Thrive Pet Healthcare,

9701 S Cicero Ave, Oak Lawn, IL 60453, United States

"Honestly, before the last 2 visits in the last 2 weeks, this review might have been a 4 or 5 star review but now I wish I could give 0 stars. I suppose the staff is new compared to the last time I went but that is no excuse to how my dog or I were treated. I've been going to this location for almost 2 years and never had an issue with the vets or the vets with my dog but these last two visits were the worst out of any vet office I've been to. My dog is very vocal but I've raised him since he was 6 months and now he's going on 6yrs. In all of that time he has been to multiple vets, been to daycare and met multiple dogs and people(with or without my wife and I). In all of that time and in all of those situations he has bit exactly ZERO people/dogs. With that context in mind, in the first out of these last two visits there was 2 vets involved, the first one was the only one that looked like she had worked with dogs before. When she came in and my dog started barking, she immediately let my dog sniff her and even gave him a treat to get familiarized with him, great! Unfortunately, I think she's just an assistant vet. The second one I believe is the doctor, which is surprising to me. Same story, she walks in and my dog starts barking at her. Unfortunately, this is the first dog she's ever seen and instead of trying to get familiar with my dog, she backs up against the wall acting very weird and obviously prompting no change to my dog so he keeps barking. Her solution was to immediately ask for a muzzle. I don't like muzzles on my dog because, as I've said, he's not at all aggressive. BUT I agree because I want as smooth of an experience not only my dog but the vets as well. They take him to another room to run some tests on him and would you believe it... he comes back unmuzzled. The doctor suggests anti-anxiety pills. I don't like giving my dog unnecessary pill but I agree because, like I said, I want the experience to be as smooth as possible for everyone. This leads me to the second visit. They asked me to give him the anti-anxiety medicine the night before and the morning of, 2 pill doses, so I did. 2 vets involved. First is a different assistant who comes into the room and my dog starts barking at her. She unfortunately has been directly trained by the doctor so she has the same reaction as her. She backs up to the wall and does nothing to get familiar with my dog. I unfortunately had the wrong impression that this was a vet clinic where they know how to treat any type of dog. I let enough slack on the leash for him to get closer to the vet and smell her and let her try to ease him but she stayed on the wall so I pull back my dog and she immediately calls for a muzzle. After I put the muzzle on him, she takes my "vicious" dog to the back for tests. During this time, the doctor comes in and asks me if I gave my dog the anti-anxiety pills to which I reply, for the 100th time, yes. I saw it in her face that she had some disbelief but I let it go. She leaves and my dog comes back with the assistant who says he was very good, what a surprise... The nail in the coffin was the discharge report where they say my dogs' behavior is abnormal because he barks and lunges(My boy is very playful and loves to tackle. I know this is not a trait many would like but these are supposed professionals who should be able to treat any type of dog). It said that I had no control over him in the leash because I gave him enough slack to get close to the vets and let him get familiar with them. Worst of all, they insinuate I'm lying to them about giving my dog the anti-anxiety pills. Why would I waste money on pills I don't plan to give my dog. If I didn't want to give them to him, I would have declined them in the first place... I have no issues with the receptionist or the African American assistant who seem like they've seen dogs before. I'd like to thank the other assistant and doctor for ruining a stable place where I used to like taking my dog In short, find a vet that knows how to deal with dogs past giving them pills"

"Called this place for my dog’s ear infection but they were booked, they had a cancelation and gave me a call right back to get me in. I really appreciate them remembering me to get me in. Very professional, very knowledgeable, very informative, very nice to my doggy and me, very affordable. Let me say that again …..very affordable. I left feeling good about the care my dog got and feeling like i didn’t get scammed. Would highly recommend to everyone who needs pet care."

"Really great experience for me and my 10 year old dog. She is nervous going to the vet with me but the team made her and I feel very comfortable. Wonderful care, clear explanation, and next steps. Looking forward to continuing with this location."

"Overall The office clerk, doctor, and doctors assistant were overall nice and friendly. My visit was extremely swift and by the end of the visit they were trying to diagnose my dog with anxiety and recommended me to put him onto a bunch of anti-anxiety medication. Mind you I have had my dog for 5 1/2 years and based off of a 20 minute visit they assume he has anxiety. They don’t consider that he’s nervous and anxious because he has never been to this vet/facility. Additionally, they tried to charge me to put him on multiple anti-anxiety medication’s, which I felt very uncomfortable with. In fact, the doctor assistant told me “the doctor refuses to see him next time without any anti-anxiety medication” and this made me extremely uncomfortable, because as an animal hospital, you should be prepared to deal with animals who are anxious and a little bit jumpy. Mind you, my dog had on a leash and a muzzle so we came absolutely prepared. This does not even scratch the surface of my concerns for this facility! I received a call today from the office clerk, informing me that they somehow “accidentally threw out“my dogs, bloodwork, and that I would have to come in again to get more blood work done as long as I agreed to purchase the anti-anxiety medication. I WILL NOT BE USING THIS FACILITY EVER AGAIN! AS THEY SEEM TO PRESSURE CLIENTS INTO PUTTING THEIR DOGS ON HEAVY MEDICATION, AND BEING CARELESS WITH THE BLOOD WORK THAT THEY COLLECT OVERALL! Go somewhere else because this place is a no go!"

"Everything was explained in detail for me when I brought our new little one in for the first time. Everyone was very friendly. And their Thrive plan helps with the finances also!!! We have another visit in a few weeks. Our little Gypsy liked them too!!"