Castlelands Veterinary Clinic , Mardyke Rd, County Cork

"I'm relatively new to West Cork, and haven't registered with a vet yet for my small dog. In early January, the dog suffered a leg injury jumping from my bed, and wasn't using one of her back legs. An emergency consult with a vet in the city (where I was on the day following the injury) suggested cruciate problems, and I was told to get her to a local vet for an xray. Enter Castlelands. We left her there for the day for exam and xrays, and then spoke for about ten minutes, in the lobby, with one of the vets when we collected her. This very young man said "Yes, it was cruciate ligament disease." If we wanted surgery, we would have to contact one of the Cork city hospitals. He never mentioned a closer hospital in Clonakilty. Having done some research in the meantime on this injury, I said we wanted to try non-surgical treatment. This vet then gave us very basic stats on recovery in small dogs with this treatment, said we needed to keep her basically immobile for 3-4 months, gave us some pain medication to last two weeks and said good bye. There was no talk of physio, follow-up checks with them, continuing pain management. I really felt like I was talking to a vet text book. There was no sense that they wanted to become my regular vet and look after my dog. I decided to seek a second opinion. It turns out, Castlelands completely missed crucial factors in her diagnosis. She has not only a cruciate tear, but a stage four dislocated knee (which could have been discovered by a proper physical exam) and a partly dislocated femur (discovered by a more complete set of xrays than Castlelands took). With these conditions, my dog 100% needs surgery in order for her to ever use that leg again. If I had left her on bed rest for four months, who knows what the outcome would be? I do not like leaving negative reviews, but in this case I have no choice but to say that I am very upset with the lack of adequate care we received at Castlelands."

"Wonderful caring vets. They showed great kindness to me and compassion to my dog. They are very knowledgeable and certainly go ‘the extra mile’ for their clients. Thank you."

"I registered my 2 cats here and first went for their annual vaccinations and then a couple of weeks later one of my cats was not well so I took him in to be checked. Nothing is too much trouble when visiting and all the staff are lovely and accommodating. My cat now appears to be on the mend after being prescribed medication and hopefully both cats will next be seen on their annual visit towards the end of next year."

"Not our normal vets but had to visit them during a recent trip to my parents place. Excellent service, both my dogs were treated and cared for by the vets wonderfully. Would happily taken them back there again. Thanks Cliodhna."

"Fantastic and caring staff, they genuinely care about each animal. Their end of life care was 1st class for my previous dog, did everything in their power to make her last few month as comfortable as possible. Current dog has had 2 surgeries and quickly got over his reluctance to enter the building for check ups."