Emergency Pet Center

First this is an ER, its like what they have for people but for animals. Yes it is maybe a little more money but i was blown away by the amount of stuff they do! My dog had surgery, she had stones and couldn’t pee! she was in the hospital for a night and a whole day. i got copies of all her stuff and they checked her every hour. I never have gotten print outs like that from my dr. I’m in healthcare so i get it. These people are here awake all night taking care of your kids. They took care of my baby. They offered her different food when she didnt want to eat, tried all different stuff. She was on IVs and pain meds, antibiotics, meds to make her not vomit. They even took pics of her that they showed me in the morning cause i was so nervous. Overall i can’t complain she had great care, yes i had to pay for it. The level of care is high, you pay for the nurses and drs to be there at 2am when your dr isnt open. Its scary, its an emergency. Dr mcclure, dr. gibson, dr kushlan took great care of my dog while she was here.
Also i have to say the drs recommend what they think should be done. If you cant afford it they do try to help but you also have to be proactive and try to help to, be honest, thats what i did and they came up with a plan that i could afford. Its hard when you are faced with a crisis, they will try to help that is why they are there. So the people who are all about shaming saying that they only care about money– they are a business. You dont walk into heb and try not to pay right? Unfortunately animal insurance and human insurance isnt the same. I wish it was! It would make things a lot easier. all i can say is that if your animal is hurt or sick you should go there and have them seen, talk to the dr, see what you can do. Its better than sitting at home worrying about what might be wrong or that your pet is hurting. i had no idea. i just knew something was really wrong at 3am and that my dog was hurting and wanting to constantly go outside. Im glad i didnt wait.

Big mistake. I live west of San Marcos and was torn between going to New B for an emergency clinic or north to Austin. My bad mistake, don’t make it yours.
The parking lot didn’t look packed at 7:00pm when we arrived (it was a holiday weekend). Came and there were two folks there ahead of us. The receptionist said it would take 30 minutes. At an hour, thirty we were taken into the room. At the three hour mark, the veterinarian started working on our cat. She did a fine job and we were pleased, but I absolutely think they forgot us in an oven of a room. In fact, I am shocked that I didn’t make a scene. If I weren’t with my wife who was upset about her cat, I would have.
They will not work on your animal without payments up front. I kinda get that. But after we passed the $ 1,500 mark, I think it was inane later in the week when they asked for another $ 40 on the phone. Like, I’m not going to pick up the cat for that amount? Again, my wife was upset.
When we came to get the animal we stayed at the counter literally (I’m not exaggerating) 45 minutes while we waited for the person to figure out the bill. Yes the bill we paid as we went. And yes, we coordinated what time in the morning that we would be there. And yes, she wasn’t doing anything when we got there. Like she just woke up and decided to put together our paperwork once we walked up to the counter.
Austin — next time, here we come. If you live closer to San Antonio, there you should go. It would be a WHOLE lot faster.

Do not take your animal here under any circumstances!
Please read all of the other reviews, I certainly wish that I did.
If I had trusted my gut, which is that the vet doesn’t care about animals and she only wants ALL of my money, then I would have left, instead I trusted her to care for my cat. My cat had perfect blood work when he came into this clinic.
3 days and $ 2,000 later, we had to put him to sleep.
I truly believe it is because of this horrific vet.

We were distressed with an ill cat on 9÷23÷15. It was after regular hours to get into our vet and the situation warranted immediate care. We got to the clinic and it was clean and welcoming. We did not have to wait long before Melane McClure, DVM, came in to greet us and to diagnose our cat. The doctor is EXCEPTIONAL … the BEST! We’ve had pets our entire life, but never before had such a knowledgeable, sincerely caring, thorough doctor. Dr. McClure also related so calmly with our cat, which made her content throughout the entire visit. The doctor communicated clearly and thoroughly about the diagnosis, what the cost would entail, and was in contact with us throughout the visit. We received detailed documentation about the visit and take home instructions on what to do for the cat, watch for, and recommended follow up. The office staff was also super kind and offered outstanding customer service. Then, we received a personal call from Dr. McClure several days later to follow up on how our cat was feeling. This service and care is extra ordinary and super special! Dr. McClure is a treasure that we are so honored to have experienced.

