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February 2024 by Scott S.
We recently moved to the Tumwater area from another state. We first tried to make an appointment with an animal hospital a little closer to our home for a suspected UTI (blood in urine), but they did not have availability for 3 weeks. I expected they would have attempted to squeeze us in considering the urgency, but no such luck. I then called Deschutes Animal Clinic and they were able to squeeze us in same day. They were very clear on the estimates, choices and procedure up front. They even provided printouts of everything we discussed with more details. Dr. Smith was friendly, helpful and professional. We found our new vet for our 3 dogs. Highly recommend.
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February 2024 by Babette C.
This is my sister's dog's vet and the staff is friendly. We had an emergency and walked in and it cost about $400 for X-rays and examination. It took a couple of visits and our dog is still dying because she's old, but they've helped us to buy a little more time for her. If you can make a same day appointment then definitely do that, since those follow up appointments cost less than $60 doing that, which would've been nice to know. Anyway, it's a friendly office, the pets coming in to visit are nice, and the place is a Pokegym, which is great for me.
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October 2023 by Jon ..
They are not my current vet but we're the vets for a couple of previous cats for a long time (maybe 15 years for one). I didn't leave them for any reason - I just didn't have pets for a few years and then when I adopted again, they had appointments at south sound which is closer and has also been great. I did need an asap appointment recently and deschutes got us in quicker. Great experience just as I remembered.
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August 2023 by Irina V.
Very happy with my visit at this clinic. I had my puppy scheduled for some shots but after noticing a limp I wanted to bring him in sooner. I stopped by on my lunch break to speak with the front desk and the two employees at the front desk were absolutely lovely and kind. They got my pup scheduled for first thing the following morning. The following day I brought in my pup and everything was great. The technician took the time to listen to all my concerns and took a bunch of notes for the vet. When the Vet came in Victoria I believe she was fantastic. She sat down with me and we talked about my puppies medical history and what happened with his paw. She went through a full exam for him and we found a care plan for the puppy. After our talk the technician returned to give him a shot and we talked about what's next for the little guy. She even went the extra mile and checked his microchip for me where she found the serial didn't match what I was given by my breeder! I was shocked and so grateful she checked. I will be registering him under the correct information thanks to the technician. I couldn't thank you enough! Overall super happy with the friendly staff and wonderful service. Thank you for not making me feel rushed and listening to all my concerns.
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February 2023 by Erin E.
I love this clinic. I moved here in 2018 from CA with my then 10 year old perfect cocker spaniel who was the absolute love of my existence. I needed to find a reliable veterinarian for my aging little lady. Even with the turnover in providers, I have never once had to question the care that any of my babies have received. We are always treated with kindness and compassion. They are reasonable and honest. Dr. Smith knows all of my babies now and is so incredibly knowledgeable and thorough. They never try to convince me to get unnecessary procedures, testing, or products. I am an anxious human and never feel like my many questions are a burden or annoying. My beautiful senior dog, Lexi, needed to venture over the rainbow bridge two weeks ago and it was the most difficult thing I have ever had to go through. All of the humans at Deschutes were so wonderful with me. They did not rush me. They did not pressure me. They showed such care and patience with me throughout the entire process. They also made sure to update all of their records so that when they needed to call me to remind me of my appointment with one of my other babies a week later, the person that called knew that Lexi had passed and did not include my recently deceased baby girl in the reminder call. I know that my babies are in the best hands here. I would recommend this clinic to anyone and I do.
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September 2022 by A K.
They are GREAT! Both of my dogs are rescues & one of them is VERY timid around new people especially males. However, the male vet that helped us was very patient, understanding and kind to her. All of the female staff that helped her were amazing too. They were all patient even though they probably had a full schedule that day. Never once felt rushed. My dog had something going on with her skin and within a day of using the prescription they gave her, her coat was 100x better. She has never looked so good and she is finally enjoying her life without being itchy.
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September 2022 by Alexis And Ryan K.
They are GREAT! Both of my dogs are rescues & one of them is VERY timid around new people especially males. However, the male vet that helped us was very patient, understanding and kind to her. All of the female staff that helped her were amazing too. They were all patient even though they probably had a full schedule that day. Never once felt rushed. My dog had something going on with her skin and within a day of using the prescription they gave her, her coat was 100x better. She has never looked so good and she is finally enjoying her life without being itchy.
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August 2022 by Aurora O.
We've been going here since our dog was a puppy (3 years now) ! and when we added our cat to the family she started going here as well ! They provide excellent care for both of our fur babies and are usually very prompt. The only instance that they didn't see us on time, they were very busy and ended up discounting our visit as an apology! We love Deschutes. They're not incredibly expensive (i'm in college so i have a tight budget), but i will say that their spays and neuters are out of our price range so we ended up taking them to the spay and neuter clinic in tacoma.
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December 2021 by Emily O.
