About Chesapeake Veterinary Surgical Specialists

Chesapeake Veterinary Surgical Specialists, formerly Chesapeake Veterinary Referral Surgery (CVRS), was founded in Annapolis in 1992 as a component of the Chesapeake Veterinary Referral Center (CVRC), and opened a second location in Towson in 1998. In the Fall of 2016, CVSS joined CVRC in opening a third location in Columbia.

The medical staff of Chesapeake Veterinary Surgical Specialists is composed of nine staff surgeons, three surgical residents, surgical interns, Registered Veterinary Technicians, technician assistants, and ICU technicians. All of our staff surgeons are boarded or board-eligible by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Chesapeake Veterinary Surgical Specialists is associated with emergency care facilities that have 24 hour doctor care in our intensive care units at all of our locations: AAVEC in Annapolis and Pet+E.R. in Towson and Columbia. Our three locations have doctors on premises 24 hours a day to ensure that all of our patients receive the highest quality care.

If you would like to learn more about our practice, see our surgical informational brochure or our pet rehabilitation brochure.

Anya F.

19:32 17 Mar 23

I can't begin to express my gratitude towards the staff at Chesapeake Veterinary Surgery. Surgery on a pet is incredibly stressful, but they were so nice and accommodating the whole time! My dog is still always happy to go see them 🙂

Laura S.

12:14 15 Mar 23

The orthopedic specialist explained everything very clearly- showed us the xrays and drew a picture of what the repair would consist of. The staff is caring and compassionate.

Robin A.

15:30 04 Mar 23

Thankful for the Awesome people that worked with my Big Boy.

Dan M.

22:25 27 Feb 23

From the moment we walked in the door, I could tell we had selected the right place. The front counter was professional checking us in for our consultation. The vet technician Kyra (SP?) listened attentively to all of our concerns. When Dr. Buirkle came to talk with my daughter and I, the attentiveness continued. Dr. Buirkle listened to all of our concerns and then recommended a course of action. CVSS was the only animal hospital between Southern Maryland and Annapolis that could perform the perianal adenoma surgery on our dog within 3 days of the consultation. A previous veterniarian has us do a consultation, provide an estimate, only to turn around and tell us it would be two months before the surgery could be performed. Dr. Buirkle called both my cell phone and my work phone to inform me of the results of the surgery upon completion. CVSS called me as well this evening to let me know the status of my dog. Tomorrow we will get to pick her back up and nurse her back to health!!! Thank you again Dr. Buirkle, Kyra, and CVSS staff!!

Daisy K.

14:49 25 Feb 23

The staff were most competent, compassionate and accommodating. One of the best places to go if your pet has an emergency or a complex medical problem.

23:36 23 Feb 23

14:31 23 Feb 23

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13:03 16 Feb 23

The staff and Dr Burgess treated my lil man, Mr. B for an ACL tear. The surgery went amazingly well and he’s healing well. I highly recommended them and will not take Mr. B anywhere else.

Jacqueline G.

17:00 14 Feb 23

Chesapeake Veterinary Surgical Specialist were excellent. They handled my puppy’s severe and difficult surgery extremely well. Our puppy pulled a typical puppy maneuver and broke her elbow. She was watched well and we provide excellent supervision and yet puppies can do things you simply don’t think are possible. She climbed out of her tall playpen that was supposed to keep her safe but little did we know at the time that we had a mountain climber In our midst. She broke a bone right in the area of her growth plate . I’m sharing this with all of you so you understand the complexity of this injury. The surgeon was amazing and I’m going to attempt the spelling of his name Dr Gauthier . He was amazing. From the person who checked her in, the surgeon, and the discharge planner were great! They treated her extremely well, kept me informed every step of the way and provided excellent follow up care. I also have to share that they also have a payment plan to utilize which her being only 12 weeks of age and us having her only a few days we had not been able to secure at the time of her climb. I hated that we had to use the surgical center but thank God there was such a good team for us to depend in when there was a need. Thank you!

IamTeshannaBeauty

21:37 08 Feb 23

I’m so happy that my husband and I found this veterinarian surgical center. They took great care of our fur baby JB with his ACL surgery. His recovery has been remarkable to witness. He is an 11-year-old peekaboo dog. We are so grateful for their services.

Micah the P.

19:05 31 Jan 23

My senior dog had surgery at CVSS January 2023. The team was amazing and took WONDERFUL care of my little old baby. They were attentive, understanding, and kind through the whole process. ( I was truly a mess.) I am so glad we had the CVSS crew to count on our time of need! Thank you so much y'all!!!

Rebecca R.

11:24 31 Jan 23

Dr Gaither was very good at explaining what our dog needed. He talked in depth about why surgery was needed and he also offered other options. The technician who greeted us and explained the financial part was also very good at explaining each cost we could possibly expect to pay. I would highly recommend Chesapeake Vet Surgical Specialists. We had used them in the past for one of our cats and that was just as impressive. They are very professional and compassionate.

Deborah W.

01:51 31 Jan 23

I like that you don't have to go into the building. The vet tech comes out to get your dog and the Dr will call and give you the results. Keeps everyone safe especially my dog as she is reactive in certain situations.

Ashli B.

18:11 26 Jan 23

Laura T.

19:53 24 Jan 23

Our dog had TPLO surgery here in December. She was under the care of Dr. Moore who I found to be very thorough, compassionate, and patient while answering my questions. She called following the surgery and the techs updated me at the times they said they would during my dogs overnight stay which helped calm my nerves. We started sessions with their rehab team about 4 weeks after her surgery. Abagail and Annie are awesome. You can tell they genuinely care and get excited about your dogs recovery progress. I’m so thankful for the entire team at CVSS for taking such great care of my dog.

Heather W.

18:32 24 Jan 23

When ever you have a family pet (or child for me) hurt and need a special DR, I would recommend coming here. The Drs took the time to sit with me and go over all the important things and also address an underlying issue with my Diva. Thank you

Greg H.

16:01 16 Jan 23

My dog needed heart surgery. The doctors and technicians were kind and responsive. I recommend Chesapeake to anyone.

Sandra M.

17:13 10 Jan 23

JS H

18:58 04 Jan 23

This team has been wonderful with my dog who is older. I've only had one visit so far but the staff was responsive and very friendly.