Acorn House Veterinary Hospital

Acorn House Veterinary Hospital is an RCVS-accredited small-animal hospital owned by the Royal Veterinary College. It’s set up for a broad caseload beyond routine consults, with inpatient care and on-site emergency cover into the late evening (handover to the Royal Veterinary College out-of-hours service after 11pm). The clinic also highlights advanced-practice expertise in small animal medicine, exotics and dentistry, and holds ISFM Gold Standard Cat Friendly and Gold Rabbit Friendly accreditation.

Services

•Small animal hospital care, including inpatient care (website).
•Emergency care (website)
•On-site emergency care 8pm–11pm Mon–Fri, 4:30pm–11pm Sat, and 8am–11pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
•After 11pm, handover to the Royal Veterinary College out-of-hours service.
•Preventive care (website + reviews): routine check-ups, vaccination boosters, parasite-prevention medicines (flea/worm/tick), and microchipping (listed on the website). Some owners also reference a monthly health plan that includes routine preventive items (reviews).
•Surgery and procedures (website + reviews): keyhole surgery and neutering are listed on the website; reviews also describe surgery for small pets (e.g., a guinea pig) with pre-op risk discussions and follow-up communication.
•Diagnostics and medical workups (reviews): examples include blood tests and scanning for a vomiting/diarrhoea cat, with ongoing updates and a written discharge letter.
•Dentistry (website): dental care is listed on the website (reviews previously referenced a dental scale and polish).
•Nurse appointments (website).
•Physiotherapy (website).
•Behaviour advice, breeding advice, and bereavement support (website).
•Home visits (website).
•Pet travel (website).
•Species seen (website): dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, birds, “small pets,” chickens, ornamental fish, and “exotic pets.” The website also notes their exotics vet is on maternity leave and that new bird and reptile registrations cannot be taken at this time.

Pricing

Available published prices indicate the clinic sits above average relative to similar practices. Some feedback also reflects that costs can feel high in the context of health plans and what owners expected to be included, though most recent reviewers focus more on care and communication than pricing.

People

•Rosie Theakston — named on the website as Clinical Director and Practice Principal.
•Hayley — vet mentioned for creating a clear assessment plan and organising diagnostics (blood test and scan) for a cat with vomiting/diarrhoea (review).
•Maria — vet mentioned for providing ongoing updates during the same case (review).
•Georgie — veterinary nurse mentioned for providing and explaining a written discharge letter (review).
•Rebecca Bostock — thanked in a neutering review for listening to owner concerns and requests.
•Henry — mentioned as the vet seen at vaccination time for an “annual MOT” style check (review).
•Shanaye Dhap — receptionist named in a critical review about how a health-plan query was handled.

Reviews

Google rating: 4.5/5 from 406 reviews. Recent written feedback commonly highlights

•Kind, thorough care and strong communication, including clear plans for investigations and regular updates during treatment.
•Support for nervous or rescue pets, with owners noting efforts to keep appointments calmer and less stressful.
•Long-term trust and continuity, including owners describing years of care through routine check-ups as well as more serious conditions and operations.
•One sharply negative experience centred on a health-plan routine check where the owner felt expected services weren’t provided and reported an unpleasant interaction at reception when querying what was included.

Reviews for Acorn House Veterinary Hospital

Note: Showing the 10 most recent Google reviews out of 406 we track in total. Recent reviews may not be representative of overall sentiment.

kevin shulver

3 weeks ago

We would like to thank all the vets, nurses and team for your care of Edward over the last few days for his tummy problems. A truly great effort. Edward is a young dog who means the world to us as a family. Thank you is not enough. Kev & Liz Shulver

Carole Wilthew

I love the care that my dog gets at Acorn vets. They’ve seen my dog through births, operations, life threatening eclampsia & the usual check ups for 12 years now. I highly recommend them and say thank you for the fantastic care!

Sarah Dunn

1 month ago

Fantastic vets! They take great care of our dog who has allergy & ear issues and is a nervous rescue. All the reception staff and vets work with us to make his appointments as easy and stress free as possible.

ann burbidge

Very helpful staff. Excellent treatment for all animals

Mary Burridge

Janine

3 months ago

Visited yesterday with both pets for the annual check ups, vaccination boosters and to collect flea, worm and tick prevention meds. Always lovely ladies on reception; friendly and welcoming and the vets take a few minutes to fuss the cat and dog before examining them.

Maya May

I’m extremely disappointed with my recent experience at this veterinary practice after being a client for over two years. I attended an appointment for my dog’s routine health check, which is included in the health plan I pay for. However, none of the services that should be covered under this plan were offered during the visit. I specifically raised concerns about my dog’s anal glands due to scooting and excessive licking, but the nurse dismissed this and said it was something a vet would need to look at — despite it being a service the nurses can provide and is included in the health plan!. When I later asked reception what was actually included in the health plan (nail clipping, anal glands, and a general health overview), it became clear that none of these services had been provided, even though they were particularly relevant to the concerns I raised during the appointment. To make matters worse, when I queried this at reception, I was spoken to very rudely by a receptionist (Shanaye Dhap) who told me she “thought I was being very rude” simply for asking about services I pay for and why they werent offered. I then asked to speak to someone more senior due to her poor attitude and lack of professionalism. I am incredibly frustrated and disappointed. I pay monthly for a health plan for my dog, and the services included were not offered. Being told I am rude for requesting what I am entitled to is unacceptable. Veterinary care is expensive, and owners are often worried and distressed about their pets — the last thing they need is poor customer service and personal opinions when the practice has failed to deliver what was promised. I would not recommend signing up for these health plans, as in my experience the services are not reliably provided. I will now be looking to move my pet to a different veterinary practice. I strongly suggest management reviews staff training, particularly around customer service, communication, and professionalism. Absolutely mortified!

Sharon Frame

4 months ago

Excellent practice. The vets are extremely thorough and reassured my nervous dog.

Mike Berry

We are always happy with the friendly, kind and loving service from Acorn House. I would not hesitate to recommend them.

Andrew Diemer

This is a genuine review of my experience of Acorn House veterinary hospital regarding the treatment of our cat Matilda. Matilda was continuously vomiting with bouts of diarrhoea and this went on for a few days so we decided it was time to go to the vet. The meet and greet was its normal friendly helpful self. The Reception is always well manned, the first vet that we saw was called Hayley she was courteous, polite, extremely knowledgeable and advised us of an accurate plan of assessment to get to the bottom of what was wrong with Matilda. She had a blood test and a scan and thankfully everything came back normal. Hayley and another vet called Maria kept us continually updated and fully versed of any developments. We collected the cat this evening from a veterinary nurse called Georgie. She was very informative and had a discharge letter waiting for us and went through it word for word so that we fully understood what had been carried out and what the findings were. An excellent practice offering fantastic service from your first encounter at reception to departure. Thank you very much to all concerned and the team behind the scenes. Best regards, Andrew and Dorota.