Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital-Univ Of Missouri Columbia, Missouri

I took my pet here after an emergency and they put her down without me in the room and without me knowing they used euthanasia. They then sent her off to be cremated at a place that won’t answer my emails or questions about pickup or if my …

Wish I could give them 0 stars. Best friend's cat had a serious flea problem and took him in. They discovered a minor respiratory issue and put him under to check. Gave him too much anesthesia and killed him. Absolutely devastating, he wasn't even 3 yet and in completely fine health. Never going to take my fur baby here.

Brought my cat to get evaluated by veterinary neurology, the experience was very good and the price for diagnostics was much more affordable than what I was quoted elsewhere. I’m glad that my cat finally has a concrete diagnosis and if anything were to arise in the future where I needed her seen I’d happily bring her back.

Went to Mizzou vet for a procedure. They did such an awful job that I had to go to K-State for a second opinion. I paid the full bill before I left the vet. A month later, I got another bill for even more. I called in to ask why and she said they changed the charges because they billed me wrong initially. I asked to speak to the supervisor and the rude lady hung up on me. DO NOT go to this vet.

My dog had to have emergency back surgery at the Thanksgiving holiday time. I drove him from St Louis to Columbia because this hospital was the only one that had specialty services during the holiday. The vets and staff took excellent care of him, and he is doing very well. I really appreciated that one vet student was assigned to be my contact person and follow the case from beginning to end. She called me twice a day with updates and when there was news about his condition. I cannot recommend this practice highly enough.

I took my cocker spaniel, Winston, here to get an arrhythmia evaluated through the cardiology department here. They are absolutely great. Doctors, techs, reception, billing, the whole deal! Still searching for answers for my fur baby, however every penny spent here has been worth it. Winston typically dislikes vets, however he gets so excited and happy coming here. I would recommend their cardiology department to anyone who wants their animal to be treated with love and kindness!????????

Update to original post: there now is another emergency vet option in Columbia- Horton Discovery. TL;DR- Customer service is frequently poor to just plain bad, and they are unabashedly expensive. It's a shame there's not another option for emergency veterinary services. Not my regular veterinarian, but I have taken my cat twice for minor medical emergences- a bite on his tail and a head injury. Treatment for his tail was cleaning the wound- they kept him for 7 hours and I had to call repeatedly, only to be put on hold for ages, and then to be told they were "about to get to it". I felt terrible for the cat sitting in a stressful vet hospital with no painkillers for hours just to have a wound flushed. I couldn't get anyone's attention until I became rude with them, and their excuse was that "they got busy". I realize veterinary care here is unpredictable, but if getting busy puts them 7 hours behind, there's no way they are staffing their clinic appropriately. The second time, for the cat's head injury, the doctor who called was a terrible communicator, which is not the first time I've experienced that here. An example- I asked the doctor how the cat's injury would be treated and she launched into an explanation of "benign neglect" -meaning just let it heal. I feel like the same main issues are repeated in these reviews over and over, and I haven't seen any indication that they take them seriously.

The Horse I lease received great care here and we would take him there if we needed too. The only reason I gave four out of five starts is because when we picked him up the Dr. in charged of his care told us they would appreciate it if we would bring him back to Mizzou for a necropsy when he passes away. I found this a little offensive and inappropriate because we were give a good prognosis and I felt that it was not the right place or time for that type of comment. I get they are a research hospital but I feel like they need to work on their bedside manner. I know in the back of my mind the comment was coming from the scientist within her but it still should not have been said in that moment. They need to work on reading the room. Other than that they were great and with out a doubt we would take him back there if we needed to.

I want to personally thank the staff at Veterinary Health Center who helped my 8 month old Mini Goldendoodle puppy (Macy) recover from a serious medical emergency. Macy got ahold of my hearing aids and chewed them up and swallowed many of the parts including a battery which resulted in a very serious situation. I drove three hours to see them and I'm so happy I did. The staff was very caring and professional and I'm so thankful for everything they did.

Hello Desperate, worried, scared, pet owner. This place will do anything and everything to give you closure regarding your pets health. Our fur baby Contracted a rapid disease that is untreatable (CD). We received mixed answers from 3 other veterinarians and these compassionate people did every test and treatment possible, and were willing to continue treatment even though the results would be fruitless. We have absolutely no doubt in our minds that we explored any and all options to save our pets life. They supported our decisions no matter what. If you are looking for a straight answer this is the place to go.