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2.9
18 reviews
Lexie Walker
Lexie Walker
in the last week
My 2 year old dachshund became suddenly disoriented and was drooling and unstable in his hind legs one night after my regular vets hours. I originally was worried he had eaten a roach trap or something that poisoned him. I left the house in such a rush that I didn’t have my drivers license when I arrived. I live in San Marcos and since I was the only person there I asked if they could at least start to look at him while I drove home to get my license. They refused to do so. so now it’s about an hour after his original symptoms and when i finally get back with my license he is not showing symptoms anymore. The vet basically just pulled the auto mechanic move and said if he wasn’t showing symptoms now there was nothing to go off of to diagnose him. I still had to pay the 70 visit fee even though the conversation was mayyybe ten minutes. He also came across as very cold and judgmental. I got the feeling that he thought I was over reacting since by that time my dog was acting normal again. The next day I went to my regular vet and described what had happened in the exact same way and they quickly suggested that he may have had a petite mal seizure. They explained that it often leads to loss of control in the rear end as well as drooling (basically exactly what i described) and that it would also explain why he was no longer showing symptoms 45 minutes later. Sure enough a month later it happened again and my vet has since diagnosed him with epilepsy. I don’t know where this vet at the er got his degree or if he was just too lazy to rack his brain for a split second for an explanation but I came in literally describing textbook symptoms of what I know now to be epilepsy and he basically shrugged his shoulders. They also refused to reimburse me for a failed diagnoses. I feel like a seizure is not totally uncommon and I am concerned about all the other missed cases. If this vet cannot even know a seizure when he hears it described id never trust my dog for surgery god forbid! This vet should be considered aLAST RESORT!

Our dog ate a peach pit and I know time is crucial so I took him to this Emergency Pet Clinic. I didn’t know what to expect when I walked in but the clinic was clean and looked pretty new. The receptionist was friendly and sensitive, explaining what was happening when they immediately took my dog to the back. I truly feel that if I would’ve taken him to a regular vet that we would’ve been there a lot longer and been charged a whole lot more. His care was straight and to the point. The Veterinarian was kind and when I got my dog back an hour later (peach pit free!) I left feeling a whole lot better for choosing this emergency clinic.

Beware of this clinic and do not take your pet here for care unless you are sure it won’t make it through the night. As other reviews have stated, they will begin a series of tests to run the bill up. There is no sense of urgency when dealing with your emergency, you should expect to be there for hours. I was there for 4 hours on a night when they were not that busy.
Took our dog in because she was lethargic and we were worried that she might have ingested bug spray from the yard. After 4 hours, a number of tests, and over $ 500, the «Vet» was still not able to diagnose. We took our Dog to our regular Vet the next day, he diagnosed the problem in a few minutes. Again, I would recommend this clinic as a last resort only, and I’m not confident they will meet your needs.

It is what it is
Emergency no frills

My little Maltese dog got involved with a porcupine on our property and had quills in his mouth and elsewhere. We rushed him to this place as it was after hours and after waiting 30 minutes when they didn’t have any other patients they wanted $ 500 to pull the quills out!!! The «vet» didn’t seem to care and spent all of a minute looking at my dog. I asked them to just sedate him for the night and we took him home where our regular vet (Cypress Creek Animal Hospital in Wimberley) took care of him immediately the next morning. The charge to simply sedate him for the night — just over $ 150!
We had an issue with another dog who had sudden severe vomiting and diarrhea and found ourselves unhappily back here where the vet tried to tell us our lab had parvo. He scared us to death and recommended all kinds of tests that weren’t needed. Of course the diagnosis was wrong as we found out the next day.
We will drive to Austin if we ever have another problem. This place really does take advantage of the fact that they are one of the few places open after hours — they try to convince you it’s the most serious of all the possible conditions, recommend expensive «treatments» or overcharge (three times the price) for first aid type needs — major fear mongering and price gouging.

