Van Dyke Animal Clinic - Veterinarian, Lutz FL

Dr. Kathleen and her staff are the best in the business. Reasonable prices, great service and friendly with our doggies. 4 happy hounds

Needed an appointment for my cat Gandalf today as he started limping last night, they got me an appointment day of and were super nice and very welcoming! I will definitely be returning with Gandalf in the future and I will also bring my other babies in the future too!

I would like to thank Van Dyke Animal Clinic for taking Reba back as their patient. I appreciate the care and honesty and the non-invasive approach to getting to the bottom of her limping issue. We will be working on her weight loss and we will continue to use Van Dyke Animal Clinic as our veterinary care for Reba:)

This is by far the most caring comprehensive and knowledgeable veterinarian we have ever been to. My husband and I wouldn’t think of taking our furrbabies anywhere else!

This office staff is absolutely the BEST staff I have ever seen anywhere. I had to bring my baby in and they kept him overnight. I was so worried about him as he has never been away from me for a night. They took my phone number and texted me pictures, videos and updates on my baby! It truly helped the experience for me as I was a wreck while he was gone. They even follow up with you to ensure your baby is doing well. I also texted them a question after I picked my baby up and they still helped me! They care not only about the animals they treat but also the owners who are worried about their babies. This will now be where all my babies go because they are truly in great hands.

I took my three cats here for about three years, initially because my husband and I lived in the apartment complex across the street when we adopted our first cat. We’ve since moved, but I kept going to Van Dyke Animal Clinic since my cats were used to it, and the drive up the Veterans wasn’t bad. This was a mistake.

I should have switched vets much earlier, as one of the first things Dr. Kahl said when I brought my first cat in is that the apartment complex we lived in was often flea infested. She assumed we lived there without even asking, and although we did live there at the time, the judgement was palpable. (I’ll add that the apartment complex is actually quite nice — we lived there for several years with no flea issues.) This was when my cat was suffering from anxiety that caused her to itch her ears excessively. She had been on flea medication for months already with no noticeable fleas, and we kept our apartment clean. By researching pet anxiety on my own, I was able to help my cat overcome this issue. She never had fleas at any point we owned her.

Over three years, Dr. Kahl ignored or disregarded concerns I had about this same cat, who was in the worst health of all my cats. Additionally, while some of the vet techs were competent and caring, others never spoke to the vet about concerns I voiced before appointments or over the phone. I would have to follow up with them multiple times to get recommendations or test results back.

I finally switched vets much later than I should have after a vet tech failed to ask Dr. Kahl for any treatments for constipation my cat was experiencing and instead told me herself to feed my cat HALF A CAN of pumpkin. This would not have been healthy, as the recommended amount of canned pumpkin to help a constipated cat is 2 teaspoons a day.

Once I switched vets, my new practice immediately addressed my concerns and tried to find the root cause of my cat’s constipation. Additional bloodwork that Dr. Kahl had never suggested was done, and we found out that in addition to having hyperthyroidism, my cat had early stage kidney disease. My new practice has several vets, and more than one of them told me that hyperthyroidism in cats can commonly mask other issues like this. I don’t know why Dr. Kahl wouldn’t haven known this — maybe she did know and didn’t care.

Long story short, my cat also ended up being diagnosed with not only early stage kidney disease but also with diabetes and almost near blindness after Dr. Kahl had given her a “clean bill of health, ” minus her thyroid issue and arthritis, at a visit earlier the same month.

My cat also may never have been given the one vial of Solensia arthritis medication I paid for. After leaving Van Dyke Animal Clinic, I reviewed my cats’ records from them and realized that one of my other cats had that medication on her record, which explained the follow-up call (over two weeks later, after I’d left the practice) inquiring about how the wrong cat was doing on this medication. I’m not certain whether the wrong cat was actually given the medication, but my bringing in two of my cats to the vet at once was no excuse for incorrect record keeping or, worst case, the wrong cat being given the medication.

On that note, record keeping was not good in general. Dr. Kahl and the vet techs would ask *me* what dose of hyperthyroid medication I was giving my cat (after dosage discussions I’d already had *with Dr. Khal*) when I followed up on my cat’s T4 blood work results or asked questions. I’d think they should have kept records of the correct dosage since they were the ones prescribing the medication…

Overall, while there were one or two competent vet techs there as of March 2023, I wouldn’t recommend Van Dyke Animal Clinic or Dr. Kahl to anyone, especially if their pet is senior or experiencing health issues. Ehrlich Animal Hospital and Arthritis Therapy Center is a little pricier but much better, and they have five capable, caring vets on staff.

The place is clean and organized but had some issues with dosage being incorrect for my dog on two separate occasions. The staff is nice and friendly and prices are reasonable.

I brought my new puppy in with instructions from the breeder-friend that gave him to us. The vet did not want to read the instruction even thought our dog has a gene mutation and some medications would be dangerous for him. When I asked the vet to read the half page with instructions she asked me: Why should I? I replied because I am asking you to please take a look so I can feel that you have all the info. She refused and told me I have to trust her and she proceeded to try to sell me an expensive gene test for my puppy that the breeder's vet had already provided to us.

The "nurse" that was helping us was using foul language and expletives during the whole visit whenever she would bump into something or could not pull a drawer open. All this in front of my 10 yr old daughter who was looking at me in shock, hugging her puppy tightly!

I took my 10 yr old daughter and our puppy and we left. I just regret not having done it sooner. I have never seen such arrogance from a vet. Stay away!

Friendly and efficient staff. Seemed like they truly cared about my pup and had good advice to give on helping with her itchy skin.

Love going there and so do are 5 animals. They take great care of them and get you in and out quickly. Which is great for everyone.

Dr. Kahl and her staff have been my dogs' primary vet for about 15-20 years. Her staff is thorough and caring. She is very flexible and she cares about your pets. What you won't see here is upselling of services, diagnostics, rooms full of pets and a full waiting room. It is a calm clinic whether you are waiting to get into a room, or waiting IN a room. No chaos. What some people may not love about her is that she doesn't sugar coat anything. Just the facts about what is happening with your dog and no fake attitude about it.

The clinic has no weekend hours, and are not open very late. Its a small clinic, I get it. I could go somewhere else with better hours, but I like Dr. Kahl and she is most always available by email for questions and responds promptly as well.

Dr. Kahl also worked very hard to make sure my senior dog had a very specialized diet, that I would make at home, when he was recovering from a pancreatitis hospitalization. She chose the ingredients, calories, and fat. Four years later and 23 lbs less, he is very healthy and hasn't had any recurrences. Grateful would be the word I would use to describe my feelings toward Dr. Kahl.