Highcroft Veterinary Group Reviews 

They know what they did! Still cant believe what happened to my baby. All they care about is money… be careful with taking your beloved pet to this place!

Tried to get an appointment for my parrots wasted so much time he ended up dying before we could get an appointment anywhere else

Poor Reception staff and answering system.
No matter what time or the day or night you ring, you can spend ages hanging on the phone for the hospital at Wells Road to answer and I mean ages. Often I just hang up and try later. Does not matter if it is an emergency = option 1 or another option.
I have only ever had 1 member of the Reception staff say who they are.
If you go to the counter the staff just ignore you.
If you send an email in for the attention of a specific team/vet e.g. exotics and ask to be informed if that information has been passed on, you do not get a reply. I rang once 3 hours after I sent important information through to check it had been forwarded and it had not. My advice is always follow up an enquiry with a check.
Reception and Reception staff are a vital conduit of communication in a veterinary practice and the Reception at Wells Road leaves tonnes to be desired. Can someone do some training with them please?

Called regarding an emergency with our cat. Receptionist spoke to us as though we were inconveniencing them by calling, left us on hold and then hung up on us. This happened to us twice. Had to seek help elsewhere.

Disgraceful.

I had a routine appointment at the Hailsham practice for my 9 month old kitten Molly. Lauren was the vet who saw us and I was really impressed by how she handled her, albeit half way through the examination-being a part-bengal, she jumped right up on top of the cupboard ! 😃 Lauren was gentle and examined her thoroughly. I was also impressed by the time I was given - I did not feel rushed in any way and it was good to discuss my fears about other cats in the neighbourhood bullying Molly. I have invested in a microchip cat door which is one way to stop them coming into my house.
The staff on reception are very friendly and from my previous visits when I had a dog, I know they are very caring. Anyway the way I was treated is why would recommend anyone to come to this practice and I would give Lauren 10 out of 10. 👍

I am disgusted by the lack of professionalism and courtesy shown by the reception staff at Highcroft Vets Wells Rd. They are extremely rude when dealing with customers and seem to lack compassion for animals. I called for an update on an animal to be left on hold for over 15 minutes for the same receptionist to then pick up the phone and answer again as if I were a new customer. I said I was awaiting an update and she said she “didn’t know” if everything was ok. It came across as if he’d been lost in their system and didn’t matter.

Cannot understand the poor reviews for Highcroft vets. Yes they are expensive but vets are expensive. I have been using Highcroft Ashton and Whitchurch for over 20 years and have always found all staff, from the receptionist to the vets ( with the exception of one nurse who cut my dogs nails very badly) polite, friendly, well informed and helpful. I have always felt that my pet was important to them and have never felt rushed. Today my little dog had dental work done and yes the bill was painful but my pups welfare is very important and I felt that she was well cared for.
I shall continue with Highcroft for all the time I have a pet

My complaint ( Tuesday 24 th 2026 ) is that I was dealing with too many vets in 2 days in a very , very stressful situation
- Day 1 - Assigned vet GS ..
Day 2 - dealt with one vet in the morning J Clarke who didn’t ring after an hour as she said she would and who didn’t say a word to me when i passed her in the car park , The last vet G - the one who did eventually ring me - explained the dire situation .. - and later on brought me my Euthanised pet …
A bad experience not helped by dealing with multiple people …

Carolize needs diversity and sensitivity training and should not be dealing with members of the public until she has had this. Made my experience much worse than it needed to be. Will be going elsewhere to have my hamster euthanised as can not deal with that bedside manner when having to cope with the loss of a beloved pet.

Money money money
Is the Only interest here.
Emotionless staff revised script from Vets only interested how much money you can splurge on your beloved family member.
£3000 for a non surgical procedure my local vet £350.
Terrible

Took our rabbit to the Whitchurch vet and can't recommend them enough. The vet Paige was amazing, really kind and took the time examining our rabbit and talking through treatment options. We had tests done and when we got the results she again took the time answering all our questions and explaining the results in great detail so we could decide the best treatment plan. At no point did we feel rushed or pressured and I really feel they just went the best for your pet. Reception team have also been great, responding very quickly and just generally being helpful!

Wells Road

After reading other reviews regarding losing their beloved pets to highcroft, we felt it is important to share what happened to our dog, Marlee.

Marlee went into highcroft vets for an operation to clean her anal glands. A couple of days after Marlee started to be sick and blood was coming from her anus. We were very concerned and called Highcroft. We then came in for an urgent veterinary appointment where she was given an anti sickness jab and tablets. We were then assured that after a few days she would be okay. She was checked over by a vet at Highcroft and we were told she was very healthy.

Just after midnight there was a significant amount of blood that Marlee was passing, so we called again for an emergency appointment for her to be seen. We were then again assured that this is normal. We stressed our concern where my dad even described it as like a ‘murder scene’ again we were told this is completely normal and to be expected and wait till the morning to see how she was.

However, by 6:30 in the morning it was too late and we found her passed away in her bed.

As her owners, we knew she was deteriorating and trusted the vets to guide us. We were not taken seriously, and the advice we received was, in our view, dangerously inadequate. Highcroft’s failure to provide proper aftercare following her operation had devastating consequences.

