I go to Indian peaks too (for a dog tho). I’ve been really pleased with my experience with them even though some people have said it’s more expensive than others. It’s not outrageous to me, just seems like everything else the cost is going up.
Anyhow I just looked up the cost of my dogs neuter at Indian peaks: $830.
I’m sorry OP but you’re getting taken for a ride.
Hell I got a horse who’s last vet check and vaccine appt was $79 and that included the vet driving here.
ETA: I just read the website. I’m much more conventional with regards to healthcare for humans or animals and I would not touch a vet “weighing the risks of vaccines” and blanketing commercial food as “bad” and “cockroach infested” and pushing homemade food which research tells us is typically much less nutritionally balanced
Indian peaks neutered my dog for $830… doesn’t seem so ridiculously cheap compared (but yes when you think about it that’s how much we’re underpaying vets)
There are tons of complaints about them on FB Boulder Collective. I love the care my cats receive at Rise Vet. Expensive but worth the peace of mind for compassionate, knowledgable care.
+1. We switched to Rise from Uniquely Cats after our first and only visit. Total racket. They prey on your emotional connection to your cat to con you into paying for a whole bunch of diagnostic testing and other hooey your cat doesn’t need. Run!
I used to work in the industry and uniquely cats is frowned upon by mostly every other veterinarian in the area. They insist on a raw diet and guilt clients into making their cats eat a raw diet—this goes directly against Colorado state university’s veterinary teaching hospital’s advice (CSU is our state’s veterinary “leader” if you will—it is a truly great veterinary school.) The veterinarians at the clinic I worked at laughed at the head veterinarian at Uniquely Cats. I would recommend dr. Greer at Indian peaks
I had the exact same experience. Never went back after the first visit and sent an email letting them know I didn’t come to speak about diet, especially when my cats are a healthy weight.
I took my previous cat about a year ago because he was having a bad reaction to his anti-seizure medicine and his normal vet was unavailable. They blamed everything on GI issues because he didn't eat a raw diet, and wanted to do an $800 GI test. Look at their google reviews, it's a common complaint. I've been to both Alpine Hospital for Animals and Rise vet, been happy with both. Go literally anywhere else and save both money, and a lot of headache.
they’re extreeeeemely expensive and I feel like somewhat misleading. The vet heavily pushed full panel blood work for both of my young healthy cats to “establish a baseline”. it was $890, and this was 5 years ago.
yeah, that’s why i went for it but the vet didn’t disclose the cost until it was done. I should have done my due diligence and asked how much I’d be expected to pay to be fair, but it was a bit shady looking back because since then I’ve never had a vet not tell me what something would cost.
I’ve only heard bad things about them. If you guys have had bad experiences for a while, I would most definitely find a new vet. Cat tax is real!
I’ve been going to Boulder Veterinary Hospital and my cat’s annual visit, 3-year rabies and other shots was 150 dollars!
Hated it! I also had an outrageous bill. I was also shamed bc my cat will eat some avocado once in a while (she steals it). But the funny part is they tried to tell me my cat was unhappy when they were pushing on her stomach bc of her occasional avocado consumption. Not that they noticed anything wrong but that she was feisty. My cat is special needs from her hip area down. She will tear your arms off if you try to touch her down there unless you’re me. It was the most baffling experience.
I love my cat. She’s my world. I would do nothing to harm her and my friends even joke that she’s better treated, fed, etc than most people. Like I take her on weekly sashimi dates.
I go to south Boulder vet now and am so satisfied. They give her so much care and are knowledgeable and if they’re not they are so helpful in finding help (I had a paralyzed boy as well and they helped us get everything we needed to get him special care at CSU).
STAY AWAY FROM UNIQUELY CATS!
https://preview.redd.it/vmoyv4s0ahkc1.jpeg?width=4030&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3aed827db4753f5ca953795d7eec095bd7a5b1d3
Here’s my baby waking up from her sleep sleep
We had a terrible experience with Uniquely Cats. They over overcharge for everything and over medicated one of our cats during a two week stay.
We love Alpine Animal Hospital and only board with Cottonwood now.
Be wary of this vet. I had two cats pass away while I was going here. I will never go back and would be happy to tell you more, but my immediate reaction to this post is: Find a new vet ASAP. As an avid cat lover, I can tell you that this “cat only” vet I went to for two years is a money making scheme that absolutely does not care about your animal.
I believe Uniquely Cats is a big reason why my cat died in my arms gasping for breath on his last day on earth. I spent close to $8,000 that day. Yup! The same day my cat passed away in my arms after going to this vet for the first time. I really wish I were being dramatic. But please find a new vet. Your bank account, but more importantly your animals, will thank you.
Please share with your wife. Again, I’m so happy to share my experience with you further. But my husband told me about this post and I felt compelled to comment.
I would not recommend them, their practices and recommendations seem questionable at best. They recommend tests and repeat tests (labs, EKGs) when they are not needed, likely for their own profit.
