For Pet's Sake

I brought my pet frog in for an exam a couple days ago. While the building was not what I expected the staff was pleasant, courteous, helpful and prompt. I was greeted when I walked in the door. The office staff also took time to talk to my youngest child while we waited. I filled my paper work out and was called into a room in less than 10 min. Once in the room Dr. Hutchenson quickly followed. He was kind and gentle with my frog. He looked her over thoroughly and talked kept a good dialog with me the whole time so I knew what was going on. Gave us some feeding and handling tips and gave me a prescription. While the prices seem high, they are actually in line with other area veterinarians. I was very pleased and would happily bring any of my exotic pets back to this hospital....

12/23/11 - 1 week post-op and my snake is doing very well!

My 2yr old reticulated python swallowed her feeding tongs (about 12-14in long) and I took her to see Dr. Hutcheson by recommendation from the Cobb Emergency Animal Clinic. He was very nice and helped me stop freaking out about my baby, assuring me that it would be an easy surgery, he had seen much worse in the past and that she would be just fine. He handled her with great care and made sure that I had a price estimate and all my questions were answered before I left her for surgery. They called me as soon as the surgery was over to update me on how she was doing, which helped calm my nerves. He kept her overnight for observation (and didn't charge me!) and let me come in first thing the next day. The nurses were very pleasant to me and he explained to me exactly how he did the procedure, what to look out for post-op, how to give her medicine and instructions for her recovery. They even had washed the tongs and gave them back to me! The cost was high, but not nearly as bad as I was dreading and he even offered to allow me to write post-dated checks for whatever amount would be easy for me. Solidified by a 2nd day follow-up phone call, Dr. Hutcheson has earned a customer for life! A++ experience!

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12/23/11 - 1 week post-op and my snake is doing very well! My 2yr old reticulated python swallowed her feeding tongs (about 12-14in long) and I took her to see Dr. Hutcheson by recommendation from the Cobb Emergency Animal Clinic. He was very nice and helped me stop freaking out about my baby, assuring me that it would be an easy surgery, he had seen much worse in the past and that she would be just fine. He handled her with great care and made sure that I had a price estimate and all my questions were answered before I left her for surgery. They called me as soon as the surgery was over to update me on how she was doing, which helped calm my nerves. He kept her overnight for observation (and didn't charge me!) and let me come in first thing the next day. The nurses were very pleasant to me and he explained to me exactly how he did the procedure, what to look out for post-op, how to give her medicine and instructions for her recovery. They even had washed the tongs and gave them back to me! The cost was high, but not nearly as bad as I was dreading and he even offered to allow me to write post-dated checks for whatever amount would be easy for me. Solidified by a 2nd day follow-up phone call, Dr. Hutcheson has earned a customer for life! A++ experience!

I wish there was a negative star rating for this office. They killed 2 of our rabbits with routine spay/neuter surgeries. With the first one, the rabbit was young and healthy, and we could not understand why she died right after surgery, but we gave Dr. Shepherd the benefit of the doubt. They insisted that our 2nd rabbit, also young and healthy, spend the night there after a routine neuter surgery, but nobody was there to watch him. Overnight, his intestines came out and they found him that way in the morning still alive. Rather than call us, Dr. Shepherd euthanized him and threw him in the freezer without even telling us. I would have instructed her to try to do surgery to save him had she bothered to call. We didn't find out until we called about picking him up. When I said I wanted a necropsy done, Dr. Shepherd lied and said it couldn't be done since he was frozen and really tried to discourage me from getting a necropsy done. When I asked why she euthanized our pet without our permission, she lied and said her vet tech told her that's what she would do. Dr. Shepherd then lied again and said it was an old sick rabbit. When I said he was only a year old, her 'diagnosis' was that we were 'having a run of bad luck'. When I went to pick up the rabbit, Dr. Shepherd was walking down the hallway and then she turned around and scurried to hide in one of the rooms. I took the rabbit to UGA for a necropsy and found that Dr. Shepherd and Hutcheson didn't bother to suture the inguinal ring, which caused the intestines to come out.. The report also stated that the rabbit was young and healthy. Dr. Shepherd's and Dr. Hutcheson's negligence, carelessness and attempts to cover up their actions killed our rabbit.. Run far away from them and don't let them near your pets!

Dr. Shepherd is nothing short of a b@#&h. She specializes in exotic pets yet gives you a thorough tongue lashing, belittles, insults, and degrades you for even thinking of owning one, let alone allowing one to get sick..yet that's how she makes her living. I would only see her if she were the last vet on earth....

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