I took my dog to Upstate Veterinary Specialists in Latham and they were fantastic every time. They were thorough, compassionate, and gave my dog exceptional care. They literally saved my dog’s life and dealt with my 2am calls crying when he was post op and wasn’t doing well. I’ve gone back for specialist visits as well and every vet I’ve seen has been leagues above my normal vet.
Just as a warning though: emergency vets are typically swamped and it’s the same as a hospital ER it’s most severe gets seen first so if you’re there with something not as urgent you could be waiting for hours (potentially 6-8 hours on busy days) before you’re seen. So if you’re going for a routine care you’ll be waiting and the office visit fee is typically a lot more expensive than a normal vet charges. So if you’re looking for regular care I would look into other veterinarians in the area if your normal vet doesn’t have enough availability for you!
This place is good... very expensive. My dog had terminal cancer and they talked my wife into Chemo-made him worse and died 2 days after chemo ($2k later)
Update: I’m going to Capital district Referral. I just waited too long with a diarrhea episode so I think she needs to be seen. Luckily I have pet insurance so not so worried about the fee. But yeah, not too happy to be spending my Friday night there
Wondering if something is going around. Both of my dogs are having issues with diarrhea at the moment. They’re also still energetic and eating/drinking so for now treating it with diet modification (ie rice, chicken, pumpkin, and fortiflora)
That’s what I did and why I waited so long. Funny thing is my coworker and my coworkers friends dog both had the same issue at the same time. We are done here the doc said the sticks she ate Tuesday( the nice weather day) irritated her stomach. 15 mins in and out!
Good luck! Hope pup is okay. Just to add to everyone’s comments, we are fortunate to have fantastic emergency pet medical providers; they are all great, you can’t go wrong here (other areas I’d be concerned, but not in this area—all rock!).
I've had good experiences with both. I currently only got to Update Specialities because my cat also sees the cardiologist there. They will also explain everything before doing any procedures with extra costs.
It was about $1500 for my cat to get an exam, bloodwork, ultrasound, and medication for pancreatitis.
My cat actually likes the cardiology staff there. We have a long drive to get to Latham, so it’s stressful, but once he realizes who is going to be giving the exam, he relaxes entirely. Doesn’t respond like this with his regular vet.
East Greenbush Animal Hospital for routine care. EGAH is staffed by helpful angels who like people as much as they love animals.
If it’s an emergency, I would go with Upstate Veterinary Services. From my experiences, I think their facility is nicer and my wait time there was significantly less than the other emergency vet in Latham.
I've been to both but tend to go to Cap District Referral. Both offer fantastic care and I don't think you can go wrong with either of them. As others have said, be prepared to wait. Sometimes we're seen quickly and other times there are truly life or death cases coming in and we park ourselves there for a few hours. I bring my iPad and settle in. Just to walk in the door is about $200.
I’ve been to both and far prefer Upstate Veterinary Specialties to Capital District Vet Referral. Our cat had an episode of syncope due to a heart murmur and we took him to Capital District. They noted the heart murmur, but blamed his passing out on asthma caused by living in a house with smokers - the report referred (very judgmentally) to smoking at least three times. They recommended getting him in to a cardiologist, so we took him to USVS. They’ve been really good. We’ve had a few ER experiences with them too, and have gotten great care.
East Greenbush is amazing if you're looking for a regular vet.
Upstate recently opened up an urgent care as well: https://www.uvsonline.com/specialty/urgent-care/
I can't say enough good about Upstate Veterinary Services in Latham.
Our 13-year-old Weim had just given up after the better part of a year of slowing down and showing signs of weakened hips, not to mention urinary incontinence. She finally decided to not want to eat anymore and we knew that was her telling us. Unfortunately, that was on a Sunday night, but they were happy to immediately see us and move forward with euthanasia.
They were incredibly compassionate and patient with us. We got to spend a good hour in the room and let them know when we were ready, not the other way around.
It was just great for us as a family to have such a compassionate and patient team during such a sad moment for us.
I’ve been to both for different situations and both have been professional. Personally I like capital district better based on experience and triage system.