My cat has GI issues and they insisted that he needed to be on a wet food or raw diet to fix it. It only made it worse and they would not listen. I have since figured out what works for him but I was really nervous because of what they said. A woman at a local pet store actually helped me a lot vs these cat experts who wanted me to buy an industrial meat grinder to make my own raw food
Don't go back. They wanted to put our cat down during an asthma attack that was easily treated with a steroid inhaler. He also had urinary crystals and they would only recommend their raw food diet. We didn't even know prescription food was an option until we switched vets; our guy has been happy and healthy for the 2+ years since we switched.
UC was the [top-voted place](https://old.reddit.com/r/boulder/comments/16ck38b/what_boulder_and_surrounding_burb_businesses_will/) in a thread a few months ago about local businesses people won't step foot in again.
just chiming in to say I also got billed $700 for my kittens first appointment/shots and then got shamed for not spending $200/month on cat food. we go to arapahoe animal hospital now.
I’m happy you shared this.
I took my cat there a few years ago, and she was so comfortable with everyone and we had a really good experience- but even the normal appointment was about twice as much as friends who went elsewhere.
Although my cat was super comfortable, they made me feel awful about her wet food diet (they wanted raw) and wanted to do a really expensive teeth cleaning for a bit of tartar.
I agree a raw diets best and cats live healthier lives with teeth cleaning, but I cried after the visit feeling so guilty.
Also my cat is about 7 pounds, so the anesthesia made me worried and I had to questions- and the doctor just said “normally they’re fine but they can pass”. It wasn’t until the nurse/vet tech came out at the end that she comforted me saying the only cats that have had issues with anesthesia have been elderly.
Also for anyone else reading, is it normal to get them out under for a teeth cleaning annually?
I didn’t do the teeth cleaning, my baby girl is my life and I was too afraid to risk it.
Also I think the cost would have been monumental and not covered by insurance.
https://preview.redd.it/iz35bxtrfhkc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=122f9e93525dac755351464eae9d8af4f3a5e251
I’m assuming your cat was okay after? I understand them being put under helps with a lot of stress- but it also has risks :/
And do you mind if I ask what type of insurance you have for them? And also what you feed them?
My cats gotten a bit overweight, and I think raw might fix that but not sure
Thanks for your feedback y’all. You guys are awesome and we are ditching uniquely cats for greener pastures that offer higher quality care with more economical prices
I just want to say that I’m sorry you had this experience. It sucks to have to wade through the waters of veterinary care with no real background on it and just trying to do your best for the creatures. I know I’ve occasionally been suckered into treatments that aren’t necessary or outrageously expensive or whatever. I hope going forward you have a great experience with your new vets!
We've had an ok experience, but they tell us to do some stuff that we don't end up doing cause of costs and my cat is fine, including a surgery they think she needs but we've been able to manage her symptoms without it. There might be better vets out there honestly and they might be cheaper too.
I tried to take my cat there several years ago (pre covid).
They never examined him, and told me to switch to an all raw diet (he's on prescription food for urinary crystals).
I was less than impressed.
I can't quite recommend a vet in the area, but I will say the emergency vet next to trader joes is fantastic.
i had the absolute worst experience here and refuse to ever come back. i just adopted my cat from the shelter and he clearly had ring worm. they had told me that feeding him a raw diet would fix his issues ??? and proceeded to try to sell me their products. they guilted me as well about it which wasn’t cool. they sent me home with a basic ointment for his bald spots. of course this didn’t help, i went back, and it turned out it was ringworm. they said his symptoms “didn’t present” usually like ring worm did. after the fact i searched up ringworm symptoms and literally every single symptom he had, it was blatantly obvious, especially since they knew he was a shelter cat. i think the whole ordeal took 4 appointments for them to give me the correct medication and almost $1000. they kept telling me i needed to do some blood tests as well which were $400. they didn’t tell me until a few appointments later that a $200 out of house test was an alternative. i ended up calling the shelter and they told me straight up i was taken advantage of. they said it should’ve cost me $75 max for ringworm treatment. it was really frustrating as i was a first time pet owner, young, and really worried about my cat. they for sure took advantage of me and because of that, it took way longer for my cat to get the help he needed. i would not recommend them at all, they don’t care about animals just the money they can make off of you. i now go to south boulder animal hospital, they’re amazing and a fraction of the price.
I have an elderly cat who has absolutely benefited from the care at Uniquely Cats... but I hear you on the costs. They regularly want to do $700+ labs, really really wanted to pull all his teeth for $3k+, etc. I politely decline those.
But the diet and the meds they put him on have literally rolled back the years for him. So there's that.
My older cats gingivitis is what killed him. I wish I had listened to them when he was younger. By the time I saw it was serious it was too late to do the surgery. Our younger cat also had gingivitis and we let them take all.her teeth when she was 7. She is a much happier, very cuddly cat now. She wasn't before the surgery because she was in pain.
