Dr. Sterle & Megan have been caring for our little Frenchie's for the past two years, and they've been absolutely amazing. What really says everything about them is that we happily make a one-hour trip just to see them--even though there are plenty of closer options available to us. From the very beginning, they've shown such genuine care, patience, and love for our dogs. They take the time to answer all our questions, never make us feel rushed, and always make sure our Frenchie's feel safe and comfortable. It's clear they truly care about both their patients and their owners. That kind of trust is hard to find, and they've completely won our hearts. We wouldn't think twice about making the drive every single time because we know our dogs are in the best hands possible. read more

Pet Health Center - Babies - Veterinarians Near Me - Decatur, Texas

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A few weeks ago, I stated that once I was emotionally ready, I would file a formal complaint regarding the care my 8-year-old Great Dane, Baylen, received from Dr. Margaret Sterile at Pet Health Center in Decatur. I have now filed that complaint and have supporting documentation. On Thursday, December 12, 2024, Baylen, who had previously been healthy, became lethargic and developed blood in her urine. I contacted the veterinary office and spoke with Meghan Sterile. I explained my concerns and believed Baylen might have a UTI. Meghan suggested it could be a kidney infection but did not advise me to seek emergency care or ask additional questions that might have helped determine the severity of Baylen's condition. I brought Baylen to the clinic as scheduled. She was able to walk into the clinic on her own. Dr. Sterile examined her, took her temperature, and drew blood. She asked whether Baylen had received the Leptospirosis vaccine. When I said she had not, I was repeatedly questioned and made to feel negligent. Dr. Sterile quickly concluded that Baylen had Leptospirosis, told me she was contagious, and said I would be lucky if she survived the night. I was told Baylen had to remain at the clinic because she was considered zoonotic. I was not given the option to take her elsewhere, although the medical record later stated that I had been offered a referral. I begged for information about her treatment and asked to see her. I was eventually allowed to spend approximately 45 minutes with her, but I was not permitted to touch her. I was told she was contagious and that I could not return to see her before leaving. I was told that Meghan would be caring for Baylen throughout the night and that Baylen was doing well when I received a call at approximately 11:45 p.m. The next morning, around 8:10 a.m., I was told Baylen had become significantly less alert and needed to be transferred to a 24-hour emergency facility. I was never notified during the night that her condition had deteriorated. Had I known, I would have arranged an emergency transfer much earlier. I immediately transferred Baylen to VEG in Fort Worth. During the drive, Baylen appeared almost unresponsive. Approximately 20 minutes into the trip, she began crying and howling in severe pain. This was completely unlike her normal behavior, and I had never heard her make those sounds in her eight years of life. When we arrived at VEG, I was told within minutes that Baylen did **not** have Leptospirosis. Further examination, ultrasound, and testing determined that she was septic and suffering from a **spleen torsion and a ruptured uterus associated with pyometra**. By that point, her condition was too advanced for surgery, and she was unable to survive the procedures that might otherwise have saved her life. We were forced to make the heartbreaking decision to euthanize her. I believe Baylen's death could have been prevented if she had received a proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment when I first brought her to Dr. Sterile. I was later informed that the clinic did not have an in-house Leptospirosis test and that the test had to be sent out. To my knowledge, no confirmatory Leptospirosis testing was performed before Baylen was diagnosed and treated as though she had the disease. I also believe other diagnostic testing, including an ultrasound, should have been considered to determine the actual cause of her rapidly declining condition. I have concerns about inconsistencies in Baylen's medical records as well. The records state that I was offered a referral and that certain testing was performed, including a progesterone test, neither of which I recall occurring. I also have concerns about the timing and completeness of the chart notes. This is not my first concerning experience with Dr. Sterile. I previously had an incident involving my French Bulldog, Coco, who was heavily pregnant and approximately two weeks from her expected due date. Coco was brought in for an examination, but without consulting me about her breeding dates, progesterone testing, temperature, or other signs of labor or distress, Dr. Sterile performed an emergency C-section. The puppies were born prematurely and, despite extensive efforts to save them, all eventually died due to complications associated with being born too early. I have also witnessed other troubling incidents involving the care of puppies and believe there is a pattern of poor judgment, inadequate communication, failure to obtain informed consent, and insufficient diagnostic testing. I have reviewed other complaints and online reviews that raise similar concerns about Dr. Sterile's treatment of clients and animals, and I ask the Board to consider whether these complaints demonstrate a broader pattern. My grief over Baylen's death is immense. She was a beloved member of our family, and nothing can replace her. I believe Dr. Sterile and her staff failed to provide Baylen with appropriate care. read more

