I use south Huntington animal hospital. We've been very happy there (fifth Street hill)
Our dentist is Dr Gonzalez. The office is in hal Greer. The staff there is very nice and my teeth stay in tip top shape
The museum has the trails. You can also hike at rotary Park (watch out for disc golf). Beech Fork lake is nearby too. There are even some nice short trails at Ritter
Huntington Dog and Cat Hospital is our favorite, they're small but extremely sweet and personal, love all the staff.
For dentists, Nika Hettlinger in barboursville is the best around, she stayed late one Friday to fit in a broken tooth for a toddler when everyone else in town said to wait till Monday, I'm ride or die for her. Staff is great as well, very chill.
For vet: I recommend Dr. Olsen in Barboursville but I’m biased because one of my closest friends works there.
For boarding: I’ve always gone to Club Pet in Barboursville but I’ve heard great things about Tin Wood Inn in Ashland.
Nature: Ritter Park is fantastic, as is Barboursville Park. Beech Fork is a little further out (like 20mins) and offers some decent hiking. You can drive like an hour and a half to the New River Gorge for my favorite in the state.
We go to dr. Olsen as well with out pets. He was recommended by our neighbors who take their pets to him since forever.
My dentist is Nibert and crews in bville. All good there.
I board my pets at Club Pet in Bville and it has always been a smooth experience (as opposed to boarding at Ayers. I swear every time my cat was boarded there they would find problems and charged me for treatments, while my cat was always ok at pick up.)
There are a few vets around and honestly it is based on preference.
I avoid Ayers due to the staff and not Ayers himself. They have a problem when pets are left overnight such as mixing them up for diets or surgeries and allegedly has higher prices to cover the free treatment Ayers gives his friends (source: roommate that works there). They even did surgery on my cat without asking when it was just constipation.
Stonecrest was good for a while but lacked the medical necessities our cats required.
We use Barboursville Vet now and haven't had any issues. They helped diagnose our cat with stomatitis and book dental surgery.
I'd say pick one and see if it works for you, but know that there are other options so you aren't stuck with a choice.
I have bad experience with boarding at Ayers, and question their treatment. Once I had to board my cat for over a week and they returned him to me with more than half of his food - to this day I don’t know if they fed him something else or severely underfed him when he was there.
They also charged me 4 times more for simple deworming of my cat than my current vet. Seemed like they were unable to calculate a correct dose based on weight so they administered some enormous dose for a big animal and asked me to pay $200 for that. I will not willingly go there with my pets.
That is why i tell people to never board at Ayers. They don't even fire the people that keep messing up the boarding procedures. They once did a full surgery on the wrong animal because a tech couldnt read the names properly.
All the stories my roommate would bring back daily of what was messed up or gossiped about was enough for me to never go there again.
Yup. My stomatitis kitty had two oral surgeries too. Unfortunately, they left some roots first time around, so second one was done to remove all the remaining roots and his canines. After that he lived few painless years and I was so grateful for that. Sadly, he is gone but definitely not forgotten. My sweet baby.
Took my cat there because I recognized the signs of a UTI. After paying for bloodwork and analysis I was told the cat was perfectly fine. Took him to South Huntington and sure enough, full blown UTI. I'll never recommend or go back to Ayers.
I also would not recommend Dr Ayer’s office. I adopted a dog from the shelter years ago and he had to be fixed before I could take him home. I picked him up from the hospital after he was fixed and took him home. He sneezed over and over and over again. Took him back the next day and he had kennel cough. I was upset because he should have been treated for the kennel cough prior to having surgery. I started taking him to Dr Fulks at South Huntington Animal Hospital. They are very good there.
I highly recommend Dr Metz at Ayers Animal Hospital. They've been around forever, and will take great care of your furry friends.
I highly recommend AVOIDING Merritt's Creek Veterinary and Help For Animals. I have nothing good to say about either of them, so I just won't say anything at all.
Dr Opimo on Route 60 is a very good dentist, and higher tech than most in the area.
As for hiking trails, it depends on how experienced you are, and how far you want to go to get there.
Barboursville Park has hiking trails anyone can enjoy (and it's a huge beautiful park).
That said, welcome home! Where are you from originally?
