My wife and I have been taking our animals to Dr. Raymond for a few years now and I can understand both positive and negative reviews. When you judge Dr. Raymond on his ability to care for your animal, I can assure you he ranks as one of the best in Lakeland and we will continue our services with him because of this. I can also see how some people have criticized his bedside manner and I can agree there can be room for improvement in this category. Unfortunately, people must understand he's there to care for your animal and he's not there for you. He's a very direct person and sometimes too direct because most issues could have been avoided if the owner of the animal did not neglect the animal or he or she could've responded to the animals symptoms sooner. I am just as guilty as anyone else, like most people We have other financial responsibilities and as much as we would like to protect our animals, we are unable to do preventative care and try to deal with issues as they occur. So please do not write off Dr. Raymond because someone took offense of his inability to sugarcoat things. He's a great vet who is very much capable to care for your animal and he will be upfront and honest with you. He's not like other vets who will avoid telling you what you need to hear all the while billing you for unnecessary treatments. I hope this review will help give you a better idea of Dr. Raymond and his Clinic.

They have taken great care of my dog since she was a puppy, she's now 4. I feel secure boarding her there when I go away, and everyone there is friendly and efficient.

DO NOT GO HERE!!!! Dr. Raymond had a horrible "bedside"manner, was rude and condescending when I asked questions. He may have knowledge of pet care but has very poor communication skills and even told me "you haven't met me before" sarcastically when I first reacted to his strong personality. I would not feel like I could trust him to listen to my questions and provide objective advice based on the experience we had at his office. It makes sense to me now that the parking lot was empty on a Saturday morning at a vets office. I will be looking for a puppy loving, friendly and trustworthy vet instead of him.

I took my dog in to get his ears checked at this clinic, since we are away from our regular vet down in Sarasota. We have had no problems with the procedure before, but when we took him to this clinic, the nurses restrained him harshly to begin with. I mentioned that our dog did not need to be restrained harshly with two nurses, and would behave a lot better if restrained by one of us. (The pet owners) We were just told that it was not possible and they restrained him more harshly with a muzzle, despite our protests and assurance, our dog was not biting, just causing an obvious fuss over being restrained. I can understand the concern over safety, but it was completely unnecessary and appalling to be completely disregarded and insulted, when we have done the same examination before with no problems with another veterinarian. Look elsewhere, we as owners and our dog were not pleased.

I am 100% comfortable with Dr. Raymond, and he has been our pets doctor for years. I get very sad when I remember our little Jack-Rat terrier, that we purchased from the pet store at the mall. He became very ill after having him 3 weeks. After spending almost $ 2000.00 in 3 days at a emergency hospital, he died. I know in my heart if we had known Dr. Raymond, at that time, he could have found the problem, and Rockwell, would still be with us. There is no way the writer with a negative review, could be speaking of this animal clinic. Elissa Robertson Sept. 28, 2010