UF Pet Emergency Treatment Services, Ocala - Ocala, Florida

Katelyn M.

We recently had to make the heartbreaking decision to euthanize our dog, and the care and compassion we received from the staff were truly remarkable. Money is not there for us right now and they worked with us from start to end and covered the cost for our visit. From the moment we arrived, they made sure we felt supported during such an emotional time. They treated our baby girl with gentleness, respect, and dignity, which meant the world to us. One of the staff we worked with even made a special goodbye treat for our sweet girl.

The staff also went out of their way to ensure that we were comfortable, providing us with privacy, understanding, and kindness throughout the process. Their thoughtfulness extended beyond just our pet—they checked on us as well, offering a level of care that helped ease the pain of saying goodbye.

This was one of the hardest days of our lives, but the compassion and professionalism of the team made it a little more bearable. We are forever grateful for the way they helped us through such a difficult experience. To the amazing staff here, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for all that you do. You all truly are so under appreciated for all that you see and all that you do. Thank you so much.

Josephine M.

I brought my Min Pin in for a neck issue. She wasn't bleeding. There were 4 different families that had higher levels of emergency that needed to be taken care of before her. My baby got to go home with me. Those other 4 families didn't have that pleasure. The staff took real good care of my baby and thankful we have them here in Ocala.
I've seen previous reviews, which I think we're not fair. This is an after-hours animal emergency office. Folks need to understand that. Plus, Marion County is one of the largest counties in Florida. I'm glad that the staff prioritized service needs. I wouldn't want to be a reason that a more severe pet didn't get treatment 1st to save their life. I highly recommend, and folks need to understand why you may wait 2-4 hours.

Jennifer D.

I have a cat colony that I care for and have taken several cts to be treated or euthanized there. They notoriously have extremely long wait times. My past experiences have been good. Our dog has high grade Mast Cell Tumors and is the end stages of the disease as the medications are no longer helping to prevent new tumors from developing. They are effecting her lymph nodes in her neck and because of this, she has developed a snort and snores when she sleeps. All her tumors had been subcutaneous, meaning under the skin; until two weeks ago when she developed one on her leg above the skin that ruptured open. We had been treating it with antibiotic creme per her oncologist's instructions but said to rake her to the vet if it didn't respond. Sunday night her breathing became very labored and she seemed to gasp for air and then panting heavy. We weren't sure if she was in respiratory distress, pain or heart failure. So we decided at midnight to take her to UF Emergency Vets. We arrived and no one else was in the waiting room at all, it was super quiet. I was surprised but glad that we would be seen right away. They took her right back and about 20 minutes later the vet called us in the room to ask us what was going on. I explained her cancer history and our concern she was in either in respiratory or cardiac distress. She said no, even though her breathing is labored, she is stable. She went on to tell me the normal protocol to treat Mast Cell Tumors is the use of benadryl coupled with an antacid. We explained that we had tried that ladt summer but it really messed up her stomach and gave her horrible diarrhea and so it was stopped and put on prednisone instead, which had been working until a few weeks ago. The vet suggested she may have a tumor in her throat and wanted to aenesthetize her and scope her throat to see. I didn't feel comfortable with her being aenesthetized in her current condition and said I would have her oncologist check into that. She suggested that they inject her with benadryl and an injection of antacid, she said the injections are usually better tolerated than the pills. I agreed as long as they also give her the antacid injection too. We also asked her to check the open wound as it was responding to the antibiotic cream we had put on it. She said she would clean it up and check it out. This entire conversation, this vet seem annoyed that we didn't want her to scope her throat to check for a tumor. Both my husband and I were left feeling like we were a bother to this vet. We went back to the waiting room while they gave are dog the injections and examined her wound. Seemed like it was about an hour. The girl at the front desk finally came out to check us out and discharge us. About 10 minutes later, a tech carried our dog out, handed her to us, said they put a cream on her wound, handed us the tube of cream and told us to have a good night. No further instructions or communication from the vet. Their printer wasn't working so they had to email me the discharge instructions. We had to read the tube of cream for the instructions on what to do with it. After looking at the discharge paperwork, found they only gave our dog the benadryl injection, no antacid injection. Our dog spent the rest of the night whining and lip smacking. Her breathing didn't improve at all. I took video of her and sent to her oncologist and the next morning she said the lip smacking was because her stomach was upset and that was probably why she whining as well. Prednisone causes her to be extremely hungry, all the time. All day Monday she refused to eat and she spent most if the day sleeping.

