i'm disgusted with this business. I've had six small dogs in the last 15 years and four of them have had to go here. Now my last one is blind and she has seen Dr. Corbett there who is a Sweetheart fantastic to us fantastic to the animals and they let her go for a dermatologist which I think is something every vet should know anyway. Now they hand me a sheet that says I have to travel 102 miles away to get my dogs eyes checked she's 15 years old and does not ride well in the car. I saw on the morning news. Upstate Veterinary Specialists is saying that there's a shortage of vets, you just let one of the best vets go. I'm not so sure I understand. Bring back Dr. Corbett please she was the only decent doctor there. I just lost one of my other dogs. GG saw Dr. Arnold. Dr. Arnold gave GG a blood pressure pill she couldn't even stand. I held her in my arms in the urine just dripped out of her when I told Dr. Arnold she got disgusted with me. GG passed away Dr Arnold, Thank you very much for the sympathy card I never received. read more

The worse experience I have ever had at a Vet's office. They had me drive an hour and 45 minutes to get there because my dog needed a cardiologist, THEN told me they might get me in 4 hours later. This is with an emergency!!! The office manager was absolutely discourteous and showed not an ounce of compassion. Basically wait all day or I will get your dog from the back and you can leave. If you want to be treated like a number, and pay $500 to walk in the door, yet get no services, you will be fine here. Otherwise I would go anywhere else. That said, the regular Vet, Dr. Hutchins (I believe) was fabulous. Caring and sympathetic. read more

Were do I begin. My first experience with upstate veterinary specialties, came in Sept. 2018. I was sent to them by my vet, with my female lab Daisy. She was in complete and total shut down. She couldn't stand or walk. Theses people took her immediately, without even asking about, payment. They cared more about her then anything else. Daisy eventually passed, from her illness. They were so compassionate with me, they let me spend so much time with her. They even let me in to see her in the exam room, before she was taken for ultrasound. Unfortunately as they were prepping her and putting on the table she passed. The doctor came out and sat with me, he explained what he believed the cause of death was. He talked with me to put my mind at ease, letting me know that even if she hadn't passed, her out look was not good. The staff were so compassionate and truly heart broken with my loose. Every person gave their condolences and a hug. They made such a bad situation, so much easier to handle. Now comes the hard ONE. My 15 1/2 year old male Dusty, had to be put down on Oct. 22nd, 2019. He was having a hard time standing and walking, he was not eating as normally, he would loose his breath and then fall over. The tech's and doctors at upstate, took him and treated him as if he were their own. It was determined that dusty had a tumor behind his heart. The doctor was direct with me and very comforting. It was decided that if we did nothing dusty would most likely suffer and not last more then 2 or 3 weeks. Only other option besides euthanasia would have been open chest surgery. At Dusty's age he had little to no chance of surviving such a procedure. They let us spend as much time with him while he was still with us to say good by as we wanted. In fact they took us to a private room, and told us we could have 1 minute or 24 hours, since they are open 24 hours. We spent our 2 hrs. with dusty when we decided it was his time to have no more pain. The doctor came in, and let me lay on the floor with dusty as I had been doing almost the whole time I was with him, as he explained what was going to happen. As he administered the medications to put Dusty to sleep, I was holding him, and letting him know how much he was loved and would be missed. This not only let him go in peace, but let me have every last second with him. This place and the staff are beyond phenomenal, there is no word or words to describe them. I have and will recommended them to any one who is a pet lover and wonts only the best care their pet could ever get. GREAT JOB to a great bunch of the most caring people I've ever had the privilege to meet. read more

My 15 year old mini aussie Zorro, was having difficulty walking and his legs were giving out on him, he could not make it over the little lip on the sliding door, he was in so much pain, we could not hold onto him any longer. It was time to let him go. From the first phone call I had to our last beautiful moments with Zorro, Each and every staff member showed, compassion and respect, I am sure each one is an Empath (my favorite people) I highly recommend, Upstate Veterinary Specialties. read more

