Hackham Vet

I have attended this vet for over twenty years. I missed the last two years as I have been living in Port Pirie for the last two years. Having moved back, and my cat needing some attention, I rang. I was on hold for about half an hour. I finally spoke to someone, who wanted to know if I had seen them for the last two years. I explained that I had been living in Port Pirie and she said that the new owners considered me a new customer. She then asked if I would like a new customer appointment. I said no thanks because I needed my cat seen to now. I started to say that this was not good enough and hopefully have a discussion about my unusual circumstances but the girl spoke to me in a rude manner (her tone, not what she said) and hung up on me when I was half-way through my sentence. I was neither rude nor abusive. I guess 20 or more years of being a loyal customer means nothing.

I attended this practice for many years and I was happy with their services. Recently I have not needed them as all my animals have passed away. Recently I contected them to see if I could have a feral/stray cat desexed. They said I would need a health check first which I agrred to and allowed them to take $50 from my debit card towards the procedure. I was advised that if I could not get the cat to the appointment without adequate notice I may forfeit my deposit. I agreed to that without understanding that they neded 24 hours notice. When the time came I rang them an hour an a half before the appointment, after not sleeping all night waiting for said cat to appear. He did not and I expalined that no I hadn't locked him up all night as he is a very hesitant stray. I was told very rudely that I would forfeit my $50 as I hadn't locked him in the laundry at least. No, I hadn't, he is a traumatised cat overall. My point is that I was trying to take a male cat off the streets, ensuring no more kittens being born. I expected a bit more compassion from a vet I had used for many years and spent a lot of money there. I will not use them again and will not reccomend them to anynone.

The vets here are lovely. I have a very nervous high-strung dog who generally gets a bit snappy at vets and vets I took him to before use to sedate him most visits. The vets here don't unnecessarily sedate him and over time he's become a lot calmer and doesn't mind been seen to.

My dogs medication is very reasonably priced. The staff are friendly and lovely as are the vets. I only wish I'd found these guys years ago as going to vet is no longer a crazy and stressful situation.

My sister and I went here to get her dog micro-chipped about 3 year ago. It was around $60 to get it done at the time. The service and price was good. However, the dog got out and was picked up by the council. We finally tracked him down at the RSPCA pet shelter and they told us that he didn't have a microchip. We explained that he did, and they said it must be faulty or grew out. We also got a big fine for no microchip. I'm not sure if it was a faulty chip or the vet was at fault. Didn't go back to discuss it with them as it had been so long since insertion. I still think they are a reasonably priced vet overall.