Reviews of Canobie Lake Veterinary Hospital (Veterinarian)

Michele Milosh

Can't believe how wonderful Dr. Magnuson & Dr. Dressel are. They Saved My Cat's Life! And did so with great compassion & care. Too wonderful for words!!!! My dog also sees them & always gets tremendously great care.

Kevin George

Doctor Magnuson is amazing and the staff is always very professional and courteous. We have a very challenging cat and we wouldn't dream of bringing him anywhere else!

Kate Daley

Best vet around hands down! All the staff is so caring and supportive. Both vets are extremely knowledgeable and very talented.

Karin G

Have used Canobie Vetetinary since they opened, they took great care of my beloved best buddies in the world, Bear, and Joey, the best St. Bernard in the world. Thank You Dr. Magnuson! Dr Dressel has been taken care of my new little Lady, aka...wild woman! She has been wonderful! Mia adores her, and she thinks the techs are pretty cool too! If you see Mia's photo here, she is pretty picky about who she hangs with, canobie Veterinary gets a High Paw!!!

Ellen Crawford

After losing our beloved vet Dr. Dan a few years ago, we have tried a couple of different places. We found them to be chaotic, unprofessional, and unskilled. Not so with Canobie Lake Veterinary. I am a first time bird owner, and after running into a problem with her health, I decided to try the only bird experts in the area. The facility is lovely, the staff was super knowledgeable and the best thing was that they got us right in, despite being first time customers. I ended up with a healthier pet as well as an education in aviary care. I couldn't be happier. Ellen Crawford-Pelham NH

Nicole Boucher

Best bet on thenortheast. Quickly identified and treated my dog for a heart murmur, got my very sick cat in within an hour at 7:30 in the morning and treats all of my animala very gently. As stressful as a trip to the vet can be this minimizes your stress as much as possible. You don't wait in the waiting room for more than a minute before they take you back so your pet is secluded from other animals. The Vets are extremely thorough and explain everything that's going on and offer Solutions that could help your pet and our understanding about high costs of more complex procedures. The receptionist is always cheerful and if they're extremely busy and can't answer the phone you always get a call back within minutes. One of the best parts about this but is that they always call the next day to follow up to see how your pet is doing. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the staff here.

Kelly Burns

Really awesome staff and fantastic vet. I love that they provide private exam rooms and an exit out the back of the building rather than having to go out the front door. My older dog is not dog friendly and it is so much more comfortable not having to worry about running into another dog in the hallway or coming into the practice. Dr. Magnuson is incredibly knowledgable, caring, and practical. She also is one of the few vets I've met who will propose alternative methods of treatment (laser therapy or acupuncture) for pain. She is very sensitive to animals in pain - she works very hard to ensure they are comfortable - I've had two aging dogs with arthritis and she has been wonderful in managing their pain and allowing them to live out their senior years happily. I drive 40 minutes to go this practice - and it is SO worth it.

Clayton Mason

They took very good care of our pet after he bit a porcupine.

Alexandra Shilo

Exotics: I was taking my bunny to a different vet clinic prior to my recent visit with Canobie and wasn't totally thrilled with their knowledge of exotics.. So I booked an appointment with Canobie and scheduled the works for my rabbit to be checked out. When I walked in they had Oxbow products on display and information about exotics so I knew they must really treat a lot of exotics and actually know their stuff (the other place had nothing other than cat and dog information and products-which is fine, but shows your probably don't handle exotics often enough). Even better: sometimes you might expect the Vet Techs to not know all that much (no offense guys I just mean in comparison to the Drs.), but my vet tech was REALLY knowledgeable about rabbits and was super helpful! Canobie is a little pricier than the other place I was at, but its worth it to have some peace of mind. Toffee is binkying for joy over a vet that knows what's going on! Rabbits are the third most popular vets in the US, but you would be surprised how little some vets know about them! This place is great and can give you a wealth of info. Oh, and one more thing: they are great at updating you on your pet's health / staying in touch and they have early morning drop-off and pickup times a little later in the afternoon to work around office hours. I let Toffee stay the day so I wouldn't need to take off work and they even gave him his own exam room to hop around in so he wouldn't be freaked out or cooped up in a cage all day - haha spoiled brat! Thanks Canobie!

