Blacklion Vet Hosptial, Greystones

Moobui

I can't recommend Kilcoole vets highly enough. I've attend a few vets in Bray/Greystones and none of them compare to Kilcoole.

squeez

Hi there, I had my dog spayed in Blackion and as she was a very active puppy she burst her stitches and Alan in the vets looked after her straight away and fixed them. The insurance covered most of it. I'm sure if you found it too expensive in one go, he would be open to letting you pay it in installments but I dunno. Great vets.

AJCOT

I think the guys here do a wonderful job & my dog constantly meanders over to their door on harbour walks, unlike my last beast who had a fear of vets to rival my dentist phobia.

DS333

buzzbuzzbuzz wrote: »

Hi There,

I have nothing to compare this vet to but does anyone know if it is more expensive than other vets in the area, I took my dog there a while ago for vacs, microchip, worms etc and it cost around 180 ! is this the norm?

I was told too that to get my dog spayed it could cost over 250, she is a medium sized dog,

I think it sounds pricey but again i dont know, first time dog owner

thanks
Buzz Buzz Buzz

Course of vaccines about 48 euros per injection
Booster vaccine about 48 euros, single injection
Microchip about 42 euros
worm tablet 7.40 euros for medium sized dog

Does that help?:)

psycho-hope

We use the vet in kilcoole, its the only vets we have been to that the dog dosent freek out goin to.

audreyp

Blacklion are great vets. Our cats are not fond of going though. One of our cats had a nasty cut on his leg so we rang them that morning and they squeezed us in first thing. They always have time for us and never seem to get tired of our endless questions. At the start when I only had the cats a few weeks I was quite nervous and forever ringing them with questions and they were always so nice and understanding.

Can't recommend them enough!

mikedragon32

We've moved ours from Bray Vet to Blacklion even though we were very happy with Pete and the other vets there, as we got sick of the attitude of whoever answers the phone when trying to arrange appointments. You'd swear you were asking for her first born. As for trying to get a Saturday appointment!

Blacklion was our first port of call following AudreyP's recommendation a few weeks ago and we got an appointment for a Saturday morning no problems.

The vet nurses are great, happy to help and very knowledgeable. The vet who dealt with my two cats was lovely and I was very happy with her handling of them. Very glad I switched.

audreyp

The nurses are great so patient with our cats. We also got one of our cats teeth cleaned there a few months ago and they did a great job.

The do free six monthly checkups too! And if you buy flea treatments annually they will give a 10% discount, though I have never managed to do that!

They do think i'm a cooky cat lady, but I am so I don't mind :-)

DS333

Bettyboop wrote: »

I used Blacklion hospital for my dogs I got a puppy who had blood stained diarrhea and the vet Alan told me to starve him for 5 days,surely an 8 week old pup would die from starvation:eek:but he insisted it wouldn't anyway I starved it for one day and then fed it chicken and rice. It recovered tg but I was given no medication. The cost was 120 for a 5 minute chat. I now have my dogs registered in Kilcoole vets as one of my dogs got run over and I rang Blackion and they told me to bring it to the vets in UCD as they were closing in 10 mins however I rang Kilcoole vets and they told me they were just closing too but to rush him there and they would wait for me,they stayed all night with my dog and although it was touch and go for a while with my dog he recovered. All this for 170euro for 3 days that he was there . Blacklion prices are way over the top imo.

Bloody hell. That's the worst I've ever heard! :eek:Aren't they obliged to provide an emergency service?

Imhof Tank

DS333 wrote: »

Bloody hell. That's the worst I've ever heard! :eek:Aren't they obliged to provide an emergency service?

Obliged by who exactly? The secret police?

They are a small local business for gods sake - they provide a service, they are in competition with Kilcoole and if people arent happy with their opening hours, then people will go to Kilcoole or elsewhere. Are you seriously suggesting that they shouldnt be free to fix their own hours of business?

On topic, I find Blackion expensive and eager to push add on treatments which are possibly borderline unnecessary. There is a general feeling of being given the hard sell at times - the insurance policies, the cheesey letters addressed to the pets

At the end of the day, they are what it says over the door - a "Pet Hospital" - their target market is people with cats, small dogs, hamsters and so on, people with deep attachments to their pets, for whom money is often no object when it comes to the family pet. This is the business they are going after which is fine

The polar opposite of the "Pet Hospital" would be Larry Dunne in Enniskerry, where we now go -no sentimentality or small talk there. Just gets on with the job and does everything properly

DS333

Imhof Tank wrote: »

Obliged by who exactly? The secret police?

They are a small local business for gods sake - they provide a service, they are in competition with Kilcoole and if people arent happy with their opening hours, then people will go to Kilcoole or elsewhere. Are you seriously suggesting that they shouldnt be free to fix their own hours of business?

On topic, I find Blackion expensive and eager to push add on treatments which are possibly borderline unnecessary. There is a general feeling of being given the hard sell at times - the insurance policies, the cheesey letters addressed to the pets

At the end of the day, they are what it says over the door - a "Pet Hospital" - their target market is people with cats, small dogs, hamsters and so on, people with deep attachments to their pets, for whom money is often no object when it comes to the family pet. This is the business they are going after which is fine

The polar opposite of the "Pet Hospital" would be Larry Dunne in Enniskerry, where we now go -no sentimentality or small talk there. Just gets on with the job and does everything properly

Obliged by their code of ethics, FOR GOD'S SAKE! Obliged by the Veterinary Council of Ireland FOR GOD'S SAKE!

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing...

Imhof Tank

DS333 wrote: »

Obliged by their code of ethics, FOR GOD'S SAKE! Obliged by the Veterinary Council of Ireland FOR GOD'S SAKE!

