The Village Vets Decatur-Ponce

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Very disappointed in the service I received. You shouldn't "guarantee" someone anything that your not 100% sure you can produce. I spent $590 in 3 hours to be told you should take your pet elsewhere. I understand profits and running a business, but no one seemed to care is what really bothers me. You would think the staff would be more passionate about the pets here. The prices were inconsistent throughout the whole visit, but I agreed every time they changed, hoping to get results. Never got any. I'm not sure if it's just me and my pet, but they seemed more concerned with making a profit than saving a life..... Our furry family members deserve better.

We have been going to Village Vets Decatur (and its 24 hour hospital) for several years and until recently received nothing but the utmost in professional care. But we will never go there again (or any vet clinic or hospital owned by Will Draper) after experiencing the worse encounter with vets in our 25+ year history of going to vets. We recently spayed our english bulldog puppy at a local vet, but Friday night we noticed complications and brought her to Village Vets’ 24-hour hospital for care. Dr. Elaine Streithof was on call, came into the room and announced our dog had a “suture reaction” and told us what we should do to clean the suture area. We then asked questions about whether that meant she had an infection or not, and what could be the cause of her suture reaction. She seemed to immediately take offense at being asked questions, she put her hands on her hips and then wrapped her arms across her chest. She became visibly hostile and refused to answer our questions about the nature of the infection. Then when we asked a question about our puppy’s wet cough and hacking which began after surgery, she asked tersely if “we ever had this breed” because if we had we would know it’s “normal.” We felt insulted and judged by her for owning a bulldog, and even when we kept explaining the cough began after the surgery she refused to listen and kept repeating over and over “its normal.” Dr. Elaine Streithof’s bedside manner made us feel so uncomfortable we literally had to ask her to leave the room.

We decided to share our experience with management assuming they would want to know since Dr. Streithof’s behavior was antithetical to their stated philosophy of care. We were completely wrong! Six days later we received a call from the co-owner of Village Vets Dr. Will Draper. He had heard third hand how we had felt, sounded skeptical of our experience and came across as defensive about Dr. Streithof, who he had hired eight years earlier. Instead of starting the call off with something like “I heard you had a bad experience with one of our vets. I’m sorry you felt that way, please tell me what happened,” he began by saying “I’ve spoken with everyone here about what happened. Do you have anything to add?” He later explained he was taking this as an ‘investigation,’ that vets should stick together and not be critical of each other. We have never had a customer complaint handled this way with management seeking to ‘investigate’ and invalidate our personal experience or feelings. After almost 45 minutes on the phone (which was ridiculous enough but that’s how long he lectured and defended), he did apologize and offered a refund but the damage was long done. It was clear the attitude we had experienced with Dr. Streithof was an attitude held and supported by the people at the top. Initially we thought we would keep using Village Vets and just avoid Dr. Streithof, but after speaking with Dr. Will Draper we will never come back. A hospital with this philosophy of care is NOT the kind of place we would ever want to take our pets even if they employ some good staff.

Fallon And Nicole helped me with my puppy, she was scared but quickly warmed up to these two ladies, they were gently professional and kind, they made our experience amazing!

They have provided good care for my dog over the years. I've always been able to get a same- or next-day appointment when an urgent need pops up. Can be pricey, but it's usually been worth it.

two weeks ago we had to rush our 10 year old great pyrenees/lab to Village Vets. It was a traumatic 2.5 days but the staff were very compassionate and communicative during this process. Our dog did not pull but they pulled out all the stops to help her. They have followed up with us since and we appreciate the care during this time. I would recommend Village Vets for emergency and normal clinical animal care.

We love Dr Stacy, but overall it's a busy clinic and the staff has a take it or leave it attitude.