David Hardjosuwito

I used to like this place until less then 2 years ago when they made us do numerous blood works on our dog and spent hundreds of dollars but never able to diagnosed what was wrong with our dog. They always made us do blood work and lab work for everything, it looks like that's how they are making their $$ the most. I decided to take our dog somewhere else and just 1 blood work the other vet was able to diagnosed what is wrong with my dog. It was a rare decease called Diabetes Insipidus. In addition to that, from several physical exams, Canobie Lake Vet was not able to identify the tumor my dog had. He recently died and I wish I took him to a different vet instead off Canobie Lake Vet and my dog probably would not suffer and still alive.

Halle Boo

Worst vet i ever brought my bearded dragons to. One of my dragons they didn't tell me what's wrong just gave her aton of meds and i had to rush her to a hospital and they told me what was wrong right away. My 2nd Dragon they keep wanting $45 to check his poop 5 times now and gave him 6 different meds. So i brought him to the hospital and they said nothing was wrong he 100%. NEVER BRING UR ANIMALS HERE UNLESS U WANT TO GO THOUGH ATON OF MONEY FOR NO REASON

Joseph Diamond

My wife and I just got a new puppy and out of 3 vet's in Salem, we picked this one and are happy with our choice. The place is new and was recently built in early 2019. I guess the old place was small and the owner built a new one. It is very modern. I believe there are three vets, we got the recent grad one (she told us). I am not thrilled of her lack of experience and she was very vague on alot of questions i asked but shes new, seemed to know what shes talking about and realllllly was good with our puppy. I do recommend this vet and will be going again in a few weeks as the puppy needs more stuff after her first visit. PS - oh yeah, the vet tech, i dont remember her name but she was younger and short (not an insult but my description) with an arm tattoo and she was AWESOME! I hope she reads this as i think she should be a vet one day, she was GREAT answering alot of my questions. Her and the vet did not rush us at all and i appreciate that. I think we were there for close to 2 hours and it was only our first visit maybe that explains the length of time reason as we did a lot!

Caio Rolim de Freitas

Great care for your pets. They call you to check on the patient and are responsive. Great rewards program.

Jeff Nielsen

Knowledgeable and gentle with our dogs.

James Reilly

I brought my dogs here for a few years after doing some work for a family member of the person who owns it. First few times everything was good but the last time i brought my dogs here they tried to charge me well over $1,000 for a check up for 2 dogs and their shots. Im pretty sure that it was in the $1,400-$1,600 range. I told them there was no way i was spending that and the doctor then indirectly said something related to me not loving my dogs. Obviously this irritated me greatly and i was pretty sure i was never coming back. But what really set me off was the other day i was talking with someone in the barber shop who goes here and they said they pay less than $500 for everything for 3 dogs. her dogs are all about the same size of mine. One of the other people lived in windham as well and said they paid close to what i payed there. So I'm willing to be that when they see a Windham address they charge a different amount than someone who doesn't live in town.

Courtney Costa

Love this place. Only vet I will take my cockatiel to.

Tanya Gray

The staff are very nice. They were extremely gentle with my sugar glider. The staff even emailed me to check how my sugar glider was doing.

Roland Silva

Tried a bunch of times to reach them on the phone always busy. Drive all the way there because my dog has something wrong with his paw and if you touch it he’s screaming in pain. They say they are busy and they will see him in an hour. He messes all over himself in there because he’s in pain. He never does this. Go to leave and while putting him in the car he messes all over the car. Go back in say I️ will wait and they say it will still be an hour so I️ should go to the local 24 hour hospital. First if they answered the phone I️ would have taken him somewhere else rather than drag the dog in pain and second I️ have never seen any vet I️ have dealt with turn away a dog without doing a quick triage to see what they can do. Really don’t want to take my pet somewhere they don’t care. We recently moved up here and were never treated like this in a Boston. Really disappointed

D V

I'm not impressed easily, for starters, I'm a nurse, so I can be quite critical in these situations, even if it's a pet. I look for great care, knowledgeable staff, clean facility, and attentiveness all wrapped in to one. From check in to check out, I was incredibly happy with the attentiveness, the time spent with our new puppy, and all the love the staff had towards our puppy the entire visit. Dr. Dressel was also very attentive to my 11 year old son and made sure to include him when speaking about our pup. The facility is sparkling clean, the staff was so friendly, everyone seemed to love their job, no question went unanswered. I received follow up emails checking in on her after her vaccines. I'll also mention the front desk knew she needed to be seen and squeezed us right in despite being booked. Nothing but great things to share! Great place!