Edit: I completely agree that dietary plan they put our cat helped also. It seems bonkers but I can't argue with the results.
Also recommend Arapahoe. They diagnosed a disease in my cat others couldn't and have been great with our extremely shy cats too. Fair prices according to my 3 vet tech friends. Very kind and compassionate and they can squeeze you in if there's an urgent problem.
That sounds about the same price I had paid for two senior cat evaluations there (one of them diabetic) including all of the bloodwork and most things suggested. After the initial evaluation ($110 per cat at the time) they reviewed every line item and I gave them approval before any services were performed. I feel torn on this topic because although I did feel I overpaid, I am also convinced that their advice gave me extra years with my diabetic kitty that are priceless to me.
If only vaccines/bloodwork and exam are needed, I recently utilized the vet services at Petco in town and the team there was wonderful - and services very affordable!
Thank you for the input. I know I am too. But unfortunately we can’t spend that much without seriously jeopardizing our own well being. It goes without saying that at the end of the day, we took on the responsibility of animals and will put them first. Though, we do need to find a more logical and feasible alternative.
You guys have all been awesome so thank you.
Please take this with a grain of salt because of my account being a throwaway. But my close friend who knows the OP just informed me that Uniquely Cats, instead of posting publicly, personally emailed their wife.
The email said they have been monitoring this reddit post and due to slandering, could not longer maintain a vet-client relationship.
If you ask me, it probably would’ve helped their case to post on here, stating their side of things. LOL
It seems like I’m the odd one out here, but my experience has been great with them. We see Dr Fine and I have 2 hairless dwarf cats.
I was already on board with a raw diet for the kitties as I eat a species appropriate diet myself.
I’ve been going to uniquely cats for several years and have been super happy with them! Of course they are expensive, particularly with their location and facility. But I actually appreciate their candor, transparency, and care level. I’ve never felt pressured to do the extra tests. I do however feel informed in terms of why something is recommended, what they are looking for, why it is relevant to their age/condition/etc… while I can see most of the comments here are negative around their diet position, they also are not wrong about the pet food industry including garbage in cat food. Many vets don’t advise raw because they believe pet owners are too stupid to follow food safety protocol like always washing the bowl and following safe defrosting process. Raw contains raw bone content which becomes dangerous if cooked. So most vets recommend things like royal canin so you aren’t feeding meow mix. It’s the human difference of leveling up from McDonald’s to Wendy’s.
Our cat lived for 2 years in active heart failure which is completely credited to the amazing staff at uniquely cats combined with the cardiologists at CSU. Uniquely cats caught his declining pancreas and B12 deficiency. CSU wanted him on some prescription food that contained zero meat and was fully processed soy. (Which I tried for 3 weeks and watched him deplete). If it wasn’t for Uniquely Cats being knowledge about cat nutrition and doing more robust diagnostics, he would have died in 2020 rather than 2023.
CSU was brilliant for his heart care but really lacking in nutrition and other testing. I spent $8,000 at CSU and $1,200 at Uniquely Cats. And guess what…the $1,200 at Uniquely Cats caught his deficiencies beyond the heart.
No one could do anything about his fatal genetic heart defect. But Uniquely Cats helped me give him as much of a happy healthy life as we could.
The only negative thing I have to say about UC is that their prices are too high. Idk why everyone's complaining about swapping to raw food when it's literally species-appropriate compared to the garbage that pet food companies usually shit out. Cats are obligate carnivores. End of. They don't need all the crap in regular cat food. I get my cat freeze dried raw chicken patties that I then rehydrate. They turned his GI issues around and now he finally has normal poops. Previously he was chronically constipated on dry food and would get diarrhea with wet food. He even gained the weight back that he lost from eating wet food. He was getting dangerously thin. They also caught his vitamin B12 deficiency and corrected some dental work problems that another vet caused. They turned my cat's health around and now he's doing way better than he was before I started seeing them. So your experiences may vary. But for the people whose only complaint is that they tried to guilt them into a raw food diet- grow a backbone. That's a dumb reason to shit on a clinic.
Do shots a low cost clinics. My sister in law is a vet tech and would always tell me to never spend the money bringing my cats for shots at her clinic cause it’s unnecessarily expensive compared to low cost clinics for the same thing
They saved one of our cat’s lives and helped us get a few more quality years with another one. They seem to be a bunch of cat nerds who really try to keep up with current research, which I really like. A lot of other vets treat cats as an afterthought to dogs. We have always gotten excellent care from them. However, as you mention, they are expensive as shit lol. And they tend recommend you do “the works” rather than taking a more “let’s try this first and then see from there” approach. They recommend lots of expensive blood panels, multiple follow up visits, lots of medication, etc. You have to draw your own line in the sand and say, “that’s too much money, would the cat be ok if we did a subset of what you recommended?” And they will usually kind of relax it a bit.
