AVS – Affiliated Veterinary Specialists

This facility is wonderful and caring and treats your pets very well. Be warned the first appointment will always have an emergency up charge.

I love this place. My dog just had ACL surgery there, I was referred by my local Vet. They went over several options and made sure I had a thorough understanding of the process prior to any decisions being made.
I was very stressed to be putting my dog through this and they made me feel at ease. I recd several phone calls after his surgery and even a good morning text with my pups pic, which was so unexpected, it made me tear up. (In a good way)
We just went back for his stitches to be removed and again, nothing but kind people who care about your pet, including the front office.
It was expensive, but it’s a major surgery and I did my research so knew what the cost would be.
To call this place a chop shop is very far from the truth. I would have them as my primary vet if they were closer to my home. I’m happy to answer questions for anyone who is contemplating the surgery.

I took my Sobie as an Emergency to the Lake Underhill AVS last Tuesday. I feel she got sick over night. Not only did they take me in at closing but they carefully explained the situation to a very nervous Mom (me). They had to keep my baby overnight for testing. Unfortunately the next day I got the call that it was cancer and there was nothing else they could do. O was beyond devastated. The staff and doctor where very patient, understanding and kind. Sobie passed away but I appreciate everyone’s patience with me in AVS, the card that was sent to my home, as well as the paw print provided with my babies ashes. Thank you for your kindness.

Had to take our 15 yr old cat here last year due to chronic renal failure. We felt as though our primary vet was not giving us enough answers and knew he was not ready to give up just yet. This place came recommended by a few people and am super thankful we came here. They have many specialists on staff and will assign you with the best to meet your pets needs. Dr. Goussev has been AMAZING! Our cat has been able to gain weight and pretty much is back to his normal self. It will not be cheap, but that is because they are «specialists». All staff is friendly and their office is spotless. I cannot thank AVS enough!!!

This is a very nice facility and their staff is friendly and very helpful. I would have to say that their services are definately on the more pricey side. You get what you pay for since their specialits are top notch. The services provided are done with care, experience, and always with your pets comfort and well being in mind.

I am absolutely in awe of how many bad reviews have been posted by pet owners. When I lived in Orlando and they first opened, they were wonderful and somewhat pricey. Over the first few years I had a Peke with a back operation, a Peke with a broken jaw and a Peke with AIHA. The surgeons were grab and the oncologist kept my girl alive for 2 more years working with my vet. AT this time if I still lived there, I would have to give it deep thought before I would go there. Wow, the reviews for the most part suck.

If you are looking for truly specialty care for your pet, this is not the place to go. If you are in the central Florida area I strongly recommend that you make the drive to the UF Small Animal Hospital. The level of care and professionalism you will receive here is exponentially greater than what you will get at AVS.
My experience here at AVS was terrible. I was referred here for a cardiology exam and they have no cardiologist working there. They have a doctor who comes in twice a month so we had to return when he was available. Ultimately I had to find out the hard way I should have gone to the university in Gainesville right from the start. Please save yourself some time and protect your pockets. Go somewhere else.
The hospital manager told me that I was the first client to ever tell AVS that the exam preformed by the cardiologist is not recognized at the UF Small Animal Hospital where they ultimately referred me to. I find this difficult to believe and I was not pleased that I got to pay for an electrocardiogram twice. She did not apologize for my experience but I was given a minimal refund of 25% from the original exam.

ophthalmology is great. wonderful people. I would not recommend the orthopedic side. We had much better luck with the UF small animal vet hospital in Gainesville. That place is nothing short of amazing.

When we took SnowBall to AVS in May of 2010 he was paralyzed, the care he was given by Dr. Knights and the staff at that time was amazing.
We now have another dog with somewhat similar circumstances and we have taken Junior to the capable hands of Dr.Knight.
Also the staff is very friendly, supportive and very sympathetic.
Thank you so much AVS.

We found these people to be absolutely WONDERFUL in 2008 while dealing with our sweet Ellie. They could have gotten more money out of us, but they were VERY straight forward with us, did what they could. I have NOTHING but great things to say about the way we were treated, how they dealt with our sweet, sweet girl.