Tru Scorpion

I felt the place was very dated, it was dirty and the Dr who came in was less than 5ft tall she looked like she was in middle school was very timid and I felt she was not knowledgeable at all she actually was scared touch or look at my dog's... extremely unprofessional NOT sure I would go back, let's not mention way over priced.

Jeremy Butler

My name is Brenda Ingalls. I moved to LOndonderry, NH in 1998. Over the course of 5 years I used vets in Londonderry, Hudson, Derry, and Sale m. At this time I had 3 animals. I discovered DR. Magnuson on my 5th year. At this time she made housecalls with one technician. I automatically knew she was going to be for keeps. She was very knowledgeable, personable, and was very attentive to my animals. Over the course of 20 years she has serviced my cats, dogs, parrots, guinea pigs and has been very asute and honest. I have read the reviews posted and have to say not all are accurate. One review stated she conducted unneccessary tests. My golden retriever came down with a crusicated ligament in which Dr. Magnuson informed me would not guarantee a remedy and would cost $2,500. I went ahead with the surgery and it did not fix the problem. I think when choosing a vet you have to know what you are looking for and be honest with your commitment to your animal. A vet is like a medical doctor caring for your child. What do you expect? I was and am still very ill having being misdiagosed by a major hospital in Manchester and Londonderry. 3 doctors failed to do blood tests that I need ed to diagnose my disease. DR, Magnuson gave me a recommendation of a medical provider and she knew some of my ailments going on without me telling her what they were. That medical provider has saved my life. No, I am not out of the woods, but have improved significantly. I have been very fortunate to be part of canobie lake vet coming to life and watching it grow and develop. Dr. Magnuson hand picks her technicians and back up vets. She is invested. INVESTED is the key. Ask any parent with a child what they consider qualifications in a physician. Being able to listen, educated advise, and be available. That is Dr. Magnuson. I have been part of the house calls in the beginning, her first practice, and her new building which I appreciated having to put down my 18 year old cat and being able to have him look out the window I was able to pull the shade up, open the window so he could breathe in the air and smell before he passed. Her old building did not offer this. The only negative comment I will make is that her back up on call establishment is not the same caliber she is. It contradicts who she is as a person. If you are looking for a vet to be honest, have good knowledge, commitment, and staff that are educated then this is the practice for you. Brenda Ingalls

Laura Perrotta

Very friendly staff!

Pamela Melvin

Been with them for years. Rabbit savvy Vets. It took me years to find a rabbit Vet who knew how to treat these very sensitive furbabies!

Carla Fortes Spinney

Excellent care

timm haskins

Very caring staff, from the receptioniats to the techs to the doctors. Found this vet after years with other larger vets that lacked the personalization. Docs are great and follow up with phone calls after sick visits.

Bennett Henry

Excellent practice. Doc's are thorough and really care about the animals they treat. They wont take any shortcuts in the recommended care of your animals, even if the owner may want too.

Timothy Bergeron

Only place I take my dog

Nicole Waldman

Good staff, expensive

dan lewis

Dr Dressel is absolutely fantastic. Besides seeing my dogs in person Dr Dressel has provided medical advice, for the dogs, be it New Hampshire, Virginia or California.

Paul Ciampa

We have been going to Dr Magnison for many years even before she opened the building. We have recently lost our faithful companion. When time heals our broken hearts and it's time to get another love. We will be sure to come for our care....Thank you for caring for our girl.