We took our dog in tonight to make sure she didn’t have a broken leg. We were hit by a car while walking and the car ran over her leg. We had to leave our kids at home and let the clinic know right away that all we needed was an x-​ray on her leg. They kept us waiting for two hours before even discussing the x-​ray. Then, even though he KNEW we were both hit by the same car and our kids were at home, Dr. Gibson kept us waiting for another hour trying to guilt us into care that was pre-​existing to the accident even though her leg was not broken (although such care is important, the timing was such that we needed to care for more important matters). We went in for emergency care and received advice about hip dysplasia in an 11-​year-​old German shepherd. When we refused, he childishly included it in the report. If we didn’t care about our dogs, obviously we wouldn’t have brought her in on a Sunday night after we had all been in an accident!

I’m so glad I took my dog to his normal vet because they put the «splint» on wrong!
If I’m paying you $ 350 I expect you to fix my dog correctly the first time!
Not only that, but the «splint» ($ 76) was actually a bunch of ace bandages. I should have just given him a pain pill and waited til morning.
It’s worth it to drive to San Antonio and get a REAL vet that won’t cheat you out of your money.

A scary situation turned to a nightmare with this particular clinic. This is quite long but necessary to explain what took place here and I would recommend reading all the way through.
On a Saturday afternoon, our cat suddenly appeared very ill and was in obvious pain and having difficulty walking. We first tried taking him to Banfield in San Marcos (where we live), but they were very busy and didn’t think they’d be able to see him right away so they suggested we head either to this clinic in New Braunfels, or another emergency vet clinic in Austin.
Oh how I wish we’d headed North. We thought it’d be faster to go to New Braunfels though, and we called first and they were not super busy so that’s where we headed.
The preliminary diagnosis was that our cat (neutered four year old male) had a blocked bladder and a severe urinary tract infection. We were told he would need to stay in the hospital for «a couple of nights» at minimum and that we had to pay upfront. Fair enough; I’ve had pets long enough to understand that emergency care is costly. He needed to be catheterized, he needed anesthesia and IV fluids and round-​the-​clock care.
They worked out an estimate for the expected care and we paid approximately $ 1500 up front. We had to max out a Care Credit card, borrow from family (who called in and made payment over the phone) and otherwise «scrape up» the funds but we gladly paid in hopes of saving our cat’s life.
Even though the original vet we spoke with (a woman) said he’d need to be there «a couple nights» at minimum, and we took him in Saturday in the late afternoon, we received a phone call Sunday afternoon, around 4:00pm, saying he needed to stay another night and it would be another $ 234. This time we were speaking to a different doctor, a male. We questioned this, because we were under the impression that the original estimated charges we’d paid had included at least 2 nights’ stay, as per the first vet. No, they said; we had not paid for that and would have to pay or pick him up. We could not find any specific mention on our paperwork as to how many «nights stays» we’d paid for, so we reluctantly paid this amount, because the doctor made it sound like he REALLY needed another full day of supportive care to be sure he was unblocked and ready to go home.
So we managed to miraculously find another $ 234 and they said we could pick him up «tomorrow», tomorrow being Monday.
Here’s where it became unreal for us. Keep in mind, at this point we’d spoken to, either in person or on the phone: one receptionist, 2 vet techs, 2 doctors. At NO POINT in any of our various conversations did anyone mention this very important bit of info: This clinic is CLOSED Mondays until six pm and all pets must be picked up Monday morning BEFORE 8 AM!
Yes, there was a paper in all our stack of papers to that effect, but honestly, who reads the «fine print» in a crisis? And what would it have hurt for ONE EMPLOYEE to mention that even though he needed «at least 2 night’s stay», that it wasn’t even possible for him to get that when they were not open on Mondays until six pm?
So, here we were thinking we could pick him up Monday afternoon. Monday morning around 7:45 we get a phone call that we missed due to being at work. It was the clinic, giving us 15 minutes (we live in San Marcos) to pick him up before they transferred him to their «sister clinic» in San Antonio.
Of course we didn’t get him in time. and of course this meant a $ 250 «transport fee». Somehow even though he was ‘ready to go’ at 7:45, he needed «ambulance» transport, or medical transport, that supposedly costs $ 250, to get to San Antonio?
We drove over an hour on Monday afternoon to 410 and Broadway in San Antonio to pick him up and had to sign a «payment agreement» for this $ 250 fee since we were absolutely tapped and had no more money (something we’d made very clear when we were called on Sunday to authorize the additional night).
These people are just shady. There’s something not right here. I firmly believe they omitted this Monday-​morning pickup info intentionally to be able to charge for sending him to San Antonio. Furthermore, he hung out in the San Antonio clinic all of Monday without any of the supportive care we expected him to be getting. He was just there, in a kennel, even though we thought we were paying for another day’s «care».
The last straw; he was really not «well» and fine as they claimed. Peeing all over (no control), not drinking on his own or eating. We brought him home and had to give him syringes of water around the clock, to prevent dehydration. We received NO information on what to expect as far as medication side effects and we were absolutely terrified about behaviors that were just due to the medications. We had to get this info from another vet in a follow up elsewhere. I absolutely believe they sent him home «as is» and NOT really ready to go, knowing we were out of money.

