Vets Now - Kirkcaldy Avis 63

Had to use the out-of-hours service after our dog possibly swallowed the inside of a golf ball. We weren’t even completely sure he’d eaten it, but the team took it seriously straight away.

They managed to get it back up quickly (with a very dramatic launch across the room and into the wall 😅), which thankfully avoided surgery.

The whole team were calm, reassuring and brilliant throughout what was a pretty stressful situation for us. Really grateful for the quick action and care shown to our dog. Thank you again.

Taken quickly and problem solved within a couple of hours. Very grateful for outstanding service which is much appreciated

I cannot fault the vets as they explained everything as they went along and couldn’t be more helpful.

I had an emergency with my cat late on a Saturday evening, and I’m so happy that Vets Now were there to help. They answered the phone quickly, allowed me to come in straight away, and there was no waiting around. Nurse and vet were both lovely, and we quickly got the help and medication we needed, even though it was 1am.

If I could give zero stars I would.

Do not take your pets to St Claire’s Vet’s!!!

To say we have had an awful experience is an understatement.

Max has had fainting spells for as long as we can remember. St Claire’s Veterinary group could not find a probable cause for this. These said fainting spells got worse over time, more frequent and more severe than the last. A year and a half ago St Claire’s Veterinary Group diagnosed Max with Idiopathic Epilepsy as the cause of these fainting spells. This diagnosis was given without any proof of epilepsy as no diagnostic tests were carried out, Max was diagnosed purely from descriptions that we were giving the veterinary nurses. St Claire’s Veterinary Group started Max on Epilepsy tablets which we spent alot of money on every month. We put our trust into St Claire’s Veterinary group so administered the tablets to Max as advised. The fainting spells became Less frequent but never disappeared completely. During this time we decided to leave St Claire’s Veterinary Group and join Ferguson’s Veterinary group. During this time Max was still taking his epilepsy tablets and having fainting spells.

Max developed coughing and wheezing on the 11th of April 2025, We believed it may have been kennel cough, however, the third week came and Max seemed to be getting worse. We booked an appointment at Ferguson’s Veterinary Group. We thought it would be a quick visit to get some antibiotics, this was not the case. The veterinary consultant wanted to keep max in for a couple of hours to do some tests on his heart and chest. Through these tests it was confirmed that Max had fluid around his heart and lungs. Max’s heart was also dilated. This concluded that Max had a heart issue and a diagnosis of Dilated Cardiomyopathy was confirmed. The Veterinary consultant confirmed that based on the nature of Max’s fainting episodes it was most likely not seizure activity but in fact due to Dilated Cardiomyopathy. We have been told that this new diagnosis is life limiting for Max so we are trying to make the most of everyday with him. Max has since been started on the correct treatment for his heart and fluid reduction. We also began the process of weening max off the epilepsy tablets. He is responding well to his new treatment with only one fainting episode. Max had an urgent referral put through to the royal veterinary hospital for small animals in Edinburgh to see a cardiologist where they performed many tests on him to determine the exact diagnosis, this required a number of hours, we were called back shortly after we left to collect him. Upon arriving we were taken to a treatment room where the cardiologist informed us that the news wasn’t good. They had performed blood pressure tests, Echocardiograms, ECG’s etc. It was confirmed that max has two types of cardiomyopathy; Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy and Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Max had an episode whilst having these tests done which showed a very dangerous rhythm where they had to have emergency medication on standby incase of cardiac arrest as a result of this a 48hr ECG halter was fitted. The royal veterinary hospital for small animals has taken over full care of Max’s condition. Max does not have a long life left and we will always continue to advocate and give him the best life until the very end. Max is currently taking 18 tablets a day for his heart alone.

We obviously wanted this looked into further, so we made a complaint straight to the practice manager of St Claire’s vets. They couldn’t offer any sort of explanation as to why the care standard was so incredibly poor and infact defended themselves trying to cover their own backs. I have heard nothing but bad things about St Claire’s Vets and how badly their experience has been.

As mad as we are we are just so glad that Max is getting the most thorough care for his condition and that we get to spend every single day he has left making him feel so loved.

My cat needed an emergency out of hours appointment and the care my cat recieved from begining to end was first class. The vet and reception staff were above and beyond in their care to both my cat and myself, as I was in shock at what had happened. Christy (apologies if wrong spelling) was so calm, reassuring and genuine and kept me informed and helped me through every step. Thank you to everyone who was on duty the evening of 26th April.

