Riverside Veterinary Clinic

I’ve been taking my dog to Riverside for 7 years, after trying 5 other vets in Austin. Dr. Meyer is hands down the best vet I have ever been to. He’s kind and thorough, and goes beyond a normal vet visit — they always trim my dog’s nails, descale his teeth, express anal glands, and any other minor cosmetic procedure that other vets charge for — all included in the very reasonable exam charge. I never feel like I was price gouged — and they always explain anything that will be out of the norm for our visit’s cost.
As we’re entering the final stages of my senior dog’s life, they have eased me through with the kind of compassion that can only make this kind of thing any easier. I wouldn’t take my dog anywhere else.

I had been taking my dogs here for a few years and always received good service and reasonable prices. On Monday I had to make the decision to put my oldest dog down. She had been at the vet all day and I found out later Dr. Meyer had shared his sandwich with her and kept her company all day. He had a very long day and could not do the procedure until 9 pm. He brought Sandy the other half of his sandwich and pet food while we spent our last moments with her. He spoke softly and sweetly to her as he put her down and then cut some of her hair for us as a memento. He provided us with a blanket to carry her out with and the staff brought her to the car. They were absolutely amazing! I will never take my precious babies anywhere else. Thank you so much Dr. Meyer and your staff! Caring and compassionate do not even begin to describe them.

Dr Meyers is great you gotta love a vet in cowboy boots! they dont upsell you, they are very good with your pets and you can tell they all care for animals there. its a no frills place and they aren’t up on technology so you can’t email them which is frustrating. You have to call and be on hold for 20 mins to speak to someone, even to make an appt. So the receptionists are overloaded so be nice and patient. Defintely recommend this Vet and I have been going for years.

Dr. Meyer has been my veterinarian for years & I depend on him & his staff to care for my beloved pets. When I had to accept my beautiful Susie (Schnauzer) was suffering & no hope for recovery he made it easier for me to let her go. Now my cat has quit eating & I’m getting her in today to find out what’s wrong. If anyone can help her it’s Dr. Meyer!

At last I have found my Austin Vet, and I feel so lucky!
With all the overpriced places in Austin outfitted with spendy «clinic décor» intended very specifically to position them to charge extortionate human medical prices, reeking with the smell of avarice in the air as opposed to genuine caring about the welfare of you and your pet, I DISCOVERED RIVERSIDE though a friend’s recommendation!
The place is clean and functional like vet’s offices used to be decades back. They do not «up-​sell» you, ever, or suggest you pay for anything you don’t really need. I stood right at the counter as the receptionist suggested to a young couple with financial concerns where they could get city-​sponsored, discounted inoculations (rather than the already moderate prices for these services at Riverside) in a manner so encouraging, helpful & generous.
They always seem to have a few foster dogs behind the desk they are helping along the way to new homes.
Riverside’s great Dr Meyers has already been spot on in diagnosing & solving my pup’s problems and no other vet I’ve run across can compare with his incomparable level of experience when he explains something to you nor his palpable, heartfelt concern for pet’s and their people.
HOORAY FOR RIVERSIDE!

You DO get what you pay for here — the BEST VET ever! I’ve been taking my buddies to Doc Meyer for 15 years and I would never go anywhere else. All the staff are so helpful and understanding, even though they’re working under the tremendous pressure that goes along with working for the BEST VET ever — I would drive in from the moon to keep my buddies with Doc.

I am still going here for all my dogs needs. Still love this place more than any other vet ever! Dr Meyer is the sweetest best vet ever!

I am so happy they are so close to my home. it is stressful to move a pet to the vets. I love all of the pictures on tbe walls and the staff is great.

