Everyone at NSAH is awesome! I have taken many pets there for years. Anytime I have had an emergency they have squeezed me in. They have always taken great care of my dogs!! I wouldnt go anywhere else.

My family has taken our 3 dogs here for more than 20 years. The care North Shore provides is excellent. The staff is friendly and knowledgable. The techs and vets were compassionate and gentle when the time came to euthanize. While we go out out of Racine for the infrequent serious or specialty-related care, North Shore does a fantastic job with primary care. Dr. Jahn is the best!

I have been taking my pets to NS for over five years. They seemed expensive when it came to certain things, but I was usually able to get in to see a vet on the same day and found all the vets to be friendly and knowledgeable, so I did not begrudge them a little extra. However, as time went by, I started getting more and more disgusted by the fees. I had a cat that needed a dental cleaning and a canine tooth extracted and was given estimate of $500-600. I took the kitty elsewhere for the exact same services and was charged $143. Since then I have wanted to use NS because of its convenient location and also that I knew the staff there, but I have been comparing every procedure, exam and medication with like products and services elsewhere, and always NS comes up significantly more expensive. Perhaps the most egregious example comes in the form of medication charges. I have two dogs that are taking some rather pricey brand-name eye prescription ointment: for a little bitty tube NS charges $48. When I took my dogs to a different vet and said I needed to get some more ointment, I was floored to be charged $31 at this new vet, for the same medicine I had been paying $48 for years. Even more interestingly, I was shown the prescription information packet regarding dosage and was informed that each dog was supposed to be getting 1/4" ribbon of ointment in each eye once per day. North Shore had the dosage at 1/2" ribbon in each eye 2x/day; the new vet showed me the Rx documentation that showed that the 2x/day dosage was only for the first week or two, after that backing off to 1x/day or even every other day. The documentation also said that 1/4" per eye is all you are supposed to use! So, not only had I been paying more than 58% more than the other vet charged for the same medication, I had been instructed to administer at least 4x the recommended dosage, resulting in me going through the ointment at a rapid rate, having to buy 2-3 tubes a month. I have been dosing the dogs at the recommended rate for the last 2 months and there has been no deterioration or anything else to indicate that the huge dose was necessary on not just one but two dogs for years. Another complaint I have is that they have no multiple pet discounts except if you bring in 3 dogs for shots, and even then, it is a modest 10%. If you have two pets, no such luck; the discount is only for the vaccinations, which are, of course, more expensive than anywhere else. One final complaint is that while most of the receptionists are pleasant, there is one woman who was hired last spring (everyone else has been there for years) who is a beast. At 5:30 pm one day I noticed my dog was shaking and had bloody stools. I called NS and was grateful to get in right away before they closed at 6 pm (the one thing that is nice about NS is that fact: you can usually get an appointment same day - it is a big plus). I got the dog there by 5:45 pm, and it appeared that all the patients were gone for the day and the office staff were in the process of "closing up shop" for the day. Once we were in the waiting room, the dog seemed perfectly fine, trying to get into the dog biscuits and generally acting like he was the picture of health. The receptionist working, this newer hire, a heavier older woman, was seriously ticked off to be bothered with us when she had already cleared out the waiting room and was ready to go home. She complained bitterly to vet techs, other receptionists and on the phone about my dog and what a "crisis" it was, speaking of both me and the dog in disparaging and frankly ugly terms. The vet was pleasant and professional, and I was out the door with the dog at 6:03 and over $100 poorer, yet this sour-faced nasty woman was a miserable witch and made sure that I was very aware of how put upon she was at our late visit. I have not been back since.

This place is a total joke. They are way over priced! They charge a records fee! Yes a RECORDS FEE for just having your cat or dog listed in a file in their office. I have never had a vet do that before! On top of it the problem we had with our dog was not taken care of. The vet was afraid to upset the dog to properly do an exam. The dog would squirm and the vet just kept giving him treats. A puppy that gets too many treats can lead to diarehea the vet should have known 5 treats later! What does that matter to her. We had to deal with him at home not her! Instead of holding the dog with help from me and my husband, then doing the exam to find out what was going on. She never finished the exam saying she did not want to stress out the dog. She never even checked his health like a vet does in a regular exam. This was her first time seeing him! We paid for other things to be done along with the exam which was not properly done in my opinion. To top it off the regular exam price went up $15 dollars since they felt it was not just a regular exam since we came in with a question about the dog that was something more than just a regular exam. I never heard of exams being in different catagories with different prices! After a week (and a big bill) the antibiotics did not work fully we called back to go in again to see what other antibiotics she could maybe give our dog. They wanted to charge us for everything to be done again that we already had done the week before! When I said fine, but do we get a discount since this was just done a week ago and chances are you will find nothing new. They said no we charge what we charge no revisit discount. We just had these tests done last week! I had a really good vet in the past, and sadly we moved. With my old vet if you came in within a couple weeks of seeing him and had the same problem he would normally only charge you half of what the original exam fee was since you are coming in for the same issue. Esp. when all the vet would be able to do is just look at the dog not run any tests and just give a guess that maybe this medicine will work this time. That is all North Shore was going to be able to do, and they wanted to charge the same price and not give any discount at all! I then asked to speak to the office manager. All she was worried about was getting the dog another puppy shot. Which we had done already she did not know that though. Nice she kept changing the subject when the real matter was the antibiotics that were not working. Why would I pay you yet another $40 for an exam that he does not need and an additional $20-$30 for a shot I could go to my old vet and get for $15! She then went on to ask who was going to give the rabies shot when it would be needed? I told her there is a place that I can go to that will neuter my dog for $60 and give a free rabies shot with the neuter. Better than what you charge $300 and $40 for yet another exam we will not need and $20-30 for a rabies shot I can get for free from another licensed vet. hmmm $360 or $60 what would you pick? I found it really amazing she kept talking about what I needed in the future than what was going on now with the dog. She would not answer my questions as to how they charge people for the same price for the same exam a week later. First person I spoke to told me I should expect to be charged $700-$800 the first year of owning a puppy! That is not true unless you have a sick puppy. I am traveling back to my old vet. I will make a day of it. In the end extra gas money, his exam, antibiotics and tests are still cheaper than going to North Shore! Plus I will see actual results! Now that is really sad on North Shores part! So much for finding a vet near me.

WAY OVERPRICED! If you like paying double for everything. Call them for charges then get out the check. book . Bortella shot 40.00 x 2 =80.00 . Elseware 19x2=38. Just my two cents or should I say my 80.00 check yourself call around not worth the double cost to me !