Listed in alphabetical order. These vets have been recommended by fellow rat-owners as rat-friendly vets. Should you wish to add a vet, please leave a comment below in the comment section.
Boskruin Veterinary Clinic
Dr Peter Van Gilds
Northriding, JHB
011 792 0482Bryanston Veterinary Clinic
Dr. Brett Russell
Grosvenor Rd, Bryanston
Sandton, JHB
011 706 1381Crestview Vet
43 Voortrekker Street, South Crest
Alberton, JHB
011 907 9614Fourways Veterinary Clinic
Dr. Downie – May no longer be there, please enquire for a rat specialist before going through
Witkoppen Road, Fourways
Sandton, JHB
011 705 3411Terrace Road Vet
95 Terrace Road
Edenvale, JHB
011 524 6011Three Rivers Vet
Cnr General Hertzog and Limpopo Street
Vereeniging, JHB
016 423 1104
Herewith my vet experiences to date:
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Triangle Animal Vet, Vanderbijlpark
The vet, while not minding seeing my rats, was not very sure of himself and did not inspire confidence. He failed to diagnose one of my rats as having an upper respiratory infection which ultimately led to her passing. We took our three boys to be neutered there. The vet said they had done the procedure many times. The rats were not given gas to knock them out, merely a anaesthetic to prevent pain. This caused much distress for the boys who, never having even tried to bite someone before, proceeded to leave a gaping wound in the vet’s assistant’s finger. The vet, who was half way through the procedure, closed the rat up without tying the sac closed inside. The led to pooling of fat tissue in the testicular sac which began to rot.
My recommendation: Do not take your rats to this vet. They do not have the experience to deal with the animals.
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Dr S Bhoola
Terrace Road Vet, Edenvale
Dr Bhoola performed the neutering of three of my boys. The job was done professionally and Dr Bhoola, having owned rats before himself, inspired confidence and caring. Additionally, he cleaned out the leftover rotted fat tissue from a botched neutering attempt by a previous vet. Thus far my boys are 100%. He also looked at my one girls eye. She had scratched her cornea while being a bit zealous in her grooming and needed to go on antibiotics. She recovered very well from this.
My recommendation: Top notch. My only issue was the 1 hour drive to get my rats there.
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Dr Hough
Three Rivers Vet, Three Rivers
We took 2 of our boys to Dr Hough with wheezy chests. One boy had been living with a previous owner who smoked into his cage. Both boys had fluid on the lungs and one had a slightly swollen eye from infection. They have had anti-inflammatory medication and anti-biotic injections are doing much better. Whilst not very experienced with rats, they do cater for a wide variety of exotic animals.
My recommendation: Definitely can be used for consultations regarding illness. Have had no operating experience to judge on.
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Hi I was wondering how the recovery of you boys was. i just got two boys and I’m not sure if i should get them neutered. Also I’m worried about the pain that it could cause them and price too.
Dr Lisa
Crestview Vet Clinic
http://crestviewvet.co.za/
Crestview Vet was recommended to me by another Ratanooga member, carolyn, as I was looking for someone closer to where I live. I took the short drive up there with my boys who were suffering from wheezing (respiratory infection) and she put him in the nebulizer box which seemed to help. While not specifically experienced with rats or other small rodents, her approach was to phone Onderstepoort to check up on any details she was not sure of 100%.
She has been very open to all questions I have had and even allowed me to help during a small surgery to relieve abcesses in two of my other boys. This is a big plus from my side as I need to be able to look after my boys myself since I live so far from the vet. Since then, I have been issued with a small toolbox worth of meds for nebulizing my boys (bought myself a small nebulizer from Dischem and converted a turtle box from a local pet store) and some baytril as emergency treatment.
Not only is Dr Lisa (I’m not sure of her surname) friendly and professional but the entire practice staff are as well, from the lady that runs the shop to the vet assistants and other veterinarians.
My recommendation: Great just great.
VETS IN PRETORIA:
HATFIELD BIRD & ANIMAL HOSPITAL: (012) 348 1118 or 012 991 3573 after hours
– They are VERY expensive but specialize on small animals. Next to N1/Lynnwood road, so easy and fast to get there.
EXOTIC CLINIC (Onderstepoort) http://www.birdandexotic.co.za/ (012) 529 8105 or 079 525 0368 after hours
– Specialize in small animals. I know many Ratanoogans go there, but simply too far away for me.
VAL DE GRACE ANIMAL HOSPITAL: Dr Jaco Jacobs (012) 804 8901
– Dr Jacobs works with many small animals, but not a rat specialist. He did perform very difficult ops successfully on my rats in the past.
He asks around R70 consultation for small cage animals, which is nice if you only need a Baytril prescription or something. Close to N4/Watermeyer offramp. Resonable prices.
SERENE ANIMAL CLINIC: Dr Charles Niebuhr (012) 998 4314
My new vet! (Thanks Michelle Cavy) He is a cat specialist who worked on rats in the UK. They have brilliant aftercare! Neutered some of my boys and very difficult tumor removal between intestines. Resonable prices.
I see that Klepht has recommended Dr Shabeer Bhoola at Terrace Road Vet in Edenvale and had a great experience with them. My experience with them, was unfortunately, very different.
They were recommended to me by Onderstepoort and after having a terrible experience with Dr Killian in Bedfordview I decided to give them a try. At first things were fantastic, Shabeer was very good with the rats and treated them with respect which scored them bonus points with me. Things were good for a while and then little things began to creep in which started to bother me. I was charged completely different prices for the same things on different visits. I never got to see the same vet twice and then the final straws happened.