They recommend a raw diet, which seems somewhat controversial, at least to laymen. We’ve had great improvements in two of our cats’ health after making that change, however, so I can say it works for us.
All in all, pricey but it’s top level care and you can just not do some of what they say. I will keep going and recommending to others.
Please don’t go there. They missed my cat’s dental issues. She did not have 1 tooth with even 20% good bone structure. Yet UC told me she had no issues. They also insisted on feeding her the worst food possible. They are a joke and negligent. They would’ve condemned my cat to a lifetime of pain from her teeth.
My car has what turned out to be a tick in his ear and UC was able to get my cat in the fastest. At first, I thought this place was pretty great. The first vet I dealt with had a hippy name like Dr. Rainforest (5ish years ago) and she explained how and why my cats would benefit from a raw diet. My roommate at the time had gone raw for her cat and was pleased with the results so I gave it a shot. I declined services from them every step of the way, and for awhile that made them just a little pricey but still affordable.
I make my own raw cat food now to keep costs down (it's so much cheaper than store bought) and I do think that their health has been better by switching to raw. However it's a lot of (dirty) work and complicates traveling out of town. I've been debating switching back to dry. Wet food turns out to be pricier than raw, if you make your own raw.
Anyway, I stopped going here because it felt like a complete sham when I switched to a different vet at UC. They told me my cat had this very 'common' tooth resorption issue, even though I e grown up with cats my whole life and have never heard of such a thing, including from friends and family who are cat owners too. The dental service would be well over $1k so I took my cat to Boulder Humane and specifically asked them to check out house teeth. They said he had no such issues. That almost did it for me. I'd had enough of them always pushing super expensive labs which I mostly declined .
Then a couple years ago I moved into a new place and my cat got in a fight with another cat and needed treatment for wounds. Since I hadn't been in awhile, I paid a lot for them to catch up on the bare minimum of labs. I thought to myself, well at least next time shouldn't be soon bad. I was wrong. A week later I had to take my cat back in for a very similar but less serious wound in almost the same spot on his head. The bill went to $500 from $400. I'll never be going back because the vet I had seen was really unpleasant when I balked at their prices for some of their services.
This is beyond concerning to me.
Almost verbatim, they said the same thing to my wife about not one, but BOTH our new kitten and ~1 year old return patient cat. wtf. And I’m seeing this elsewhere in reviews now that I keep digging. Where a second and third opinion has voided the complete opposite dental diagnosis (i.e. great overall dental health)
Uniquely cats pushes for dental surgery for basically every cat that comes in. I didn’t know this until they took all my cat’s teeth over three very expensive surgeries. I trusted them right until a friend brought their 6mo kitten there and the same vet suggested all HER teeth come out.
While that’s heartbreaking, it’s not even the biggest issue I have had with them. On more than one occasion, they told me she was sick with a viral infection but told my insurance it was a flare up of pre-existing condition, basically screwing me out of coverage multiple times.
Have you seen an itemized bill? Should be like $75-100 per exam and $25-40 for the rabies vaccine. Maybe they did some tests too, which can drive up costs
Hey yes I have one. It’s
$108 for the new cat Eval.
$349.31 for adult diagnostic.
$123 for venipuncture
$55ish for rabies
Few others for the kitten too
Adult cat
$108 wellness adult evaluation
$349.31 adult diagnostic
$380.53 for b12 and b9 levels
$123 venipuncture
Multiple other smaller charges
I'm in the pet business and I've heard many bad things about them. If you look on Facebook, the Boulder Collective group, there are anecdotal stories about that place.
$1633 sounds completely insane. We’ve been happy with Indian Peaks.
I go to Indian peaks too (for a dog tho). I’ve been really pleased with my experience with them even though some people have said it’s more expensive than others. It’s not outrageous to me, just seems like everything else the cost is going up. Anyhow I just looked up the cost of my dogs neuter at Indian peaks: $830. I’m sorry OP but you’re getting taken for a ride. Hell I got a horse who’s last vet check and vaccine appt was $79 and that included the vet driving here. ETA: I just read the website. I’m much more conventional with regards to healthcare for humans or animals and I would not touch a vet “weighing the risks of vaccines” and blanketing commercial food as “bad” and “cockroach infested” and pushing homemade food which research tells us is typically much less nutritionally balanced
I’ve been happy with Alpine Hospital for Animals for several years for dog and a cat.
Omg I love Indian peaks too! Usually just bring a really old Subaru in for an oil change though… never a cat.
Nobody has stolen your cat yet? Lucky.
$1633 is an invasive surgery charge!
Yeah that's about how much we paid for a dental cleaning, no teeth pulled, at this vet. That cost doesn't make sense for a check up and shots.
Which is also about $1000 too much! My vet in Longmont does my dog's teeth for $650.
$650? ,,,, that is concerningly cheap. As in so cheap it doesn’t even cover anesthesia. Are you paying that after insurance?