Our Malibu needed special attention for a large growth that others had shared could not be removed. Margaret agreed she could not live long as it was, but she could & would remove it. That day she & her wonderful team rearranged their scheduling to do the surgery. The surgery went great & Malibu's recovery went exceptionally well. Cannot say enough of the excellent care Pet Health Center provides!!!! read more

We are so thankful for Dr. Sterle and her incredible team. We were visiting from CO and planned on doing a dental for our dog. She discovered a 10cm tumor on her spleen, and saved our dog's life with an intensive and complicated surgery. Megan spent the night with Joy and kept us updated along the way. I can't say enough about Dr. Sterle and her incredible team. She truly loves animals and I believe she is the best. Lastly, I want to say how affordable she is. In CO, this surgery would have cost $6,000, but here it was a fraction of the price. We are forever grateful to her and her caring team. They are in it for the love of animals! read more

Pet Health Center - Joy 1 day after surgery - We were able to visit and feed her. - Veterinarians Near Me - Decatur, Texas

If I could give zero stars I would. Please do not take your animals here. I had taken my Great Dane for a bad case of happy tail. The tip of his tail was infected. The vet walked in and didn't introduce herself or even look at me. I asked that she remove 2/3rds of his tails so that he would not be able to beat it open by his insanely strong tail swings. She agreed but made it very clear that she would rather take just the tip. When my husband dropped our dog off, he reiterated that we wanted the shorter of the two options she gave us. When we picked him up, she only removed the bottom tip despite what we had agreed on. When I asked why I was told she "didn't find it necessary", and we could always pay them more to chop off more if it got infected. Less than 5 hours at the house and he was bleeding worse than he ever had all over my house. I took him back and all she did was berate me for "allowing it to happen" and rebandaged it. I got secondhand embarrassment from how rude she was to the tech in the room with us. The bandage was off in less than 12 hours and his tail was way worse than when I had dropped him off. I had to take him to another vet that actually listened to me and respected my knowledge about my own animal. I have zero respect for this vet, and I hope her employee that was getting berated learns she is worth more than that. read more

Pet Health Center - Veterinarians Near Me - Decatur, Texas

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Been going here for 20 years! I now drive 2.5 hours to get there and refer all my puppy buyers to them.

The vet works very hard, and does everything she can to make sure our animals are well taken care of. Her staff are not the most time efficient and it's not due to her discretion. It's a very high maintenance job and people can hardly understand how it eats away at you over time. Best vet ever!! read more

Great business with reasonable prices and professional service! Pulled my dogs problem teeth and got him on antibiotics and he is healthy and happy now! read more

If we could give a minus 2 we would. My wife brought her beloved 14 year old female dog in because she had blood in her vomit. Vet said it was a tumor. She removed it surgically and the dog seemed to be on the road to recovery. Two days later she had a setback and was in obvious distress . My wife brought her back and they performed another surgical procedure. The dog was kept at the vet over the weekend against my wife's wishes (she knew the dog was dying) and wanted her to be at home. The vet insisted on keeping her in a small unattended (except for a brief morning visit by a tech) cage. My wife decided that the best course of action would be to euthanize the dog as she was in obvious pain. The vet gave her an unbelievable lecture about she just didn't want to bother with her dog, etc., etc. Extremely unprofessional and essentially brow beat my wife into submission. Unfortunately the dog passed away in her small cramped cage in severe pain that night alone. On top of everything else the office staff was very rude and unbelievably incompetent. When we brought the dog in initioally they scheduled the surgery for monday; when we went in they had no record of it! We are very upset over the entire episode and I would never recommend this vet under any circumstance! read more

Love it here. The doctor is great with my pets and listens to all of my concerns. On top of that, this is one of the most reasonably proced vets in the area. read more

If I could give this 0 stars, I would. I took my dog to get an ultrasound and they were extremely rude to me the whole entire time. They did not handle my pregnant dog safely either when performing the ultrasound. Idk if it was because I am Latino but they treated everyone else in there nicely except for me. The vet is lazy and half a**ed everything. Like if you're having a bad day, don't take it out on me! Extremely disappointed. I drove an hour because this place was recommended to me. Pathetic excuse for humans that work there. Also, absolutely no air conditioning. It's hot and muggy in there and it stinks horribly. Never EVER going back there ! read more

Best vet clinic in 3 counties! Dr Sterle and her staff are knowledgeable, efficient and compassionate. I drive from east of Gainesville because they are so good. The prices are very fair too! read more

