University College Dublin Veterinary Hospital

University College Dublin Veterinary Hospital in Belfield is a university veterinary hospital offering both primary-care appointments and referral-level work-ups across small and large animals. The hospital states it provides 24-hour hospital care for all patients, and recent reviews frequently mention emergency visits at night and on weekends, including surgery and inpatient monitoring. Owner feedback is mixed overall, with many praising emergency support, staff kindness, and follow-up, while some raise concerns about costs, communication, and aspects of post-operative care.

Services

•Small animal medicine and surgery, including emergency treatment and surgery. Recent reviews mention care for a swallowed stone requiring surgery, a broken leg, and investigations for a cat with long-term medical issues.
•Large animal and farm animal services, including large animal surgery, farm animal clinic, herd health, and reproduction.
•Equine medicine and related services.
•Anaesthesia, plus diagnostic imaging and diagnostic laboratories.
•Rehabilitation and physiotherapy, along with a blood donor clinic.
•Species listed by the hospital include dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, as well as exotic and zoo animals.
•The hospital says it provides 24-hour hospital care for all patients, which aligns with reviews describing overnight stays, emergency admissions, and post-procedure monitoring.

Pricing

No published pricing information is currently available for this clinic.

People

•Dr Katie is named warmly in a review about a cat undergoing investigations, with the owner highlighting regular calls, emails, test updates, and planning of next steps.
•Reviews also mention the wider team of nurses, receptionists, and doctors, with many praising empathy and professionalism, while some report poor communication in difficult situations.

Reviews

Google rating: 4.5/5 from 1,161 reviews.

•Recent reviews often describe the hospital as an emergency service, especially for night, weekend, and holiday visits. Examples include treatment for a broken leg and surgery after a dog swallowed a stone, with one owner saying their pet was home again within about 24 hours.
•Positive feedback commonly mentions kind, accommodating staff, detailed assessments, and strong support during stressful cases, including end-of-life situations and longer-term investigations.
•Communication and follow-up get mixed feedback: some owners praise updates, calls, emails, paperwork, and aftercare, while others describe poor phone communication or feel post-operative follow-up was inadequate.
•Cost and inpatient care are the main points of criticism in negative reviews. Some owners describe the hospital as expensive or say waits can be long, while a few make serious complaints about payment expectations, overnight stays, sedation, and post-operative outcomes.

Reviews for University College Dublin Veterinary Hospital

Note: Showing the 10 most recent Google reviews out of 1161 we track in total. Recent reviews may not be representative of overall sentiment.

Kayleigh Casey

3 weeks ago

Horrible so unempathetic brought my dog was having seizure told me if I didn’t have half tonight of 1400 and the rest the next day they couldn’t give him medicine and to be put down, horrible place

Ana Alajbeg

If you can ,go aelsewhere ,I paid for tests and diagnosis of my cats issue but they wouldnt give me full course of medication for diagnosis so expensive ,not so good place for animals in dire situations ,this crowd only care about their fees ,behaving like superior gods that decide on life and death for sick animal that needs two more days of antibiotics to finish treatment ,which by the way cost 29 cent per pill and he needs 6 of them ,but no no even with there tests and diagnosis 3 days ago, nurse today on the phone needs to talk to sick pet owner in a way that is disturbingly unapropriate and superior words like IF YOU NEED ANTIBIOTIC TAKE HIM TO US AND AFTER FEE WE WILL GIVE YOU !! Its actually really bad when such a bad person is doing to job shes doing

Avril Gubbins

Gail Berry

1 month ago

What an amazing pet hospital. I have three pets who are chronically ill and I cannot recommend these guys highly enough. Such helpful people starting with the fantastic reception team to every other interaction I have had with any staff member. The detailed assessment that is provided to you so you can make the best choice for your best friend. I love the way that all patients stay overnight after procedures and sometimes more than one night depending on the treatment. At least this way you can know your pet is in safe hands in hospital where there are staff available in case of an emergency and you can sleep easy until you collect them. Thank you for taking care of my pets.

Angela C. Murphy

Thamires Gondim Brito

3 months ago

I am extremely disappointed with the treatment and care for my friends dog received at this hospital. Giorgio underwent surgery a few weeks ago, and unfortunately the procedure was not successful due to poor post-operative care and lack of proper follow-up. As a result, his condition worsened and he now needs a second surgery to correct what went wrong in the first one. I trusted this hospital with my dog’s life and spent over €3,000 on the initial treatment, only to be told that another surgery is required, costing around €2,000, because the first one failed. This situation could have been avoided with adequate care, monitoring, and responsibility from the medical team. Beyond the financial burden, this experience has caused enormous emotional stress. Seeing my dog in pain and suffering due to negligence is heartbreaking. I hope this review serves as a warning to other pet owners and encourages the hospital to take responsibility and improve their standards of care, communication, and accountability.

Iz Khan

Accommodating

Soraya McMahon

Had to come here on Christmas Eve and they were great all around.

Linda O’Connor

Nal

Absolutely awful. I'm sorry, I understand some do care, but I would never reccomend to bring a pet here for anything, not even a checkup. My cat was not cared for, prices always being the main priority, my baby could of died at home with us but they kept her instead. Not everyone there is awful, but I can never look at the place again without feeling awful. I do not want to go into detail, but I do not reccomend, and I hope that others don't have similar experiences. They kept her overnight for nights not needed as they got money for it. The person caring for my baby treated her as a thing, to be sedated CONSTANTLY for no need and kept in a tiny cage. She was incredibly dirty like there was no bathroom for her, when we did manage to see her, she looked like hell. She died suffering because of the place she was sent too, and I wish I could of given her a better passing. They did not need to do everything that was done to her, it was clear that fees were the main priority. We went on the weekend, where it is managed by a private veterinary organisation, I am unsure how the week works with students.