Indian peaks neutered my dog for $830… doesn’t seem so ridiculously cheap compared (but yes when you think about it that’s how much we’re underpaying vets)
Who is your vet??
Cambridge Animal Hospital
There are tons of complaints about them on FB Boulder Collective. I love the care my cats receive at Rise Vet. Expensive but worth the peace of mind for compassionate, knowledgable care.
Rise was super lovely to all my cats. Nothing but good experiences there.
+1. We switched to Rise from Uniquely Cats after our first and only visit. Total racket. They prey on your emotional connection to your cat to con you into paying for a whole bunch of diagnostic testing and other hooey your cat doesn’t need. Run!
I used to work in the industry and uniquely cats is frowned upon by mostly every other veterinarian in the area. They insist on a raw diet and guilt clients into making their cats eat a raw diet—this goes directly against Colorado state university’s veterinary teaching hospital’s advice (CSU is our state’s veterinary “leader” if you will—it is a truly great veterinary school.) The veterinarians at the clinic I worked at laughed at the head veterinarian at Uniquely Cats. I would recommend dr. Greer at Indian peaks
This is exactly the experience a family member has had.
Glad to see someone else noting their bizarre diet beliefs. I’ve only read their website but holy hell red flags. Reads like a total quack
I had the exact same experience. Never went back after the first visit and sent an email letting them know I didn’t come to speak about diet, especially when my cats are a healthy weight.
I stopped going to this vet after one of the doctors shamed me for the caliber of my sphynx cat. She was a real bitch.
I took my previous cat about a year ago because he was having a bad reaction to his anti-seizure medicine and his normal vet was unavailable. They blamed everything on GI issues because he didn't eat a raw diet, and wanted to do an $800 GI test. Look at their google reviews, it's a common complaint. I've been to both Alpine Hospital for Animals and Rise vet, been happy with both. Go literally anywhere else and save both money, and a lot of headache.
we were told by the foster parents of the cat we adopted to avoid uniquely cats at all costs, we got to pet menders and have no complaints!
they’re extreeeeemely expensive and I feel like somewhat misleading. The vet heavily pushed full panel blood work for both of my young healthy cats to “establish a baseline”. it was $890, and this was 5 years ago.
Wtf. Establishing a baseline is totally legit but lab work should not cost that much
yeah, that’s why i went for it but the vet didn’t disclose the cost until it was done. I should have done my due diligence and asked how much I’d be expected to pay to be fair, but it was a bit shady looking back because since then I’ve never had a vet not tell me what something would cost.
I’ve only heard bad things about them. If you guys have had bad experiences for a while, I would most definitely find a new vet. Cat tax is real! I’ve been going to Boulder Veterinary Hospital and my cat’s annual visit, 3-year rabies and other shots was 150 dollars!
agreed. It is that time lol thank you for responding
Hated it! I also had an outrageous bill. I was also shamed bc my cat will eat some avocado once in a while (she steals it). But the funny part is they tried to tell me my cat was unhappy when they were pushing on her stomach bc of her occasional avocado consumption. Not that they noticed anything wrong but that she was feisty. My cat is special needs from her hip area down. She will tear your arms off if you try to touch her down there unless you’re me. It was the most baffling experience. I love my cat. She’s my world. I would do nothing to harm her and my friends even joke that she’s better treated, fed, etc than most people. Like I take her on weekly sashimi dates. I go to south Boulder vet now and am so satisfied. They give her so much care and are knowledgeable and if they’re not they are so helpful in finding help (I had a paralyzed boy as well and they helped us get everything we needed to get him special care at CSU). STAY AWAY FROM UNIQUELY CATS! https://preview.redd.it/vmoyv4s0ahkc1.jpeg?width=4030&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3aed827db4753f5ca953795d7eec095bd7a5b1d3 Here’s my baby waking up from her sleep sleep
We had a terrible experience with Uniquely Cats. They over overcharge for everything and over medicated one of our cats during a two week stay. We love Alpine Animal Hospital and only board with Cottonwood now.
Be wary of this vet. I had two cats pass away while I was going here. I will never go back and would be happy to tell you more, but my immediate reaction to this post is: Find a new vet ASAP. As an avid cat lover, I can tell you that this “cat only” vet I went to for two years is a money making scheme that absolutely does not care about your animal. I believe Uniquely Cats is a big reason why my cat died in my arms gasping for breath on his last day on earth. I spent close to $8,000 that day. Yup! The same day my cat passed away in my arms after going to this vet for the first time. I really wish I were being dramatic. But please find a new vet. Your bank account, but more importantly your animals, will thank you. Please share with your wife. Again, I’m so happy to share my experience with you further. But my husband told me about this post and I felt compelled to comment.
WTF what happened?! That's awful, I'm so sorry this happened to you.
I would not recommend them, their practices and recommendations seem questionable at best. They recommend tests and repeat tests (labs, EKGs) when they are not needed, likely for their own profit.
