DWR Veterinary Specialists Avis 66

We were referred to DWR from our regular vet. First thing they established when we walked in was how much our insurance premium covered. funnily enough the tests they went ahead and ran (which had already been ran for a fraction of the cost by the regular vet) came to almost the exact amount the insurance covered.
We researched and found a vert not owned by a massive conglomeration who identified and fixed the problem with my dog for a fraction of the cost.
DWR, then got back in touch via a phone call which lasted 3 minutes and then they attempted to invoice us £70 for this!
Look for an independent vetinary practice which actually cares about animals and you will receive a much better result.

I cannot praise DWR more. Unfortunately our 2 Year old Shih Tzu inhaled a Grass Seed (probably larger than herself) on her walk. Rush to our usual vets, referred to their hospital in Sutterton but know one available to do the retrieval procedure (Disgraceful TBH) Not wishing it to migrate to her lung, the consulting vet, who was excellent (Unfortunately not her Senior who was more concerned if we were insured) referred us to DWR.

Perfect in every way. Everyone involved when we arrived on an Emergency appointment.

Receptionists, & especially Maria P. Consultant. Superb attention to our little Girl in every way! Their concern, attention, total professionalism in every way.

Very quick procedure & total care considering Georgie never had GA before, only 2, stressed & in pain, & recently lost her Mother, (Ginny) our other lovely Shih Ztu Girl, upskittled her life currently. She came through perfectly with the help of Maria & the Team at DWR perfectly.

Our thanks, gratitude & our absolute confidence in the DWR practice should you ever have the misfortune with your Pet to be referred. Please feel confident that they will be in good hands with DWR.

My dog went in for surgery here, the team did and excellent job with her and she made a swift recovery. So the important part of the job was dealt with really well.

The reason that I haven’t gone for 5 stars is that I felt the level of admin/ customer communication could be improved. The first point was that on arrival I didn’t know what was wrong with my dog, as my vet said they weren’t sure and when I arrived I was told that she would need surgery and I would leave her that day. It would have been nice to have notice that this was the intention, as this wasn’t clear that they had made a diagnosis prior to arrival ( a phone call would have sufficed!) and the second part was I paid the admin fee to link in with the insurance team, but then felt like I had to do additional admin around this, so I think it needed to be clearer what this admin fee is actually for, as it didn’t take away the hassle of having to contact the insurance company in my case. These are very minor things, but the only reason why it is not 5 stars as I am very pleased with the experience overall and would definitely go back and use again in the future with my other pets.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this practice as the most important part is the care given to the animal and the success of this, the surgical team were excellent! I also had friends who have used this place and highly recommend too. So this is definitely a great practice to have in the Cambridge/ Newmarket area.

The service is appalling waiting 45 minutes watching everyone come and go, eventually I was asked if I had been seen which i hadn’t.
When someone eventually came they had no information or records and most importantly no x-ray and gave me no information other than it could be a disc issue which I already knew which is why I was referred. I was charged £350 and told to rest her for a further 2 weeks.
Basically to carry on with what I’m doing and it cost me £350
I was expecting an MRI scan and was told not to feed her, I was expecting a solution or least more information than I already knew
I won’t be going back and have complained and requested a refund

26-1-24
My dog died because of faulty feeding tube, she had emergency bloat operation the opp was a success no damage to her stomach she was fitted with external stomach feeding tube, I collected her with her going home kit for cleaning the tube exit the very next morning I noticed yellow discharge must have been leaking before she was all good to collect.
Walked her but she kept squatting like needing to pee few hours later she was clearly ill took her back.
They said antibiotics for infection can take her home or stay after all I'd paid being not insured what's another night's stay best be in good hands.
I she was so happy for her to come home but the trip back up there she rested her head on my shoulder kept telling her she'd be OK.
Fitting a feeding tube should be straight forward no problems obviously not the case for my dog was charged another £3500 approx to take her back but as goodwill gesture I was let off,
The surgeon on the day I had to put her down said never known anything like this before! They know and I know if tube had been fitted correctly my girl would still be here.
Hope no one else has to go through this, tried to get justice from thier insurance indemnity but obviously they back them up
cutting remarks from them was you signed the forms and it could happen to a human to

In the end - the bottom line is they killed my dog. DWR was touted as one of the best in the world in treating mitral valve disease. So much confidence did they give that I spent thousands in approvals and transportation and $20,000 to them to perform the surgery. Early in the surgery the carotid artery was perforated resulting in my dog's death 36 suffering hours later. They never took responsibility - they just wanted us out of the clinic with our dead dog as fast as possible - directed us to a crematorium and that was that. Our experience was a nightmare - be forewarned.

