Saint Francis Veterinary Specialists Decatur, Georgia

Would give them 6 stars if I could! My beautiful Retriever unfortunately was diagnosed by my local vet to have Stage 3 cancer so we were referred to Saint Francis by a friend. I've interacted with probably 5-6 different people there (2 …

Paid them $520 for an examination (in which they they were able to tell me nothing from), a urine culture (which I never received the results of), a blood test (which they didn't perform), and 2 medicines which my cat will not take so have not helped her. My cat is still very sick after a week, Saint Francis did nothing and helped no one, and now I have to take my cat somewhere else to perform all of these services because she isn't eating now and has become progressively sick. They are also claiming I owe them more money which is obscured. I came to pick up my cat twice and they had me waiting over an hour outside and held her hostage for $19.98 they say I owe. INSANE. DO NOT trust these crooks with your animal.

Dr. Powell was amazing. She listened carefully and addressed all of our questions. The staff was very kind as well. Since this was an emergency visit for us and we drove an hour to get there, I can say that they treated us and our dog wonderfully. I highly recommend St. Francis!

I've now been here twice since getting my dog and each time they have been great! Both instances were because he ate something he shouldn't have and of course it's when our regular vet isn't open. We're very grateful for the love and care they have provided our sweet boy!

If you want to talk to a different DVM every time you call, or have countless blood panels done just to be told by the DVM that she doesn't trust the results, then Dr. Thiman is your girl! As someone who has worked in these types of settings, I can say with confidence that this person has no business communicating with pet owners in delicate situations. To be told that "it is what it is" is unheard of an honestly just plain mean. As a recent graduate it's clear that she has something to prove and didn't appreciate the fact that I didn't want my pet to be her science experiment. Do better. The lack of transparency and the entitlement of these shiny new DVMs is disgusting and embarrassing. She pretty much read my pets file and regurgitated everything else I had already been told without even touching my cat and felt entitled enough to charge me $119. Wow! Thank you for the very classy and snarky response! This shows the world how very professional you are! In the words of Dr. Thiman "it is what it is". ALSO, I would love to see where I saved this $130 because surely that would have been on the estimate.....I'll wait.

The other night I brought my 3 week old puppy, Princess in to be seen. We were met at the door with open arms and they immediately began emergency care on our sweet girl. Because of Saint Franchise we were able to do her Justice by giving her death with dignity. I will never forget the staff that treated her with love and care. They even let her mother in the back room to say goodbye to her puppy…this is the only emergency room I will take my animals to from now on. I know they will receive quality care even up to their last moments. Truly thank you for all that you did to make our visit as comfortable as possible.

I have never felt more connected and confident in a vet than this one. It is emotional and stressful when we have to deal with the costs and difficulties of taking our pet children to the ER, but this vet eased the pain. Their staff is great- professional, friendly, descriptive, and helpful in any way. I was referred to them by my primary vet THRIVE. My dog stayed the weekend for a ER visit and they called me with updates as much as possible. I appreciate all of their staff and want to highlight everyone who was apart of Zilla's team. Emily & Nikki LaToya/Krissi/Jonathan/Kasundra/Aston Chavis Dr. Belz

We brought in my elderly cat (14) because all 4 of his paws are very swollen and our normal vet doesn’t have availability for a week. Our cat has serious kidney and heart issues, is on a complicated suite of meds, and we thought this warranted a visit to the ER. We called at 3:00 and they said to bring him in at 4:30. When we got there they wouldn’t let us enter because of Covid protocol. I and my wife are triple vaccinated and we’re wearing brand new kn95 masks (the receptionist was wearing a mask but it wasn’t covering her nose). They refused to even take any information about our cat. We were told they’d do triage and get back to us. Why they would refuse pertinent medical information that we were eager to communicate before doing triage is…unclear. As we were waiting in our car, it quickly became obvious that the hospital was in the middle of a shift change (lots of staff leaving—we were parked by the employee entrance and so we saw it happen first hand). Why tell a patient to come in in the middle of a shift change? Naturally, there was no possibility of immediate communication from the medical staff. After waiting for 90 minutes with no update, we called to ask for information. This was 6:00. The receptionist told us to call back at 7:00, another hour. It was clear to me that their triage had determined this was not an immediate emergency, as they wouldn’t have waited if immediate intervention was needed to save the animal’s life. But then why not communicate that to us? I decided enough was enough and I entered the building to ask for my cat to be returned. The receptionist told me that the doctors were on their rounds but would be able to talk to me in 5 minutes. At this point I had no reason to trust them, so I said I’d wait inside. 10 minutes later an polite orderly asked me to wait outside. When I said that I’d just been assured a doctor could talk to me in 5 minutes, he said “we have a lot of emergencies.” I get that completely, but if my cat isn’t an emergency then I don’t need to be there. I said I’d rather just have my cat, and left. Who knows how much longer we would have been waiting to even explain the complicated medical history to the doctor before they could properly assess the meaning of the swollen paws. We still have no idea what is going on with our animal, but I have absolutely no faith that this hospital is equipped to help him. While I was waiting inside a man whose animal had just died was waiting in distress. The one receptionist kept calling the deceased animal a “baby,” and the other referred to it only as “it.” An experience I’ll not soon forget.

