My wife and I have been using Del Ray Animal Hospital for 10 years. Overall we’ve been very satisfied with the care, although I must confess that we haven’t used a lot of other local vets. So please don’t take this opinion as a slam against any other local businesses.
Dr. Farrell has been our vet for the past 5 years. I don’t think you can truly appreciate a good vet until you are faced with an older pet and struggling with the difficult tradeoffs on how aggressive to be with pet care vs. letting a family friend pass through the later years naturally. He has a wonderful combination of compassion and practicality – i.e. he doesn’t try to talk us into expensive surgeries or treatments when the upside would probably not justify the cost or stress on us or our pets. He has also been very accommodating with our busy schedules, never failing to follow-up or call us when he makes a commitment. I cannot think of a single time where I did not have a positive experience with him – even in some really, really tough times for us. He is also great at using humor to lighten the mood.
Some other quick thoughts:
- There is limited parking, but I’ve never had a hard time finding a spot.
- Double check the front desk staff: what they are charging, appt. times, etc. Don’t assume they are communicating with the Doctor. The place is really busy at times and the staff can get pretty overwhelmed.
- We don’t have pet insurance and Del Ray Animal Hospital has not tried to talk us into getting it. I don’t think the conversation ever came up.
Add a local resource, or comment on your experience with this one.
Filed under: Pet Care | Tagged: alexandria, del ray, Pet Care, veterinarian
We have used Dr. Farrell since the day he opened in Del Ray, almost 20 years ago. His compassion for our animals has always felt intensely personal, like ours were the only kitties on the planet. Just yesterday we had to put our 20 yr. old “Mac” to sleep and Dr. Farrell was there with us, loving and mourning Mac just as we did.
Michael,
Really sorry to hear about Mac.
We take our dog April to Del Ray Animal Hospital, it is in easy walking distance. A few years ago, I was at times frustrated by the help at the desk, but over the past couple of years, that has vastly improved, and the vets have always been fantastic.