The staff were so friendly! They fixed my puppy boy right up (had a double ear infection and kennel cough after being boarded at a local place for 8 days. never doing that again!). They gave me all the things necessary to treat his conditions, and they were super thorough. Although the ER is an unfortunate place to have to go with your pet, Emergency Pet Clinic was great.

By far worst place you could ever take any pet. We took our dog there after being bit by a pit viper and not just once but the next day were told it was not a snake bite. Now I work in the medical field and realize that some diagnosis can be hard, but to add salt to the wound of being incorrect they have extremely false billing practices. We used an existing care credit account and they billed each service separate for the same visit so care credit said it was under their minimum for the 0%apr we were told we would get. I have now contacted them three times and each of those have been told «I don’t have the ability to change it but you can call the corporate office.» All I need is all the charges that were from the one and only visit I’ve been there to be put on one bill and it would qualify, per care credit, for the 0%apr. So I have called corporate office twice now and left messages with no returned call. This place cares about getting your money and could care less how. tell your friends and neighbors that they would be better making the drive to find a better facility.

We were extremely nervous about bringing our Madison here after reading all the reviews but what we found was quite the opposite. She was having severe seizures and we originally tried the vet off Perrin Beitel and IH 410 but with a 3-​hour wait we decided to give this vet a try. We are sure glad we did… Upon our arrival they immediately carried Madison back and we found the receptionist to be very friendly, compassionate and helpful. Within 15 minutes the vet (Kristin) had already seen Madison, presented several options and she was cautious before administering medication. She was up front and didn’t try to «sell» us on unreasonable tests (Madison is a 15 year old Beagle) We followed her recommendations for an x-​ray and blood work and within an hour they completed the tests and administered anti seizure medication. While we waited they allowed me to occupy one of their exam rooms to keep Madison comfortable and they checked on us several times during the waiting period. Before leaving the vet made sure we were comfortable with the treatment plan and even sent us out with a copy of the x-​ray on disk for our vet. Thank you and although we hope to never have to use this service again it’s good to know this after hours vet is here.

worst place ever!!! i wouldn’t even give it one star but it wouldn’t take zero! all they care about is the almighty dollar ! no compassion rough with animal! i would never ever recommended going there. they are so concerned about the astronomical amount they are going to charge you and clearly say… go up front and take care of the bill and then we can get started on your pet!!! no concern for the animal at all!!! actually filed a complaint as well with the state of veterinary medical examiners. if you love your pet, avoid this business!!!