I am very upset that after knowing her history of not tolerating benadryl and specifically expressing we only wanted the injection as long as they also gave her an injection of an antacid with it to find they didn't, that the vet simply sent her out to us without any further communication or instructions. I will be reluctant to take any if my animals there in the future.

Cathy V.

I want to thank you for the very thoughtful card we received from the staff. Even though our baby was already gone when we arrived they were very thoughtful and gave us us the supportive care we needed. THANK YOU YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST.

Helena L.

This is a note for all pet parents. Please do not bring your pets to this facility. All they care about is money. They do not care about your animals at all on July 18, 2024. We brought my mom's emotional support animal. Keep in mind he was an emotional support animal. We brought him in because he wasn't feeling well And all they wanted to do was us and hound us about money. They never once asked us what were his symptoms how was he acting? They didn't even care to bother with him. All they cared about was asking for money and then we were quoted one price over the phone only to get there and have to have them tell us that it's another Price they let my mom's emotional support animal lay on a table in pain in suffering only for him to pass away because they did not want to do their jobs only then afterwards he passed away then they told us they could give him a $50 IV bag and antibiotics and then a nurse took him in the back and put him in a box and wheeled him out to our vehicle and told us we were lucky to even to have a free box warning may show, graphic content. I will post a photo before and after of how my mom's emotional support animal left their facility. and keep in mind this beautiful sweet loving German Shepherd was only a year old

Michele S.

One star isn't even worth it.

I will never take my Jasey poo to UF Pet Treatment services in Ocala for an emergency. An hour drive there, 4 hours in the waiting room and only his vitals were taken. About 45 minutes after our arrival we saw someone who suggested X-rays and lab work which seemed doable in the 3-4 hours they said it would take. 4 hours later they had done nothing. 3 vets onsite. All of them had to assist CPR on a dog and take care of critical animals. Never during the 4 hours did they tell us it could take 2-4 more hours to complete tests. Before any tests were done they required a 75% deposit in the amount of $675(which includes the $177 emergency charge). After 4 hours I told them I was leaving with my cat. I was told by a vet it would take 7-10 days to get my refund from my deposit. The girl at the front desk who was printing the discharge papers, said it would take several weeks to get my refund. I will not only write a bad review but will write a letter to the University of Florida Vetinary Services Department about the horrible experience we encountered at this facility.

Laura M.

Very poor communication and service. Got there at 8:30 pm was told 2 hours or so before vet would be able to see her and about two hours for treatment (needed sutures on her face). I was told another vet was coming in soon and they would be able to move a bit faster. No problem I know how it works she wasn’t bleeding to death. At 1130 pm I call from the waiting room asking for a blanket and some pain meds for her. They tell me they will be out shortly that the vet would order meds. At 12:15 I call from the waiting room again and am told they will get to her when they can…10 minutes later she gets pain meds finally. At 1:30 am I ask for an update and I was told that she may not get seen tonight… and that is why I was told to leave her. Problem was NO ONE EVER SAID THAT!!! I spent 5 1/2 hours there for no help!!! My dog suffered for hours. I understood they were busy but maybe I would have been better off if I made more noise about getting her back sooner. I may have gotten better information and been able to make the decision to bring her somewhere else sooner! BLUE PEARL GAINESVILLE FOR THE SAVE!

Yessica A.

I went last night with my cat because she was urinating with blood. The doctor was not even able to perform a physical exam for my cat because she was being “aggressive” and wouldn’t let them.
The doctor recommended sedating my baby just to perform a regular physical examination and blood work.
Every doctor I’ve been to has been able to perform a basic physical examination. I understand if doctors need sedation for blood work and other type of test but she wanted to charge me for something she wasn’t able to do.
Her recommendation besides sedating my baby was an injection for pain and stress relief medicine.
I asked if they were able to at least check her vitals, her gums, eyes, or palpated her to see if there was any swelling and the doctor said NO.
The doctor explained she was not gonna be able to prescribe medicine if a physical exam was not performed (charged). But that’s what she was going to do in the first place. I asked if she could send me medicine without being charged for the examination since they were not able to do it and she said no. She just wanted to charge for something she didn’t do. I suggested holding my cat so that they could at least palp her belly and check her vitals and whatever involves the basics. she said she wouldn’t allow that because it would mean putting me in danger. I wasted three hours in the ER, my cat left stress and in pain anyway because they didn’t do anything.