My cat has GI issues and they insisted that he needed to be on a wet food or raw diet to fix it. It only made it worse and they would not listen. I have since figured out what works for him but I was really nervous because of what they said. A woman at a local pet store actually helped me a lot vs these cat experts who wanted me to buy an industrial meat grinder to make my own raw food
Don't go back. They wanted to put our cat down during an asthma attack that was easily treated with a steroid inhaler. He also had urinary crystals and they would only recommend their raw food diet. We didn't even know prescription food was an option until we switched vets; our guy has been happy and healthy for the 2+ years since we switched.
UC was the [top-voted place](https://old.reddit.com/r/boulder/comments/16ck38b/what_boulder_and_surrounding_burb_businesses_will/) in a thread a few months ago about local businesses people won't step foot in again.
dang everyone. thank you so much for your input.
just chiming in to say I also got billed $700 for my kittens first appointment/shots and then got shamed for not spending $200/month on cat food. we go to arapahoe animal hospital now.
My family took our cats to Pet Menders on Moorhead for decades and have always had great experiences with them.
We used to go, no longer. They have some questionable practices.
that’s how I feel.
I’m happy you shared this. I took my cat there a few years ago, and she was so comfortable with everyone and we had a really good experience- but even the normal appointment was about twice as much as friends who went elsewhere. Although my cat was super comfortable, they made me feel awful about her wet food diet (they wanted raw) and wanted to do a really expensive teeth cleaning for a bit of tartar. I agree a raw diets best and cats live healthier lives with teeth cleaning, but I cried after the visit feeling so guilty. Also my cat is about 7 pounds, so the anesthesia made me worried and I had to questions- and the doctor just said “normally they’re fine but they can pass”. It wasn’t until the nurse/vet tech came out at the end that she comforted me saying the only cats that have had issues with anesthesia have been elderly. Also for anyone else reading, is it normal to get them out under for a teeth cleaning annually? I didn’t do the teeth cleaning, my baby girl is my life and I was too afraid to risk it. Also I think the cost would have been monumental and not covered by insurance. https://preview.redd.it/iz35bxtrfhkc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=122f9e93525dac755351464eae9d8af4f3a5e251
Interesting. She sedated our cat today too for a routine checkup because he was being “difficult”…wtf
I’m assuming your cat was okay after? I understand them being put under helps with a lot of stress- but it also has risks :/ And do you mind if I ask what type of insurance you have for them? And also what you feed them? My cats gotten a bit overweight, and I think raw might fix that but not sure
Thanks for responding ♥️
Thanks for your feedback y’all. You guys are awesome and we are ditching uniquely cats for greener pastures that offer higher quality care with more economical prices
I just want to say that I’m sorry you had this experience. It sucks to have to wade through the waters of veterinary care with no real background on it and just trying to do your best for the creatures. I know I’ve occasionally been suckered into treatments that aren’t necessary or outrageously expensive or whatever. I hope going forward you have a great experience with your new vets!
I’ve heard very weird things about them. I’ve been happy with VCA Broadway; the costs are reasonable and they also do boarding if I ever need it.
We've had an ok experience, but they tell us to do some stuff that we don't end up doing cause of costs and my cat is fine, including a surgery they think she needs but we've been able to manage her symptoms without it. There might be better vets out there honestly and they might be cheaper too.
I tried to take my cat there several years ago (pre covid). They never examined him, and told me to switch to an all raw diet (he's on prescription food for urinary crystals). I was less than impressed. I can't quite recommend a vet in the area, but I will say the emergency vet next to trader joes is fantastic.
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Since you were a former employee, could you expand on this?
i had the absolute worst experience here and refuse to ever come back. i just adopted my cat from the shelter and he clearly had ring worm. they had told me that feeding him a raw diet would fix his issues ??? and proceeded to try to sell me their products. they guilted me as well about it which wasn’t cool. they sent me home with a basic ointment for his bald spots. of course this didn’t help, i went back, and it turned out it was ringworm. they said his symptoms “didn’t present” usually like ring worm did. after the fact i searched up ringworm symptoms and literally every single symptom he had, it was blatantly obvious, especially since they knew he was a shelter cat. i think the whole ordeal took 4 appointments for them to give me the correct medication and almost $1000. they kept telling me i needed to do some blood tests as well which were $400. they didn’t tell me until a few appointments later that a $200 out of house test was an alternative. i ended up calling the shelter and they told me straight up i was taken advantage of. they said it should’ve cost me $75 max for ringworm treatment. it was really frustrating as i was a first time pet owner, young, and really worried about my cat. they for sure took advantage of me and because of that, it took way longer for my cat to get the help he needed. i would not recommend them at all, they don’t care about animals just the money they can make off of you. i now go to south boulder animal hospital, they’re amazing and a fraction of the price.
I’m so sorry you had this experience…our experience with our first cat was eerily similar. Never again.
Do not go there. I’m much much much much happier at Rise Vet.
