Cohutta Animal Clinic

We were on vacation and needed to take our dog to the vet. Dr. Oertley was amazing. Very caring and thorough. We have a senior dog who is blind and has a heart problem, so he needs special care. We felt that the entire staff was professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. We were thankful they could fit us in at the last minute and impressed with the high quality of care we received there.
We would definitely recommend them!

We are new to the area and the clinic was recommended to us. Our Simon needed to have a delicate surgical procedure to remove a growth from his eyelid. We had frankly been dreading putting him through it. The team at Cohutta handled everything beautifully and he was his old self the next day. We are looking forward to a long term relationship with the clinic and would recommend them highly.

First, the staff were caring and excellent, but they don’t care for my dog, the Vet does. My problems continued over 2 appointments so it wasn’t a matter of a the vet just having a bad day. The vet being Karen Oertley.
During the appointment when I’d try to stop her (the Vet’s) narrative because I needed clarification, I’d indicate, «wait. Before we continue I’d like to understand what you’ve said and add important missing info.»
She would ignore me even when I said it multiple times and go on with her instructions, which of course I couldn’t follow until I resolved/​understood the previous instructions.
After 2 – 3 attempts I’d get so frustrated I did what she did — I just kept talking over her hoping that would get her attention. But NO, she would turn and simply l leave the room. When she returned 5 — 10 minutes later she didn’t ask what it was I so badly wanted to ask, but continued her narrative which had naturally lost me long ago because my questions/​insformation about the previous instructions were never answered. She did this «storming out in a tantrum» episode twice the first visit.
The second visit after this one, twice I held up my hand and said
something like; before we continue lets get back to my dog’s) strict diet so I can understand. Twice she ignored me and continued talking about what she wanted to talk about. Which of course I couldn’t follow until I understood the basics of my dog’s special diet
So I held up my hand and said a third time that I needed to go back to the diet info before continuing. When she ignored me a third time I treated her exactly as she treated me. I kept right on talking over her to get her attention. She threw her previous tantrums and turned abruptly and left the room in the middle of my talking. She didn’t return for 10 minutes. And at that point never asked me what it was I needed to know/​say.
A vet that doesn’t listen to the her patient’s «person» is as dangerous to that patient as a pediatrician who refuses to listen to the mother of their patient (who knows them better than any and is the one to carry out the doctor’s instructions at home).
The vet Karen Oertley is unprofessional, horribly rude, refuses to spend time to learn what’s going on with their patient, apparently «too busy» to listen to vital information, throws tantrums, but most importantly, this all makes her dangerous to her animal patients. And all medical personnel will tell you that «ALL» information the family has to give about the patient is vital to proper care and must be listened to with the utmost interest.
Upon returning home after this second experience at Cohutta Clinic with Karen Oertley I immediately contacted a new vet and requested she apply for all my dog’s records at Cohutta. I will never trust my dog to the inadequate care of Karen Oertley at Cohutta Animal Clinic again.