I have read many of the reviews and completely understand. We breed dogs and we drive an hour just to get to this vet! They are very good with our pets and good prices. We have never had an issue but our favorite lady that worked at the front desk died recently and i have heard that the new hire is not good at all. We went yesterday and she wasn't necessarily rude to us but definitely had a brick wall around her like some are saying. Yes, do your job. But no one else was there and your job is to also be good to your customers if you work at the front desk. I do not believe that she should work at the front desk if at all but we have had good experiences regardless. Even though i may not be the happiest with her they take very good care of our dogs and puppies and they are definitely safe in their hands! (At least the lady at the front desk isn't the one handling them) so all in all the lady at the front desk isn't the best but i cant say that we have had a horrible experience ourself with her ourselves she just is trying to get a job done and doesn't care about customers. Your pets are safe with them and our experience with our breeding business there is amazing! read more

I carefully read all the reviews below before I posted mine. Unfortunately we had the same poor experience with both the lady at the front desk and the vet. I called to make an appointment the day before and was told 6pm. We get there they don't even have me down for the appointment! It took over 10 minutes of arguing with the battle axe at the front counter-turns out they have me under a different first name from TEN years prior when they practiced somewhere else-I called in gave her my lifelong nickname without thinking but they had me under my legal name! So what??? Take my money so I can see the vet! I'm a cash paying customer with a sick cat--just take care of my cat and don't worry about running a background check on your customers. Secondly, per comments below-the vet was VERY unfriendly-never said hello, no introduction-we could barely tell her the issue with my cat. Very, very cold lady. She has a wall built around her and I understand she has to deal with people at their worst and dying pets all day every day. THANK GOD it was a minor issue and she DID do a good job got her cleaned up and feeling better-but a good vet needs a good personality with the people she interacts with so they will come back. We have major stress when our pets are ill-they are our family-and just need to walk into an office with a more supportive and understanding staff who can at least give you a smile. My cat is spending the night there now as she had to have sedation due to an abscess under her tail-and no one is there over night so leave your pets there overnight (or at any unattended vet office) at your own risk. My cat is there overnight only because it's minor and they did have to sedate her (not full blown anesthesia). I've lost two dogs now leaving them overnight at unattended vet offices-but that was not at this vet. Just don't do it!! The five star reviews leave me gobsmacked--I truly can't figure out why we were treated like this, but others seem to swear the opposite? This was my first-and last visit here. This is NOT the best vet clinic in 3 counties either-who has been to every single vet in 3 counties??? Ya know??? Not falling for the five star reviews for this place. read more

We have been to the Pet Center three times in the past year. Each time we waited in the exam room for the vet to come in. Each time she has come into the room she has failed to introduce herself, has not greeted us or acknowledged our pets. I wasn't even sure which one of the two sloppily dressed women was the vet. The one I assumed was the Vet only talked to the other girl who was with her. Not sure what is going on with her, but she seems to either dislike her job, dislike people and animals or have a some type of personality problem. I cannot trust anything she says, as I cannot trust her. I like the staff a lot, they are helpful and friendly. The Dr. on the other hand is the direct opposite of friendly and helpful. Sadly, we will not be returning to the Pet Center. read more

This is one of several excellent veterinary clinics in Decatur. I've appreciated Dr. Searles' help when I had an emergency with one of my dogs. read more

Margaret, the Vet met us at nearly 9 pm on a Friday night to handle the passing of our 14 year old English Bulldog. She was kind, discrete and genuinely concerned for us and Lola during the whole process. She is fine vet and an even better person. read more

Dr Sterle is an amazing Veterinarian. Yes sometimes there is a wait but that's bec so many people know how great she is and she try's to help everyone when they need her. I can not say enough a her skills. So many of us drive a long way to use her because we trust her with our fur babies. read more

While we were very grateful they squeezed our dog in for bloodwork and an ultrasound, the Vet was not personable whatsoever. They did not record or take pics of the ultrasound to show the mass(es) they found in our pet. I asked to have all the information emailed to me and it took me calling for 2 more business days to finally get it. When I reviewed it, there were no specific size details of the 'very large mass' the vet said the scan showed. I sent another email responding to the report I finally received, inquiring about the size of what was found. It's been a week since they scanned our pet and I still don't have a response. So when we took our dog to our regular vet, another ultrasound had to be done which made us feel like we wasted $ on the scan Pet Health Center did. We won't be coming back. read more