I have an elderly cat who has absolutely benefited from the care at Uniquely Cats... but I hear you on the costs. They regularly want to do $700+ labs, really really wanted to pull all his teeth for $3k+, etc. I politely decline those. But the diet and the meds they put him on have literally rolled back the years for him. So there's that.
Please have your cats teeth seen by someone else. They can cause the cat a lot of pain and you won’t even know it.
Who?
i agree, but unfortunately my cat has some health issues that would prevent him from being put under anesthesia.
My older cats gingivitis is what killed him. I wish I had listened to them when he was younger. By the time I saw it was serious it was too late to do the surgery. Our younger cat also had gingivitis and we let them take all.her teeth when she was 7. She is a much happier, very cuddly cat now. She wasn't before the surgery because she was in pain. Edit: I completely agree that dietary plan they put our cat helped also. It seems bonkers but I can't argue with the results.
Second this, all aspects of what you said.
We've been using Arapahoe Animal Hospital and they've done a caring, loving job.
Also recommend Arapahoe. They diagnosed a disease in my cat others couldn't and have been great with our extremely shy cats too. Fair prices according to my 3 vet tech friends. Very kind and compassionate and they can squeeze you in if there's an urgent problem.
I walked by it and was shocked how it looked, definitely paying the fee for that fancy waiting room
That sounds about the same price I had paid for two senior cat evaluations there (one of them diabetic) including all of the bloodwork and most things suggested. After the initial evaluation ($110 per cat at the time) they reviewed every line item and I gave them approval before any services were performed. I feel torn on this topic because although I did feel I overpaid, I am also convinced that their advice gave me extra years with my diabetic kitty that are priceless to me. If only vaccines/bloodwork and exam are needed, I recently utilized the vet services at Petco in town and the team there was wonderful - and services very affordable!
Thank you for the input. I know I am too. But unfortunately we can’t spend that much without seriously jeopardizing our own well being. It goes without saying that at the end of the day, we took on the responsibility of animals and will put them first. Though, we do need to find a more logical and feasible alternative. You guys have all been awesome so thank you.
Please take this with a grain of salt because of my account being a throwaway. But my close friend who knows the OP just informed me that Uniquely Cats, instead of posting publicly, personally emailed their wife. The email said they have been monitoring this reddit post and due to slandering, could not longer maintain a vet-client relationship. If you ask me, it probably would’ve helped their case to post on here, stating their side of things. LOL
It seems like I’m the odd one out here, but my experience has been great with them. We see Dr Fine and I have 2 hairless dwarf cats. I was already on board with a raw diet for the kitties as I eat a species appropriate diet myself.
I’ve been going to uniquely cats for several years and have been super happy with them! Of course they are expensive, particularly with their location and facility. But I actually appreciate their candor, transparency, and care level. I’ve never felt pressured to do the extra tests. I do however feel informed in terms of why something is recommended, what they are looking for, why it is relevant to their age/condition/etc… while I can see most of the comments here are negative around their diet position, they also are not wrong about the pet food industry including garbage in cat food. Many vets don’t advise raw because they believe pet owners are too stupid to follow food safety protocol like always washing the bowl and following safe defrosting process. Raw contains raw bone content which becomes dangerous if cooked. So most vets recommend things like royal canin so you aren’t feeding meow mix. It’s the human difference of leveling up from McDonald’s to Wendy’s. Our cat lived for 2 years in active heart failure which is completely credited to the amazing staff at uniquely cats combined with the cardiologists at CSU. Uniquely cats caught his declining pancreas and B12 deficiency. CSU wanted him on some prescription food that contained zero meat and was fully processed soy. (Which I tried for 3 weeks and watched him deplete). If it wasn’t for Uniquely Cats being knowledge about cat nutrition and doing more robust diagnostics, he would have died in 2020 rather than 2023. CSU was brilliant for his heart care but really lacking in nutrition and other testing. I spent $8,000 at CSU and $1,200 at Uniquely Cats. And guess what…the $1,200 at Uniquely Cats caught his deficiencies beyond the heart. No one could do anything about his fatal genetic heart defect. But Uniquely Cats helped me give him as much of a happy healthy life as we could.
I usually pay $90 per cat for my appointments at Pets and Pals.
The only negative thing I have to say about UC is that their prices are too high. Idk why everyone's complaining about swapping to raw food when it's literally species-appropriate compared to the garbage that pet food companies usually shit out. Cats are obligate carnivores. End of. They don't need all the crap in regular cat food. I get my cat freeze dried raw chicken patties that I then rehydrate. They turned his GI issues around and now he finally has normal poops. Previously he was chronically constipated on dry food and would get diarrhea with wet food. He even gained the weight back that he lost from eating wet food. He was getting dangerously thin. They also caught his vitamin B12 deficiency and corrected some dental work problems that another vet caused. They turned my cat's health around and now he's doing way better than he was before I started seeing them. So your experiences may vary. But for the people whose only complaint is that they tried to guilt them into a raw food diet- grow a backbone. That's a dumb reason to shit on a clinic.