We have a 1 year old English Bulldog who has had 2 prior surgeries for really bad cherry eyes in both his eyes. After his 2^nd surgery he also devleoped an eye ulcer. When his cherry eye came back a 3^rd time in his right eye we finally brought him to AVS — we only wish we would have done it sooner. (Would have saved us time and $$$$$$)
They took amazing care of our little boy, his eyes look better then ever and the staff was awesome. If we ever encounter any furhter issues qoing forward with his eyes or skin we are going to AVS first!!!

AVS — Not a place to bring your beloved pet.
Our family did not have a good experience with this veterinary clinic.
Unfortunately, we have an awesome dog with an eating disorder. He gets blockages from trying to eat socks.
Have surgeries to remove the socks has caused adhesions on his intestines.
We were recommended by our vet in Florida to go to this clinic. It was the worst recommendation ever.
Our dog had recently had surgery when we brought him in. He was not improving after having his intestines operated on.
When we first came into AVS we were coolly greeted by the receptionist and given the run down on payment. Our dog was swiftly taken to triage without explanation. We then met an internist named Dr. Theresa Goodson in a cold, stark room. She explained that our dog was clearly dying and needed fluids along with a large number of tests.
They gave us a low and high estimate. Before starting the tests you must pay the low estimate. By the way. At this clinic a VERY small amount of fluids is $ 60 bucks alone. Don’t get me started on X-​rays.
A few thousand dollars later.
She told us that our dog was clearly too much of a mess inside and he should be euthanized. Dr. Goodson said that if we elected to have the surgery (at a cost of at least 6 grand) he would probably only have a 10% chance to live.
We called the previous Floridian vet. And explained that there was a sock in his intestines. And that they said it was most likely inoperable.
Our Floridian vet had us bring our dog to her. At no charge.
Dr. Theresa Goodson at AVS told us we were being irrational and that our dog would probably not survive the trip.
Our good Florida vet (Dr. Kathryn Fell at Atlantic Vet Clinic) performed the surgery… for FREE because of our troubles. It was a short and EASY surgery– and our dog THAT NIGHT walked out on his own.
AVS would rather have had us euthanize our dog than save his life.
I would never trust my pet’s life in the hands of these people. I was completely shocked.

I have only used the dermatology side, but I love Dr. Schwassman. She has been great with my dog. My dog Tigger has had allergies and be on various regimens for a a year before my old vet told to try AVS. Since I have being seeing them my dog has done so much better. My dog is 14 and Dr. Schwassman is helping me give him the best possible quality of life.

I wish I had never heard of Affiliated Vet Specialists. Don’t get me wrong, they’re actually pretty great — but I only went to them after my usual vet found a possibly dangerous tumor in my dog’s mouth.
AVS is made up of at least three offices — and I’ve dealt with two of them over the past few weeks. My usual vet doesn’t offer the necessary services to handle the ameloblastoma they found, so they sent me to AVS.
I called up saying I’d like to make an appointment as soon as possible, but expecting to have to wait till next week. They had an appointment as soon as later that day, but I chose to wait till the next day to work it into my schedule better.
So, our first appointment was with Internal Medicine. Like most doctors and vets, I was made to wait at least 20 minutes before anyone would actually see me even though I was on time. The vet tech was friendly, informative and seemed to really care about my dog. They had to run their own tests before they would operate, of course, and it was going to be a few days before they had their results. Unfortunately, it was going to take a few hours to run their tests and what-​not. They told me I could come back in about 3 hours, but I live on the other side of town and I had already spent almost an hour getting there and time waiting to be seen and then time with the tech. I could also choose to pick her up at the end of the day, but the last pickup was at 5pm even though their offices are open until 6. In the end, I had to take the whole day off just to drive back and forth to the vet repeatedly.
True to their word, they called me just a few days later to give me the run down and explain options. We booked the appointment with the surgery team later that week.
The tech who admitted Bria for surgery had to retake her history and information. The doctors in Internal Medicine had already done this and had extensive notes and results — why did I have to give this all to them again? Can’t they share notes? Once the tech had taken the history, the surgeon herself came in and explained their plan of action and what the possible results would be.
It’s really not a huge issue, but it seems like there’s a lack of communication somewhere.
They had to keep Bria overnight after the surgery, but I could pick her up the next day — before 5, of course. They gave me all the pills and such I needed to give to Bria and full and clear instructions and told me what to expect and how to deal with things that my or may not show up (like golf ball sized swelling).
The day after Bria came home, the tech who admitted her called me up to check in to see how Bria was coping so far.
Two weeks after surgery, it was time to bring Bria back in for a post-​op checkup and to get some stitches removed from a separate issue than the tumor itself.
Once again, the communication broke down a bit. They took Bria in the back to examine her but apparently, no one bothered to write down that they needed to remove her stitches — so no one bothered to do it. They brought Bria back out saying she was ready to go home when I asked if they were going to take the stitches out. «Oops!»
Minor issues aside, we were pretty happy with our experience at AVS.