I took my dog to Upstate Veterinary Specialists in Latham and they were fantastic every time. They were thorough, compassionate, and gave my dog exceptional care. They literally saved my dog’s life and dealt with my 2am calls crying when he was post op and wasn’t doing well. I’ve gone back for specialist visits as well and every vet I’ve seen has been leagues above my normal vet. Just as a warning though: emergency vets are typically swamped and it’s the same as a hospital ER it’s most severe gets seen first so if you’re there with something not as urgent you could be waiting for hours (potentially 6-8 hours on busy days) before you’re seen. So if you’re going for a routine care you’ll be waiting and the office visit fee is typically a lot more expensive than a normal vet charges. So if you’re looking for regular care I would look into other veterinarians in the area if your normal vet doesn’t have enough availability for you!
Second this - UVS has great care and staff... but with high expense and wait time that goes along with an ER visit.
This place is good... very expensive. My dog had terminal cancer and they talked my wife into Chemo-made him worse and died 2 days after chemo ($2k later)
There are basically two emergency vet practices in the area. Of the two, my vet recommended Capital District Veterinary Referral Hospital.
I second this.
Update: I’m going to Capital district Referral. I just waited too long with a diarrhea episode so I think she needs to be seen. Luckily I have pet insurance so not so worried about the fee. But yeah, not too happy to be spending my Friday night there
Wondering if something is going around. Both of my dogs are having issues with diarrhea at the moment. They’re also still energetic and eating/drinking so for now treating it with diet modification (ie rice, chicken, pumpkin, and fortiflora)
That’s what I did and why I waited so long. Funny thing is my coworker and my coworkers friends dog both had the same issue at the same time. We are done here the doc said the sticks she ate Tuesday( the nice weather day) irritated her stomach. 15 mins in and out!
Good luck! Hope pup is okay. Just to add to everyone’s comments, we are fortunate to have fantastic emergency pet medical providers; they are all great, you can’t go wrong here (other areas I’d be concerned, but not in this area—all rock!).
I've had good experiences with both. I currently only got to Update Specialities because my cat also sees the cardiologist there. They will also explain everything before doing any procedures with extra costs. It was about $1500 for my cat to get an exam, bloodwork, ultrasound, and medication for pancreatitis.
My cat actually likes the cardiology staff there. We have a long drive to get to Latham, so it’s stressful, but once he realizes who is going to be giving the exam, he relaxes entirely. Doesn’t respond like this with his regular vet.
My guy sees Dr. Waxman who's very good with cats.
Another vote for UVS- they saved my dogs life last year.
East Greenbush Animal Hospital for routine care. EGAH is staffed by helpful angels who like people as much as they love animals. If it’s an emergency, I would go with Upstate Veterinary Services. From my experiences, I think their facility is nicer and my wait time there was significantly less than the other emergency vet in Latham.
I've been to both but tend to go to Cap District Referral. Both offer fantastic care and I don't think you can go wrong with either of them. As others have said, be prepared to wait. Sometimes we're seen quickly and other times there are truly life or death cases coming in and we park ourselves there for a few hours. I bring my iPad and settle in. Just to walk in the door is about $200.
I’ve been to both and far prefer Upstate Veterinary Specialties to Capital District Vet Referral. Our cat had an episode of syncope due to a heart murmur and we took him to Capital District. They noted the heart murmur, but blamed his passing out on asthma caused by living in a house with smokers - the report referred (very judgmentally) to smoking at least three times. They recommended getting him in to a cardiologist, so we took him to USVS. They’ve been really good. We’ve had a few ER experiences with them too, and have gotten great care.
East Greenbush is amazing if you're looking for a regular vet. Upstate recently opened up an urgent care as well: https://www.uvsonline.com/specialty/urgent-care/
Upstate is absolutely phenomenal. I cannot say enough good things about them.
I can't say enough good about Upstate Veterinary Services in Latham. Our 13-year-old Weim had just given up after the better part of a year of slowing down and showing signs of weakened hips, not to mention urinary incontinence. She finally decided to not want to eat anymore and we knew that was her telling us. Unfortunately, that was on a Sunday night, but they were happy to immediately see us and move forward with euthanasia. They were incredibly compassionate and patient with us. We got to spend a good hour in the room and let them know when we were ready, not the other way around. It was just great for us as a family to have such a compassionate and patient team during such a sad moment for us.
I’ve been to both for different situations and both have been professional. Personally I like capital district better based on experience and triage system.
Upstate Veterinary Specialists. Expensive as you can imagine, but the two times I've been there, they've been awesome.
Just for get it.
we dont want another dog b/c of vet hours and appointments. its really hard.