Cat Haven Veterinary Clinic Birmingham, Alabama

All staff really care about cats and are reassuring. Dr. Henckel is most knowledgeable and explains things well.

Long Review Here! If you don't want to read, just know that a simple claw clipping and paw pad fur trim led to severe enough damage on my cat's front left paw that she had an infection within the next two days. Cat Haven had three different times to tell me what happened to my cat's paw, and instead of doing so they allowed me to leave their practice with a hurt cat and $100 less in my bank account. And there are pictures! Giving my review a quick update so I can give a better idea of the service my cat and I received here. I scheduled an appointment for my cat to: 1. Have her claws clipped 2. Have the fur between her paw pads trimmed down and 3. Get a good brush out When I arrived at Cat Haven, I walked into what was basically a house with cats. I wasn't too bothered by this, as one of my vets was mobile so her whole office was in the back of a van, basically. Do be mindful, though, that if your cat does not interact well with other cats, this may not be the best place to take your kitty. From what I saw, the other cats roam around pretty freely. I dropped my cat off at around 8am Friday morning. When I scheduled the appointment a week prior, I was asked about her shot records. I told them she had been vaccinated at Avondale Animal Hospital, and it was communicated to me that they would reach out to AAH and get my cat's shot records from there. When I arrived and filled out my paperwork, they asked about the shot records again. Guess they hadn't contacted the vet yet. I filled out the paperwork and headed to work. Received a call around 2pm giving me an update. A net had to be tossed over my cat in order to catch and sedate her for her grooming. I was reassured the net did not harm my kitty, but she was 'fussy.' "Hopefully she grows to like us" is what was said. I laughed it off - my cat doesn't really care to be prodded with. It's why I took her to professionals. It's why I paid someone else to handle her. When I picked up my cat, I could tell she was upset. If any of the people who worked there walked past, she made a noise... like a deep grumble. But she was also on drugs, so I figured she was just a little out of it. The vet told me she "wasn't really sure what I wanted done to her paws" as I was checking out. I confirmed I just wanted the longer fur growing from her paw pads trimmed down. If there was any uncertainty, they surely could've called. But that didn't happen. Shot records were requested again, and I reminded them that they could retrieve this information from AAH, as they said they would. The vet's response was "we appreciate Avondale, but...we're here too." Now what's crazy is I made it all the way home and no one told me they'd hurt my cat. Not when I received the afternoon call, not when I picked up my cat and paid for services. I've posted pictures here to show the condition in which my cat was returned to me. And my cat UPSET, rightfully so. I picked her up from Cat Haven around 430/445pm on Friday, and she hid until maybe noonish the following Saturday. Wouldn't eat - not even treats! And when she walked, she limped. If she wasn't walking, she was either shaking/licking her paw, or holding it off the ground to avoid putting weight on it. I called Cat Haven again around 11am on Saturday, and asked what happened to my cat. Again, I was told my cat was 'fussy.' When asked "was it because she was in pain?" the response was that she was fussy prior to whatever it is they did to my cat's paw. But still, no one said "this is what happened, and we're sorry that we damaged your cat's paw." I was told I could bring her back in, but I'm not sure what made these people think I was going to bring my cat BACK to that place after they'd already hurt her. Took her to Avondale Animal Hospital on Monday and her paw is infected. Still not sure what the vet/vet tech was doing that hurt my cat, but it's only on the front left paw. Like they knew they messed up. But they never admitted to it. Just a "sorry about her poor paw." And this was only AFTER I'd confronted them about it. Would not recommend.

Very nice and compassionate , thank you.

I chose this lovely vetnarian over others cus she showed she cared and not in it for the money. She cared for my 3 cats and took very good care of them. Her prices are reasonable and her work remarkable. My cats were NOT in any pain and was very mobile after surgery. I was not able to go in due to COVID... but that's ok. Her staff was super friendly and professional. Very kind office... Thank you.. from tge owner of Fig n Fin. Rajah is next.

Lovely vet and staff! I take my cat Fig here and they always treat us so well. 10/10 would recommend their services. Especially if you live on the southside.

Good treat animals with care

The vet is great and so are the staff. Prices are reasonable too. The quintessential doctor's office for kitties. You can certainly tell cats are loved there.

