Thoughtful, caring staff. Dr. Hope is so kind and helpful, and takes time to listen and discuss matters involving my pet.

The doctor didn't insist on extreme measures to extent our old cat's life. She understood that we were not interested in or able to afford blood tests and medication to add a few months of dubious quality to his life. He is home with us sleeping on his heated pad and still fairly active. read more

when my baby (DOG) needed you the most, your refused to see us, you told me on the phone you were to busy, and you had NO time or room to put her down, she was coughing up blood, and a tumor size of my thumb under her tongue, thanks for nothing, Shasha is longer with us, I had to put her down, but you still send reminders for her shots, I used another vet how gave us the time when we needed it most, read more

I took my 3 animals here in September 2020 where I had my kitten neutered, my older cat vaccinated and examined, and my dog checked out. I understood during Covid everything was going to be different and I didn't mind waiting in the parking lot while this office tended to my pets. However, I recently attempted to refill my cats prescription before returning for a yearly check-up in September of 2021. When I called and requested to do this I was rudely informed that my animals were not clients. I expressed my confusion since we had visited this office 6 months prior. Again, was rudely refused a prescription and told I would have to bring all my animals back for a full check up if I wanted services. Listen, I work from 7 am until 6 pm. I even asked the woman on the phone why I would have to bring them back again before their yearly check up was due. Mind you all I wanted was a refill on Revolution Plus which is a flea medication to prevent a flea infestation during the early springtime. The woman seemed to not care at all and just informed that if I wanted a prescription to make an appointment. I was extremely unimpressed and given the distinct impression this vet office is more of a scam than anything. Extremely upset and disappointed in this business, the services, and employees, I called the VCA Boonsboro office and told them my dilema, pleading with them to help me understand how I could get basic flea medication so my indoor/outdoor cats don't bring fleas into my house. A kind woman was apologetic for my experience with the Amherst office and even noted how odd that was, since what I experienced was not a policy of this chain. I have since transferred to the Boonsboro office because I feel much more confident with them taking care of my animals rather than the rude and disappointing office that is the VCA Amherst Vet. read more

Seems like if you have a pet that you take to them, they are very kind and thorough. However, if you adopt one from the Humane Society they are lax in their procedures. I adopted a kitten (barely 3 months old) from the Humane Society. She is a very laid back and compliant kitten. There was no external stitching done and after two days of being home her incision opened up. There was no playing or excessive movements that would have caused her wound to open. And, had she been stitched, it wouldn't have happened at all. There was no bleeding and it didn't affect the internal stitching. However, the healing process had already begun and the pulling from that caused the skin to pull over on itself creating a pocket. That's when the infection set in. Another ongoing problem she experienced was being vaccinated at such a young age can cause a dampened immune system issue. Because of that, she contracted an upper respiratory infection. All this caused her to go downhill fast. I took her to our vet who treated her for the URI with antibiotics. Also, the Hospital didn't check her for the combo of FIV/FeLV and heartworms testing she should have done before being vaccinating for them. So I had to pay to have that done. After 3 days she is feeling much better and has her appetite back. However, there is still the issue of the incorrectly done closure of her spaying. Which might have to be redone to prevent future infections from occurring inside the pocket. Dr. Baum called me at my request so I could ask if they would be willing to help cover the costs of her surgery. He refused. I am unwilling to take the kitten back to him since I have doubts of his skill in the first place. So I am now paying $213 for the URI treatments and testing that should have been done in the first place. And it's possible I'll have to pay $130 for the reconstruction surgery to her spaying to prevent further infections if it doesn't heal properly. Upon reading many other reviews on Yelp, Google and Facebook I feel confirmation in my not returning to Amherst Veterinary Hospital to have further treatment for my kitten. I would warn others who adopt from the Humane Society (which is great, BTW) to ask for a different vet to do the neutering, testing and vaccinating before you adopt. read more

The "bedside" manners of the staff is great. They are very friendly and nice to deal with. However, on three separate times we brought our dog in and they said that he was just fine... We went to a different vet (Boonsboro) and they diagnosed the problems and treated out English Bulldog. Our dog is a part of our family. When he's sick, we know it. The vet should be able to help. It's unfortunate that we have had this experience but our dog is important. :-( hopefully this review will help them be more diligent with other peoples pets). read more

This is a wonderful Veterinary hospital. The staff is super friendly, the veterinarians are extremely knowledgeable and they take time to explain the diagnosis and treatment options. I have been taking my dog here since I moved into the area, they know him by name and ease his vet office anxiety. I have recommended this office to many of my friends and family, and would still recommend this to anyone looking for a quality experience. read more

We have been taking our cats to Amherst Veterinary Hospital for over 20 years. Dr. Baum is a fantastic vet and a great guy! All of the doctors and staff are wonderful! They are kind and professional and take the time to explain everything that is going on with our kitties. They also provide boarding services. We have left our kitties there and they always come home happy and content. read more

I adopted my dog from the Amherst Animal Shelter (who are fantastic) and work with the Amherst Veterinary Hospital to get adopted pets spayed and neutered free of cost to the adoptee. I am giving the hospital itself a 1 star rating instead of a 0 star rating purely for the fact that my dog is alive, and because SO FAR she does not have an infection that I can see from her spay surgery, however I will be taking her to a different, more competent vet tomorrow to be absolutely sure of that. The morning I picked my dog up from the shelter after her surgery, I was informed of 2 things. One being that my dog was spayed while in heat (risky, but fine) & the second being that she was gotten out with a pole that morning due to her being "growly." Now, I am no veterinarian by any means, but I don't believe anyone working in any kind of animal related field should be put off by the nature of an animal due to the field that they are in. Of course she was growly and upset, she was in an unfamiliar place and had just had her insides gutted by some idiot who didn't even know how to do a clean stitch job. Hell, I'd be pretty "growly" as well. The incompetency doesn't stop there. I have hand written on her notes upon release from the vet that there was no health check done that morning before she left (how negligent can you be?!). Even worse, they have written on her release papers that they skipped her evening health check the previous night after she had been spayed that day for the same reason. So I am questioning now whether anyone ever even took a second glance since they carried her out of the exam room after her intial surgery. The fact that I was provided ZERO post op care instructions, with no information whatsoever other than "it went fine" actually comes into play now as she is 4 weeks post op, and has a full set of stitches and the healing process has not progressed as far as it should (resulting in me taking her to a better vet). I was also told pre-surgery that there is a fee that I would have to pay should they find that she was in heat. I was billed for nothing, which raises the question for me, were they in THAT much of a hurry to get this "growly" dog out of there that they apparently, despite years of education, experience, and practice, could not handle? While I was originally thrilled with the fact that the total cost of ($281.50) was waived due to adopting from the Animal Shelter, I now wish that I had just paid the money out of pocket and had her taken to a more attentive, caring staff with a better understanding of animals mentally and physically. It would have taken 5 minutes for them to do a health check, they are LUCKY that she is healthy and fine to date. Those 5 minutes lost could have gone one way or the other, she was in HEAT. She could have had an infection, and even if her incision WAS fine even WITHOUT a health check, the horror of the mental stress that they put my previously abused dog through because they couldn't get their wits together to handle her correctly could have cost her a lot more, including her life. I will NEVER let one of my animals anywhere near this dimwitted animal hospital again. Bedside manners don't mean a thing to me if you can't do your job thoroughly from start to finish. I am glad to see that others have had good experiences here, although it seems a bit hit and miss. I wish I could say that they "knew how to ease my dog's anxiety" I guess their idea of doing so is to traumatize the absolute dogcrap out of them and pull them out with a pole... yeah so calming. Better luck next time. read more