Took our senior pet here on a weekend for acute neurological symptoms as his normal vet wasn’t open at the time. The entire experience from beginning to end was frankly unprofessional and down right awful. 10 minutes after he was taken inside and we were left in the parking lot, we got a phone call. We were told that there was essentially a 100% chance his symptoms were caused by a brain tumor or cervical spine tumor and that we could admit him overnight for an MRI in the morning, but his prognosis was very poor and he likely only had 1-2 weeks left to live with minimal treatment options. Not only did they have this conversation with us on the phone, it was littered with medical jargon and we were barely given the opportunity to even ask a question. We asked for a few minutes to process and discuss next steps amongst ourselves and were told she would call us back in 15 minutes. 45 minutes goes by and we have received no call so we called requesting to speak with someone. Another 20 minutes passed before we were called back. We asked to take our dog home to enjoy whatever time we had left and were told they would bring him out in 20 minutes. An hour and a half later they finally brought our dog out to us. Additionally they shaved his leg despite him having no intervention and labs weren’t drawn. An hour after getting home his symptoms had completely resolved. He was seen by his regular vet with absolutely no abnormalities several days later who says their diagnosis was likely completely off base. This was four weeks ago and he remains completely normal. Between the poor communication (both lacking and not face to face), outrageous cost, complete lack of compassion while giving awful news (once again via a phone call) and unwillingness to think of any other possible causes of our pets symptoms, the whole experience was awful. We will never be coming back. And would never recommend this place to anyone.

Our local veterinarian referred us to an ophthalmologist because he thought our Doberman puppy had some vision problems. I couldn’t have been more pleased. Our puppy, almost 5 months old, is uncomfortable around people she doesn’t know and everyone there was so kind and so patient with her. They were very knowledgeable and they explained clearly what was going on with her eyes, which thankfully isn’t affecting her vision. Yes, they are more expensive than our regular vet, but they did three or four different tests on her plus the eye exam, and it was well worth the cost to have the experts let us know what was going on. I couldn’t have been more pleased.

Too expensive and expect money up front when accidents happens

Dr. Humke was AMAZING. We had to euthanize our dog, but she was wonderful about reassuring us, talking us through the process, and being very gentle with us and our pup in his last moments. Our hearts are broken, but the pain was much more manageable with a phenomenal vet. So compassionate, kind, and understanding. 10/10.

I don’t even want to give them one star. They need to have more respect & caring for our family members. They take advantage cause they are our little family members and that they are animals and charge outrageous prices. When you take your family up there to find out what the problem is through emergency then they should get on it right away. And figure it out not send home with pneumonia and see if it clears up. Went back couple days later because when she came home she was worse. Quit eating and doing the same thing she was supposed to be checked for. Finally figured something out back through emergency again waited 6 days before they did something finally also no food because they were going to do surgery. So weaker and sicker. Finally came home over the battle and again she was much much worse than when she went up there the first time. She was suffering but you think maybe it’s from surgery but on top of that can’t talk to anyone, won’t call you back, answer emails timely. Didn’t call back like they said they would and have go to vet in town cause they care and the problem she had don’t think it was fixed at all because it was there. They had made her worse and now she’s gone forever. Spent her last two weeks really suffering and hurting, couldn’t sleep and getting weaker not to mention lost 10lbs because they didn’t fix her and didn’t care to give me an answer on what it could possibly be and what to do to help her. Oh but they be glad to take her through emergency and get your 1/2 down before they even do anything. I will never ever take any of my family members to them again & I will tell everyone I know how they handled & didn’t handle the situation and not to take their family members there. Worse every time I brought her home. Makes you wonder how they take care of them there. Just pump them full of medicine and put them in a cage and then have their college want to be vet dr’s to experiment surgeries on what they think the problem is or improving quality of life. Which didn’t happen it was worse. All they care about is getting their overpriced charges for the nothing they do. I wish I never ever took her there. They need qualified experienced for years people who really care about animals as if they were there own to take care and go above and beyond to find out what the problem is for our little family members and make sure it was done. Not even a check up appointment to make sure and see how things are. Just oh you can bring them to emergency and we will get to it when we can to see what’s going so they can sit in a cage and get worse while waiting to be seen. It’s a sad world when you can’t count on someone who is supposed to know what they are doing and care about what they are doing to help someone else. To that place it’s just all about collecting the money whether they actually do the job they are supposed to do or not. They don’t care

My husband brought our dog here at 3:30 am on 03/14/21 as we needed our dog to be seen asap as he has been running a fevor and dry heaving and throwing up white mucus stuff, we was told by our vet to bring him to MU Veterinary university. My husband gets there and someone beeps him in and one of the vets came running at my husband and our dog and says he Can't be in there without a mask, then starts to pull my dogs leash out of my husbands hand and saying he will take our dog with no paperwork signed or anything....then they called cops on my husband for slamming a door and my husband explained to them what was going on. I will not be bringing my pets here ever again. As I do not believe that this is a suitable business for anyone to go to. Very disappointed and do not reccomened.