I am sorry to say it is ALL ABOUT THE MONEY at DWR

There are some excellent, highly knowledgeable, people working on this team, care managers, soft tissue and oncology specialists, backed up by the best technology available. Obviously top people and facilities cost money and this is after all a business not a charity.
So they do have to make money.
It is how they make that money, in my view often unfairly, that troubles me; and the more people I talk to - I can confirm many others as well.
Vets profiteering out of over-inflated charges for drugs is a big topic in the media at the moment, and DWR really seem to excel at this. £55 for just 8m of Entyce an appetite stimulant, another £50 for a pain killer Gabapentin available on line for pennies!
In my view thats not the worst of it...
We were told they needed to perform a CT scan and Biopsy - but warned that we might not learn much about the cancer except for size and position (which our vet had already confimed physically) They were right we basically learned very little for the expenditure of circa £5000.
We then were treated to options, surgery to remove the cancer was always going to be difficult due to its location - whilst we were considering this we were trying to ease our dogs situation with laxative solution and pain killers. As a couple of weeks passed we were invited to arrange an ultra-sound and further biopsies as a precursor to an operation to remove the growth. £4000ish? No thanks.
We decided to roll the dice and have the operation to remove the bulk of the tumor. Another £4500 ish Up to a point the operation was a success the soft tissue surgeon was very good and there were no complications - except normal bowel movement was never regained. The larger tumor sample revealed an aggressive form of cancer which would need to be dealt with.
We confirmed that we did not wish to put our 13yr old through Chemotherapy, but were encouraged to consult with the oncologist by telephone where he would explain the options. So we agreed to a telephone call £140 15mins !! He tried very hard to get me to agree to treatment which we did not want for her, and which would within a month or two take us to the limit of our £15000 insurance cover - surprise surprise!!
This is what enrages me the most.
Had there been an interest in our pets wellbeing, I really do not believe any vet with a moral duty of care would have encouraged us to put her through chemotherapy at this age. She was a really healthy happy strong Standard Poodle - had she been 5 or 6yrs it may have been an option to persue treatment but at 13yrs it would have been unfair to the dog, unfair to us the owners. The average life expectancy of a standard poodle is 12+yrs!!!
The only beneficiary would have been DWR.

Finally a few other comments about this outwardly slick DWR operation.
When phoning you will always be on hold, next in queue, just long enough to hear their recorded advertisement.
They will not willingly take messages for case managers.
We were on a co-payment basis with our insurance company, and at every stage we recieved instant billing and if we didnt pay on the day a curt reminder te next day.

We declined the chemo and have very reluctantly have had her put to sleep.
We havent heard a peep from DWR since! Their care did not extend beyond anything billable.

Our cat Electra has visited DWR several times for various conditions, and each experience has been consistently warm and impeccable.

I love the new cat area. It’s separate from the dogs and the busy reception, offering a calm space for myself and Electra. I should also mention the complementary hot chocolate is definitely worth trying!

In 2021, Electra was diagnosed with kidney stones and underwent a bypass surgery connecting her bladder and kidney.

Since then, she requires check-ups every 3-6 months, including a procedure known as ‘sub flush.’ As you can imagine it’s quite stressful knowing Electra isn’t the biggest fan of the vets, but the staff at DWR always ensures the process is as smooth and stress-free as possible.

The client care team is exceptionally understanding and helpful, making us feel relaxed and at ease.

A special mention must go to Rachel, Electra’s vet, who performed her surgery. She is, without doubt, one of the most exceptional, kindest, and talented vets I have ever met. Perhaps I’m a bit biased since she saved Electra’s life, but her passion and caring nature consistently reassure my husband and me whenever we visit the vets.

Every visit to DWR from start to finish is seamless. We wouldn’t consider going anywhere else for treatment.