If you have a sick pet, a really sick pet, then you know how stressful things can get. Especially if you are dealing with an advanced illness or something serious that is just getting diagnosed. I’ve had two pets receive surgery and treatments through AVS and both were treated with expertise and care.
AVS worked in tandem with my regular vet with one pet, keeping my vet up to date and working on a plan of treatment that kept my pet comfortable and healthy.
Sitting in the lobby, you see all walks of life and all manner of pets with various problems. The reception staff, vet techs and Dr.‘s that I met and that treated my pets were professional, compassionate and did the best that they could for us. In the case when difficult decisions had to be made, I appreciated the honesty and compassion of the Dr.‘s who informed us that further treatment would not be effective or good for my beloved pet.
The AVS facility performs many specialized surgical procedures that many area vets are not equipped to treat, as well as houses specialists of every kind.
While I hope that you won’t need these advanced services for you pets, if the need ever arises, you should contact them without hesitation.

After an unfortunate incident with a Great Dane my 15 pound Shih-​Tzu had to be taken to AVS, by recommendation of my vet, for a broken jaw. The fractures were too intensive for my vet to handle so he referred me to AVS.
Upon arrival I was greeted somewhat cordially. However, I waited for an extensive period of time in both the waiting room and the examination room. When the doctor finally arrived I was informed that my dog would need to have surgery to have his jaw wired. And that this surgery would cost me a total of $ 2500.00. 75% of that to be paid that day so they would admit him. A lot of money but how could I not get my dog’s jaw broken.
Well for that sum of money one would think that they’d fix it correctly. However, to this day I’ve had multiple vets tell me that his jaw never healed correctly. You can tell just by looking at him. His jaw lines up crooked and he still favors one side of his jaw.
I’m grateful that we have the facilities and capabilities to keep our beloved pets alive and healthy longer but for the amount of money those leaches suck out of you they should at least do the best job possible and fix the broken pieces better. I hope I never have to return there again.

I’ve had many dogs treated by AVS, and I think they are the best specialists in Central Florida, bar none. Might be the best specialists in Florida. One dog had successful cataract surgery. One had glaucoma, and Dr. Dennis preserved her sight for seven years.
Our lab had bone cancer. Dr. Goodson was kind but frank from day one. She laid out the alternative courses of treatment without ever holding out false hope. She looked me in the eye and said «I will not put your dog through a treatment that is worse than the disease.» We spent what was necessary to buy him the most time with a good quality of life. It wasn’t cheap, but we got one more Christmas and enjoyed the time we had.

This is a veterinary facility with doctors specializing in fields like internal medicine, neurology, dermatology and ophthalmology. I have used the facility’s internal specialists and dermatologists.
The staff is very knowledgeable and thorough. This is the only veterinarian I have ever seen who periodically calls just to check on my dog. They work with top of the line diagnostics to help determine the best treatments and even offered cutting edge treatments still in the trial stages.
I also had to use the internists when my other dog came down with a sudden unexplained illness and spent the weekend at the emergency vet up the street. Even though it was a terminal disease the staff was extremely knowledgeable and compassionate. I felt like we were seeing the best Orlando has to offer. These specialists are not cheap, and I believe most people are referred here from their primary vet. Still, it is reassuring to know that there are professionals like these in the Orlando area.