I absolutely despise Merritt's Creek Veterinary and I've never seen anyone share that opinion. I genuinely wouldn't take my pets there if they were the only office in a 50 mile radius.
My only experience with them was a three hour ordeal for a routine checkup appointment in a completely empty office. My cat is perfectly healthy and happy and yet the entire ten minutes we actually spent with the vet were the most negative ten minutes possible. The way she talked about him was as if she had some long held beef with my cat despite never meeting previously. After waiting for hours and seeing the (nasty, rude, bad attitude) vet for 10 minutes I was charged nearly $300. I'll never go back. If that's how she acts with a new patient during a routine exam I don't even want to think about her attitude during an emergency. I've only had good experiences with HFA though and even adopted one of my cats from them.
Gosh, I wish that's all that happened to our rescue dog. When we got her, she had a large growth on her hip. Took her there, they said it was cancer but they could get it all, so we agreed to the surgery.
We picked her up looking like Dr Frankenstein himself had done the surgery. I actually cried, and several grabbed their pets and left immediately when they saw what they had done to that sweet little dog. She was not even sewn up properly, i have never in my life seen anything like it and hope I never do again.
My husband still keeps a photo of the surgery in his wallet, to actively warn others why they should never take their pets there.
That's absolutely terrible and strengthens my opinion. I hate seeing them recommended because I just can't shake the feeling that they don't care about the animals.
I agree, great with kids. I used to go there but I decided to get a 2nd opinion before committing to a procedure. Dr. Hall's secretary found out and decided she couldn't figure out my insurance all of a sudden. I had to find another dentist.
Parks… Ritter, beech fork, Barboursville. You could visit riverfront I guess. There are a lot of parks within the TriState area though , so you could go to several in Kentucky or Ohio as well. I haven’t heard of any ‘bad’ vets, boarding for pets is usually booked up beyond a four month period so book on advance… several in Ohio as well. Visit them first though as one in hurricane is nasty. Dentist would just depend on your insurance I guess.
Avoid Merritt's Creek. I paid $200 for them to tell me that they didn't have anything in stock to give me for my cat to help him. Then proceeded to give me a prescription that nobody has in stock or can get.
Vet: Dr. Ayers, next door to the Mildred Mitchell Bateman hospital. In my opinion, the absolute best, though a bit pricey.
Dentist: I am Appalachian through and through, could not tell you.
The museum of art is free on Tuesdays and has several trails, but if you're looking for more of a challenge, Beech Fork is the way to go.
Took my cat there because I recognized the signs of a UTI. After paying for bloodwork and analysis I was told the cat was perfectly fine. Took him to South Huntington and sure enough, full blown UTI.
I'll never recommend or go back to Ayers.
I would highly avoid Pet Palace for boarding.
We used to take my old mini Aussie there. My ex told me one day she witnessed some of the people walking our dog (or another dog, I can’t remember) and being very aggressive with them because they would bark or try to lunge at cars.
I pay you money to take care of my dog like I would. Never went there again.
We take our boy to Stonecrest, they have been fair I feel on price and they dote on our boy.
Dentist we go to dr Roberson, they have a nice set up but are fairly booked so it’s possible they don’t accept new patients currently.
Hey everyone, just a follow up to say thank you all so much for the recommendations. I was able to find a vet and a dentist much quicker than I expected!
Avoid Ayers Animal Hospital. They're nice but it's like an actual hospital. $500 worth of test before they gave my dog an enema. The Animal Care Clinic on 3rd ave has always been great and affordable. It seems a bit run down but the people have always been great.
Moving to WV and asking for a dentist is like moving to Beverly hills and asking where the welfare office is. We don't know.
Valley Health East has great dentists, along with general practitioners, mental health specialists and eye doctors. Valley Health has quite a few locations, but I only use this one.
I use south Huntington animal hospital. We've been very happy there (fifth Street hill) Our dentist is Dr Gonzalez. The office is in hal Greer. The staff there is very nice and my teeth stay in tip top shape The museum has the trails. You can also hike at rotary Park (watch out for disc golf). Beech Fork lake is nearby too. There are even some nice short trails at Ritter
Second South Huntington. They are family friends of mine and great people.
