My first visit to Astoria Veterinary Group was this past Sunday, 31st May 2009. I made the difficult decision to change vets; I'd been going to Park East in Manhattan for around 15 years, but since I moved to Astoria, trips to the city with my cat became problematic. I saw some of the negative ratings for AVG, but since most of the reviews on this site and all of the reviews on another site were very positive, I decided to take a chance. I couldn't be happier.\r
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My cat was examined by Dr Kilkelly, and I had a good feeling from the start. The office was modern and clean, the staff was polite and I didn't spend an inordinate amount of time in the waiting room. I have a 10-year-old cat who's recently had some serious health problems. She seems to have recovered now, and is in need of a dental cleaning and probably an extraction, but after checking the cat's records and blo0d count, Dr Kilkelly actually suggested that we postpone the dental work just to make sure that the cat's health is stable enough for the procedure.\r
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A veterinarian's office is a business like any other, and if they don't make money they won't stay open. A certain amount of upselling seems to be unpleasantly inevitable these days, and I certainly experienced that at Park East on occasion, but I felt none of that at AVG. I was the perfect candidate to be talked into more tests as well as the dental work, but I felt no pressure at all. I was also very pleased that Dr Kilkelly returned my call almost immediately when I called in for results.\r
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And I almost forgot: my bill was around 30% less than what I was used to paying.\r
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I am definitely going back.\r
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PS I had to write blo0d because the word was ""inappropriate."" Isn't that funny?
Pros: Caring, professional staff; no sales pitch
Cons: None so far
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