Ness Exotic Wellness Center

We are very happy with the service that Dr. Ness and his staff has provided us and our injured hamster Snowball. Dr. Ness was able to fit us in last minute, even though he was going out of town that evening and it was close to closing time. I also like the fact that he supplied us with natural remedies as well as pharmaceutical medicines. Prices are a little high but the service, care, and results are superb! The staff is very kind and caring as well! We will definitely bring our pets back to Dr. Ness for future care.

Ness Exotic is the only place I trust with my rabbit. We have been going there for almost 5 years now and Dr. Golan is amazing. She knows my rabbit so well and always treats her like her own bunny. She is also extremely knowledgeable and caring. When I had to put my other rabbit to sleep a year ago, the staff was so kind and Dr. Golan really did everything she could to help him and to make the process easier. It may be a bit pricey, but that is because they are fantastic with exotic pets and provide such a great service. I even boarded my bunny when I went out of town with them because I know I could trust them if anything happened to her. Even though I live in Lincoln Park now, I will always make the trip back for my bunny to be seen by them. I wont trust anyone else!

Dr. Ness and his staff are the best around! We have been seeing Dr. Ness for years now, over 17 years to be exact, with all of our ferrets. The treatment, respect and dedication the animals receive from the team at Ness Exotic is impeccable. There is no better vet out there for exotic animals!!! We love that they also believe in holistic medicines. Our little girl is turning 8 years old soon, very old in ferret years, which says a lot on the medical care she has received from day 1! Abbie loves Dr Ness!
Highly recommended!!!

This place has extremely nice and compassionate workers. My hamster didn’t make it on the car ride to the hospital. They were very sympathetic and said we could come in and get a box for her to take her home in. They talked to us and made us feel better and also went as far as to decorate the box they put her in. It was a sad situation and they made it feel easier.

Everyone in the office is so nice! Appointments are always on time and if you are running 5 to 10 minutes late just call they will still see you if they can. I have taken my parrot here for a couple of years, but I have a parakeet (Bright Star) born with deformed legs, they braced his legs for a couple of weeks and gave laser treatments which are reasonably priced. Bright Star no longer has his braces on, I have made some adaptions to his cage and now he can chill atop with his parents he is doing so much better. You see a lot of cool animal patients when you are there. I am very pleased with Bright Star’s progress.

I’ve never really been much of a pet owner until I got my lionhead bunny. This little ball of fur is everything to me and what better way to make sure she’s in good health than to bring her to the one place I researched my butt off!
I took my bunny to have an initial exam back in March. What really impressed me Is they had a folder chalk full of common rabbit care-​stuff I thought I knew but reinforced the fact that I need to learn more about how to really take care of my bunny. A week after her first vet appointment the staff sent a welcome and thank you card. That is awesome! I greatly appreciate that it was hand written too!
I’m also a creature of habit so I only want to have my little bunny girl examined by one doctor. Dr. Ness is awesome! He takes time to talk to you and your pet. I love how he genuinely talks to my bunny and I feel really at ease when he handles her. You can tell he cares about exotic animals and he really does know he stuff.
This vet clinic is super clean and welcoming. The staff are super nice. I highly highly highly recommend Dr. Ness to anyone who owns any pet other than a cat or dog. I know my little bunny is always in good hands when I’m here.

Absolutely disappointed by the service bait and switch I received as a first time customer. I brought our sick turtle in and it needed a cyst removed from its face. I was given a high end low end estimate of 260 – 285 dollars… which is pretty ridiculous to begin with… but for my daughter i decided to try and save the turtle. Overnight to board a turtle aka put him in a box… was 42.00… ok… already getting stupid… but the doc called me before I got home and assured me they did the surgery that evening using only the gas anesthesia and not the shot to save me money and that the turtle did fine. She assured me we were on the low end of the estimate. I pick up the turtle at 9am… they show me how to give shots and meds… etc and then give the final bill of 315.00! WTF! Are you crazy. How did they manage to pad the high end bill another 30 plus dollars when they told me it was the low end the night before… No explanation except sorry that is just an estimate. Did not include any meds or the shot they DID NOT GIVE IT… but now were somehow charging me for. When I asked they claimed they were not there the night prior and this was the bill… that is it… I told them that this was bad business and paid the bill and left… I will NEVER recommend that place… I am simply disappointed in the way they did not even acknowledge the issue and just said sorry? Really. 55.00 over the low end estimate… for what? My only reprieve is to Unilocal them. Beware and take your sick animals elsewhere. I hear there is a great Exotic animal doctor in Algonquin and will do all follow up there.