My girl, Baby Lily had a lump on her face and so I took her to see Shabeer, in the conssultation there were 3 teenage boys present and when I asked who they were, all he was say that they were his ‘associates’, I was rather irked by this but went ahead with the consultation. He took a look at Baby Lily and said it was a tumor and there was nothing he could do and that the kindest thing would be to have her put to sleep, which I agreed to. The euthanasia was done in the back room that was full of people and his ‘associates’ surrounded the table and I was unable to get to my girl, so basically she died on her own and then I did not get any time with her at all. Then a few days later I took my girl, Milly, because she had a few largish lumps on her shoulder, these were squishy lumps and not attached to anything. I saw another vet who said that they were abcesses and he’d drain them which he did, things seemed ok. Milly seemed a lot better and I took her home. When I got her home I was holding her and I noticed that her whiskers were missing, it looked like someone had taken a pair of scissors and cut them off in a straight line. I contacted Shabeer and he told me that the mask they had used for anastaesia was tight and it could have happened then. Two days later the lumps were back and Milly had a very nasty smell about her. I took her back to the vet and saw a different vet who said that there was nothing that could be done and she would have to be put to sleep, which I decided was the best thing to do. Once again, the procedure was done in the back room which was filthy because they were having building work done and workmen were still working. Everything was covered in dust and we had to squeeze into a small cupboard like room where the gas was. Milly was put to sleep and I was left alone with a bunch of workmen who were laughing.
I felt that I, my Milly and Baby Lily had been completely disrepected. I would NOT recommend Terrace Road Vet to anyone at all, ever!
That’s so horrible 🙁 My heart breaks that you weren’t able to hold your Baby Lily and Milly 🙁
I cannot recommend Crestview vet Clinic enough. The vet, Dr Lisa, is very nice and respectful towards rats and while not an expert, if she doesn’t know something, immediately contacts Dorian Elliot at Onderstepoort for advice.
I feel confident in recommending this vet to everyone.
I totally agree with ronelrat about the Pretoria recommendations. Another vet that I was recommended although I have not used them as of yet is:
ATTERBURY BIRD & ANIMAL HOSPITAL (Menlo Park)
494 Atterbury Road
012 348 5712/5714
Emergency: 012 348 5712/4
The vet we usually use for our other animals, Valley Farm Animal Hospital, have brilliant service, but are very expensive. They gave me antibiotics for my little one and she’s perfectly fine now, but they suggested the Atterbury one as they work extensively with small animals and rodents.
However I think I am also going to use Dr. Niebuhr from Serene Animal Clinic as he is only 2 minutes away from me and I have only heard good things about him and their prices are very good!
hi, the vet in Kempton Park, Easternery Vetenary treated my rats and i was satified with the service. I will recommend them to any one< 011 970 1684.
I just wanted to recommend Rivonia Village Vet in Sandton. A lady vet there called Bronwyn removed tumours from my rat three times. She was very sweet and handled her well with lots of follow up care. When I eventually needed to have her put to sleep another lady vet there did it for me with lots of compassion and care-for both of us! The nice thing is you make and appointment so you don,t need to wait in a crowded waiting room crying your eyes out.
Hi if you give us the contact details etc (as per all the ones listed above) I can add it to the list 🙂
Terrace vet is supposed to specialise in exotic pets, yet they have no knowledge of rabbits. 15 dec 2012, the day 2 four day old bunnies arrived on my doorstep. One didn’t make it to the next day, the other, Crash, was mommy’s little fighter. I adored him. It’s not easy raising rabbits and i’d done a good job. One day, he gets sick for the first time, i rush h to terrace bet just before closing an he is seen by Shabeer. Dr says just gas, here’s meds, he’ll be fine. Crash died screaming in pain that night thanks to the meds. Eerily familiar story to Dahliah, our first cat. He spayed her, she died in pain in our arms that night. DO NOT USE SHABEER. He’s happy to steal your money, cares nothing for the animals
Moreleta Rif Animal Clinic in Jacques street is absolutely fantastic for the quick check-up. Not very experienced with rats, but willing to learn and always willing to help, no matter what.
My 1.5 year old rat (Sushi) had an intermittent wheezing sound and we were unsure whether to take her to the vet. We eventually took her to Crestview Vet in Alberton. The new name is: Paws in Motion: 011 907-9614
New Address: 101 Second Avenue, Florentia, Website: http://pawsinmotion.co.za/?page_id=19. Dr. Lisa is no longer there either.
They veterinarians were incredibly helpful – with 3 of the doctors fawning over my baby even though Sushi decided not to display her wheezing at the time. They have given me 2 courses of antibiotics and after only 4 days Sushi was healthy and 2 weeks later she has all her energy and naughtiness back!
Even though some of the doctors didn’t know what to do they tried to help and researched everything. THANK YOU GUYS!
We have taken our Rats an Hamster to the Atterbury Bird and Animal hospital in Pretoria and had excellent experience there. When our boys had to be snipped we took them to Ondetsepoort but they did a botched job and one got an infection in the ball sack, we then took them to Dr Melcome at the Atterbury Bird and Animal Hopsital and he cleared the infection in no time. Dr Melcome and his team treated me and my rat with care and concern. They even called me every day to inform me of his condition and they allowed me to visit him at the vet while he was admitted! I won’t take my rats anywhere else!
Hello
I was wondering if anyone has used Dr Peter Van Gilds from Boskruin Veterinary Clinic. Is he any good with rats? And friendly with them?
If you ask this on our forums at http://forums.www.ratanooga.co.za or on our FB page you might get some replies 🙂