Reviews & Testimonials

Dr. Harriman and staff are the absolute best

Dr. Harriman and staff are the absolute best. I brought our beagle in with a severe back injury, and received excellent counsel and an opinion I could trust. They did an exceptional job with his surgery and after care, and always spent time making sure we were comfortable and had all of our questions answered. When you are facing an uncertain future with your family pet, it is invaluable to have a diagnosis you can trust, and such a caring doctor and staff.

I could not have asked for a more

Huntsville Veterinary Specialists & Emergency is outstanding. I could not have asked for a more courteous and knowledgeable staff to care for Picasso. I have already spoken highly of Dr. Harriman  and how lucky we are to have him in Huntsville to family and friends.

Our Molly (lab mix) was referred to Huntsville Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Clinic by HCAH.  We met with Dr. Plunket for a consultation and evaluation on January 29. She was very thorough with her examination, explanations and options regarding Molly’s torn ACL. Her staff (front office and nursing) were very personable, attentive and knowledgeable as well.  After her appointment, I called the office to ask a few more questions and Dr. Plunkett returned my call.  She was very attentive to my concerns and answered every question I had.  After speaking with her, we were very comfortable and confident with her plan for Molly’s surgery…we knew that Dr. Plunkett’s surgical skills were impressive, but it was her patient and client interaction that helped us trust her with our Molly. Molly’s surgery (2/5) went well and she is regaining use of her leg daily! Huntsville is fortunate to have a surgical clinic locally for our pets. We would definitely be repeat clients if surgery is required. 

The wonderful team at HVSE! My son came home in between college classes to find his lab, Sunshine, unable to get up off of the floor. We called all around to get her in to see someone and everyone was at lunch or had nothing available. HVSE fit her in! The whole team is so very caring and professional. You can tell they love what they are doing and I cannot say enough wonderful things about them.

I cannot recommend them highly enough. From the woman that opened the door to the woman that let us out and everyone in between. Everyone was SO caring and compassionate, the Dr explained our options completely and let us decide what to do without rushing us.

Words cannot describe how caring & kind the entire staff was were to both myself & my little dog Vinny . From the moment I came in frantic because my precious Vinny was dying they all went above & beyond . They saved his life & I can never thank them enough !!!

Communicative, understanding and just down right amazing! Thank you so much for taking care of my sweet girl. And also for all the ways you allow the owners to be able to be with their fur babies! I'd give y'all another ten stars if I could.

I am a general practitioner veterinarian who refers to HVSE on a regular basis. They are wonderfully responsive to the needs of emergency cases/surgeries that I may need to send. They are always there when a patient (and their regular vet) needs them! Highly recommend. I have had only great experiences with the care they have given my patients.

There is not a way to put into words how appreciative I am of every Veterinarian and Vet Tech who worked around the clock on my 4 year old dog Bean. Dr. Kathryn Gaub, Dr. Laura S Nicely, Dr. Davis, and Dr. Tom Ellenburg are the reason I still have my dog today. Not only did they bring him out of crisis mode but they treated us like human beings during one of the most difficult days of mine & my boyfriend's life. I'll never be able to thank them enough!!

A few days before December 17th 2023 my dog unfortunately got into the trash. This is something we did our best to avoid but all trashcans in our house are now closed away or have a lid. He threw most of it up but seemed to progressively get more lethargic. He didn't vomit again after the first time but he stopped pooping and eating. We decided it was best to bring him in for an xray on Dec. 17th. They identified that while it wasn't completely impossible, they did NOT see an obstruction & stool was found in his colon with plastic in it. This reassured us that it was passing through the system but it was just a little painful. It made perfect sense to us & the vet but one of my biggest regrets will be not asking for blood work to be done that day to rule out infection because I would have caught my dog's Addison's Disease sooner. However I am still happy with the care I received from the doctors that day because the onset of the Addison's would be easily mistaken for the side effects of eating trash just a few days prior to the visit. Bills / what to expect are attached. Let it be known that this is an EMERGENCY animal hospital and the cost of running it 24/7 with that many highly qualified specialists and emergency veterinarians is expensive. Meaning your bill will most likely be quite large but not unreasonable. If you are able to wait until 7am to be seen at Westside Veterinarian Hopsital in Arab then you could save a chunk of money. However it was midnight when our dog began to go into an Addisonian Crisis and he would not have made it much longer.

Flash foward to the next day and he has began turning away any and all food, not even taking home cooked chicken, peanut butter, or wet food. We desperately try to get him through the night but his paws & ears began to get cold, his body was shaking, and he wouldn't even lift his head. My boyfriend and I rushed him here. They asked me for a timeline and then took him to the back quickly. After a blood panel it revealed the adrenal glands on top of his kidneys had stopped functioning properly and he needed emergency intervention and a 2 day stay. We bawled our eyes out but felt in our hearts he was in good hands.

They managed to stabilize my dog from a severe Addisonian Crisis when things were looking very grim. They halved the exam fee the second time & just charged a recheck fee even though there was a day and a half between visits which I appreciate. Additionally, they used donated fluids on my dog which helped to cut the price slightly. We thought we were going to be in the hole for around 6 grand but came out around $3,200 for his 2 day stay and $600 for the initial visit. It was worth every penny to still have my dog with me.

I have 3 recommendations if you cannot afford this visit as a whole:

1.) Ask about their 50% down option when your animal needs to be admitted for the night.

2.) The above reason gave us time to go home and apply for CareCredit. We were approved almost instantly and got a digital card for $2,200. I didn't have to wait for it to be mailed. The vet offers a 6 month interest free promo THROUGH the CareCredit card but you have to pay it within 6 months or all 6 months interest will be tacked on retroactively.

3.) If neither of those work there is an on-call Veterinarian at Westside Animal Hospital in Arab available Monday thru Friday for emergencies until 10PM.

Hopefully this helps someone in choosing the right vet & prepares them to know the cost and methods of payment options you have. I recommend this vet to anyone and I trust them with my whole heart! Thanks HVSE!

A special thank you to everyone at Huntsville Veterinary Specialists and Emergency, especially Dr. Harriman. You made the worst day much easier by greeting me with hugs and tissues to comfort me every step of the way. I will never be able to thank Geoff enough for taking time (multiple times since December) to explain what was going on with Leo, what to expect, and comforting us those last few days.