Made my family feel like murderers when we asked about having our cat humanely put down. The doctor even loudly announced it in the waiting room further embarrassing us. We took our cat to another dear local vet who did a proper exam and told us the humane thing to do would be to put him to sleep and counciled us instead of judging us. It was an emotional, terrible experience that a little grace would have helped. My husband having aspergers doesn't communicate well at times and we hope that was the issue because we have only heard amazing things about this place. And as cat lovers we would love to support it. Pretty sure everyone may have had an off day. They did do an emergency procedure on another one of our cats upfront without payment and let her come home and trusted us to come back and pay. So fifty fifty great to feeling like a murderer

I too had a very unpleasant experience here. The first time there was a young boy in his teens whom I thought was unprofessional and discourteous. On the next visit it was Dr. Henckell, the vet, whom I thought was not only rude and unprofessional in her manner but insulting in her behavior toward me. I returned once more to allow them to finish their treatment of my ailing cat but I will never return to this poorly run outfit.

The folks there absolutely LOVE cats. Generous hearts and a caring touch.

Excellent staff but almost 300% more expensive than Oxmoor Animal Clinic, where I usually go, which also has an excellent staff. (I didn’t have a way to get there this time.) $48 vs $180. They did give me 2 weeks to pay but $180 is never easy for me since my income is $300 a month after rent.

Cat Haven has been absolutely wonderful for my cat, who I very much consider part of my family. They are not overpriced. Can't praise them enough!

Wonderful caring vet and staff. Highly recommend them.

Good place that specializes in cats. Well pleased.

Such wonderful care of your kitty. Very kind and compassionate staff. . Dr Hinkle is so knowledgeable and so is her staff.

Definitely a Cat Place! I have mixed feelings. They're a little expensive compared to some, but they only see cats...so their knowledge, the environment, and their rapport with the feline persuasion is specialized and welcoming. No curious dogs in the waiting room with inattentive owners. No symphony of barking to freak out our cats...as if they weren't freaked enough. Where I'm mostly conflicted, though, is from an experience I had when I brought my cat in to have a tooth removed. They were supposed to call and tell me when to pick her up, but they never did. Finally I called myself, and they said, "Sure, come on in." When I got there, I was told my cat had stopped breathing from the anesthesia and almost died. The vet was able to save her life, for which I'm grateful, but I never quite understood why a tooth extraction turned out to be life threatening...or why they didn't call to let me know what was going on or, at the least, to come pick her up. I had to bring her back another day to get the tooth removed, and they promised to use a lighter anesthesia that worked just as well, which made me wonder why they didn't use that in the first place. The vet said it was very unusual for the anesthesia to have that effect, and it was quite a shock. Considering they only see cats, the fact this was so unexpected surprised me. So either they messed up somehow and endangered my cat's life or I have a highly unusual cat and they were skillful enough to save her. I haven't had to get any other types of procedures for her, so there's no real way of knowing. But I will say, they do seem to love their feline patients wholeheartedly, so I'm confident there was no negligence, and I would take her back again.

The staff goes above and beyond to calm the fears of THIS OVER protective Cat Momma

They once threatened to keep my agoraphobic cat overnight and charge me so they could go home 30 minutes before their website said they closed. Then, after leaving work immediately upon receiving the call and sprinting there to retrieve my cat, they then lectured me and called me a bad pet owner. I never went back, truly awful experience.

Dr. Hinkle is a very caring and excellent Vet. We have had 3 Cats they have cared for and never had a problem. She goes the extra mile in Kitty Health Care.

If you have a sick cat, this is the place to go. Dr. Hasckell, the veterinarian, truly cares about her "patients". Her examination rooms have a casual atmosphere where my little patient felt comfortable enough to wander around when he wasn't being examined. Blood work was needed and done on site and very quickly. I was given the results in a graph form that was easy to understand. After going to several veterinarian clinics that felt like a animal factory, I am very happy to say I have found a great vet at Cat Haven.

I used to work here when it was next to Zydeco. If a Dr. Nora Grant is still involved in the practice, run the other way. She gave a cat ringworm through her not cleaning after herself, and told a diabetic owner that they could stop insulin. The cat crashed, and she milked the owners for thousands of dollars when it was clear it wouldn't survive. She almost killed my own cat with chemotherapy - 1 day of treatment and my cat was almost dead. And I worked there! We had an idiot working there who tried to autoclave used plastic syringes - turning it into a plastic mess. I had to hold the animals for x-rays, with no protection for my hands. Funny, I now have severe hand arthritis, especially my thumbs. I finally quit when the stress became too much. I loved the cats and their owners, but knowing how bad the care was, I couldn't keep working there in good faith. Oh, and I'm not a vet tech, yet I opened the clinic at 7:30am, and she didn't show up until 9am. I had to do all ER care during that time. I would drive up to open, and there would be clients with dying cats expecting me to save them. I did my very best, but she should have been there.