This University of Missouri Veterinary Teaching Hospital (Columbia Missouri) is a big disappointment. I brought my dog in bright and happy and they gave me back my dog two days later, lethargic, would hardly acknowledge me and she died on the way home in my car. Their communication was pathetic and I believe they were hiding something from me as well (possibly a medical error on their part). The technicians that came out to my vehicle to get my dog were nice but clueless and unprofessional, needing much better training. For the amount that the hospital charges for the care of a pet, they should be much more qualified to answer questions. When they gave me my dog back and I asked why her demeanor was so bad, the technicians stated that she must just be sedated? They were wrong. She was dying! The hospital originally quoted $600 for an overnight stay and then put a hold on my credit card for up to $1200 (stating it would not go that high, it was just policy). After two days in the hospital, the amount doubled up to $2400. This hospital has hidden fees, they ask to do more procedures and keep you in dark about the total amount being charged. They always try to do everything the expensive way. Always trying to get more money from you. The care they gave my dog killed her! She was in no means in critical condition when I brought her to the hospital. She was hanging her head out the window of my vehicle, enjoying the ride. All they had to say to me was “I am sorry, she was nearing the end of her life anyway." I suggest going to another medical facility where the doctors have all graduated and they are not learning on your pet. Get all charges in writing as you Ok treatment for your pet and have them tally it up to that moment, for exactly what you are being charged for that day and hour. I will never bring any animal to this facility again. I miss my sweet little girl so… very much. My dog did not deserve to have her life ended this way. I never had a chance to say goodbye. Wish I never brought her there. (One last thing, her ER doctor just graduated from college and received her license two months prior to my visit, which I did not know, as I looked up her license. That is not the type of care I thought I was paying for. I did not want a new graduate learning her job skills on my dog. I expected a much more tenured doctor. Especially for the amount being charged. I contacted the hospital director David Wilson and he only answered one email and stopped communicating with me. That is poor customer service and care.)

I called at 8:38am on 08/23/2020 as my dog who was under Oncology care with MU Cancer Center (Dr. Chu) was exhibiting extreme discomfort and pain and we wanted to bring him to the Small Animal Emergency/Critical Care Center. I was told by Ben, the receptionist, to head that way and to call when we were close so he could put us in the system. We did so and were told to call when we arrived. We arrived, called at 10:24am and waited approximately 10-15 minutes for the student to come out to retrieve our pet. We asked the student to make sure Wally was given meds for pain as he was in such discomfort and she assured us he would be given pain medication. We had not heard anything so called at 3:27pm to request the doctor contact us. When we did not receive a call by 3:37pm I went to the Emergency entrance and knocked on the window to get a response. Ben came to the door at which point I told him I expected the doctor to call me immediately. Dr. Easley called at 3:42pm. At this time Wally had not been given any pain medication, nor had he been diagnosed by the doctor. We approved x-ray and sedated ultra-sound, stating we expected this to be done immediately. Dr. Easley noted there had been "25 cases after Wally was brought in" so they were behind. While we understand that, we saw ALL of those cases while waiting in the parking lot and none appeared to be in discomfort or as stressed as our pet. At 5:30pm Dr. Easley called to say there were two masses and the ultra-sound was inconclusive so she recommended we return between 6:30am - 7:30am the next day (08/24) for Wally to be turned over to the Oncology unit for sedated ultra-sound with needle aspirate. She stated there would be NO emergency/after-hours fee for this. We stayed in a hotel, during which Wally was extremely uncomfortable all night and called at 6:30am on 08/24 to be told to bring him in at 7:30am which we did. At 7:53am we received a phone call that Dr. Jeff Bryan had asked that we bring Wally in at 10:30am after their rounds. I told Nora, who called, that Wally was brought in at 7:30am. Dr. Reich performed the sedated ultra-sound but was unable to obtain the necessary cells to make a definitive pathology of the two masses. I had asked Dr. Reich during our first phone call to please keep up informed, explaining that had not been done the day before. Dr. Reich was very diligent about keeping us informed. In closing, the care our pet received on 08/23, as well as the communication were EXTREMELY lacking. Wally's pain and stress were compounded unnecessarily by not giving him the pain meds as requested/promised and keeping him in a cage for over five hours with nothing done! Our stress was compounded unnecessarily by Dr. Easley's neglect in keeping us informed and not contacting us at all until we became insistent! We understand that emergencies are handled on a case-by-case basis with those critical being triaged first, but the way our pet's care was handled, and our stress level multiplied, is completely unnecessary and unconscionable! Not only will we never use these facilities again, but we will discourage others from doing so. I strongly recommend steps be taken to ensure things like this don't happen in future. When we bring our pet to your Emergency/Critical Care facility, we have the right to expect treatment which is efficient, compassionate and complete.

This is the best place for a sick animal. The doctors the students the entire staff is there to take excellent care of your pet. Thank you so much for your help with Maddie.

