Smith Veterinary Hospital

Our 8 month old puppy suddenly went into pain and was whining after eating breakfast. We rushed her to Smith Vet. Doctor de Avila was her tending vet. She was kind, caring, calming and patient with us AND didn't rush her plan of action. She knew our dog was stable and chose to wait it out, which was the right call. Our puppy had a blockage between her stomach and intestines that broke loose somewhere during the night while she was at the vet's. No drugs, no surgeries, just intuition x-rays, and patience. Really appreciate Dr. Avila's professionalism and approach!

While I was waiting on the phone 8/25/20 to schedule my cats wellness appointment I decided to read the reviews. Personally I have had no issues so far other than waiting for nearly 15 minutes after receptionist politely said, "please hold." Not sure how long I will be on hold as I still am as I write this review. I do know a friend of mine brought in a pup for a simple procedure and her pup ended up with an unnecessary surgery which she was not informed about. Needless to say, my friend was upset and looked for another provider. With this said, not sure I would trust this clinic with surgeries, teeth cleaning, etc. I just connected with receptionist and funny thing is I can schedule a wellness appointment but not a medical appointment? I have to come in as a walk-in and take a chance on how busy the day is. I am a bit puzzled between wellness check and medical appointment. As one would think a medical concern (if one believes it is not life threatening) would be more of a priority and an appointment needed if the time needed to conduct the examination would be more extensive? As the wellness check, is just that, a shorter visit as per reception, so makes more sense to walk-in for a wellness check vs medical concern that may seem more intense and longer in duration? If vaccinations are part of a wellness check than why not email the owner closer to due date as vaccinations are due? If I bring my cat for a medical concern does this mean I will still need to come in for a wellness check? Appears to be a bit of double dipping on the wellness checks, vaccinations? Please Clarify, Overall we have been happy with Smith Veterinary Hospital but this caught be a bit off guard today. Waiting for reception to answer gave me the opportunity to read the reviews and think about my visits since moving to Santa Fe. I do know Sunrise Veterinary Hospital, in Rio Rancho, which I miss does honor and requires an appointment with a specific Veterinarian. This I greatly miss since I feel the Veterinarian knew both me and my cat well. At Smith's it is whoever is on duty so often times is very impersonal. Is this a practicing Hospital for veterinarians to eventually venture out on their own? It would be nice to display staff credentials and reviews of specific veterinarians on the Smith Veterinary Hospital. Their are quite a few bad reviews. Hope positive improvements are ongoing. Thank you for your time & service. May I add the reception was very polite throughout the conversation. This is a review from my point of view!

20 years ago they were great. I had a pretty bad experience at the cat hospital. The vet must have been straight out of vet school. She had no bedside manners. She bruskly informed me that my cat had kidney disease. She wanted to instantly run hundreds of dollars of more tests and have him come in 3x weekly for subcutaneous fluids. Very expensive, and something you can do easily at home. She would not sell me the ringer bags ( I used to buy them from Sangre de Christo vet for my other kitty). So I took my kitty to another old time vet, great guy! He looked at the tests and said There was NO indication of kidney disease period. There are 2 markers. One without the other is meaningless and fluctuates all the time. He said my cat was perfectly healthy.

This was our third visit, and the first under pandemic protocols. As always, the staff were helpful and the doctors focused and attentive. We were particularly impressed that the doctor spoke to us twice by phone and picked up our ailing pup from the car, enabling a couple of minutes of socially-distanced discussion. We were very happy with our experience overall.

Our first time there with our new little rescue dog. Staff and doctor all very considerate and professional. They stayed late to finish up with no complaint. I suspect that's their typical pattern. Will definitely go back.