When we submitted our complaint, the response addressed only the appointment from the previous day and made no acknowledgement or accountability for the phone call we made just after midnight.

I would also like to say how we chose this vet for the benefits of the out of hours care, which we felt we did not receive.

The only thing we had hoped to gain from speaking up was for meaningful changes to be made so that no other family has to experience the same heartbreak we have.

We took our hamster to see the Exotic Vet in Whitchurch because they weren’t acting themself.

Paige was our vet and they took so much care and attention to our hamster. They listened and gave off a positive impression they really cared for animals and provided a full examination to our hamster in a supportive and respectful way. Paige recommended antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and probiotics to see if this would help but was realistic in stating sometimes we don’t know with small animals like hamster. They also gave us the option to buy other probiotics not directly from the vets which was a refreshing point of view.

It’s hard with hamsters because people see them as easy pets or ‘just hamsters’ like we had at another Vets practice, but Paige did not have this view. Paige is the best vet I have ever come across in caring for an hamster and I cannot recommend taking your exotic animal to be reviewed by them. I will absolutely be returning if I need further hamster advice or treatment.

Thank you Paige for restoring my faith in vets treating hamsters.

We went to Highcroft Vets Eastville for our cat to have teeth removed, they removed 13 in one go at a cost of nearly £1400. They then suggested he may have some kidney disease, so a few weeks later he was booked in for a urine test and blood pressure. When we picked him up we were informed that in order to get a urine sample they had inserted a needle into his bladder. They did this without anaesthetic.
Within 24 hours our beloved cat sadly passed away. We didn’t find out for a week as he had crept into a neighbours garden. We informed the practice immediately.
Insurance claims for both treatments were submitted and approved. This week I received an email from Highcroft, informing me that I owed £12.10 for the insurance shortfall. The email also said “ Your prompt payment is appreciated. If there is anything else we can help you with regarding your cat’s health care, please do not hesitate to contact us.”
I rang the practice to complain and received a call from the manager apologising if the email was insensitive, closely followed by “would you like to pay now over the phone” I suggested they write it off as a goodwill gesture, this was met with silence.
You decide if you wish to use this practice but I am genuinely appalled and will never take an animal there again

We got some kittens and because of the level of care provided for my dog when she was unwell, despite the incredible cost, I decided to go with Highcroft because, if nothing else, up to this point they were honest.

I spoke to the reception staff and they said that if I joined their Pet Health scheme I could get inoculations and flea treatments. I was led to believe that there would be no further costs. When I arrived on time for the appointment with the kittens, I was presented with. £138 cost for a “consultation” with the vet. I was told that these consultations were per-pet and wasn’t covered on the Pet Health plan. When I saw the vet she was dismissive, didn’t care bout my experience with her, weighed the kittens and checked their pulses - which I assumed was covered under what they called “Comprehensive Health Check” under the plan. Apparently not. I was with the vet for about 15 minutes in total and for that they charged me £138 plus the cost of the initial payment for the Pet Health scheme AND a direct debit of approx £40 per month.

I then looked at Trust Pilot reviews for this practice and the overwhelming view is that they charge hidden costs and are prohibitively expensive. They are not transparent about what they charge.

I have put a complaint through and am still awaiting an outcome for this. I will report back with their response.

UPDATE: Full refund offered 16/07/25. Much happier now.

This so called vets at Whitchurch Highcroft miss diagnosed my cat.
He unfortunately had cancer of the liver and I will be looking to take legal action against them.
All this so called practice only cares about money before animals.

I called them this evening only to be given the complaint email and didn’t even ask my name or my mate that passed away.

Utterly disgraceful.

Took my rabbits in for neutering they were poorly treated after surgery when we collected them they had left syringe fool all over out rabbits gave us no after care or post op information and gave us the wrong medication with the wrong strength and didn't explain how to give the medication we found tape stuck to the legs and near the genital area and had to cut it out of theire fur as it was stuck and charged us for a stronger different medication than prescribed and give to us do not take your animals here

Total ripoff, quoted £350 to have our cats gum cleaned, on dropping her off we were informed there may be a need to get a tooth removed, never mentioned in the 1st place and this would cost in the region of £1000.00.
Upon collection of cat we were charged £380.00 for the clean. We will never take our animals back to them.

Terrible experience. This clinic seems more focused on making money than actually caring for animals. I left feeling like my pet was just a pound sign to them. Morally bankrupt.

Contacted HighCroft vets ( wells road ) this afternoon due to them being an emergency vets . We contacted them as our dog had been bitten by another dog and had a wound to his paw.

The receptionists initial response was “of course we can offer you an appointment but there will be an extra cost due to the bank holiday etc” , we agreed and said it was okay as we just wanted our dog to be checked over. I explained we weren’t not registered with the surgery, she replied saying “ we don’t refuse to treat any animals” regardless if you’re a registered customer or not.

We were advised that because we had made a complaint involving the care and negligence of our previous dog they would not be able to see us . In fact, we were told our notes said “due to a relationship break down and lack of trust” we wouldn’t be offered any future appointments. My response was “ you’re refusing to see a dog that needs medical attention” the receptionist repeated the reasoning. This is without a doubt the worst vets you could ever be a part of, the only reason we contacted them today was purely because it’s a bank holiday and they are close to home. Thank goodness our vets is open tomorrow!!