Patuxent Valley Animal Hospital

Love this place! Dr. Wiest is great. Everything is old school. Paper files, old office; shares a building and wall with pet store full of LOUD birds. But office staff is friendly and knowledgeable. They always remember you by name. Office hours are extremely limited and inconvenient. But they are sometimes good with phone calls and good of course with in person visits. They were able to do health certificates and FAVN rabies titer for my service animal whenever I needed to fly internationally. Thorough with paperwork. Dr. Wiest has an odd but funny bed side. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Very intelligent and well educated but elderly. Knows his stuff. Not super duper thorough on physical exam, but if you need routine stuff, great place. Haven’t experienced anything severe while I lived there, and didn’t need to bring my dog here so can’t speak to that as I know some of the negative reviews state. Prescribes monthly tick and flea preventatives direct to Chewy. Doesn’t even need a visit to renew these annually. Pretty great. I’ve moved out of the area, but when I visit, I try to go there for health certificates. Office is very small but lovely and lively. But as other reviews said, do not go planning to get in and out on time. You will wait and be there a long time. During COVID, was all one person/animal in office at a time and call and wait in car. Good small town local vet. Thanks for all the care over the years!🙌🏼

I had to get my rabbit euthanized at a different vet because they failed to do a thorough evaluation and diagnosis twice. Before even getting into the "treatment" he pulled my rabbit out of carrier by a handful of fur like it was a scruff, but rabbits don't have a scruff that was all normal skin. I can't get past being so rough with an already injured animal. I brought her in because she had been experiencing increasingly worse limping and incontinence. They told me it was a UTI and gave me antibiotics and told me to brush her more (ignoring the fact that she wasn't able to groom herself on her back legs). Weeks went by and she still got worse. Went back and gave me different medication. Weeks went by and she got worse. This time I decided to go to Stahl Exotic Animal Veterinary Services and they were wonderful. At this point I could tell it was most likely a back issue and I was going to have to put her down. They did a thorough evaluation and recommended doing X-rays, which showed that it was a shifted vertebrae which can't be treated. They were very comforting and gave me options on how it would be done. They even made a clay ornament out of her paw print. Unfortunately Patuxent Valley Animal Hospital is only a few miles from my house and every time I drive past I remember this traumatic experience. If you have a dog or cat with no serious problems it's probably fine but I would strongly reconsider going somewhere else, especially with exotic pets.

Limited availability is the only challenge with this place but know that they do their best and their best is awesome. Great care of pets and their humans.

If I could give a negative I would. The staff were unprofessional and irresponsible. Failed to read through my dogs record. After I stated the vaccines my dog needed, they gave the wrong vaccine to my dog and asked us to come for a follow up visit to get the one he needs. They also recommended other check ups he does not need. Seems like a money grabbing vet office. Please be cautious if you’re thinking bring your pets here.