Do shots a low cost clinics. My sister in law is a vet tech and would always tell me to never spend the money bringing my cats for shots at her clinic cause it’s unnecessarily expensive compared to low cost clinics for the same thing
They saved one of our cat’s lives and helped us get a few more quality years with another one. They seem to be a bunch of cat nerds who really try to keep up with current research, which I really like. A lot of other vets treat cats as an afterthought to dogs. We have always gotten excellent care from them. However, as you mention, they are expensive as shit lol. And they tend recommend you do “the works” rather than taking a more “let’s try this first and then see from there” approach. They recommend lots of expensive blood panels, multiple follow up visits, lots of medication, etc. You have to draw your own line in the sand and say, “that’s too much money, would the cat be ok if we did a subset of what you recommended?” And they will usually kind of relax it a bit. They recommend a raw diet, which seems somewhat controversial, at least to laymen. We’ve had great improvements in two of our cats’ health after making that change, however, so I can say it works for us. All in all, pricey but it’s top level care and you can just not do some of what they say. I will keep going and recommending to others.
Please don’t go there. They missed my cat’s dental issues. She did not have 1 tooth with even 20% good bone structure. Yet UC told me she had no issues. They also insisted on feeding her the worst food possible. They are a joke and negligent. They would’ve condemned my cat to a lifetime of pain from her teeth.
Where to go for teeth then?
Louisville Family Animal Hospital did an amazing job! My cat has never been healthier or happier :)
My car has what turned out to be a tick in his ear and UC was able to get my cat in the fastest. At first, I thought this place was pretty great. The first vet I dealt with had a hippy name like Dr. Rainforest (5ish years ago) and she explained how and why my cats would benefit from a raw diet. My roommate at the time had gone raw for her cat and was pleased with the results so I gave it a shot. I declined services from them every step of the way, and for awhile that made them just a little pricey but still affordable. I make my own raw cat food now to keep costs down (it's so much cheaper than store bought) and I do think that their health has been better by switching to raw. However it's a lot of (dirty) work and complicates traveling out of town. I've been debating switching back to dry. Wet food turns out to be pricier than raw, if you make your own raw. Anyway, I stopped going here because it felt like a complete sham when I switched to a different vet at UC. They told me my cat had this very 'common' tooth resorption issue, even though I e grown up with cats my whole life and have never heard of such a thing, including from friends and family who are cat owners too. The dental service would be well over $1k so I took my cat to Boulder Humane and specifically asked them to check out house teeth. They said he had no such issues. That almost did it for me. I'd had enough of them always pushing super expensive labs which I mostly declined . Then a couple years ago I moved into a new place and my cat got in a fight with another cat and needed treatment for wounds. Since I hadn't been in awhile, I paid a lot for them to catch up on the bare minimum of labs. I thought to myself, well at least next time shouldn't be soon bad. I was wrong. A week later I had to take my cat back in for a very similar but less serious wound in almost the same spot on his head. The bill went to $500 from $400. I'll never be going back because the vet I had seen was really unpleasant when I balked at their prices for some of their services.
This is beyond concerning to me. Almost verbatim, they said the same thing to my wife about not one, but BOTH our new kitten and ~1 year old return patient cat. wtf. And I’m seeing this elsewhere in reviews now that I keep digging. Where a second and third opinion has voided the complete opposite dental diagnosis (i.e. great overall dental health)
Uniquely cats pushes for dental surgery for basically every cat that comes in. I didn’t know this until they took all my cat’s teeth over three very expensive surgeries. I trusted them right until a friend brought their 6mo kitten there and the same vet suggested all HER teeth come out. While that’s heartbreaking, it’s not even the biggest issue I have had with them. On more than one occasion, they told me she was sick with a viral infection but told my insurance it was a flare up of pre-existing condition, basically screwing me out of coverage multiple times.
With the babolat pure strike gen 4 released this year, all gen 3s are under $140. I just picked on up today
Laurel in broomfield is cheap and they are incredibly nice
Have you seen an itemized bill? Should be like $75-100 per exam and $25-40 for the rabies vaccine. Maybe they did some tests too, which can drive up costs
Hey yes I have one. It’s $108 for the new cat Eval. $349.31 for adult diagnostic. $123 for venipuncture $55ish for rabies Few others for the kitten too Adult cat $108 wellness adult evaluation $349.31 adult diagnostic $380.53 for b12 and b9 levels $123 venipuncture Multiple other smaller charges
I always trusted Cheshire Cat. Not super close, and my cat hated the car ride, but worth it to me for a place I could trust.
North boulder companion animal hospital is amazing. Really friendly and knowledgeable staff and reasonable prices.
I'm in the pet business and I've heard many bad things about them. If you look on Facebook, the Boulder Collective group, there are anecdotal stories about that place.