too many pets or why they are doing this! PLEASE… if u find a good loving vet, send me a message and let me know, and i will do the same. I guess we just had no idea since we really only need to see them a couple of times a year…
I would definitely try to call and speak with Dr Andrea herself to see if she can help u out, and explain that u have been going there for so many yrs…
but i just wanted to let u know its NOT JUST YOU… they are treating EVERYONE like crap apparently! Needing an appt two months in advance just to be able to converse with the doc and not leave the animal in a cage all day is BULLSHIT!

We have 2 dogs and 3 cats and used to go there but they were WAY to busy and always offered a ‘run back’ which means they bring the animal in back in between appointments but you never get to hear waht the doctors says and they charge for the full apt. As a good pet parent, sorry, but I want to talk to the doctor. We switched to Wethersfield Animal Hospital which switches doctors from W.H. Veterinary Specialists in house, excellent care and appointment setting.

Okay I have a rather large super hairy cat who was apparently in an especially nasty mood today. He tried to scratch up the vet and eat the assistant (who had on welding gloves and really needed chain maille), but they were very understanding and sympathetic towards my beast. Most people would have shot the cat at this point, but the Vet really loves animals and you can tell that the staff does too. The professionals here treat your animal with respect and understanding and you won’t have to sell your first born to pay for the vet visit. Just to give you an idea of how reasonable they are there was no charge today and to have my cat anesthetized so that he can have his checkup, shots, nails clipped, and the large knots shaved off his back (reverse Mohawk. lol.) will all cost under $ 100. That is amazing! This is the best vet.