I brought my dog here after she ate a block of rat bate. They immediately took her in, took my information afterward. The vet explained everything they were going to do. I was very relieved to know that my dog was going to be fine since she got there in time. I was expecting a huge bill, but for all they did, it was not as much as I expected. I see that in other reviews people complain that the payment was required up front… well my doctor asks for payment upfront too. I would go here again if my pet every needed emergency care. Thank you for saving my dogs life!

Our five year old Momma Yorkie delivered a litter of five, one did not survive. I had been dealing with the VIC on Sonterra during her pregnancy, which also has a connected emergency center. That center helped me a great deal when Cami was carrying. However, I found that there was a linked center closer to our home, which was the one in New Braunfels. Puppies were delivered at home on Saturday, Tuesday the runt was pushed out of litter by mom and I felt the need for her to be seen. We came here. Visit was «okay». Puppy got what she needed and maybe even a little extra since the vet on staff at the time dewormed her. Never heard of a three day old puppy being dewormed, but oh well. We paid our bill, got our puppy, and all was well until the following Sunday when she ended up with hypoglycemia and I brought her in. I had to wait as the person at the desk (who works as Vet tech and receptionist) asked me for all my information AGAIN. I asked if he could look back on Tuesday’s visit and pull information so we could hurry the process and have the puppy seen (before it died). He said no and I wasn’t in the system. Well, I told him they misspelled our last name and to check with the proper spelling. He didn’t and proceeded to ask me what they did to the puppy on Tuesday. I spelled my last name incorrectly and told him to read what his computer screen said. He told me exactly what happened on Tuesday, as the info was now on his screen. We finish that ordeal and wait 15 minutes longer. Our puppy is taken to the back and we are separated for 20 more minutes. Finally we are placed in a room and the doctor comes in to ask me what was wrong. I tell him, all the while he is making faces, furrowing his brow and looking at me like I was nuts. I was concerned about my puppy. He then confirmed it was hypoglycemia, but then informed me that the puppy has a heart murmur and he believes a «suspicion of portal shunt». Following 20 minutes of his go round, about the murmur and the suspicion of shunt, and no positive comment concerning her growth and how great she looked (she weighed 2.85 oz when mom rejected her and she weighed 5.05 oz. at the visit) I got tired of him shooting her for dead without major surgery and asked for my puppy while telling him «I will not borrow tomorrow’s trouble for today». We waited forever for our paperwork, still hadn’t gotten it in 15 minutes, and I just told them to mail it to me. Next day I went to our regular Vet and he was amazed at the pup’s growth and told me he could not, in good faith and conscience, put this puppy down or count her for dead. We are taking things on a weekly basis. I will NEVER go to the NB site again unless this doctor is gone. He has his own office somewhere and works emergency to supplement income. I will also research to find his daytime office and not use them either. Hope this helps anyone who is looking for a good clinic. With this doctor on staff this is a very questionable facility if you ask me. Doctor on Tuesday was a «Meh». Doctor on Sunday was a «Never Again».

I have had to come here twice for rattlesnake bites. On both occasions I thought that the vets were honest with us and conservative with the course of treatment. Most recently, the vet decided not to administer another round of antivenin because he felt the money would be better spent on treatment from our regular vet. The emergency vet is obviously going to cost more money which is a bummer but I have been pleased with the level of care and customer service.

Terrible place to bring your pet. Everything is all about dollars without even the slightest bit of care toward your pet’s well being. Payment demanded prior to exam, and you’re not allowed to be with your pet during treatment. The Vet did not even examine our dog. The techs did everything. Then, to top it all off, the Vet wrote that he personally examined our dog and did all the work himself, and lied about the time (saying we were in and out in a timely fashion, rather than the 4 hours we were actually there). Terrible place.