My Dog Rosè gave birth to two puppies on Sunday 1/8 the following day i noticed she still appeared to be in discomfort and I called a local vet and was told I couldn't bring her in til the vet decided to see her and I would receive a call back. After some time time I noticed my dog began to push again and immediately call an emergency vet which is upstate vet. I explained the situation to the person on the phone and he said I can bring her in immediately! I wrapped my dog in a blanket and rushed there. I carried my dog inside and they bring her back within minutes! I was so happy they were treating her fast as I knew she was in extreme pain. Upon ultrasound of Rosè we were told there are 3 puppies alive inside her!!!We were told the puppies had heart beats and it was nothing but good news !!We were extremely happy to hear this as the two puppies she delivered the prior day didn't make it unfortunately. We were giving two options at this point. I was told Rosè could be given something to help her push the puppies out but she would be at risk of hurting herself. The second option being the more expensive option would be to preform an emergency c section and would also be a safer option. At this point I don't even care what's it's gonna cost I would have did anything to insure the safety and well being of my dogs and her babies. They give me an estimate of about 6 thousand dollars to perform the emergency surgery. I tell them to of course go with the safest option and they then proceed to tell me they need half the cost up front! I was extremely thrown off guard by this because at first everyone was in emergency mode and then paused when money got involved! At what do you put a value on a living being? This being an emergency situation I didn't jus have thousands of dollars on me! In total they wanted $2800 to start the surgery! I told them I have $1000 cash on me right now take this and I'll get the remainder. At this point Rosè was placed in a kennel on the back burner until these fake animal advocates attended to the next profit. Me facing real world expenses I don't jus have thousands of dollars laying around so now I'm trying to explain my situation to these "animal lovers".The doctor tells me I can wait til the morning and find a cheaper vet to do the surgery but my puppies will probably die but the mom will survive or I can get pay there asking price nd they'll save the pups. The doctor tells me since the surgery team left he will perform the surgery and it will bring the cost down.At this point they proceed to negotiate on the cost by cutting out some of the unnecessary upsales they placed on the fist estimate. This brings the cost down drastically and now the low end price of the surgery is about $2800. I give them $2000 cash up front and think Rosè will be rushed into surgery and I'll be picking my baby up with beautiful puppies !! I arrived at upstate vet at 4pm that day! Rosè spent 10 hours in a kennel at upstate vet in painful labor pushing as they negotiated the price!! I left upstate vet at around 10pm and and before leaving I asked how long should Rosè be in surgery and I was told 2 hours. Upon basic research it is known this procedure takes 45- 1 hour to preform including preparation. Anyway I get home and at about 12:45am I call to check on Rosè, I'm told she is still in surgery and upon completion the doctor will call me immediately. About 1:30am I receive a call and he stated "Rosè is doing fine and recovering but unfortunately the puppies didn't make it! I was so hurt I didn't really respond to him. The overall risk of this surgery is low So the death of these puppies happened through out upstate vets money grab tactics!!!! If the first estimate wasn't filled with unnecessary up sales the puppies would have been alive and well!!!! I will get justice for for the puppies lives that were lost. Pets are apart of the family imagine if someone took over 10 hours to preform life saving surgery on your loved one? How would you feel? Upstate vets the death of these puppies are on your hands ! read more

We had an excellent experience with Upstate Veterinary Specialties, and with Dr. Bishop in particular. He spent an hour asking questions about the our dog's seizure history and general history; doing a nose-to-tail physical examination; and educating us on the mechanics of seizures, possible causes, diagnostic tools, and treatment. He was very skilled in handling our dog and addressing our questions and concerns. He also emailed us a report summarizing the visit within 20 minutes of our departure. The staff coordinated with our local vets to keep everyone on the same page with respect to our dog's medical history and condition. Each person we encountered--Andrea the neurology coordinator, the receptionist, Sara the assistant, Dr. Bishop, and the cashier--was friendly, efficient, and compassionate. Highly recommended! read more

I agree with Michael and John M! We were also sent from our local vet who charged us over $400 for our dog who we thought had something stuck in her throat because we heard her wheezing..X-rays were taken but since they didn't have equipment to help her we were referred here! The X-rays were sent but they said they were grainy and had to be retaken.. Ok first things first we were given an estimated bill of $1,100 low end if she had to stay one day or $1,700 for 2 days! We were then told after waiting almost 2 hours that she didn't have an obstruction! Since I heard her barking, I said I would take her home.. I paid over $300 and drove the 45 minutes home.. Next morning I got a call from the first vet that told me that " upstate vet wants to know if they can call me! I called them and was told " the radiological person on call might not have made right decision and I should bring her back no charges! Ok! We went back and another X-ray taken ,again nothing in her throat!!! Grrrr! But now, Doctors come in and say I should get an ultrasound on her stomach since she had diarrhea...playing on my sympathy for my dog I agreed and after was told the test was $340! Was told she had kidney stones and needed to be spayed because she might die if she got infection! Left disgusted! Next morning I went to another vet in my town ( where I should have went first) and he took free X-rays and determined she had a stomach virus!!! Very sad we had to pay $ 1,000 elsewhere to be told that! read more