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing...

Ok then why dont you report Blacklion to the Vet Council and see if they agree with you.

My father is a retired vet so I have plenty of knowledge of this particular subject as it happens. You have possibly watched a few too many episodes of All Creatures Great and Small.

Your initial comment to the effect that the vets were surely "obliged" to be available to the whole world at all times annoyed me. That real "I know my rights" attitude - there is enough of that on Joe Duffy every day.

LEIN

Guys can we get back on topic now?

If you wish to discuss how they run their business please go to link below.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=240

DS333

Damo9090 wrote: »

Guys can we get back on topic now?

If you wish to discuss how they run their business please go to link below.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=240

That's torn it!
And I was just sharpening my scalpel.:D

Daniellek.

I LOVE blacklion vet , highly recommend them , they are great with animals and always have time for you. My dog had a phantom pregnancy which got pretty bad and if it kept happening would of ended badly. They looked after her and ever since she has been perfect. Every vet seems expensive but arent are pets worth it?? mine are like family and i found blacklion vets to be competive with prices but yet there service is one of the best in my opinion. I got a puppy this week and he is going in tomorrow for a quick check up and im happy to bring him there since i know they will look after him.

cocker5

I have to say I don’t like black loin Vet clinic at all....

We used to bring our cocker to Eamon in Blackrock veterinary until we moved to Greystones, brought him to black loin first year we were here... he charged me €215, this was for a 3kg bag of Hills science diet, my cockers usual yearly shots and kennel cough.... of yeah and he cleaned his ears out “an ear bath he called it”...he didn’t have an infection of anything just said cockers ears sometimes need a bath (which is fine) i honestly nearly died with the price.... plus he was a little odd if I’m honest.

I’m used to Eamon in Blackrock and he is all about the animals.... Alan was a tad distant, plus at the time he had a notice in the surgery with two KCS up for adoption... i enquired about them he said their owner had a new baby and didn’t have the time anymore.... i said it’s a pity etc “a dog is for life etc” and he was like “ah sure whatever these things happen” sure if she’s busy she’s busy kinda attitude......... his attitude and very high price put me right off... we never went back. Have to say the girl on reception was very nice though as was the vet nurse... it’s the vet himself that put me right off.

Friends of mine have two yorkies.... they too attended blackloin vet clinic and found Alan odd and put the right off too..... just my opinion!

We now go to kilcoole veterinary and find them great, the vet is a lady and great with my dog... he got his shots this year €126, for all his usual shots, kennel cough and 7.5kg of Burns dog food. We have been a few times since with other issues my guy was having and have always found they great... plus one evening they stayed back an hour after closing to see my guy (kinda of an emergency)

hamstervision

cocker5 wrote: »

I have to say I don’t like black loin Vet clinic at all....

I'm surprised to hear that. I've always found them to be excellent, and Alan himself to be a very nice guy. In fact, sometimes it's hard to get out of there because he can be so chatty, but never found it to be in an "odd" way. He's saved the lives of 2 of my cats on at least 2 separate occasions, each time going the extra mile, coming into the clinic on his days off to check on them, etc. And just in case somebody suggest that he's any different with cats vs dogs, I know for a fact he's more of a dog person than a cat person - he's just a good vet in my opinion.

cocker5 wrote: »

i said it’s a pity etc “a dog is for life etc” and he was like “ah sure whatever these things happen” sure if she’s busy she’s busy kinda attitude......... his attitude and very high price put me right off...

I find that surprising, maybe you took him up wrong? When our cats were sick we were apologising for contacting them so often but we were concerned and wanted frequent updates (he would ring himself often to give us updates too). Anyway, he laughed off the apology saying he has no problem whatsoever with that, the only thing has a problem with people who don't give a sh*t and abandon their animals or bring them into him and tell him to put them down because they don't want to deal with them any more.

I can't comment on prices as I don't really have a point of comparison, but I've never found them to be a rip-off. With costly surgeries (we had a cat whose tail needed to be amputated, for example) they went and got pre-authorisation from the insurance company and absorbed the cost until the insurance company paid out, so we only had to pay the excess.

Overall it's a personal choice I guess, but I can't recommend them enough.

Bettyboop

Agree Kilcoole vets are brilliant, saved my dogs life. Blacklion told me to go to UCD as they were closing even though I was a customer for years.My dog wouldn't have made it to UCD.

Jelly2

I can't comment on comparisons between different vets in the Greystones/Kilcoole area, but I just wanted to say that we have always found Alan, Ellen, and their nurse Mark at Blacklion to be incredibly caring when it comes to our dogs. Alan most definitely DOES care about animals, and has often gone far beyond his duty to help our animals. I think it's only fair to say this; one person may have had a bad experience with his comments, but our experience has been the exact opposite.:)

artvandelay48

We have also had great experiences with Alan and Uta (vet nurse) as well as the rest of the staff. We had difficulty with our first cat and Alan was a brilliant vet. He explained everything in layman's terms so that we could understand what they were doing. He routinely stayed after closing to help us with the cat. Uta was just as good and her cattery, Sophisticats, is a great place to board cats.

psycho-hope

another +1 for Kilcoole vets here, our dog was seriously ill at Christmas when he was first diagnosed with Diabetes, at the same time my mother was after having neck surgery and I have to say Gail and Shane went out of their way to keep me up to date with how our dog was doing even texting me at 11 at night to say he was doing ok .

Ok they are a little more expensive then some places but they really care about their patients and their owners.

dan.inc

Totally agree....kilcoole vets are excellent....could not recommend them enough!