They never have appointments. If your animal is hurt you have to go to the emergency clinic that also has no appointments. They say to call each morning at 7:30 to try to snag a walk in appointment for that day. You call. Three am's in a row. Are put on hold, hung up on or it just rings. All my cats go here from before covid screwed it all up and over crowded the vet system. These guys need a bigger and better office to keep up.
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March 2021 by Miri M.
For years my dog received vet services from this clinic. In September 2020, our 14 year old dog passed away due to old age with the assistance of a veterinarian we had never met before. She was kind and explained what was going to happen. We were offered the option of having a paw print as a memorial to remember our dog. Two months later, I called to ask about the paw print and was told I could pick it up anytime. My discontent about this clinic is that no one from the clinic ever called us after we made the heartbreaking decision to let our beloved pet pass in a humane way. I also called in February 2021 to and left a message for someone to call me back about the dog breed Cavalier King Charles, no one has gotten back to me. I will not be bringing my new dog to this vet clinic. So disappointed about how we didn't seem to matter after our dog passed. I gave 3 stars because I really liked the way Dr. Justin Ripka took the time to answer my questions when we had appointments with him.
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February 2021 by Jorja C.
Had an appt scheduled the middle part of November 2020 to take my cat in to get vaccinations updated and check his breathing as he has been breathing funny. I had taken him there 2-3 times prior as I was familiar with the business and because it was in Tumwater-my hometown. In fact, over the years, when I could afford it, I used to take my late dog, and two cats there. Back in the day, I loved the fact that they were a local establishment, provided wonderful care and customer service-they generally cared about both you and your pet(s). Bouncing back to November 2020: Had an appt scheduled like I said above, and received a telephone call from their clinic the day before stating that they needed to cancel and reschedule my cat's appt because one of their staff members contacted COVID-19 and said they'd call back in a few weeks to reschedule. Two weeks go by-no biggie. Now we are in December 2020, and so I figured to just wait until after the holidays to call and reschedule as they are most likely busy. In January 2021, I call to reschedule; explaining about them calling and cancelling my appt six weeks earlier and am told that they are extremely busy and cannot schedule me in for over a month, but that I can have a "walk in appt" and not be charged as a "walk in" clinic. Now I'm irritated with the response I received and also by the undertones in the person who I talked to voice. Feeling SUPER snubbed, "NO THANKS", I say and abruptly hang up. My roommate takes her dog there ALL the time and NEVER has a problem getting in; even if it's an emergency. In fact, she took the dog in this earlier this week after scheduling an appt only about three days in advance! CONCLUSION: It saddens me that Deschutes Animal Clinic has become a rundown, snobbish, discriminatory establishment that NEEDS to review their client and customer service practices. In other words, they SUCK and I'm SO DONE with dealing with b********
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December 2020 by Food L.
It's too bad this place goes through Doctors like toilet paper. Never the same dr, and the care is sub par. Time to find a new place. So much for staying local.
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November 2020 by Spenser O.
Deschutes Animal Clinic should be your last consideration for local veterinary services. Their service is sub-par, your animal will see a different veterinarian each time and they will know nothing about previous visits because they must take inadequate notes. Our pet was rescheduled 3x and it took 5 weeks to get in. When we did get his 3rd appointment we waited over an hour and a half before choosing to take our dog to a different clinic. Lastly, the building has horrible parking. Overbooked, overpriced, poor service. Look for other vets in the area before considering Deschutes.
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August 2020 by Lori R.
I'm sorry that I can't give the clinic I took my dog to for years a better review. I really think they've fallen down on their care for animals since COVID. Always too busy to call me back or to take my dog to check him when I came for an emergency they didn't consider dire enough. I was turned down several times. Just too inconvenient for them. It is closer for us than OVS, so of course we want our dog to get help sooner than later. Also getting an appointment took a week when we needed to be seen in a day or two according to our internist. We used to be able to get in right away or by the next day. We were pretty satisfied with them in the beginning. We had Dr. Smith who retired. Then another lady vet, and then Dr. J. Ripka, who we thought was a very loving and compassionate vet. I think he still is, but he was so busy, he didn't pay attention to what was going on with my dog. Didn't ask to see him before deciding to prescribe medication. I wish he'd said let's take a look at him and see if there's something else going on. If he had, maybe we'd have known what was really going on before the unthinkable happened. The last time I talked to him he was in a hurry, he was obviously calling from home and he was going to check on something for me on Monday, but I never heard from him. The worst part of it is, that my dog was in pain. Now it doesn't matter, since my baby is gone. They need to take less patients or hire more doctors instead of exhausting the ones they have so much they can't keep up. It's sad to say that this used to be a place I trusted, but if and it's a BIG if, I ever get another dog, this will not be our clinic. Sorry, but this is my honest experience of late. I hope this clinic goes back to being the one that I knew and trusted for the sake of all their other patients.
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October 2019 by Rick P.
Hey they are the best I trust them with my puppy's life. There very caring and I've seen them for 15 years. Love them