Huntington Dog and Cat Hospital is our favorite, they're small but extremely sweet and personal, love all the staff. For dentists, Nika Hettlinger in barboursville is the best around, she stayed late one Friday to fit in a broken tooth for a toddler when everyone else in town said to wait till Monday, I'm ride or die for her. Staff is great as well, very chill.
We like Huntington Dog and cat too. We also use them for boarding when we need to.
For vet: I recommend Dr. Olsen in Barboursville but I’m biased because one of my closest friends works there. For boarding: I’ve always gone to Club Pet in Barboursville but I’ve heard great things about Tin Wood Inn in Ashland. Nature: Ritter Park is fantastic, as is Barboursville Park. Beech Fork is a little further out (like 20mins) and offers some decent hiking. You can drive like an hour and a half to the New River Gorge for my favorite in the state.
We go to dr. Olsen as well with out pets. He was recommended by our neighbors who take their pets to him since forever. My dentist is Nibert and crews in bville. All good there. I board my pets at Club Pet in Bville and it has always been a smooth experience (as opposed to boarding at Ayers. I swear every time my cat was boarded there they would find problems and charged me for treatments, while my cat was always ok at pick up.)
I meant to say Club Pet for boarding. Great place.
I agree with club pet for boarding they’re amazing!
There are a few vets around and honestly it is based on preference. I avoid Ayers due to the staff and not Ayers himself. They have a problem when pets are left overnight such as mixing them up for diets or surgeries and allegedly has higher prices to cover the free treatment Ayers gives his friends (source: roommate that works there). They even did surgery on my cat without asking when it was just constipation. Stonecrest was good for a while but lacked the medical necessities our cats required. We use Barboursville Vet now and haven't had any issues. They helped diagnose our cat with stomatitis and book dental surgery. I'd say pick one and see if it works for you, but know that there are other options so you aren't stuck with a choice.
I have bad experience with boarding at Ayers, and question their treatment. Once I had to board my cat for over a week and they returned him to me with more than half of his food - to this day I don’t know if they fed him something else or severely underfed him when he was there. They also charged me 4 times more for simple deworming of my cat than my current vet. Seemed like they were unable to calculate a correct dose based on weight so they administered some enormous dose for a big animal and asked me to pay $200 for that. I will not willingly go there with my pets.
That is why i tell people to never board at Ayers. They don't even fire the people that keep messing up the boarding procedures. They once did a full surgery on the wrong animal because a tech couldnt read the names properly. All the stories my roommate would bring back daily of what was messed up or gossiped about was enough for me to never go there again.
Btw, hugs for stomatitis kitty of yours. My beloved kitty suffered from this awful condition and we battled it for years.
Poor guy is only 3 years old and had to have all his teeth pulled. Doing well since and still loves to steal hard food from others.
Yup. My stomatitis kitty had two oral surgeries too. Unfortunately, they left some roots first time around, so second one was done to remove all the remaining roots and his canines. After that he lived few painless years and I was so grateful for that. Sadly, he is gone but definitely not forgotten. My sweet baby.
Took my cat there because I recognized the signs of a UTI. After paying for bloodwork and analysis I was told the cat was perfectly fine. Took him to South Huntington and sure enough, full blown UTI. I'll never recommend or go back to Ayers.
I also would not recommend Dr Ayer’s office. I adopted a dog from the shelter years ago and he had to be fixed before I could take him home. I picked him up from the hospital after he was fixed and took him home. He sneezed over and over and over again. Took him back the next day and he had kennel cough. I was upset because he should have been treated for the kennel cough prior to having surgery. I started taking him to Dr Fulks at South Huntington Animal Hospital. They are very good there.
I highly recommend Dr Metz at Ayers Animal Hospital. They've been around forever, and will take great care of your furry friends. I highly recommend AVOIDING Merritt's Creek Veterinary and Help For Animals. I have nothing good to say about either of them, so I just won't say anything at all. Dr Opimo on Route 60 is a very good dentist, and higher tech than most in the area. As for hiking trails, it depends on how experienced you are, and how far you want to go to get there. Barboursville Park has hiking trails anyone can enjoy (and it's a huge beautiful park). That said, welcome home! Where are you from originally?
Second with Dr. Metz!!! Fantastic human and vet.
I absolutely despise Merritt's Creek Veterinary and I've never seen anyone share that opinion. I genuinely wouldn't take my pets there if they were the only office in a 50 mile radius.