I called because I am moving into town and am needing prenatal care for my dog , I was told I could get basic care to the extent they weren't allowing me to schedule a c section for my "French bulldog" until she was in active labor which is LIFE THREATENING, I begged to allow for a reverse PROJESTRONE test and was told we could do so but still won't be able to schedule a c section . Knowing the breed it's super dangerous to mom and pups if a pup gets stuck in the canal which is why you schedule a c section , She said it would have to be an emergency c-section and I'm sure it's for the simple fact they make more money for it being considered an emergency! Shame on these people I will not allow my dogs life to be pup in jeopardy! Do not go here they obviously don't have the best intentions for your animals ! read more

I can't say enough good things about Pet Health Center. We have a 10 year old Great Dane who had a growth on his paw. We took him to a vet in Fort Worth who basically told us he has seen this before, it was a inoperable cancerous tumor and basically to just enjoy our time with him. The previous bet said it was stage 2 or 3 and we only had a few months left with him. We were devastated. Fast forward a few months & we took our pup into see Dr. Sterle. Within 5 minutes she had drawn blood, examined it and let us know that from what she can tell (she isn't a pathologist) the cells look pretty normal and it was a slow moving cancer. Also, THE TUMOR WAS OPERABLE! Within a week she had the tumor off of his paw and he's doing amazing. She is absolutely incredible & talented at her profession. 10/10 recommend! read more

hi i went to pet health center and every time i called shelby always had an attitude and seem like anything i mention was dumb. She's the reason why this place is getting a one star review , the worst costumer service i have ever received. Shouldn't be working front desk or there if she hates her job so much and the clients. read more

Love this place staff very friendly and knowledgeable. I take all my dogs here, and my parents take their animals as well. They have dogs, cats, birds, and a horse and the vet is always able to help. read more

Pet Health Center - Lobby - Veterinarians Near Me - Decatur, Texas

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Holy moly! FABULOUS clinic. Professional, compassionate and all around amazing! Love the entire team! Thank you all for all you do!

I took my pet here to see Dr. Amy Brent for bladder stones. I brought his x-rays and ultrasound on a disk from his primary provider. She left the room to view it and came back in for a minute and said I can't view it let me take a quick ultrasound left and came back and said Oh I see it now. Without talking about charging me again for something I already had I was then charged for the ultrasound, $95 for the Visit and left with medicated dig food instead of bladder stone removal. I could have simply went home and printed the tests on the disk but instead she decided to run a "quick ultrasound" and then charge me for it knowing I already had one. I called to go over this because I did not realize what happened until I got home and they told me sorry you feel that way bit we are not giving you your money back. It was extremely shady and messed up. read more

Took my dog to see Dr. Brent for an initial visit. Her "annual exam" consisted of listening to him with a stethoscope. She wasn't friendly, hardly spoke to me OR my dog, and couldn't have spent any less time in our room. Maybe she was having a bad day, but I couldn't bring myself to take MY dog back there. It was a nice facility and the office staff were friendly - but when it comes to your family pet, it's the doc that really matters. read more

I love this place. They are wonderfully friendly and SO nice with our animals. Very knowledgeable and affordable. Allowed us to walk in when we had an emergency with one of our dogs when other places in the area would not. read more

We LOVE this Vet! We have used them for 9 years for our dogs and have always had great service. The prices are fabulous and they care about us and our dogs! It's worth the extra drive for us! read more

This is a great Vet Clinic everyone seems to care. We actually drive over an hour to bring our pets here because they are the most reasonable and don't seem to be just trying to screw you over. When quoted from another vet to get my dog's patella fixed because it was subluxing the other vet quoted us $3500 per knee while this clinic was able to get it done for $450. I highly recommend this clinic it is affordable, quick, and can get into it easily. read more

Horrible place! I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. They clearly didn't know what they were doing and then charged me an enormous amount of money for doing nothing to help my fur baby. Don't go there if you love your pet read more

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this place!! Seriously, the entire staff is professional yet friendly, knowledgable and caring. It's always clean and doesn't smell of death like other veterinarian clinics in the area. They go by appointments instead of "show up n get in line n we'll get to you in 3 hours.....maybe!" which allows for time management on my end! They have a fantastic groomer on site as well! Can't say enough about this great place! read more

We have taken our dog there before so we returned. This time they ran tests we did not authorize that raised our bill up from a $32 office visit to $156. I called and spoke with the doc that saw our dog to resolve the issue but she was very rude and would not let me finish a sentence. They wanted to charge us $87 for the medication and we went online and got it for $30. Don't go here unless you are prepared to have your bill hiked up and want to be treated very disrespectfully. I feel completely ripped off. read more