I have been taking my dog to this clinic since I adopted him in 2011 and my cat since 2013. I started going here because it was a vet that participated in the free check for adopted animals from the Wisconsin humane society and it was near my East side apartment - I was very happy with my dogs level of care here, so much so that even when I moved far away to Greenfield I continued to take my animals here. I did at one point try a different Greenfield vet because they were close to our new apartment and never again will I do that! That Greenfield vet was so physically rough with our 16 year old cat and it really proved to me how not all vets are created equal. The lady vets at small animal hospital are very kind and knowledgeable. I feel they do really care about animals. I especially want to recognize Dr. Pam Geiken and Dr. Becky Banks. Dr. Geiken has a gentle, healing nature that she brings to the room and the compassion and knowledge for animals is evident. Dr. Banks is probably the nicest vet I have ever had the pleasure of watching my dogs interact with. She actually gets down on the ground to play with the pets! I also really like that she refers to me as my dog's "dad" - some people may think that's weird but, I am his dad! He's my fur baby. So to me that just shows that she gets it, these are our family members. You can tell this is more than a job to them, this is their passion.
In 2016, Dr. Pam Geiken was so caring and gentle with our ailing, elderly cat. She knew how much we loved him and she helped provide care to extend his life. He lived to be 17 and then we had to make the heart breaking decision to put him down. I did not feel pressured by her to do this and she thoroughly explained our options. I believed her judgement when I asked if she felt he was suffering and I needed to hear that from a vet I trusted before making the sad decision to let him cross the rainbow bridge. I plan to take our new cat to see her as well. My dog has seen all of their vets, the only vet they have that I'm not particularly fond of is Dr. Vogel because she always is on me about my dogs weight, to the point of making me feel embarrassed.
I like that they give you itemized breakdown of services (by request) so you can decide what to do. The prices are comparable to the area, so I am not sure why this vet has a reputation for being expensive. In fact I always found the prices reasonable, and for the level of care, unmatched! For many years even when I was making $10 an hour, I could still afford to take my fur babies here and get them quality treatment.
Overall I recommend this vet for your fur babies. I wouldn't trust my animals with any other vets!
Updated 4/2018 - I just wanted to take a moment to update my review and give a shoutout to the wonderful Dr. Becky Banks at the Small Animal Hopsital. A few weeks ago, I had to make the difficult decision to put down my beloved dog Roscoe. He had gone to this vet his entire life, and I could not have asked for a better vet than Dr. Banks to go through the end of his life with. Her kindness and caring really made a difference to both me and Roscoe. I never felt pressured by her to make any certain decisions, and she let me call her multiple times when I was extremely distressed about his deteriorating condition. She actually cried with me when she put him down - this made me feel like Roscoe's life truly mattered to her, and it gave me comfort. It's awful to lose a pet, your best friend - its important when you go through that you have a vet you trust. I have no regrets about any of the care Roscoe ever received, I am confident he had all the best options available, and if I could do it again I would choose Small Animal Hospital every time. In fact, I recently got a new puppy - and he is Dr. Banks's newest patient now! We continue to make the drive from Greenfield to this vet because I don't trust anyone else with the life of my fur babies, they are my world!! read more