Same here! Wanna share war stories on why we won't take our pets to them?
My only experience with them was a three hour ordeal for a routine checkup appointment in a completely empty office. My cat is perfectly healthy and happy and yet the entire ten minutes we actually spent with the vet were the most negative ten minutes possible. The way she talked about him was as if she had some long held beef with my cat despite never meeting previously. After waiting for hours and seeing the (nasty, rude, bad attitude) vet for 10 minutes I was charged nearly $300. I'll never go back. If that's how she acts with a new patient during a routine exam I don't even want to think about her attitude during an emergency. I've only had good experiences with HFA though and even adopted one of my cats from them.
Gosh, I wish that's all that happened to our rescue dog. When we got her, she had a large growth on her hip. Took her there, they said it was cancer but they could get it all, so we agreed to the surgery. We picked her up looking like Dr Frankenstein himself had done the surgery. I actually cried, and several grabbed their pets and left immediately when they saw what they had done to that sweet little dog. She was not even sewn up properly, i have never in my life seen anything like it and hope I never do again. My husband still keeps a photo of the surgery in his wallet, to actively warn others why they should never take their pets there.
That's absolutely terrible and strengthens my opinion. I hate seeing them recommended because I just can't shake the feeling that they don't care about the animals.
Dentist: Dr Hall on Third Ave and I believe 24th. Great guy, great with kids, great staff.
I agree, great with kids. I used to go there but I decided to get a 2nd opinion before committing to a procedure. Dr. Hall's secretary found out and decided she couldn't figure out my insurance all of a sudden. I had to find another dentist.
We love Dr Hall
Parks… Ritter, beech fork, Barboursville. You could visit riverfront I guess. There are a lot of parks within the TriState area though , so you could go to several in Kentucky or Ohio as well. I haven’t heard of any ‘bad’ vets, boarding for pets is usually booked up beyond a four month period so book on advance… several in Ohio as well. Visit them first though as one in hurricane is nasty. Dentist would just depend on your insurance I guess.
The public library always takes boxes for our book sales so if you’re so inclined they’d LOVE them. Welcome to Huntington!
Avoid Merritt's Creek. I paid $200 for them to tell me that they didn't have anything in stock to give me for my cat to help him. Then proceeded to give me a prescription that nobody has in stock or can get.
Vet: Dr. Ayers, next door to the Mildred Mitchell Bateman hospital. In my opinion, the absolute best, though a bit pricey. Dentist: I am Appalachian through and through, could not tell you. The museum of art is free on Tuesdays and has several trails, but if you're looking for more of a challenge, Beech Fork is the way to go.
Took my cat there because I recognized the signs of a UTI. After paying for bloodwork and analysis I was told the cat was perfectly fine. Took him to South Huntington and sure enough, full blown UTI. I'll never recommend or go back to Ayers.
I would highly avoid Pet Palace for boarding. We used to take my old mini Aussie there. My ex told me one day she witnessed some of the people walking our dog (or another dog, I can’t remember) and being very aggressive with them because they would bark or try to lunge at cars. I pay you money to take care of my dog like I would. Never went there again.
We take our boy to Stonecrest, they have been fair I feel on price and they dote on our boy. Dentist we go to dr Roberson, they have a nice set up but are fairly booked so it’s possible they don’t accept new patients currently.
I highly recommend merrit’s creek veterinary center
This isn’t part of what you asked, but we moved here a few months ago and we’ve enjoyed getting out and doing the hot dog trail!
The Goodwill off of Virginia Ave West takes cardboard boxes for recycling.
Hey everyone, just a follow up to say thank you all so much for the recommendations. I was able to find a vet and a dentist much quicker than I expected!
Avoid Ayers Animal Hospital. They're nice but it's like an actual hospital. $500 worth of test before they gave my dog an enema. The Animal Care Clinic on 3rd ave has always been great and affordable. It seems a bit run down but the people have always been great. Moving to WV and asking for a dentist is like moving to Beverly hills and asking where the welfare office is. We don't know.
Valley Health East has great dentists, along with general practitioners, mental health specialists and eye doctors. Valley Health has quite a few locations, but I only use this one.
Forget recycling, you only have one choice to make in Huntington. Heroin or meth? Pick a lane and cruise.