. "You know how are those businesses that make living somewhere great, because they make a sometimes-hard-and-painful thing better? In Connecticut, it was an awesome car repair shop that we just knew we could trust every time. In Illinois, it's SportsVet. Without question, this is the best vet I've ever been to. \n\nThe staff are unbelievably knowledgeable, friendly, and clearly care about the pets that come in. My wife and I have gone to vets in other states that told us everything we were doing wrong with our cat, that we needed to switch him to a $60 cat food that we could only buy from them, and that walked out of the examining room without offering to help get our stressed kitty back in his carrier. SportsVet is the absolute opposite. No pressure, amazingly helpful, and very thoughtful in the feedback they give. \n\nWhen our vet did our cat's check-up, he told us that, \"yeah, he's overweight, and yeah, that's kind of a problem. But it's a common problem, and here are some really simple recommendations on how to get his weight down and also avoid having him wake you up in the morning asking for food. Also, you should get his teeth cleaned sometime in the next six months or so, but we have discounts on that in February, so come by then. We'll send you a reminder.\" Just awesome, down to earth, excellent advice from some really smart and kind people.\n\nAfterwards, I was chatting with the staff about my wife and I's search for a new dog, and an hour later i got a ton of great recommendations on rescue organizations in the area in a follow-up email from one of the staff members. When we finally get our new pup, he won't be going anywhere but SportsVet."^^ . "0"^^ . "1"^^ . "5"^^ . "3"^^ . . "2014-09-11T00:00:00"^^ . .