It’s the service volume of this well-​oiled enterprise that allows my fuzz bombs to see a badass, affordable vet. And yet everyone there is warm and sharp.
Some don’t like the telephone hold time or how difficult it is to get an appointment front and center with Dr. Meyer, but there’s a reason for that: Doc’s a hot commodity. If you need an audience, wait and pay. Otherwise — and this is only one of many gems of this place — drop your fur kid there on your drive to work, allow the clinic fairies to check and treat Fido, pick up after work, and pay treatment fees so low that it’s worth driving on East Oltorf’s potholes.
Also, Doc likes follow-​ups. Be prepared to accommodate a short pull-​to-​backroom visit while you wait.
Last month, I had to put down 2 animals (half my herd). The docs and techs were AMAZING, making it as easy a process as possible. Tears were shed, kindnesses said, and Doc explained through sniffles that it never gets easy to do this part of care.

Dr. Meyer is fantastic. I understand when most people say they don’t get to see the Doc very often, he tends to let his technician do the talking which helps keep the cost down because he can see more patients. He’s knowledgable and has a lot of experience under his belt. I had an emergency with Ollie this week and Riverside Vet Clinic was closed (sundays) so I took Ollie to a nearby hospital, which ended up costing an arm and a leg. I know that if I went to Dr. Meyer things would have been different. He’s a no fluff kind of man. He gives you what your dog needs and isn’t in to all the boutique extras other clinics try to force down your throat.
It’s tough to get an appointment in but definitely the most affordable and best value for your dog!

We started out here when coming to town. I like Dr Meyer very much, but his staff is downright nasty. The last straw was Monday of this week. I called because my dog that Dr Meyer has been treating for a heart condition was in obvious distress. No, no appt for us, no walk-​in for us, no appt open for a week and a half for us. Snottiness and more snottiness is all I got. Called one other vet who asked about my dogs symptoms (which of course the snotty receptionist at Riverside didn’t bother to do) and they told me to rush him in, not to delay at all but to get my sick dog there as fast as possible. The MO at Riverside is for you to never actually see the vet, drop your dog off all day and then get sketchy answers and you will have to call back for any results. No more, I value my pets too much to stay as a client here.
BTW my dog is fine due to the great and prompt care he received at Capital Vet clinic on S Congress, they seemed to care more about my dog that they had never seen before than Riverside where we were established clients.

Where to begin? The clinic is convenient and affordable, but most important affordable! On the other hand, getting an appointment is tough. They do not accept walk-​ins and the moment you call, you will be placed on hold. I suggest calling in as soon as they open otherwise be prepared to be on hold for at least 10 minutes.
The staff has been very friendly, empathetic and courteous, but like all human beings if you’re overly rude as a customer expect a little bite back. So, just be nice take it from me.
I have never met the actual vet which is kind of unfortunate. A little «Hi» and a handshake goes a long way, but since he’s got my business I suppose why bother.
Ideally I would like to give the place 3 ½ stars only because I used to have vet in Silver Spring, MD that set the standard for me.

Dr. E. Henry Meyer at Riverside Veterinary Clinic is an Austin institution and his clients love him, as you will see from all the pet photos lining the walls of his clinic. Dogs and cats seem to love him. My cats are very nervous around other Vets, but they let Dr. Meyer poke and prod them, and seem to enjoy it.
Here is one of the several reasons I am recommending Riverside Clinic: On the afternoon of 3÷7÷11, my cat broke a fang tooth at the gum line. I called the animal hospital where I had been taking my cats since 2004. They quoted me between $ 550 and $ 618 to remove the root of the tooth. But, they could not do the operation until 4 days later. My cat was in pain.
I called Dr. Meyer, who had spayed this cat after I rescued her (she was feral). I was quoted $ 85 to remove the fang tooth root. Dr Meyer was going to be out of the office at continuing education the next day, but, he said if I could bring my cat to his office within the hour, he would stay late and do the surgery that night. Which he did.
When I collected my cat the next day, she was in an excellent mood, and the total bill was $ 97 because she needed antibiotics that Dr. Meyer charged $ 12 for. At my regular Vet, I had payed $ 25 for the same antibiotic on 9÷30÷10 because the area around this same cat’s fang tooth was inflamed — the tooth was cracked even then, but her yearly exam at my regular vet ($ 190.48) did not disclose this fact.
I took my cat back to Dr. Meyer on 3÷16÷11 to have the stitches removed (no charge.) Dr. Meyer went beyond the call of duty for my cat.
As of Nov 4, 2012: Although Riverside Clinic on Oltorf St. is not very convenient for me, I now take all 4 of my cats to Dr. Meyer for all their medical needs, including another cat who needed dental work. Dr. Meyer personally gave all my cats their physicals with my husband and me in the examination room. We were both impressed with his cat-​side manner.
Positives: Competent, caring service at a very reasonable cost. Willing to work around his regular schedule to help a cat in pain. Front desk employees have always been exceptionally kind and helpful to me. Will not try to sell you a service or treatment or lab test your animal really doesn’t need.
Negatives: For routine shots and treatments, the Staff will sometimes take your animal from the waiting room to the back treatment rooms, and you don’t get to go with them.
Dr. E. Henry Meyer at Riverside Veterinary Clinic 444‑3111 2400 East Oltorf St, Suite 10A Austin, TX 78 741 Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri: 7am — 6:30pm Sat: 8:30am — noon