My dog became very sick over a very short period of time. The doctors got him stabilized and did a good job of keeping me updated. This was such a scary experience and I am glad I trusted them with his care. After a few days in their ICU he is home and healthy.

I'm confident that some very smart people work here but you won't necessarily meet them. The quality of care is very high but I wasn't happy about meeting with different doctors at each follow-up visit. Some of the first-year docs are still working on their communication skills. MU, like most of the vets I've visited lately, seem to use a business model similar HVAC and auto-mechanics. They rely on confusing jargon and your ignorance to beat you like a cash piñata. All said, I would still recommend this place.

My friend drove hours to them because he was told they had rattlesnake antivenin on hand. This was on a Friday. They didn’t get it til Saturday. Due to covid he was not able to be with his dog. They had not been separated in 10 years. His poor dog had his leg removed but still required more antivenin. It wasn’t coming til Tuesday. He died Monday. Alone and afraid. I can’t describe how horrible this was. On top of this poor handling they cannot provide decent information to you. It is just babble. Or a way to get more money out of you. An unbelievable experience. Go anywhere else in an emergency.

24/7 emergency room! I didn't find out about this until it was too late for my cat. Please if you're reading this know that you can get your sick animal treatment 24/7. I didn't realize this when i did a google search for animal hospitals because google doesn't really tell you about the emergency room.

I just don’t know why they’d ever expect students to be able to afford that & then for them to say they’d just let my animal die rather than billing me. I’m just so stunned. I cannot believe they consider themselves a hospital let alone a vet.

I've never had a worse experience at a vet. The vet student who saw my animal didn't know what to do, the other vet student who was in charge of intake was so visibly distraught that she couldn't handle the full emergency room load. I ended up waiting over an hour to basically hear that they didn't know what was wrong (I didn't get any specialized testing done). I didn't have the full amount on one credit card, so I split the bill in two. After a few months, I get a letter in mail saying they are sending me to collections for the 2nd payment (which I made). I've told them 10 times that I have made the payment on the day that they "treated" my animal otherwise THEY WOULDN'T HAVE LET ME LEAVE.

Very poor value , lack of communication, and poor compassion. We took our dog there after being stuck under a car. They stabilized him and xrayed for 800.00. They wanted an mri for 2500, and 6000 for surgury. We wanted to hear any other options they didnt want to talk about that. After that there was no communication they sent him home with no pain meds just a steroid and said make sure he urinates thats it. They didn't give any information what to watch for etc. It took almost 24 hours to be able to get pain meds for him as we kept calling wondering why he didn't receive any., they wouldn't tell us the cost just we would be charged.so we drove three hours back to get the pain meds. We found another hospital they wanted his records and Mu took another 16 hours to send his records, they kept saying they sent them , it wasn't until I talked to a head manager that the records actually got sent.. The new hospital ended up doing MRI and surgury with a 5 day hospital stay for 3500 with excellent reviews and not students performing the work and the compassion and communication was amazing. Dr. Sharp in greenwood was an amazing vet , amazing reviews, low cost and very compassionate is highly recommended. Central Missouri is seriously lacking good vet care. I would really listen to these other reviews their is truth behind them. We are just forced to use MU because they are the only ermgency hospital. I would get your animnal stablized and look elsewhere!

This place is awesome, I hate the reason we always have to visit from two hours away, but the staff and facility are TOP notch! We have had three medical emergencies with our pets and the staff here are just amazing, they get the chance to practice and fine tune their education and their hands on skills under the supervision of a Vet. The staff has always been so awesome here, caring, loving and not affraid to get on the knees on the floor with you and your pet to do what has to be done.

They told me there was a hedge fund for if i bring in a feral/stray cat. I have this cat with a broken leg in my neighborhood. I called a head of time to make sure someone could do it and i wouldnt have to pay as much but no. They told me they did and everything was all good. I was feeing great because wow things are working out. Im going to help this cat and itll all be great. I put out a trap and then catch it at 3am. I call and she tells me they dont do that much less with feral cats. I did mention it was feral and i did mention it was injured. So now i have a very injured scared cat in a cage at 3am and no where to go with it. It started to rain super hard so i had to bring them inside and put her in my basement until morning. Im not sleeping tonight because i dont feel like i can. Ive been balling my eyes out and no one can tell me where to take this injured cat. If I could give this less stars i would. I was asking a very important question and immidiately she gave me the answer and i believed her! I dont know what to do and now i feel horrible because if i surrender it to another vet they will immidiately euthenize it because its feral!

The whole staff is an amazing group of individuals ty for everything you tried to do for my little girl it was greatly appreciated she was layed to rest in my rock garden where the flowers are just as beautiful as her soul was ty so very much folks continue being the awesome and understanding people you are. ????

Dr Zoe Bianco was very professional and compassionate in helping us to reach a decision about our pet. Top notch service. Thank you Dr Bianco.