About Us

We think our animal hospital rates as one of the highest in Alachua County in the ability to provide excellent patient care, in-house laboratory, xray, surgery, and boarding services. Please take our Virtual Tour to learn about the services we offer in our lab, pharmacy, surgery, and kennel areas.

But, we also have some features that make us different, special, and unique. A few of these are:

Digital Xray:

West End is one of very few private practice animal hospitals in north central Florida to own a fully digital xray system. This hugely expands our capability to xray even the smallest creature with great accuracy and detail, and allows us to email xrays or copy them to CD for consulting with any specialist in the world.

Our Rescue Programs:

When you entrust your pet to our care, a portion of every dollar you spend supports our animal rescue. Our entire staff volunteers time and effort to help homeless and injured animals. We provide rescue and rehabilitation for a wide variety of species, from dogs to bats! By bringing your pet to us, you contribute directly to these efforts.

Operation PitNip

After Dr. C. and Iaon returned from post-Katrina New Orleans (see Dr. C's Katrina Blog), they saw a huge need to help the Pit Bulls of America. So, they created Operation PitNip, a FREE spay/neuter program for Pit Bulls in Alachua County.

Operation PitNip is unique in that it is funded by a joint effort of West End Animal Hospital, Florida Animal Friend License Plates, No More Homeless Pets, and PetSmart Charities.

After Hours Emergencies:

Our doctors take most of our own emergency calls after hours, enabling you to speak to a doctor who is familiar with your pet if something goes wrong. Although we must occasionally refer you to Affiliated Pet Emergency service because we can't see every single emergency patient,  we will always follow up with post-op patients or ongoing treatments.

Our Bat House:

West End is the only animal hospital in the U.S. to feature a large bat house, which is now located in the retention pond in front of our building. Since 1999 we had approximately 1000 Mexican Free-Tail and Evening Bats, and that number is growing steadily. We recently shot a video of the bats exiting the house, and counted them in slow-motion. We now have over 1700 bats! By providing homes for bats, we help to offset the loss of habitat that is the result of surburban growth, and they in turn provide us with natural insect control.

You are welcome to see our bats as they exit the house in search of food at dusk. Unfortunately, due to the severely dry weather of the past two years, it is difficult to predict whether they will be in residence. They are often gone now for three to four months at a time in search of food where bugs are more plentiful. You can call us to find out whether or not they are at home.