Best Vet EVER! (Though it could use a little more ambiance.)
He is the best combination of a Hill Country Rancher and a Hippie.
He never tries to sell me prescriptions (though he knows about them if I ask); always gives me options of over the counter products for my dogs. Prefers natural treatments, and doesn’t give me a hard time for failing to get my dogs teeth cleaned every year.
I look forward to our visits because he always teaches me interesting new things about my dogs that I didn’t know before. I also really believe that he loves every animal that walks into his clinic.
I have been going to this Vet for 10 years, and will continue to do so until Dr. Meyer retires or I move away from Austin.

Simply wonderful. I drive across town rather than take my cats anywhere else. I’ve been going there for five years and always have very friendly service. (I’m surprised by the different experiences a couple of people report. I occasionally get put on hold, but it’s a small, busy clinic.)
Most important, I trust Doc completely. He’s patient and caring, great at explaining things, and doesn’t take an overly complicated approach when a simpler one makes more sense. (Another vet told me he’d have to take a biopsy of a small growth on one of my cats and send it off somewhere for an expensive analysis. Doc simply snipped it off — painlessly — and had it tested then and there and found out it was benign.)

After reading the mixed reviews I decided to try this place anyway for the proximity to home and had a HORRIBLE experience! I made an appt. weeks in advance since that was the soonest they could see my pet.
FIRST: EXPECT to be on hold at least 10 minutes any time you call.
SECOND: EXPECT that when you go in, despite several receptionists chatting, you will be ignored
THIRD: SURPRISE! You can’t go with your pet to see the Dr.
YES! Super creepy, After waiting 2 weeks and 15 minutes there I’m told that I am NOT allowed in the back with my pet. It seems that to see the actual Dr. you have to schedule between certain times in the morning. Ok, so when I explained that I am not ok with this, that I have waited a long time for the appt., that I was not told anything about this I get a «sorry, it should have been explained but we can’t help you and a new appt. will be weeks away.»
So I leave and decide I’ll call when I calm down. When I called and explained what happened I get the excuse of «we could not have made an exception, we had 20 animals to vaccinate!». I’m still confused since there was only myself and two others in the waiting room.
My main question… is the Vet there? Is he the one vaccinating the animals– I hope there is not any possibility that a technician is doing the vaccines! I was told that no, its done by the Dr. but there are simply no exceptions for appts.
WOW! HORRIBLE, I feel that no matter how nice I was trying to be and make this place work for me I was treated like crap again and again. AVOID THIS PLACE… not being able to see the actual DR. and a Dr. not wanting to meet his clients or worse yet– speak to a client who has a complaint– JUST PLAIN BAD, BAD MEDICINE, BAD BUSINESS!!!
If you need to save money– go to a mobile clinic-don’t be fooled by this place!

