The Links Road Animal Clinic

I’ve brought my gecko here twice now, the first time because she had a bad shed and was lethargic and not opening her eyes. It turned out to be a very bad infection and Dr Axelson was wonderful in helping to diagnose and determine the best treatment for it. He was very kind, knowledgeable and great with my pet. He was very honest with me as to the prognosis but encouraged me to try some antibiotics. I administered them for two weeks as recommended and my gecko has improved quite a lot since. On a follow up visit a couple of weeks later he was very pleased at her progress and gave us a few other suggestions as well as a food substitute to try. I’m so happy to have found Links Rd and Dr. Axelson. Good reptile vets are very hard to find!

Recently I brought in my elderly leopard gecko after she stopped eating. The vet examined her and found a lump. He gave us some suggestions for what we could try at home and what the more invasive steps were. Never felt pressured or rushed into anything. When we decided to euthanize our gecko. The vet was very respectful and sympathetic. When we picked her remains up the next day we noticed the arranged her beautifully in the box and they even put dried flower petals around her. I was very impressed with their care and attention to detail.

I have mixed feelings about Links Rd. For one, out of the options so far, they are the best bird vet I’ve seen in the GTA (they rank much higher than Animal Hospital of High Park, imo) Anyways I went to visit them because my Black Headed Caique (parrot) was favouring his leg and we weren’t sure why. We saw Dr. Yee, she’s very nice but was a bit scared of my bird, who can bite. I had to grab him for her a few times, but I’m used to being bitten and restraint. Nothing that evident went on, he actually was grabbing her fingers quite firmly since he was stressed and pretty much made us liars. It seemed like he must’ve just landed funny and they gave him some metacam. So I was pretty pleased. I was a bit annoyed I was charged a ‘new patient fee’ just because I was a new client and they had to take the extra time to type in my information? Lame.
I then had to visit them a week later with my other bird, my Quaker parakeet because she had suddenly broken her leg. I honestly had NO idea how it happened. One minute she was fine, the next she limping towards me with her leg hanging weird. I was able to book in an emergency appointment thankfully (although that came with an extra fee also, which I guess is typical?) but they didn’t seem to be that busy because the waiting room was empty. I saw Dr. Mavromatis and he was okay.
I did see that he felt VERY suspicious that i had two birds come in for leg injuries in such a short period of time, and I felt like he was interrogating me that it came from neglect or abuse, which I felt very put off by.
But we went through our options, did x-​rays and decided to splint her leg without doing the $ 3000 pin surgery. He said it would be better because than her leg would be straight, but she flies mostly, so it wouldn’t restrict her movement if it healed a bit crooked. He also sent me a copy of the rads, which I wanted for my records, and because I also work as a vet assistant at another hospital (that doesn’t see exotics)
What bothered me is that he didn’t prescribe any pain medications for her clearly broken leg — like snapped in half broken. But my Caique got pain meds for a limp. I ended up calling the next day saying she is in a lot of pain, and they gave me a dose so i could use my other bird’s metacam for her. There was no cone, no instructions to keep her in a hospital cage or restricted flying/​exercise. Nothing.
Then she was irritated by the cast and decided to chew her toe off. I made her a cone and brought her back to Links to get her toe checked up. They said it doesn’t seem like a big deal it happens. They cleaned it up and gave her back to me (Free of charge, yay!) buuuuuttt… also didn’t give her pain meds or antibiotics for her bloody toe. Also no instructions about keeping a cone on her, or if I should keep the toe clean (i cleaned it daily with chlorhexidene, until it healed, by the way.) Didn’t question it. Did a recheck with rads, no big deal, that was expected. Wanted to keep the cast on longer, even though technically it was healed. That’s fine.
They never booked a third check up and I guess expected me too. I was keeping track, but I was hoping they would call me to remind me to book it, since I was super busy. Nothing. I ended up just taking the cast off myself (since I work as a vet assistant) and didn’t want to pay for a third set of rads to confirm that my bird’s leg is still healed and still crooked.
I think what bothered me the most was the lack of customer care. I never got a call the day after my bird had her initial visit to see if she is comfortable, if the cast was bothering her, etc., never got one remind me to book rechecks, and never got one saying «uhh come so we can remove the cast». For all they know, she could still be wearing her cast lol!
I understand that they are busy, but the clinic I work at we always call our patients to make sure they are doing well, are comfortable, and that the owners rebook their rechecks (they can always decline, of course, but at least we tried to keep them on schedule). I just felt like as soon as I left the door, I was not a valued customer.
But I will continue taking my birds to them, as they know what they are doing at least. Although the lack of pain medication and antibiotics put me off. Of course she did fine without them, but if she didn’t? that would suck.