The initial referral was ok other than we were not warned that the road was closed. Our 11 and a half yr old dog was referred initially with an unknown issue other than shadowing on her lung - she was insured - the initial care was good. We received a call to advise she had twisted lung lobes - extremely rarely she had 2 twisted lobes - and we had to make the difficult decision to let her go - this was based on her age, the fact she did not like being away from us, the size of operation, the chance her quality of life was not known as they did not know what had caused the condition - it felt like they were more interested in operating to find out what had caused it as the vet had never come across this before - we felt we were alone making the decision relying on advise given to us previously by our own regular Vet. We had already given permission for them to deal direct with our insurer but their procedure for doing this was not explained at any point other than a fee for them to do this - due to their extreme prices (a firm price was not given for her treatment at any stage) we wanted copies of everything. We said goodbye to our dog on Friday lunchtime - and this is when the service really changed, we arranged a time to collect her remains on the Saturday - supposedly a compassionate appointment - we arrived on time but were left waiting in the main waiting room without apology and the appointment did not take place until nearly 30 minutes late. On the Wednesday we received an email and text asking for payment of the insurance excess plus what they felt the insurance company would not pay. We immediately asked for a copy bill to check their figures and explained we would need to speak to our insurers to get their permission to make payment as it was not a process we were familiar with, this email was not responded to and they proceeded to chase us every day, via email and text, despite our responding to each message telling them we wanted copies. We advised them we thought their lack of compassion was appalling - one chasing message was received exactly (to the time) one week after losing our dog - when we received a copy of the invoice and details forwarded to the insurer they had not made it clear that they had billed us direct for part of the cost - we had to inform the insurer of this ourselves .The experience we had with the accounts department and lack of compassion and focus on money meant that losing our dog was more traumatic than it should have been - in 40+ years of owning pets we have never been treated in this way - this was reported to our regular vet (who we have been with for 40years) who have made a note never to refer us there again - whilst Dick White look the part the the focus is more money orientated than pet orientated. Furthermore we have since been advised by an independent vet that the operation, whilst would have been just as traumatic as we thought the cost margins would not have been within the cost boundaries estimated by DWR personally we would take your pet to another vet where you and your pet will be properly supported. We left one star because we had to otherwise no star would have accompanied this review

I can not say enough good things about DWR. From the moment our dog was admitted with tetanus the entire team were just fanatastic - so genuinely invested in getting her well, daily updates on her progress and costs. They did absolutely everything they could to save her and update us. Our main vet, Vera, was an actual angel and we can never thank her, or her team enough for their kindness and ongoing support. I genuinely believe without DWR we would have lost our girl and only wish they ran a non emergency service too so we could see them all the time. The finance team were also wonderful at dealing with the insurers and updating on invoices. If we ever have an issue requiring hospitalisation again we'd choose DWR in a heart beat. Forever grateful

From the time we went into the building and left, we were treated with so much compassion for our lovely little cat who was being treated for a lump on her eye, which she had to have removed. Hannah Joyce was our vet, who talked us through everything that was going to happen to Mittens. Luckily the surgery went well and the lump was benign, so thank you so much to Hannah and Dick White Referrals for looking after our beautiful little cat.

My recent experience with Dick White Referrals has not been great. My dog was referred to cardiology for mitral valve repair. To begin with, the cardiac surgeon told me that my dog was a suitable candidate for surgery although he had already been diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension by my local cardiologist. Their process, which they stick to rigidly, is for the dog to go into cardiac failure before they will add them to the list for surgery. I was lead to believe that things should be straightforward once this happened as the dog should be relatively stable for about 10 months after the first incidence of cardiac failure. Nobody mentioned that other complications might occur (other than, rarely, sudden death of the dog which my local vet had already warned me about). After several regular reviews, they confirmed his condition was “static” although they said that his heart was very enlarged and he might go into cardiac failure soon. After this stage was eventually reached, he was diagnosed with failure of both sides of the heart. DWR asked him to attend another scan at another referral vet practice which I did. Then I heard nothing for almost 2 months despite chasing them for news on the phone and via email. I have finally received a call from them telling me that my dog is no longer suitable for surgery because of the bilateral failure.
While I respect their decision and understand their reasons for it, they had originally failed to prepare me for the eventuality that something like this could happen.
Added to which, they have taken an unacceptably long time to advise me of their decision (explained in part by the absence from work of their clinical coordinator - surely an organisation like this should have organised cover!). This has added to my stress and anxiety. My dog now faces maybe a few more months of life and then an unpleasant death that might have been avoided had they shown more flexibility over their criteria for surgery.
In short, I would warn other owners to think very carefully and to ask a lot of questions before referring their dog for mitral valve repair. You may be on the path to false hopes and heartbreak. I’m sure the DWR cardiac team are excellent surgeons, but their client communications leave a lot to be desired.
Also, I would urge them to reconsider their dogmatic adherence to the policy of waiting for MVD patients to go into cardiac failure before they will consider operating. I do wonder if they might make an exception if it were one of their own dogs needing surgery?