Dreadfully Slipshod and Exceptionally Irresponsible

In our opinion, The Village Vets damaged and shorten the life of our beloved cat. In our opinion, their staff, which I refuse to call doctors of veterinary medicine, imposed so much emotional damage to our lives that I am continually experiencing nightmares and insomnia. The following review is our opinion of the events regarding our experiences with the Village Vets. We noticed Sunday that our almost 2 year old male cat, was struggling walking up the stairs. We rushed him the Village Vets for an examination. We told them, he stopped eating Thursday but today we noticed he was having problems moving around. Since his temp was 104, the staff wanted to keep him overnight for more testing and to administer IV fluids. Our agreement to allow them to keep our cat was the absolutely the biggest mistake, that I will regret for the rest of my life. After doing several tests, x-rays, blood chemistry profiles, the staff concluded he had feline infectious peritonitis, FIP. We were told FIP is fatal and there were no treatments for the disease. Before the diagnosis of FIP, the staff diagnosed and treated for haemobartonellosis, feline infectious anemia, because of the presence of anemia, lethargy, loss of appetite and dehydration. They did not tell us whether they tested him for Mycoplasma haemofelis, the parasite that causes feline infectious anemia. They also did a biopsy for cancer, which they claimed was negative. Approx. four days after admission, the staff discharged our cat with a high temperature and several Rx medications (approx. costs $2100). They said he was eating (because they gave him high doses of an appetite stimulant) and for us to monitor his temperature and give the medications as instructed. We reported daily an elevated temperature (103 to 104) and the loss of appetite. They Rx an appetite stimulant, but nothing for the elevated temperature, did not recheck his blood chemistry profile and red blood cell volume. We gave the appetite stimulant and our cat had no change in appetite, therefore we made an appointment to see their staff again, because he had lost several pounds from not eating. In the Village Vets our cat temperature was still high and he had lost considerable weight. The staff refused to insert a feeding tube, admit him to their hospital for follow up tests, change the medication, (given to treat haemobartonellosis), treat the high temperature or refer our cat to a Vet specialty hospital. They said, use the syringe to feed the Hills Rx canned food and continue giving the medications. They also said, we can order the PI (Polyprenyl immunostimulant) drug to treat his FIP. Our cat continued to decline in health so much so he could no longer walk or stand. His red cell count dropped, so low that he went into shock. We rushed him to Ga Vet Specialist, and the GVS doctors diagnosed him with lymphoma, not feline infectious anemia and not feline infectious peritonitis. For several days, I watched in horror as our beloved cat slowly died from the shock brought on by anemia, loss of appetite and dehydration; the very same symptoms that the Village Vets not only misdiagnosed horribly but failed to treat responsibly as qualified doctors of veterinary medicine. My usband cried for three days, I have never stopped weeping and every night I scream in my sleep. In less than one month of being treated by the Village Vets, our cat died an extremely suffering death. In our opinion the staff of the Village Vets killed our most beloved Serengeti. Please never allow them to treat your kitten and/or cat, because their mistakes may cause your beloved to suffer needlessly.

I agree that you should save your animal and you the aggravation and go elsewhere to a business where people actually care. The group I work with had an account there so I agreed to take a dog there. They were less than honest, arrogant and they could care less about the animal. The first time I went there I assumed they were having a bad day so when we needed a vet again I tried one more time. They were worse the second time than they were the first time. The owner of the business contacted them and they assured her they could accommodate the dog. We drove over an hour to hear that the owner had been given incorrect information by their representative. They were not at all concerned that their error left everyone in an impossible situation. They responded in an arrogant manner that it did not matter what their representative had agree to it would be done their way. We will never go there again.

SAVE YOUR ANIMAL THE PAIN AND GO SOMEWHERE MORE QUALIFIED!!!



This place is horrible! I brought my dog in beacuse a coyote attacked her. They basically told me I was lying about the situation and that it was due to a dog fight beacuse she is a pitbull!!!Because of 3 days of no real attention alot of the tissue in her open leg wound has died. My dogs leg WAS savable and now it has to be amputated because they let my dog sit there for almost 3 days before doing the first debridement!!! I am highly upset and would not recommend this vet to any body! SAVE YOUR DOG THE PAIN AND DONT GO HERE!!! I WISH I NEVER DID NOW I HAVE TO LIVE WITH KNOWING WHAT THEY DID IS MY FAULT FOR TAKING HER THERE!...

I love doctor Villines at the village vets of Decatur. She has always been helpful and sweet with my cats. One who has a heart condition and the other asthma. She also helped me find my new canine daughter who os one of the best rescues I've ever had. I enjoy the village vets and would recommend them. There are some bad exp I've had with some staff but overall the techs doctors and reception are great and the kennel tech love there patients too and remember their names.