Oaks Veterinary Clinic

4.8 (482)
2030 27th St, Des Moines, IA 50310, USA

Hours:

Monday: 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Tuesday: 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Wednesday: 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Thursday: 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Friday: 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM

Saturday: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Sunday: Closed

How to Save Money at Oaks Veterinary Clinic

Schedule Regular Vet Visits

One of the best ways to save on vet bills is to prevent expensive health issues before they develop. By scheduling regular wellness checkups, your vet can detect health issues early, helping you to avoid costly treatments and surgeries down the road.

Price Shop for Pet Prescriptions

Oftentimes our fur babies are prescribed human drugs off-label. Your vet is apt to charge more for these medications than you would pay at your local pharmacy. In fact, big-box or chain pharmacies can offer steep discounts. So it’s best to price shop.

Pet Insurance

Most pet insurance providers will pay between 80% and 90% of the vet bill. You can even get coverage for routine care and things like vaccinations and dental cleanings. If you do the math, you’ll most likely find that pet insurance makes financial sense in the long run as well as gives you peace of mind.

How Do You Choose the Right Pet Insurance Provider?

Pet Insurance Review makes it incredibly easy for pet parents to select an insurance provider they feel good about. You can use our handy comparison tool to get the gist of what a company offers. We’ve also collected over 150,000 reviews of insurance companies from real pet parents like you to rank the top providers in the market. Here is the current ranking of each:

Top Pet Insurance Providers of 2024
Rating Provider Total Review
4.4 AKC 889
4.7 ASPCA 11,411
4.9 Embrace 14,234
4.9 Fetch 2,051
4.4 Figo 2,579
4.7 Hartville 164
4.9 Healthy Paws 7,477
4.9 Lemonade 783
3.2 ManyPets 2,153
4.6 MetLife 493
4.8 Nationwide 21,393
4.3 Pet Assure 12
4.7 PetPartners 110
4.5 Pets Best 7,196
4.3 Pumpkin 1,163
4.7 Spot 5,260
4.9 Trupanion 60,297
4.8 Prudent Pet 125

Or, you can simply get a fast quote from multiple providers and go from there.

Thinking of insuring your pet?

Get Quotes & Compare

Getting to Know Your New Vet: Essential Questions to Ask

Choosing a new veterinarian is an important decision for any pet owner. You want to find someone who is competent, compassionate, and a good fit for you and your fur baby. To help you get the most out of your first appointment, here's a list of essential questions to ask your new vet:

Tell me about your experience with [pet type].

Different vets have different areas of specialization. Some are experts with cats, some dogs, some pocket pets, and some horses. Knowing that your vet has vast experience treating your specific type of pet can bring you peace of mind.

How do you handle emergencies?

You must know what to do in case of a pet medical emergency. Inquire what after-hours policy the clinic has, whether they have on-site emergency care available, and if they have a relationship with any nearby emergency animal hospitals.

How do you communicate with pet owners?

Good communication is key to building a trusting relationship with your vet. Ask how they prefer to communicate (phone calls, emails, online portal) and how often you can expect to hear from them.

Are there any breed-specific health concerns I should be aware of?

Some breeds are predisposed to certain health conditions. Knowing what to watch out for can help you catch problems early and get your pet the treatment they need.

Do you have any questions for me about my pet?

This is a great question to ask because the answer will show that the vet is interested in getting to know your pet as an individual and is willing to listen to your concerns.

Bonus question: Can I take a tour of your facility?

Getting a feel for the clinic's environment can help you and your pet feel more comfortable during your visits. Remember, you’re not just looking for a veterinarian, you’re looking for a partnership. Do not be afraid to ask these questions and any others you can think of. Any vet worth their salt will be happy to answer them. Because the more informed you are, the better equipped you'll be to make decisions about your pet's care! And that should be every vet’s top priority.

Reviews from Google

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Carmen Harris

My animals have been patients at Oaks Vet for over 30 years. I love their care, understanding, and tolerance of my views and mostly how they treat my animals. They listen!

posted: 07/20/2023

Megan Matamoros

We called at 7:45am because my rabbit was having a seizure-like activity. Dr. Ford was able to see Lola at 8:30am. Lola was not a current patient at Oaks and I had already called 2 emergency vet clinics and 1 other vet clinic and the other clinics unfortunately did not have veterinarians that had experience with rabbits. Needless to say I was so grateful they were able to see Lola. She is now at home resting. We would have spent thousands on our rabbit but our visit cost us less than $100. Totally worth it. Thank you for providing exotic animal care to the Des Moines area. It means the world to me and my husband. Photos of Lola below because she's my world.

posted: 09/26/2022

tyler mitchell

They have a very caring staff. I sometimes get frustrated with how busy they are (all veterinarians are busy these days), but they go above and beyond. They answer all my prattling questions and really seem to care about my dogs as much as I do. It is a smaller clinic but I think it’s the best one in Des Moines because of the thoughtful and well qualified staff. I’d recommend calling them earlier to set up appointments and things because they are so busy. BUT they’re the best; that’s why they’re busy.

posted: 07/01/2023

Sandy

Approximately after two weeks of being there the atmosphere and attitudes of people changed towards me. I was told from another employee that this was “normal” and how it always is and to “just wait because it gets worse”. I chose to let it go and continue my career path with this employer only to find out it actually does get worse. I was only employed here for about 5 months before officially putting in a two weeks notice. Before I put notice in I reached out to the office manager in hopes of understanding why I was being treated so poorly and what could be fixed to make it better but I was completely ignored. Other employees tried to reach out as well to figure out why because they were witnessing how I was being treated and thought it was horrible. When I tried to speak to the owner about their patients I was ignored and left standing there while they walked away. I was constantly being shoulder checked by the owner when trying to walk through doors and hallways. If I was doing something for a customer at the front desk or cleaning items at the sink and didn’t move out of their way right away the owner would press into my sides and sigh until i moved. I would get yelled at for small mistakes during the learning process of how this employer did things due to almost no training due to the rvt not willing to train correctly and no communication. I was called “hey you or you” and never by my name. My hand was swatted at by another assistant in front of a customer because I did not move my hand from the mouse I was using while looking up rebates for prevention. I was working very hard for the doctor I worked under (not the owner) and the other assistant/assistants would arrive to work 30-45 minutes late everyday, go somewhere in the clinic away from everyone to be on their phone for several minutes, take “extended lunch periods”, make the same small mistakes as me, and sleep at the front desk but I was still being targeted by this employer. I would be blamed for employees mistakes that I didn’t do or have anything to do with. I unfortunately had to call in a couple days due to my mental health being tested while being employed here which I have never had to do before in any of my places of employment. If you’re looking for a clean well organized clinic with structure this is also not the place for that. I have never encountered so much disrespect and hostility. The owner sees no fault in their actions towards employees and thinks this treatment is acceptable. I was told I am not the first person to experience this and others have left mid shift because of the same situations. I fully regret working and taking a pay cut for this employer and wish I had declined the offer.

posted: 05/24/2023

Kenny

best clinic i’ve ever been to. i’ve been taking my pets to oaks for well over 10 years. they never fail to keep my babies healthy, offering a variety of medications that work like a charm. when it comes to affordable and high quality service, you cant get any better than oaks.

posted: 06/15/2023