I had a two week trip I had to make and it was really hard trying to find a place that actually had experience with rabbits. My pets got a thorough checkup and grooming and when I came back to pick them up I was so happy to see the two of them just chilling without a care in the world. I really appreciated their services.

Links is amazing for exotic pets the only place I trust in the GTA. They are somewhat pricey but the Vets are defiantly worth it, kind, compassionate and know their stuff. This is the only place I will take my reptiles.

This is one of the 2 Toronto area specialized avian veterinarians. Yes, a bird vet. Oh boy. Consequently, taking care of my feathery friend can be a bit expensive. But the vet, Dr. Axelson, has a lovely disposition and is very gentle with my conure. Plus, they have in-​house boarding which has proved very useful. In order to use the boarding, the bird needs to get tested! Can’t really complain!

Dr. Mavromatis is a fantastic and skilled veterinarian. After moving to Toronto I was seeking a vet with experience in chinchilla tooth problems and that led me to the Links Clinic. My little buddy is between 7 – 8 years old and has root elongation. Dr. Mavromatis explained all of our options for the little guy and I chose to have his teeth removed as the only permanent solution to the problem (vs. long term pain management that would eventually lead to kidney failure over the next year or so). After an initial hitch wherein I was not informed that my pet needed to come off his pain killers 4 days prior to surgery, resulting in a week of pain for the little guy followed by a smooth surgery removing all of the teeth on one side of his mouth, my little buddy is doing great. He will eventually have to go in to have the teeth on the other side of his mouth removed but for now he is gaining weight and regaining his strength. Throughout the procedure Dr. Mavromatis has been phenomenal about explaining the causes of my chin’s teeth problems, what paths were available for treatment, and answering all of my questions calmly and informatively. I would highly recommend him as a vet to anyone with chinchillas as that level of knowledge and experience is hard to find! Most vets without experience in exotics and chinchilla tooth problems see root elongation as a death sentence for chinchillas, Dr. Mavromatis on the other hand has given my little guy a really shot at a long, healthy, pain free life. The technicians are also fantastic and treated my little buddy like the superstar he is ;)

I brought my budgie to The Links Rd. Animal & Bird Clinic today for a check up and to have a vet take a look at an injury on his toe. The customer service from both the staff at the front desk and the vet were exceptional! Everyone was very knowledgeable and helpful, going out of their way to answer my questions and ease my concerns. Dr. Rick Axelson is clearly very skilled at handling and caring for birds. I highly recommend this clinic to anyone seeking care for their exotic pet!

I have not personally dealt with bringing a animal to The Links Road Animal and Bird Clinic, but I do stop by often to pick up some diabetic cat food, which oddly enough they do not have anybody who specializes in cats and they recommend going to the Cat Hospital.
My cat is diabetic so he needs food that normal pet supply shops do not carry, which if you ask me is a pain in the ass because only veterinaries are allowed to carry these specialty foods… Which means they are going to rip you off!
However after calling around to check the prices on Purina DM (Diabetic Management) Links Road seemed to be much lower then most places so this is where I pick up my cat food!
Who knew I would end up buying from a Bird and small animal Clinic, especially when they do not accept cats here.
I just hope they continue to order the food in because it is a great price!