I've had multiple experiences with the Animal Emergency Clinic at 156th & Dodge and I'm relieved that they are there. 1. My 19.5 year old cat was failing, and I just could not wait through the weekend to put him down. You know how they say your pet gives you a sign that it's time and you just know? You'd think at 19.5, any time would have been good... but he was actually very healthy up until the very end... and I knew it was time and I didn't want him to suffer another minute longer and I took him immediately to the clinic. They were so kind and the doctor was gentle and kind with both me and my sweet kitty. 2. I found a large black lab that had been hit out near my parent's house in Waterloo and I brought him immediately to the clinic. He was in bad shape and they did their best to keep him comfortable while we attempted to find out who his owners were. In retrospect, this was a mistake because once we thought we knew who his owners were based upon where I found him, I was not allowed to give permission to put him down even though he was in terrible shape and in pain and we couldn't reach his owners. Finally, they did allow me to take responsibility and give permission to put him down. They did a great job with him, but I wish they would have been more clear about the legal rules on taking responsibility for an animal, etc. I had been willing to take care of all charges, etc. Next time, I will say I don't know so the clinic doesn't have any legal liability as I'm sure that's why they have to wait to euthanize an animal in that situation... which I can appreciate. It all worked out well though and I was very happy with the way they took care of the critically ill dog. 3. My 2 large breed dogs got into packages I had prepared to mail that had a bunch of holiday chocolate candy in them (quite a bit of chocolate). I was worried with the amount of chocolate and had to take them over to the clinic to get all the chocolate vomited up and the charcoal treatment in case of toxicity. The clinic recommended I keep them there overnight with IV fluids but it would have been potentially several thousand dollars, so I had to take them home and just stay up all night and monitor them. They gave me very specific symptoms to watch for (hyperactivity, panting, etc) and were excellent and preparing me for what to watch for even though I wasn't able to afford the treatment they thought would be the absolute best option... so I really appreciated that. Really excellent. My parents had a similar experience with their little kitten that accidentally ate one of their dog's medicines... she got the charcoal and had to be monitored, etc. In terms of pricing, do keep in mind that this is an emergency clinic and you are going to pay a premium for off-hours care. The office visit charges I'd paid have been $90 per and I'd say all of the other charges are at least double if not triple what you'd pay at your normal vet during normal hours. But this clinic services multiple vets offices all during off hours, and multiple vets and techs come in and work overtime to staff the place, hopefully at higher wages to make the hospital possible at all... so while it absolutely has hurt my pocketbook, I'm still quite relieved it's available.

One should take into account that the clinic is located in a very high rent district and overhead is probably ridiculously high, but even taking that into account my experience was not a good one. It took almost 2 hours to complete my visit, only 20 minutes or so in the actual company of staff there. Just a simple popping ones head in to assure me that they hadnt gone home for the night and forgot I was there would have gone a long way in altering my review. I've factored in that this was after hours care in a high rent area and it still seems almost to the point of price gouging.

My husband and I had to take our elderly cat who was literally dying to this hospital on a Wednesday night. The staff were very friendly, and the vet who was on duty was excellent. They were so good to us and our passing feline. The vet even said a prayer for our cat as she administered the medication to put her to sleep. I only wish we had a vet and clinic like this who had looked at our cat in the first place; then maybe our cat would still be alive. The staff on duty that night even sent my husband and I a sympathy card.