Essex Veterinary Center

Essex Vet Center has been our vet for many years, for our rabbits, tortoises and dogs. We would not think of going anywhere else. During our time with them they have been so caring and compassionate. Along with Dr. Elizabeth and Dr. Francois the entire staff goes out of their way to make sure your animals are happy and healthy. Even when they can no longer provide additional care, they are very, very compassionate about helping you make the horrible last decision and putting them down with the gentleness and respect they deserve, which I’m sad to say has happened with two of our dogs under their care: one from a horrible degenerative disease and the other from an auto accident. From coming to our house to meeting us at BEV’s they have always gone out of their way for our animals. We now have three young dogs under their care, and again they have welcomed them into their practice like they are part of their family. We continue to ask so many questions and express concerns and we really appreciate their patience! We love this practice and highly recommend them to everyone every chance we get.

So — I went here unexpectedly, after an appointment I’d scheduled at the Old North Ed clinic was rescheduled for two weeks later, and my dog’s condition worsened overnight.
She had a sudden flare-​up that was essentially what they call hot-​spots. (She’s also a border terrier/​mix).
I didn’t want to pay a ton of money on the visit, just get her relief, but was in a bind. My mom and brother’s family go to Essex Vet Center, and when I rang them early on Tuesday morning they were able to offer me three top slots that SAME afternoon to see my dog. The North End clinic was super booked, and couldn’t accommodate a visit (despite having cancelled my appointment for the next day.)
I am including prices below because first, I had avoided Essex because my mom had called it ‘pricey’ but… I just moved from NYC, and I think $ 48 for a visit fee, and then $ 24 for a skin test isn’t what I’d call ‘pricey.’ My old vet in NY was reasonable, but even his visit price was around $ 60.
The center was clean, very bright inside and out, and smelled fine. They also seem to manage dog-​traffic in the lobby to avoid tousles or scaring timid pooches, which is nice for me, having a timid dog.
Here’s the definition of a good vet to me: I came early, and they put me in a room right away, no waiting at all. This was overseen by the front desk staff, who seemed keen to make sure my dog stayed in a calm mood. (I warned them ahead of time she’s a biter at the vet.)
The tech saw me in a few minutes to ask me about her health history. The vet came not a long time after that. My dog is AWFUL at the vet, just writhes away from grasp, and tries to bite the vet/​tech, and is just antsy and tries to jump off the table.
The vet, Dr. Elizabeth Miquel, seeing her anxiety coming, opted to instead do the entire examination sitting on the floor, and my dog was so much calmer that way!
Doc asked me not to put the muzzle on her at first, so she could even try treatment without one. She was so kind, patient, and just spent tons of TIME with my dog, rubbing her, calm-​talking her, I really think the value was all in that touch and vet-​behavior training. She was basically trying to train my dog not to be so vet-​fearful. And my dog got through the whole exam and treatment better than ever before.
That said — I think they may go overkill on the treatment. I have no clue how to be a consumer advocate so I just paid it. But I would’ve been fine with just half of what she ended up prescribing: a steroid + dietary restriction for 60 to 90 days.
The $ 50 shampoo and spray seemed excessive, and I’m sure my old vet would’ve only suggested those as an ‘if you want to, we could try this…’ then list the pro’s and con’s of the products, but not just assumed I’d want to buy it and then add it to the purchase (it felt like a hard sell).
But — if you really are a pamper-​the-​pets type, that might be the very definition of a good vet to you: try anything that could work.
They followed up by phone the next day, and we planned to do a phone follow-​up in a few weeks — a big relief after that hefty visit price.
So… it’s not the place to go for saving a buck, but if you want great, understanding, and attentive treatment by a vet, wow, what a deal. The visit itself was $ 48, according to the bill, but I wound up also getting Frontline, ($ 84 for six months — also a bargain), and some prescriptions ($ 60 for a few weeks of steroid, special shampoo and a topical spray). A lab test was $ 24. If I’d only paid for the pills, visit and scraping, it would’ve been $ 84 — a completely reasonable bill in my mind.

We love Essex Vet Center – particularly Jess and Dr. Francois. Both of them have such a sweet demeanor. I love how they are with our pets. They are also very good – I was hoping they were wrong once about one of my dogs and took him to Angel Memorial in Boston. Unfortunately, they were right and we learned that the consultant that Essex Vet had doing the ultrasounds actually trained staff at Angel Memorial. They’ve kindly supported us through the deaths of three of our beloved friends and have been wonderful for well dog visits as well. Can’t say enough about them.