I honestly wish I could leave them no stars at all. These people are rude and inconsiderate. Was told it was be a TWO HOUR wait to put a poor kitten to sleep that was suffering. The girl that answered the phone put me on hold forever then had the never to talk over me. Then we ended up going to another ER Vet that was absolutely amazing and you could tell they actually cared unlike Saint Francis. Ran into a couple that just left Saint Francis and said the same thing! If you love your pet do not take them here.

St. Francis is a godsend. The staff is as caring as it is knowledgeable and professional. If your pet is extremely sick or you don't agree with your vet's assessment, your next stop should be St. Francis.

TL//dr: Avoid at all costs. They are a surgery first vet and incredibly overpriced. I took my dog into them after a referral from my normal vet. She had a mass under her skin that she had chewed on and was causing her to not use her leg. She had also lost a lot of weight. Their solution was to run several thousand dollars in tests to see if she was able to have surgery to remove her leg…. And then thousands of dollars more for the surgery. All in was about $8,000. I decided I would seek another opinion (and estimate) to which they were shocked and insulted I was going to leave without paying for any tests. In the meantime, I purchased a cone of shame and started putting Neosporin on the wound until I was able to get to another vet. Fast forward 2 months and she’s back to her fighting weight, running around like her old self, and the mass is much smaller than it was. I have no idea why they didn’t even suggest trying antibiotics or any other treatment first. They went straight to amputation is their solution. Thank god I planned to seek another opinion…. Not only did it save me almost 8 grand but it saved my pup from (what now appears to be) an unnecessary surgery and losing her leg.

I cannot say enough amazing words of gratitude to Dr. Melissa Ehrlich, Dr. Bridgid Chavis, Dr. Katie Belz and the staff. Our dog, a 4 year old blue heeler, went into anaphylactic shock and cardiac arrest. He was technically dead and we thought we lost him. They spent the next 72 hours with him, giving us constant updates, and caring to his needs. They brought my dog back home to us when we thought there was no hope. These folks are such caring miracle workers and we’re forever grateful.

My dog had a late night emergency with an abscess that ruptured. We had a very high quality experience with St. Francis Veterinary Specialists. Each person I spoke with from the person who took my call to the nurse and the vet, were so kind, patient, informative and reassuring. They addressed my dog’s problem very quickly and professionally. Their follow up care instructions were thorough and the price was very reasonable for a late night Saturday visit. Highly recommend if your per needs emergency and or after hours care.

If I could give a star lower than one I would. Absolutely over priced, poor care, and terrible customer service. Please go to Village Vets, the Atlanta Humane Society, or UGA. Literally anywhere else would be better. 5000 later and multiple outside vets have said they followed the worst possible care plan. They are horrible at communicating and don’t let you inside or see your pet at all. They’ll blame it on COVID but actually it’s just because they give terrible care and don’t want to be exposed. Unprofessional and absolutely money hungry. I checked my dog out without their consent and my only wish is that I did it two days sooner. Horrible! DO NOT BRING YOUR COMPANION HERE. They will take advantage of your vulnerability and won’t treat your dog at all until you show you can pay.

So recently we had to make the very hard decision to put our dog down. St Francis handled this whole situation in the most wonderful and respectful way I have ever experienced in an animal hospital. They were able to make an understandably horrible situation the best it could be through their caring attention, outstanding professionalism, and empathetic presence. If you ever have the misfortune of having to say goodbye to your furry companions, this is a place that will help you say goodbye in a way befitting a loved one.

I had never heard of st. Francis before now. They were very thorough with want they found wrong with my kitten. There was such compassion from staff and even a refundeD of my down payment when there was nothingthat could be done. I have been to other emergency vets. They weren't anything likeSt. Francis. Thank you all so very much.

Update!!!! So today was our appointment there was no wait there was no price haggling and the staff was phenomenal!!! Truly thank you SFVS Internist group for providing my fur baby with cuddles and warmth!!! Thank you for taking care of him!!!

I was very happy and grateful to Dr. Brígid Burns and the nurses, excellent service and great attention to my dog ​​Mya. Thanks ????

be aware that they will charge you an extra $580 to bring an outside specialist to "consult" on top of their normal $115 exam with their in house vet. when i called i was told their in house vet is unable to handle. when i looked back at past blue pearl invoice for the same exact issue, it was less than half the price. will be leaving saint francis and going back to blue pearl even though it is further away.

Fantastic is every way possible ! The staff including Dr . Chavis and John the nurse, were very supportive of us and gave Bella 1 on 1 attention. Although they are expensive , I had to keep in mind St Francis was providing emergency services to very sick babygirl .