I had a snake and he got sick I took him here and found out he had an upper respiratory infection, i had to give him shots myself which was fine i had a well calm tempered snake. They were so awesome and informative and showed me exactly what i needed to do! The guy who helped me was funny and sweet! they are well priced, no complaints… and sometimes they have cool animals in there that you don’t normally see which is a cool plus !

First went to Ness Exotic Wellness Center with a bird emergency. The doctors were very helpful and caring. I recently got another bird (rescue) and they gave some good advice on how to care for it. Very happy with the staff and service.

I could not have been happier with the end of life care/​emergency care that Ness provided. When my hedgehog dilly was in distress they were ready and waiting! The staff (all included) were very genuine, and caring to me and to my Dilly Picklesworth. The doctors and techs were very honest and more than respectful to me and my pet.
Today I received a sympathy card for my loss from The doctor who was there with her! That was above and beyond what was expected. If I ever have another exotic pet they will be the first place I go! I HIGHLY recommend them!
Thank You Ness Exotic Wellness!
You truely put me more at easy at a terrible, terrible time.

I took my 7 year old bunny there and I felt completely taken, $ 600+. I could see that my bunny was really sick, but Dr. Ness never said «she’s old and very sick». Instead, he said things like «she might be going through a metabolic change» and «I’ve seen elevated kidney levels higher than this and the bunny survived». He just kept suggesting more tests and sent me home with 7 medicine’s including Chinese herbs. 2 hours after we brought her home and traumatized her with the medicines she died in my arms. I called the office that night to let him know the results, and after 2 days he called to wish his condolences. He didn’t offer to buy back any of the numerous medicines he sent me home with. He should have seen right away that she was very sick and probably didn’t have much longer, but instead he saw dollar signs.

When [John] Wayne, my bearded dragon, arrived in my life almost two years ago as a little baby, I was a nervous beardie mama. I did all the research I could, consulted with several resources, and did the best to give Wayne a lovely home and a good diet. Within weeks, all of Wayne’s brothers and sisters (in other homes) had passed away but Wayne lived on. I knew I had to be doing something right, so I relaxed and worried less as he spent his time chasing crickets, digging in sand, and basking in the [fake] sun.
After my cats has been to the vet a month ago, a fellow Unilocaler recommended Ness Exotic to me in case Wayne needed to go to the vet. I’m glad she did, because I ended up needing to take him recently! For days, Wayne wasn’t eating or pooping and generally laying around like a sleepy bum. Odd. My husband called up Ness and booked me an appointment last Saturday. I put my dear Wayne in a shoe box and off we went on his first field trip!
Walking into Ness Exotic Wellness Center was like walking into a pet spa. Warm, earthy colors decorated the spacious lobby, natural foods and toys were stocked on shelves, pictures of birds, ferrets, and reptiles adorned the walls, and everyone was wonderfully pleasant. I also learned that Ness provides various holistic and integrative therapies for exotic pets as well as cats & dogs. Love it!
Because of the last-​minute appointment, I didn’t get to see Dr. Ness, but I did see Dr. Torres and he was wonderful. The vet techs/​assistants were great too! Everyone was very knowledgable and I had never seen Wayne handled with such skill and compassion. It was fun watching Dr. Torres baby-​talk to Wayne while Wayne was poked and examined. A radiograph was done and we found out what was wrong with him: he had accidentally ingested too much sand from his cage and was nearly impacted. Poor guy. He was given a shot of vitamins and some medicine (that I give to him daily). I’m proud of Wayne — he handled everything quite well!
Upon leaving, I was handed my bill ($ 260 — yikes!) and a folder with a lot of information on taking care of bearded dragons. I thought that the $ 65 inital visit cost was a bit high, but then again, Wayne is considered an exotic animal and there aren’t too many vets around for such animals. The folder of information was very helpful, too. Although I knew most of it, I did learn some things and make some changes (replaced the sand with reptile carpet, added warmer lights, etc.).
Wayne seems to be doing a lot better now! Whew. He’s awesome.
So is this place. Highly recommended!