By far the best treatment for our dog we have ever received. Our 8 yr old terrier slipped a disc and was paraplegic. He was treated with care, passion and respect. DWR operated within 14 hours of his arrival, he stayed a week and is now making good steady progress. The handover back to us was superb. concise information and practical. Yes they are expensive and insurance will help with the costs, but that is separate issue from the most important thing. the1st class care our dog received, Recommend 100%

If I had my time again I would have gone elsewhere. My dog was admitted with acute pancreatitis and diabetes which had both appeared over a week. The referral process itself was smooth and staff were expecting us. The vet we dealt with seemed to be caring. Updates by phone however I felt didn’t give me much info, on the second to last day I was led to believe all was going well and they would call me if they hadn’t managed to remove the feeding tube. I hadn’t heard anything so it was a shock on the next day when I was told the tube was still in and her keytones were rising again. When we went to see her she was clearly in pain and deeply traumatised and didn’t seem to acknowledge us. There was a lot of discussion about funding as the insurance was about to Max out (7.5k) we did have the means but it was clear our poor little pup couldn’t take any more. When we got the bill breakdown it looked like the poor wee soul and been poked and prodded and tested to the extreme. No wonder she looked shell shocked. We had to say goodbye to her. It was a Sunday and the cheek of it they charge you extra for putting to sleep on a Sunday!!
Then they passed the wrong address for our vet to the crem so her ashes were missing for a while, thankfully they were located by me at our post sorting office just in time to stop them being sent back to the crem. They were no help in the hunt and didn’t contact me to see if I had found them.
No I would not use Dick Whites again. I wonder if we had taken the Cambridge referral of the outcome might have been different. Devastated, she was only 6 and was my shadow.
I’m sure they do a lot of good but unfortunately my experience was a bad one.

Our pug ruby was stung in the eye by a wasp we were referred to dick White's as her eye got quite bad although the vets were helpful all dick white seem to worry about was the financial side of things and I found them very unhelpful after quite a few visits to them and a few thousand pounds lighter we were given a choice as under their care ruby's eye was getting worse did we want her to have her eye removed at the cost of another £4000 /7000 , needless to say we refused that option and I'm glad we did we took her back to our own vet and after many weeks looking after her her eye is almost healed,I will never take any dog back to dick white referrals

Our dog had her femorel head removed, we were deverstated when we arrived and Lucy was in a lot of pain, the total professionalism and knowledge these vets have is amazing, we can't thank them enough for what they did for Lucy when we picked her up she was pain free and happy, the follow up appointment was again amazing at how they treated her and above all they take the time to explain everything that can be done and all the pro's and con's for each procedure, and they don't hurry you out, Lucy has certainaly recieved the very best of care and treatment

So they're not cheap but wow do they know their stuff. We've been a few times with referrals on different conditions with our little 16yo kitty and they've been amazing beyond words every time. We have a great local vet, but as specialists they put everyone to shame with their amazing knowledge and amount of care they show for animals.

My advice to anyone reading these reviews is to make sure you have pet insurance (regardless of whether you use these guys or not, sadly medical care for pets is outrageously expensive), ignore all of the bad reviews and trust in the good ones.

I cannot praise the staff at DWR highly enough. From the moment we walked in the door we felt reassured that our cat would be in safe and caring hands. Every animal that came through their doors while we were there were greeted with warmth, sensitivity and professionalism. Every single member of staff was so kind and wonderful. Thank you especially to Hannah and the surgeon who took such great care of my cat. While I hope my pets and I never have cause to visit DWR again, I know that if we did they would be in the best hands. There are several bad reviews about the cost of treatment and yes, they are expensive but the specialist care they provide would be expensive anywhere so my advice would be to check your insurance carefully before committing to any treatment. In my opinion they earn every penny!

These are only interested in treating your dog if you have insurance. Check your invoice as they charge for things they haven’t done. When you ask for proof to what they have told you they then back track. I would never take my dogs back there I would much rather have them pts than go through what we have.

Referred by our vet as our dog needed a kidney removed. The surgical team were amazing, she came home after two days. We were kept updated throughout and DWR claimed from our insurers direct and we paid the £30.00 admin fee.