This place is a joke, I spent $2,300 last month for them to tell me my animal has advanced stage cancer and when I call to refill the prescription they want me to bring him back in for a re-diagnosis and refusing to supply the mediciation he needs until then.. Nicole the pharmacy technician told me she'd do her very best not to make it another $2,300 again but she couldn't promise it.. this place only revolves around money and it's disqusting i would highly recommend anyone to seek elsewhere. Hello better buiness beraeu and I'm contacting the attorney general read more

So I came here because my Pomeranian jumped off of my bed and seemed to be limping afterwards. He usually jumps off the bed with no problem. We took him to this place, and was greeted by a nice older woman with salt and pepper hair who asked us what our dogs name was, etc.... she then pointed us to the direction of the actual receptionist, who wasn't rude, nor nice... she insisted that it was my dogs left paw that was hurt, after I insisted it was his right paw. She was very rude and acted like I was stupid, only to then say "oh it is the right paw I was looking at it from the wrong way." I said nothing. The real nightmare was the vet tech, she came up to us in the waiting room, did not say hello, did not ask the dogs name, didn't try to pet our dog, nothing, just walked up to us and said "come this way." She put our dog on the scale, and it wasn't in pounds. So I asked, "how much does prince weigh?" She replied. "It's in Kilograms 8.2x2.1." I said, "okay I guess I'll do the math later to find out how much he weighs. She said nothing. She then takes us into the room, asks us a few questions, never touching the dog, talking to him, or anything, and says "put him on the table" she I was holding him because he was scared and she was rough and just cold in general, and she just shoves a thermometer up the dogs ass. Obviously my dog starts to growl, mind you he's a Pomeranian....and she is just shaking her head getting annoyed at US!!!!! Like, even a 2 year old knows to warm up to the dog first before touching it. She told me that I should have told her he was aggressive. I replied with "I didn't come here for attitude, and also when I ask you how much my dog weighs, just tell me." She was baffled because she thought she could give us attitude and treat us like shit and not get anything back. She left the room and said "you're at a ten right now, so I'm going to leave." And smiled and chuckled just like the bitch she was. I haven't dealt with a girl like that since high school!!! Way to make a bad day even worse. read more

If I could give this place a zero I would. Do yourself a favor and drive 5-10 more minutes to the next hospital if time permits. The tall blonde technician saw us before the doctors and did not know how to deal with dogs for the life of her. She refused to let my dog warm up to her, was more than rude to me and didn't seem to know ANYTHING about dogs. She aggravated my dogs injury even more than when we walked in. read more

Highly professional. Our dog was given a diagnosis that appeared terminal but out regular vet had us go there to get some tests to be certain. They were great in walking us through the sad procedures in putting him down. Very attentive and competent. They do this all the time but we felt like we were their only clients. These guys are great. read more

Went to Upstate Veterinary Specialties on Wednesday, May 6th with my dog because she was not doing well. My dog was seen the week prior by the cardiologist vet and placed on medication. I spent almost 6 hours in their parking lot while my dog was being seen. I spoke with the vet who said my dog was fine to go home. I paid over $600 for this visit which I don't care about. I love my dog. What I do mind is that by the time I got home my dog was not willing to eat or drink. She would not take her meds. By 4:30 in the morning my dog was in distress. She quickly declined and was very uncomfortable. I ended up calling my regular vet at 7am and put my dog to sleep. I feel like the day before at your office the option to put my dog to sleep before she was in so much distress should have been discussed with me. I had to give consent for a DNR while she was there so I think that option should have been discussed. I would have rather my dog pass peacefully than what actually ended up happening. It was disturbing to me and my family. read more

My dog developed diabetes and came to Upstate Vet Services in 2/16. After 4 days she was on insulin and life began to normalize. Over the summer she began to develop a cataract in one eye and then in September her second eye became milky and began to drain. Dr. Corbett assessed my dog and she had a cataract in one eye and glaucoma in the other and her vision was worsening.Surgery was done to remove the cataract and do a corneal repair and the eye with glaucoma was beyond help and was removed.My dog now sees and is leading a more normal life again. Dr. Corbett is compassionate, honest and a skilled eye surgeon. Learn from my hesitancy to seek medical relief for my dog-GO- it's expensive but if you love your pet like family just GO. read more