I love this place! My boyfriend has been a loyal client of theirs with all his pets since the early 90s and I have been taking my little ray of sunshine to them for the past 2 and a half years.
Every once in a while I have a slightly less than pleasant experience with a staff member (usually on the phone) but the way I look at it as a person who has been in customer service for the last 5 years is that those things happen. I can always put myself in the shoes of the receptionist/​vet tech at RVC, though and see where she is coming from. Very often, they have 2 or 3 lines ringing while they have dogs and cats that need immediate assistance AND people waiting to check out and/​or buy medications.
Recently, I even called to see if by chance they could mail me my pet’s monthly meds because she was due for them and I didn’t think I would be able to get to the clinic for the next two weeks. Rob and Dilah were more than happy to help me out.
Dr Meyer has always been extremely helpful with my little girl and I couldn’t be happier with him as a veterinarian. I fully trust him and will keep recommending all my friends go to RVC.

Calling around to find rates for an exam, I call this place and was immediately placed on hold. To me there is nothing ruder than calling a place and before you can say anything they place you on hold. So I waited a few minutes and realized they hung up on me. I decided to call back (all knowing I should just walk away from this situation) and get the same girl, quickly trying to explain uh, you just put me on hold and then hung up on me… she precedes to say well sometimes that happens and places me back on hold. In the words of Michelle Tanner «HOW RUDE».
If this is any indication of their customer service skills, I am glad I didn’t take my precious fur ball there!

I was kind of nervous going into this place with it’s mixed reviews, but very pleasantly surprised with the level of service and care I and my kitty received. First off, the front room sucks. It has that particular vet stank, and is pretty barren except for a couple cheap chairs and a dog scale. But don’t be swayed, the interior rooms are nicer and Dr. Meyer is very knowledgeable and thorough.
Dr. Meyer was quick to diagnose what was wrong with my cat, got him up to date on his shots while being soothing and keeping the cat on the table, and was very informative to me regarding what the problem was and what steps we would need to take to fix it. It was also very affordable, even with the additional shots and cyst drainage (ew, I know), it only came to around $ 70. Last time I went to a different vet, it cost me $ 70 just for the vet to walk in the room and tell me there was nothing wrong with my cat.
Anyway, I will definitely be going back. I feel like my animals are in very good hands here.

I definitely agree with some of the below responses. They described my experience to a tee.
The front staff can be hit or miss. Sometimes the ladies are really friendly and laugh with you, but other times they can be full of attitude.
They ARE understaffed but Dr. Meyers needs to stop being cheap by hiring part-​time-​only employees and just go ahead and hire the amount of support he needs. Wait times are ridiculous for anything. They answer your call with «please hold» and believe me, you will be… for anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes.
It seems like he is doing more than enough business to be able to hire more staff members! I’ve talked to some of the ladies there, and they seem overwhelmed by the pressure and stress, from both ends (their boss and their clients). I think they would be happier if the company was organized better.
I took in a newly adopted dog who was very sick, and like other said… they asked me to bring him in early to have tests done, and said he should be ready for pick up around 5pm, but that they would call me. 6pm rolls around and I haven’t heard anything, so I called up there but got put on hold. I hung up. Called back around 8pm and was told my puppy wasn’t ready to be picked up yet.
Finally I just showed up in person, at around 9:30 pm (the vet’s office is supposed to be closed at this point, but I could still see staff inside and the door was unlocked). The staff told me they didn’t know anything about my pup’s status and that Dr. Meyers was busy. Finally, at 10:30, someone brought out my dog and I left.
A few days later they called me back in to discuss the test results (heart worm positive). The Vet Tech came out and explained to me what that meant, so that was nice. And Riverside Vet clinic charged about $ 200 less than other local places for the procedure (which still amounted to almost $ 400, when everything was said and done). So they are fairly cheaply priced, but you will pay for that $$ in other ways (namely, time).
Also, just as a final note, our dog was examined, tested, treated, and tested again by Dr. Meyers… and I NEVER MET HIM. I found it very off putting and even kind of rude. My dog is like a child to me, and I’d like to at least know who’s hands he’s in!