It's a Ferret Life

I've had some unpleasant experiences with both Chicago Exotics and Animal 911. Re Chicago Exotics, I did not like how the vet was handling/holding my ferret, and I didn't like her doomsday attitude re his health (he lived for 2 years after she gave him a possible diagnosis of lymphoma, etc). When I used the emergency clinic the doctor became irritable when I asked questions, trying to examine all possible routes of treatment. The only time I had a good experience with them was with the emergency clinic when I put my ferret to sleep; this vet was kind and compassionate throughout the whole ordeal. Price wise they are pretty expensive and don't hesitate to encourage every possible procedure regardless of cost. Also my best friend brought two of her ferrets in a couple of weeks ago for physicals and had a terrible experience with waiting over 2 hours for her appointment and ending up leaving as the ferrets were getting too stressed out. Overall mixed reviews.

As a long time reptile owner and client of both Chicago Exotics and Animal 911, I find all that petlover2u posted OFFENSIVE AND MISLEADING. The staff at Chicago Exotics are wonderful compassionaite caregivers and would never tell someone to go somewhere else. Lizards are fragile littles creatures and should be examined yearly just like any other pet, not just when its about to die then blame the practice. i hope in the future petlover2u should reconsider owning pets if she can not afford or maintain them properly

After being owner of many cats, dogs, fish, lizards, rodents and such, I have never experienced such a horrific display of greed and disregard for animals as this clinic. We had a Jackson chameleon that suddenly became ill. It was after normal vet hours so we called Animal 911, which was coincidentally located in the same building as Chicago Exotic. After bringing the chameleon to 911, they said it was ill, but could be brought back to Chicago Exotic the next day for more experienced care. We called them the next day and stated we would like to bring the lizard in, as it was deteriorating quickly. They stated they did not have any appointments open, and we could bring it in and wait, and in addition, pay the "emergency" price that was significantly more than the regular price, even though this was during normal operating hours. We were stretched to our limit on our family budget, and asked if we could bring it in for the regular price and wait as long as needed. Their response was, " sorry, you can take the animal somewhere else", even though this clinic was minutes from our house. We said we would wait a day or 2 to bring it in under the "regular" price, even though we were disgusted with their attitude. Needless to say, the chameleon died the next day. In all my vet trips with all my animals, I never have seen anyone put money as the most important issue, and the pets welfare a distant second. This place makes ME sick.......