Nadeau JW

The staff is so friendly and helpful. They take the time listen and handle my puppy-dog with kid gloves. He is actually excited to go to the Vet! Thank you Canobie Lake Vet team for your loving-kindness :)

Sue Barrasso

When Dr. Dressell left Nashua and went to Canobie, we LUCKILY found her, we drove 40 minutes instead of 5 to have her see our dogs. She had been seeing them since they were puppies and when my Lucy was failing in her health she was an ENORMOUS strenghth for us when we had to do the unthinkable!! WE LOVE HER and so does Shamus!!!

Tom D

Could not ask for a better vet place. Provide super care and advice.

Mike Hughes

I love this place! And Spencer the cat loves it too. They are the most caring people I have ever brought a pet to. Dr Dressel is just plain wonderful. I will never go anywhere else with our kitty.

Christopher LeFave

Great vet for your exotics and avian needs.

Mike Daigle

People there are wonderful and very good at their jobs

Chris Mitchell

Love our vet Dr Patti Dressel. She and the staff are wonderful, caring professionals.

Bob Comora

Just wanted to thank Dr. Dressel and Carrie for the excellent care and attention shown to our dog Sookie on the visit for her annual checkup on Wednesday, January 30. We chose to bring Sookie to Canobie because they had done all of the surgeries(5) when she was at The MSPCA at Nevins Farm in Methuen, MA. The folks at the Nevins wasted no time in telling us how grateful they were to the staff at Canobie Lake and what a great job they did medically! Sookie is a 10-year old Maltese who we adopted last February 16. She is an important part of our family and great care is an important part of keeping her healthy. Carrie was very helpful in that she explained all of the options for treatment carefully and was very personable while doing it. Dr. Dressel took the time to explain what they would be looking for and what the process would be. The care and attention shown to Sookie and to us was first rate. We recommend Canobie Lake Veterinary Hospital very highly. It is worth it for us to travel a little to get the best care and attention for Sookie. Dr. Dressel made a follow-up call less than 24 hours later to give us the good news that all her tests were normal.

Selen Aktar

I found this wonderful place when my previous dog was very sick. My family uses alternative treatment (homeopathy etc) and Dr. Magnuson is very knowledgeable about alternative care which is why I feel comfortable bringing my new beagle, the trouble maker, to her. He already had an emergency situation at 5 months of age where he ate xylitol and they were so fast with the treatment that they saved his life! Yesterday it was time to neuter him and they were also going to check his soft palate to see if he needed an operation. I asked the staff to give Arnica before and after the operation and they said that they needed to ask the doctor which makes sense. Dr. Magnuson called me to let me know that he doesn’t need the soft palate operation (I love their honesty and this shows that they are not doing this work for money!) and that they gave him Arnica as I mentioned. She is knowledgeable enough to know that it is not going to effect their work negatively and went ahead with it. She called back after the operation as well saying again that they are repeating Arnica. They gave us our puppy back last night with painkillers, all the information I need to get him through the night and everything I need to do and encouraged me to ask questions. They just called back to see how he is doing and if I have more questions. I love their knowledgeable, caring and loving staff and my pup feels home when he goes there.

Chrissy Medeiros

Dr. Dressel is so nice, knowledgeable and excellent with people and animals alike!

Jessica Merchant

The staff was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. They truly care for their customers and their animals and will do everything they can to help

Guilea Crawford

One of the most trustworthy vet offices I've ever used, and they genuinely care for every animal they see. Even though I moved fairly far, I still make the trip to take my pets there. Dr. Magnusson is the best vet for exotics I've ever encountered. If you have a ferret and live in the area, you need to take them here.

Hunter W

Very disappointed, all about the money, not care. Told us they could help my sick gecko saying she needed fluids, shed removal and sent her home with several bottles of medications, food and a $240 bill. Unfortunately, she died 3 hours later, before she could use any medications or food. The didn't help her, just took the money of a 14 old kid. When asked about a refund they said, very sorry for your loss, but no refunds. So, I had to bury my gecko last night and then go to work today to start paying off their bill.

Anna Turskaya

One of the best hospitals I've been to across Europe and North America! Dr Magnusson is extremely knowledgeable, very considerate and careful, and connects really well with the pets (and the owners!) The staff are all also very knowledgeable and very friendly. I wholeheartedly recommend this hospital for any check-ups or more complex procedures.