Great Vets! Great Staff! My Parakeet Loves Coming Here…

This place is great! I brought my ferret here who has insulinoma. I have brought my ferrets to other veterinarians before who took exotics, but the veterinarian that saw my ferret at Ness Exotic, Dr. Golan, was able to best explain what was going on with my ferret. They started him on a treatment immediately and gave me all the treatment options up front and were always clear how much anything would cost. When they gave me his meds they were already compounded so that they were in the most convenient form for me to administer to my ferret. I wouldn’t want to bring my animals to any other vet! The staff here are very friendly and the clinic itself is very well maintained and spotless. I was definitely happy with my experience here, and they offer amazing service at a reasonable price. If you have any exotic pets I highly recommend coming here.

I had to go to Ness after my original vet said he could do no more because they did not specialize in exotic animals. Well after 1 visit and no improvement I went back 2 weeks later and the staff was very sensitive to my feelings and very caring with my sick guinea pig. They told me my options and in the end I had to lay my piggy to rest. The staff let me sit in the little room and cuddle with my baby until I was ready to let him go. I was a wreck. They comforted me and gave me a box of tissue, which I completely emptied out. They were very sincere and understanding. I’m so lucky to have had them as my vet.

Dr. Nye is the best. He did surgery on my little 1-​inch frog, and saved his life! I think other vets would have wanted to just put him to sleep (or probably flush him!), but Dr. Nye was really caring, and tried doing a risky surgery on a tiny animal, and it really paid off!

Service was great but I felt the complete opposite about everything else with everyone here. I felt ROBBED! I have a 1.5Lb bunny… had it looked at for eye draining issues… didn’t even mention prices or anything with me before doing anything, I felt they were only try ing to sell me things. $ 100 dollars to dye her eye which took 2 seconds and for them to just check up the bunny. I was out of there in 10 min… wtf…I’m still steaming about this. No wonder why they have such a nice looking place…

When I saw I had become the Duchess of Ness Exotic for checking in here so many times, I had to laugh. I think we can all agree that it’s never a goal to be at a vet’s office a lot (unless you work there, of course). But if I had to spend a lot of time at a vet’s office, I’m glad it was this one. My Fitzi Bunny was having a terrible time with mucoid enteritis. Dr. Ness spent lots of time with her figuring out exactly what was causing her troubles. He’s thorough, caring and obviously very passionate about what he does. He really won me over when he got down on the floor with Fitzi — on her level — and spent a good 10 minutes giving her a tummy massage.
Fitzi wound up being hospitalized there twice, and both times I also had the pleasure of speaking with his vet techs on a regular basis when I called to check in on my little lady. They’re just as great as he is and even called me whenever a new milestone was reached. I really appreciate that there are people who care just as much about bunnies as I do! My Paddington Bunny was also treated a few months ago by Dr. Antonicic. He’s just as thorough and caring as Dr. Ness. Overall, this is just a hands-​down exceptional vet’s office! I just hope I don’t have to visit them again too soon!

I have been in several cities since i have been a bunny owner/​slave, and i have had seven vets. Dr Ness is the best one. His skills are broad and unparalleled, diagnostic, treatment and surgical triple threat. He has that rare ability to be able to explain how to care for your pet in terms that you can understand. Most important to me is his understanding of therapeutic hierarchy, that there is an appropriate treatment for illness as dictated by the patient.
i would like to address Diane’s review. Natural medicine is a spectrum of care that focuses on keeping healthy and managing illness in accordance with the science of physiology and medicine. Using it is no more or less dangerous than conventional care under the care of a skilled practitioner, but proper primary care for yourself or your animals will lead to a longer, healthier and happier life with less NEED for secondary or tertiary care.

Dr. Ness treated my 19 year old cat for inflammatory bowel with acupuncture, homeopathics, and chinese medicine — along with some nutritional support for over a half of a year. My boy, now departed, did so much better once we started seeing Dr. Ness.
I only wish I had found Dr. Ness sooner, because I think my beloved pet would have had more of a fighting chance…
Dr. Ness really listens, hears, understands, uses his intuition, respects my intuition, and allows me to participate in making decidions about my pet.
The office environment is very soothing and the staff is wonderful. Dr. Ness is such a good soul — very compassionate and non-​judgmental. He is caring and patient. My boy got such good love and care here.
Unfortunately, most holistic naturpathic doctors, including Dr. Ness, don’t prescribe meds or draw blood which means that I still have to return to a regualr vet for those services. My boy needed meds for thyroid and blood tests to ensure his kidneys and other functions were normal — along with his thyroid values.
I wish this was a complementary medicine practice, but nevertheless, I trust and put my faith in Dr. Ness.