Our dog was a patient twice for separate ear ablations. The staff are all incredible people! From Dr. Maxwell Bush, his wonderful assistant Diane and all of the upfront rep staff, we couldn't have asked for a more compassionate, helpful group of people. I'm going there when I'm ill, as the care seemed better than a hospital for people! Thanks again for your caring, loving group of employees. Nancy and Jim W. read more

We've had a very unprofessional experience with UVS!...Due to weather and and a business conflict, We rescheduled an appt on a couple of occasions with their Vet Neurologist, Dr Bishop....In both cases, we rescheduled with advance notice....Now, we tried to book an appt with this doctor and another Vet at UVS who's a cardiologist for the same dog on the same day. The Neurologist asked for advance payment!...The Cardiologist did not...These guys don't coordinate and are greedy!...By the way, we've spent serious money in this place and always paid at the completion of treatment without problems...Feels like an assembly line! in the past, We did have a positive experiece at UVS with a Vet Dermatologist, Dr Tranchina. She was great in her practice but she's LEFT UVS... Skip this place! read more

I have no complaints about the service we received when we brought our dog in for a urinary tract infection. The staff were very friendly and they were very caring when they examined her. The cost was very high as I had expected because emergency vet offices are not cheap - $427. A few days after our visit, the vet called me with the lab results on the urine and told me that it was a rare strain that was only sensitive to two antibiotics (neither of which were the two we left there with that cost us $87 for 14 pills). One of the two that this rare strain were sensitive to was affordable ($20) but it had potentially sever side effects (kidney/liver failure and/or dry eye that require drops for rest of life). The other med is $245 for 10 pills. I was told I could check with our regular vet to see if they had it cheaper and if not, call back and they would give me a script to try and find it elsewhere. My vet didn't carry it. So, I checked online and found it for $75. First off, why is this clinic marking meds up so high? That is just plain wrong. Folks get socked a high fee just for getting a service and then to mark up what will cure their pet 300% - that is unconscionable. read more

My vet sent me to the specialists at Upstate Veterinary Specialties last February because my dog has a heart murmur.. The vet at Upstate, Dr.Kent, convinced me this was very serious and that my dog should have an ultrasound costing about $800. I agreed to this and she conducted the ultrasound and diagnosed - although the vet was not 100% certain - indication of heartworm. They took a blood test and sent it out a lab for confirmation of heartworm and advised me of the difficult, dangerous and expensive that my dog would need. That was a Friday. Imagine my surprise when Dr. Kent called the following Monday and told me that the blood test came back negative but that she was still suspicious of heart worm and recommended we go ahead with the treatment anyway. I said forget it (because it is dangerous) and never went back. My dog is still alive and appears healthy. Shouldn't the vet have conducted and gotten blood test results before the imaging work? The answer is yes but Upstate is all about the money - the facility cost a lot to build and their vets want to be paid like MDs. A neighbor of mine just went through the same experience there and is out a similar amount. They are taking advantage of us pet lovers and scamming us for $$$. Beware! read more

Everyone here is amazing!!! Took great care of our pet, very upfront about all costs. Nicer than any hospital I have seen for humans. Thanks to all the staff for everything! read more

What an incredible resource for pets and their owners in the capital district. The building is beautiful, spotless and efficiently run. I brought my ailing cat to consult with neurovet Dr. Todd Bishop. He was incredibly knowledgeable and compassionate. He took his time to explain all medical possibilities, diagnostic possibilities and treatments. He gave Jack a very thorough hands on neurological examination. I felt he had a very good handle on my cat's issues and together we decided on a very logical course of treatment. I felt so relieved to finally have a better understanding of my poor kitty's problems and feel he is in the most capable hands available. Can't really say enough to highly recommend this facility. The cost with 3 different meds was so reasonable. 170ish. read more

SO glad to have veterinary ophthalmology available in the Capital District! I've been taking my dog to eastern Massachusetts for ophthalmology, but when she developed symptoms recently, I didn't want to have to wait a few hours while I drove across the MassPike to take her there, so I tried the new Update Veterinary Specialities. Yay for 24hr emergency care! (Seriously, kids and pets--they never get sick during regular business hours!) The staff are VERY caring and courteous. Wait times can be a bit long but not terrible; and staff are very good about keeping you informed and checking on wait times when possible. Discharge instructions were clear and in writing, and they go over everything with you. Emergency care isn't cheap, no matter where you take your pet. So while this practice may seem pricey, I'm betting they're pretty much in line with industry standards cost-wise. The practice is clean and new and very conveniently located just off Route 9 near the 787 interchange. Highly recommend! read more