We took our little dog Lucy into St Clair Vets Kirkcaldy on the 11th of April at 5pm with breathing difficulty . She also had one episode of vomiting and Diahorrea but the primary reason the dog went to the vet was laboured breathing. The breathing problem was dismissed as a pain response. She was sent home with worm medication, digestive paste and paracetamol. Her breathing problem remained unchanged and an emergency appt on the Sunday was made and she required hospitalisation at considerable cost. Her care was handed back to the St Clair vets Monday morning where finally Aurthur an honest competent vet recognised the seriousness of her condition and asked if he could xray her under sedation. It was dicovered her heart was enlarged pressing on her windpipe causing her distress. We were fully informed by Aurthur of our options and we decided to end Lucys suffering. I was impressed with Aurthur's knowledge and empathy and was grateful for his honesty. In my opinion, this protracted treatment and initial misdiagnosis could all have been avoided if the vet on Friday evening had been more responsible and given lucy an xray. It would have saved Lucy days of unnecessary intervention and an exorbitant cost to ourselves.
Anne Winchester

We phoned as we suspected our cat had bladder block (previous perineal urethrostomy and painful crying.)
We were charged £433 to be told it was probably just an infection as his bladder wasn't full and given some metacam. We were not advised that this should only be given with food.
Saw our regular vet who noticed our cat actually had bladder stones, not an infection! Also told us that the medication should only be given with or after food. Their packaging comes with a nice big red warning label too.

I was not overly impressed with the service. I called Saturday noon as my dog had cut there paw at the beach and I felt it couldn’t wait til Monday to be checked. I was seen too within 30mins of being there however I wouldn’t say the vet did a thorough check and explained it was a superficial cut and that they would clean the paw and bandage it up. My further instructions were to take the bandage off after 24hrs and if I wanted too for walks I could buy a boot from pets at home.
I was relieved it wasn’t anything worse however to then be charged a ridiculous amount over £300 for just a clean and bandage. I agree a charge for a Saturday appointment should be applied but that was just a scam. Since after my visit I did what I was told and took bandage off after 24hrs but it still was bleeding I tried to stop the bleeding with pressure but any movement from my dog was going to cause bleeding. I am upset that I have now had to consult my vet to be seen again and have further charges as this was not just a superficial cut.

My little monster Rogue was very unwell and the whole team at Kirkcaldy were nothing short of amazing. My girls home now after being admitted and is well on her way to being her naughty self again. Can't thank them all enough.

Attended the vet late at night with very short notice on new years eve - they were excellent

Very helpful & kind

I am a veterinary nurse but needed help with my dog on Saturday night, I called Vets Now Kirkcaldy and the phone was answered by Rachel the nurse on duty who i used to work beside. It was definitely very reassuring knowing there was someone there who I knew.
The vet on duty was Agata and she was very professional and caring towards me and my dog Shelby.
Shelby was taken for an abdominal ultrasound and I was allowed to go and watch which was very helpful for me. She then received a bolus of intravenous fluids and again they were happy for her to sit with me in the consulting room while this took place.
Shelby has limited time left but Agata and Rachel made it so much easier for me during that stressful night.

I can find no fault with the veterinary care my dog received as the vet effectively saved his life by operating on the stomach torsion he had suddenly suffered from. I appreciate that you are running a business but I found the mercenary nature that you take rather off putting. When people are obviously upset and making life and death decisions about their pets to then have to cope with the companies demand for 50% of the cost of the operation, (in this case £2000) at 1 o'clock in the morning prior to the operation taking place, only adds to the stress. While I could cope with the cost I dread to think what would happen if someone could not.

We’re made to feel so welcome they were very welcoming and caring with our. Dog.

Very helpful and efficient. Listened to owner and came to a joint decision about the best way forward to fix the problem.

Vet told us that euthanasia was not an option at the time, nor was hospitalisation. Sent cat home with fluids and food that he didn't eat. He died at home 12 hours later.
Very very angry and heartbroken owners.

Edit- since getting a fully automated reply about our 'visit' I am even more disgusted at the lack of care this company provides. It wasn't a 'visit' it was a plea for help by two caring pet parents with no medical training. We trusted the vet to make the right call for the welfare of our boy and they screwed up and cost him his life. We will NEVER be using this service again.

Having just lost Furbaby Oscar ON 31st . I've had nothing but HARRASMENT FOR PAYMENT ALMOST DAILYwhich INSURANCE IS DEALING WITH . GOT THAT?. YOUR WORSE THAN PARASITES. If I ever have another PET IT WILL NOT BEING GOING UNDER ANY VETERINARY PRACTICE THAT YOU LOT ARE INVOLVED IN

Friendly and reassuring treatment for our pet.