A V

Each and every staff member in this Practice are a part of a great team. When you meet one you have met them all. They each hold the “face” and presentation of what you will experience here. You will experience excellent clinical decision making, knowledge and experience, kindness, honor for you pet relationship, and reasonable prices and the greatest value for you pet care dollars. Our family bunny was recently ill with gastric paresis which can be life threatening. We took him to a local Veterinary ER and they couldn’t say enough about Canobie Lake Veterinary Hospital. I now know why. Stanley is now well because we followed their excellent instructions. My family member received similar care at world renowned Mass Eye and Ear and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. They have called and sent emails inquiring about Stanley’s clinical status. Dr Magnuson, practice owner, wrote an excellent book “Animality How Pets and People Connect” which is so well written and anyone who is a pet owner can benefit from the wise words written in this book. Pets are family members and this practice completely understands this. I invite you to consider seeking care for you beloved pet at Canobie Lake Veterinary Hospital. I certainly will!

Gail Martin

I switched here a few years back because another local vet office had gotten too big and having a hard time with consistency. I am so pleased with the care and personal interest that they take with each furry friend. They’re very friendly, professional, but yet personable. They’re the whole package!

Marc Fisher Jr.

My wife really likes the people here. They helped our gerbil when it got into a fight with a younger gerbil. Staff was friendly and helpful.

Meghan Brown

I was impressed. I have small mammals and though it was expensive I am considering bringing all my pets there. They are the first vet in about 5 years that I don't feel look at me like I am a walking checkbook. They helped get me set up with my animals and we're incredibly friendly. I even signed up for their loyalty program which gives me the first two visits free for $75. Which is really affordable when a exotic pet exam is nearly $70-80 without meds per visit. The loyalty program also allows you to gather points for free exams and it benefits shelters also, and it is good at their sister locations. Over all I am very impressed they take the time to help your pets and give you as much advices as they can, answering any questions I had. They also lean towards more homepathic options for administering medication (i.e. non alcoholic base which pets like and don't fight you about. My pets were actually excited to take their meds). They are a place that I personally would recommend both for exotics atleast. I have been considering bringing my cat there instead also.

Ella McGinnis

Excellent care for my cockatoos and my dog! I can't say enough about the techniques used to treat injuries and alternative treatments for dogs with allergies. Ask about laser treatments for wound care. Simply amazing!

Scott Mellott

Has taken great care of our cats

Anthony G

I live in Windham and I have been bringing my pets here for years now. Sorry to say this but clinic has drastically dropped the quality of their service lately. I personally have no issues with the Doctor, but lately seems like she hired truly unprofessional staff. One time they gave my dog (puppy) the wrong medicine. Wrong medicine! It was a pure accident when I noticed the wrong prescription and I gave them a call. They said: Oops, can you drop by and pick another one? I wonder did the other guy/girl notice that he/she was giving his/her dog the wrong medicine too? Another time they starved my guinea pig for 12 hours while "performing the surgery". They told me to stop feeding him at 6AM. Doctor told me herself that she personally saw guinea pig eating for the first time at 2PM. While I noticed that all food that I left for him was untouched. I picked him up after work and noticed that little dude was barely alive. I love my animals and I will take them and my business elsewhere. I recommend you do the same.

Joe Novotny

A few months ago I noticed my gerbil a bump on his belly and he had blood all over him. I was very concerned & called the nearest vet office to see if they could take him, & they couldn't but they recommended canobie lake. After some research it seemed clear that he had a scent gland tumor which is quite common and easily recognizable in male gerbils. Well I took him there, and mentioned it seemed like a scent gland tumor. The vet told us it was his navel, and literally said he had the equivalent of an "outie" and it was bothering him so he was picking at it. She gave us some expensive medicine that didn't help. We came back when the meds were all finished & the tumor had gotten worse, they gave us more meds and some cream to put on it. Soon enough the tumor had grown significantly and he started deteriorating. He was dying & all we could do was have him put to sleep. When I told my manager about this at work (I work at a local family-owned pet store and the managers are very experienced and knowledgable about animal care) he said my first mistake was taking him to this vet. He explained it was a terrible place to bring my pet & other employees have had problems there too. At least I know where not to take my other gerbils.