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.

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Now, you’re not gonna find the kind of food you’ll find in a grocery store or even Petsmart in Nature’s Nibbles. Chris sells premium food. But, he, like me, has had to deal with expensive vet bills to treat problems caused by the CRAP they put in MOST pet food. I won’t get on my soapbox, but most people would be horrified to find out what goes into pet food. And I mean, HORRIFIED.

Every brand that Chris sells is good for pets and I can promise you, just like kids eating junk food with chemicals ending up with juvenile diabetes and other now-common diseases and ailments, it all boils down to GIGO: “garbage in, garbage out.” Pay now or pay later. You will save money in the long run with fewer vet visits if you feed your pets actual food now. For those who have read Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food,” you’ll know what I mean by food, and you’ll know what I mean when I say, shopping at Nature’s Nibbles is a political statement

So, say no to big business, and support a local retailer, all in the same transaction: check out Nature’s Nibbles.

P.S.: NOT that Chris wants to get into the habit, I’m sure, but I gotta share: Last weekend, I was running late to leave town for the long weekend. I asked my friend Jennifer, who was watching the house and feeding the cats for us, to pick up cat food while we were gone. Unfortunately, she came down with the flu and was not up for leaving the house. I told her to call Chris at Nature’s Nibbles and ask if he would be willing to bring a bag of food to the house. She did. He did. Now THAT is customer service!!

P.P.S: And if you don’t have a dog or a cat, and want to get one so you can cash in on the proposed Happy Bill pending in Congress, please remember to adopt, not buy!

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