Gaines Shoal Animal Clinic

They always take excellent care of my furbabies. Staff and doctors are friendly, knowledgeable, and caring. Shoal Creek has been our vet clinic for seven years.

We have used SCAC since 2003. They remain focused on providing the very best care for our dogs.

The staff here are wonderful and treated my cat with so much care. The doctor was also really great at explaining procedures and health concerns in a way that was clear and easy to understand so that I could be better informed on how to properly care for my cat.

Just awful. I've always had good experiences here, so I sent my partner. She was hassled for $$$ by the vet and front desk. Went in for a gland expression and almost left paying $500 after they tried to guilt her into paying several months in advance for heart worm preventative and other random things. When she objected, the vet GUILTED her by telling her our dog could die if she didn't buy it. Are you kidding me? Who says something like that? On top of just being an unpleasant know-it-all. We'll never come back here.

The doctors and staff at Shoal Creek AC are amazing! I've worked at animal clinics and with an animal pharma company and have taken my pets to several other clinics. These people are the best! They truly care about me and my pets, and I'm so happy with every visit. Dr. Ellis is thorough and talks with me not down at me, which we all know some doctors can do. And Angie and the other staff and the vet techs are super nice and helpful!

This is my favorite vet in Athens! I take my cats to see Dr. Rich and I always feel informed about what is going on with my cats when I leave. They truly treat you like you are family here and all of the front staff and vet techs are wonderful to work with. If you are looking for a vet to take care of your pets as if they are your children, this is the place!

We are newer clients who took our dog for her annual several months ago and had great service and took our cat today for her annual who can be a handful, and was very appreciative of the care and professionalism from Dr. Ellis and his staff who were also very polite and personable. Even though Oatie was being feisty and we did not get everything done today, we were able to schedule another appointment where we would be more prepared for her exam with some medication. Many thanks!

First time visit to this vet clinic since moving into Athens and I could not be happier. Dr Ellis took so much time with my dogs. It was the most comprehensive exam they had undergone in quite some time. He was friendly. He spoke with me at great length regarding the changes my dogs were experiencing since moving from Salt Lake City to Georgia. The staff at the office was friendly and helpful.

I felt 100% at ease here. They all practice social distancing and face masks are required if you enter the building or, if you prefer, they will allow curbside drop off for your pet. I feel comfortable and confident that I will enjoy and happy and long relationship with this veterinary practice. They are all top notch!

I found Shoal Animal Clinic on Yelp as we were new to the Athens area. I was very impressed with their friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Dr. Elder and Hillary were patient and caring with our dog and listened to our concerns. I am impressed with the quick response to the tests taken and their follow up.

Every time I call or go to Shoal Creek Animal Clinic, my faith in humanity is restored a little more.

They overcharging me and kept tried to running unnecessary tests. Horrible clinic ever.

A really good vet. Dr Elder is incredibly patient and kind, as are the vet techs & receptionists. I often wish I could get a GP for myself who listened as well & explained things as patiently as Dr Elder does.

I have been taking my dogs here since 2009 when I first moved to Athens. Dr. Elder and his staff are the best! They are always kind and gentle with my pups and will always take the time to answer my questions. Dr. Elder always remembers my dogs which says to me he is also familiar with their health history. Pricing is very reasonable and they sometimes offer discounts on blood work and teeth cleaning over the course of the year. There is no one I trust more with the health of my precious pets. I couldn't think more highly of Dr. Elder and his staff.

I won an auction deal from the UGA Vet School for a visit to Shoal Creek. I was pleasantly surprised by this little vet clinic. Dr. Elder is very nice, and the staff are always incredibly pleasant. My large dog was having some very serious issues, and while our primary vet was pushing me to get him surgery, Dr. Elder actually formed a plan to solve the problem instead of just cutting to the end game.

That spoke volumes to me. I plan on getting all of my pets switched over eventually, I think. The one thing I would say is that some follow-up calls would be appreciated, especially in the very serious case of my dog with terrible issues. It would mean a lot to have someone checking on his progress. But other than that, this clinic is one of the best I've been to.

I recently relocated to Athens and really lucked out finding such a great veterinarian my first go. My cat is quite a difficult patient with a myriad of health problems, including a heart defect, and usually needs to be sedated to be examined. Dr. Elder and his technician were able to perform the examination and get him the treatment he needed without sedation. Additionally, I was presented with options to help treat my cat's condition more chronically rather than going to the vet every six months for steroid injections, which are detrimental to his health and really stress both him and me out.

It is apparent that Dr. Elder really cares about his patients and their fur-parents. I will be returning to this practice in the future and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to any friends.

We've been bringing all our dogs to Shoal Creek for years. They are simply the best in town and our dogs are very comfortable with them. We found this clinic when we first moved to Athens about five years ago. Our oldest dog had been "attacked" by an off-leash dog (a big problem in Athens, apparently) and needed emergency surgery around her eyes.

We got to the clinic about ten minutes before closing time, but they took our dog back right away without any fuss or complaint. The surgery was a success. Since then we have adopted two other dogs and take them to Shoal Creek for everything. I'm glad we live in Athens, but unless it were an emergency, I think we would drive 100 miles to bring our "children" to Shoal Creek! (We do have personal friends who are vets in the area. They all speak very highly of Drs. Askren and Elder.)

I relocated to Athens from San Diego with two 8-year-old basset hounds and chose Shoal Creek Animal Clinic because of it's proximity to my home and the other Yelp review and I'm really glad I did. The staff is very friendly and helpful, and I really like Dr. Elder's no-nonsense approach to animal care. Both of my bassets have myriad health issues, and before we left my San Diego vet had prescribed a long list of expensive tests and procedures (ultrasound and possible surgery) to definitely diagnose and treat my female with Cushings Disease. Dr. Elder said he didn't believe tests and even treatment would improve her quality of life.

If we were okay with letting her drink a lot of water and making sure she had access to the backyard to "expel" the water, then she'd be just fine. He said the drug he would give her for Cushings had non-desirable side effects. I appreciated his honesty. Also, you can drop your pets off for baths at Shoal Creek.

So, when we moved here our dog was only 3 months old and she was due for her next series of shots within a week of being here. The first vet we took her to was nice but there was only one doctor there are we had an appointment but waited over an hour to get seen. We went ahead and got her shots there but never went back. The second place we took her was after she hurt her leg and they claimed she needed a splint and all this other stuff and we believed them. However, their front desk lady was always rude and the vet and his staff were immature and I didn't feel that they listened to our concerns.sooooo, we went to yet ANOTHER vet. Finally, on the recommendation to Pawtropolis, I took Frankie to Shoal Creek.they explained that she never really injured her leg that bad and that the previous vet should have taken x-rays of both legs and they would have noticed that. Also, both vets (Dr. Elder and Dr. Askren) are sooo nice and they explain everything.

I feel that the doctors and all the staff truly care about your concerns and your little furry family member's well being. Even though we are getting ready to move to Watkinsville, I will still take my dog and kitties there.