Harrison Family Vets, Reading

I took my cat to have a dental here. They were very good with her in terms of being calm as part of their Fear Free policy and it was a nice change. The spaces were clean and there was parking. The reception seating wasn't too bad but if it was really busy there might not be enough seats. Generally I would say the staff were friendly and helpful when questions asked and were helpful in deciding to try them. The consultation appointments are charged on a 15 mins basis. I wasn't in the room for 15 mins - more like 10. It was agreed she needed a dental fairly quickly but compared to another vet I've been to there was little pre-op information given - just when to fast the cat from and no info sheet. The drop-off for the surgery was fine and a time agreed for pick up on arrival. I was given a call later on to let me know how things went and whether the pick up time was still fine. At the pick up, my cat was handed back to me and sheet given showing the teeth extracted and a summary of their state. The sheet however wasn't clear as the side indicated was from the position of the vet and not the actual mouth side of the cat. There was no advice given either on what to do to help her teeth going forward considering that the sheet indicated she had moderate gingivitis, and no post-op information, besides pain relief meds, on what to look out for (e.g. blood in drool or over drooling). When I got home and opened the cat basket, I found that her back legs kept going from under her and whilst eating she kept falling into the bowls. We have other cats who have had dentals with different vets and they have never reacted like this when they came home. For me this was quite alarming and it wasn't mentioned to me she was like this, therefore as she was completely fine the next I made sure to pick these up with the vet nurse at the post-op appointment. The appointment was fine but I wasn't given a great response to my concerns and advised she had had the amount of kennel rest required after being brought round and my concerns would be fed back - I suspect she had had meds she reacted badly to that I wasn't advised on. I was still not willingly given post-op advice, so I had to proactively question and prompt (e.g. if she required her second appointment, when she was allowed to eat biscuits again and what I could do as an owner to help with her teeth). The cost of the op was ~450 which included extractions (without it was less than 200) and this was regardless of how many extractions were done (my cat had 3). I wouldn't discourage trying this practice, but I would say you as an owner need to be quite on it and knowledgeable of certain things to look out and be proactively asking specific questions as currently you're unlikely to be told everything you need to know by this practice.
Apr 28th, 2023

Very polite and professional
Apr 24th, 2023

Such a lovely practice, with the nicest people. Cannot recommend enough.
Mar 31st, 2023

Staff are helpful and nice.
Mar 16th, 2023

Very friendly, nice personal service, clean and fresh. Good value. Recently switched and am happy to have done so.
Mar 11th, 2023