Jerry M Onks

I took my son's diabetic dog into the vet because she was getting really sick. I was told that she would have to stay overnight and to give them a call in the morning. When I called I was told that she wasn't doing well and hadn't improved overnight. Something told m...e to ask about the cost of the treatment that they were doing, because no one had even mentioned what was being done and what the cost might be. I found out that after one night, the cost was already up to $588 and the office was suggesting that she stay through the weekend. Her prognosis was really poor and when I asked about the cost of her being there over the weekend, it was going to be over $1200. The vet had more tests scheduled that were going to cost another $200 without ever mentioning what our total would be. Finally, I went into the office and made the decision to discontinue treatment and put our baby down. It was a hard decision because the dog was my son's dog and he is in Afghanistan. The vet proceeded to bring me paperwork to have her put to sleep and one more thing concerned me. The paperwork showed that I could be with her when she was put down but it would be an additional charge if I was there. What are they doing if you aren't there? The whole thing left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. I will not use them any longer. They are nice and caring but they need to let people know what is going on. We aren't all made of money and everyone shouldn't be in the business to make a bunch of money. They wouldn't even work with us on making payments, we had to pay the full balance before we could leave. If you are made of money and don't mind being ripped off, feel free to use them. They are nice people. Read More

Southern Vet is the best in Rutherford County! I have taken my cats to this office for over 20 years. Dr. Duffey is the best!!! She listens to the 'parent' and we discuss the best treatment needed for my cat Cassie. Cassie is 18+ years old and still going pretty stong. ...I know that the care Cassie has received by Dr. Duffey has contributed to her long life. The staff are wonderful! Of course they are courteous, professional and kind but they are more than that...they care. They all treat Cassie like she is their own. You can just feel the love when you open the door. I have recommended Southern Vet to many people and now they take their pets there. I give them a 20 out of 10!!! Read More

Today is August 24th, 2010. In July 09 is when my last visit with Southern Vet occured. Long story short my dog needed her teeth cleaned, she was nine years old at the time. They managed to get the fee up to 597 dollars to give the dog antibiotics, put her on a heart an...d oxygen monitor, clean her teeth, and clip a stye off of her eye. Really, 597 hundred dollars, and they were going to get a day of boarding because the dog is old and would have to stay one night for observation, and in addition needed another two shots to stay in the kennel. So I went down the street to TSC and bought the two shots and presented the dog with the receipts and the vials for her shots. Southern informed me ""by law"" that only a licensed vet could give those shots. Well, next days research and a couple of phone calls later I find out the only shot required by law to be given by a vet is a rabies shot. Which the vet had given at the April 09 clinic, that in fact I could very much under law buy the shots and administer them to the dog. (I work in the medical field and am most capable of giving an appropriate shot the appropriate way.) Well the money mongering vet is called to the front and she obviously takes great offense when I nicely tell her what I have found out, and that I am actually more qualified than there ""techs"" to give the dog the shots. Vet tells me that their rules are as they are, and that I don't need to come back there if I don't like their rules. Fine, I wasn't going to anyhow, when I found out that they can't budge on the 597 dollars to put an old dog on a heart monitor, pulse oximetry, and all the other things, plus tell me information other than what the state Veterinary board told me. Anyhow, Premier vet in Smyrna cleaned my dogs teeth under sedation for 113 dollars, and an additional 40 while the dog was already sedated clipped off the stye on her eye. And her teeth still look good today. They indicated that they had had several people come to them mentioning extremely high prices at Southern Vet in Smyrna, which had gotten them there also. 597 dollars at Southern Vet, 153 dollars at Premier Vet in Smyrna, same job done. You do the math. Then to add insult on top of insult, three months later we go to board our dog a Custom Care in Murfreesboro, they call Southern Vet to get the dogs rabies verification faxed over to them, and Southern tells Custom Care that they wouldn't board our dog because of the shot issue mentioned above. Southern just should have kept their mouth shut. Custom Care did not have a problem with the fact that we gave our dogs the shots that under law we can give to the dog. (Parvo 7 in 1 shot and the Kennel Cough shot) Now, the group of women vets at Southern have no male doctors on the staff. But in this age of ""tolerance, and political correctness"" where others are to be tolerant, I think the group of vets at Southern Vet need to be more tolerant themselves, and stop being such over the top money mongerers, and stop charging over the top medical fees, and unecessary extras, and understand that they are not practicing human medicine and try to charge accordingly. Thats why the law allows for people to give certain medicines to their dogs, and they need to be alot more flexible and work with the customers for whats best for the health of the dogs, instead of their bottom line. I would strongly recommend NOT using Southern Vets on Mayfield Dr in Smyrna. Look around, there are other vets very near that DO have your pets health in mind over their bottom line. Read More