If you can, pass this place and head to Village Vets in Decatur. I understand that the staff here sees a lot of death and heartbreak, and I can only imagine that it starts to wear on them. But the vet tech working with us when we made the difficult decision to put our cat down just didn’t communicate very well and wasn’t very warm about it. He was short with his responses, and I kept having to ask questions because things weren’t explained well. He also brought our cat out in the wrong carrier. Makes me wonder what else they may have mixed up. The doctor was a better communicator and appeared to be sorry that things had suddenly turned so horrible. That’s the only reason I’m giving 2 stars instead of 1. We were told that they would reach out to us in roughly a week when our baby’s ashes were ready, but they didn’t. We had to reach out to them a week an a half later to learn that the ashes had been there and we were never notified. The last thing I’ll say is that this place doesn’t have to charge so much for their services - they really don’t. There are other emergency vets that cost much less. They don’t have to gauge people, but they do. And I think that really says it all. I will never take another baby here again.

I took my cat here the other day because he was having issues with his mouth, I get to the vet everything was fine, the person that took my cat to the back told me that it would be about 10-30 minutes for him to get looked at and the vet would call me, so I waited and 1 hour went by and I was shocked! I was worried that something bad happened and I had to be to work so I was freaking out, at the 1 hour and 30 minute mark I called and asked what was going on, the person on the other line proceeded to tell me that there was an emergency with another animal so the vet would have to get back to me, which I completely understand but someone could have called and told me!! I’m sitting in the parking lot waiting! So another hour goes by and NOTHING again!!! I called back and they told me they will be calling within the next few minutes to bring him out…. One more hour goes by and STILL nothing, I’m a very patient person but this was ridiculous they did not care at all, they must have forgotten about him being there so I called and let them know I was getting angry and they finally brought him out, i do not recommend this vet unless you want to be waiting 5 hours or more with no updates.

My yellow lab was bitten by a copperhead and we called ahead as we were driving the furry boy to find an emergency vet. the receptionist was great and took all our info on the way and made sure that they were equipped to handle a bite and …

Brought my dog in today for some problems with her foot! She was seen so quickly everyone was professional and very informative! The doctor I spoke to was so kind and explained everything so well!! Would 100% recommend to anyone!

Very poor experience here. We thought our puppy had swallowed a small tennis ball so we brought him here one night. They took an X-ray and after $700 they weren’t able to discern anything from it. We later found out from a different hospital that tennis balls are VERY easily distinguishable on X-rays. They wanted to keep him overnight, do ultra sounds and stick things down his throat, all costing thousands. The man was telling us this over the phone at 11pm on a Monday night, we were the only ones there and our poor pup was sobbing a howl in the background so we couldn’t even hear him attempt to explain this to us. We asked him to please comfort our pup but I think he just walked to the other room. TLDR: Inadequate knowledge, disregard for our puppy, really wanted our money.

Don't go here. Called last night and they said that it was a 3 -4 hour wait so I waited until this morning but still ended up dropping my dog off at 8 am to pick him up at 2 pm. I assumed based on a wait time estimate that I would be with my pet. I missed a day of work for them to charge me $950 for random tests and pain meds and then they tell me to go see his regular vet. They $200 for an X-ray and another $190 to read it. If you can get an appointment with your regular vegetarian, I suggest going there first. Save your money going here for an actual diagnosis. Update...can't seem to get a printout of exam summary to take to primary vet but the emails with bill summaries are immediate. If you love your pet please go somewhere else.

Do not take your animal here under any circumstance. They recommended multiple tests but couldn’t explain why they thought the tests were necessary for the condition we brought our animal in for. They could not explain what they were looking for or why they needed to be done. This is a scam veterinarian.

I had the absolute worst experience here that I've ever had at any vet. Do NOT bring your animals here if you love them- please take your pets to another animal hospital these people should not be in business. I normally don't leave bad …

I took my dog to the emergency hospital here, and I have never been so scared. The staff came out quickly to triage him (unlike another local hospital that told me it would be a 4-5 hour wait). They were very friendly, helpful, and thorough in his care. Dr. Chavis spent lots of time on the phone with me answering questions. My boy is now home and recovering nicely thanks to Saint Francis.

I am extremely unsatisfied with the service I received at this emergency vet. I visited because my cat was having issues using the bathroom & stopped eating. Like most pet parents any changes in your animal is an emergency, so I wanted to bring him in to see what was going on. Upon arrival they took my cat from the car & told me to go home because he would be there a few hours. I was not allowed to go in with my cat. Prior to dropping my cat off, the only issue he had was the constipation & not eating. Physically & appearance wise, there was NOTHING wrong with him. A few hours later, I picked my cat up. I was given medicine to treat his stomach issue but little information. When I got home, I gave my cat the medication & noticed his nose looked irritated. Since is was well past midnight, I decided to let my cat get some rest. The next morning, I woke up & he was drooling uncontrollably. I immediately was concerned so I brought him to my local vet. The local vet examined his nose & said it needed to be treated. She prescribed me some ointment for his nose. As for the drooling, she explained that was a side effect of the medication prescribed. My complaint with Saint Francis is that there was little to no communication on what to expect with the medication they prescribed and the condition my cat was returned to me in is irresponsible. I do not know how they handle animals, but I am furious that my cat was harmed under their care. It is UNACCEPTABLE. I spent 1K on my cat here & they harmed my cat. I will no longer trust this location with treatment of my pet. 100% DO NOT RECOMMEND.