Lewis and Clark Veterinary Clinic

Sara Gildemaster

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE YOUR PET HERE. My hope is that someone will read this and not take their child to this vet. We don’t want anyone to endure what our family is going through. On 2/9/23 we took our dog Cooper, 8 years young, to Lewis and Clark Veterinary Clinic for a “routine” dental cleaning. 2 days later he died. On 2/11/23 LCVC had a 24/7 Emergency Care Policy (ECP) that stated: 24/7 Emergency Care Emergency services are as follows for small animals: Phones answered 24/7 (Please be mindful there may be a hold time). Emergencies services are available from Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for established clients and non-clients. Emergency services on weekends and Monday-Friday after 5 p.m. and until we open the following business day at 8 a.m., are reserved for established clients only. We were established clients. During our Saturday emergency, we called 3 times using the provided phone number (which was a third-party televet service that was not stated anywhere on the website) to contact the vet. Each time they said they could not get ahold of her/she was unavailable. By the 2nd call we decided to rush him to Sioux Falls to the nearest hospital we knew of. He died in my arms on the way. It was the most traumatic thing that has ever happened to us. We got a necropsy, the results were inconclusive, but the Sioux Falls vet told us that Cooper’s death was due to infection, pneumonia, & aspiration. In less than 48 hrs he got all that from a “routine” dental cleaning? Something doesn’t add up right in our opinion. It is as if they didn’t inflate the cuff/balloon enough during the procedure, so water got down into his airway which then potentially caused the complications that lead to his death. The vet says according to her “monitoring sheets” everything was fine on their end. There is no one to fact check this so we have no way of ever truly knowing if they are the ones who caused all of this to happen. In our opinions, they had a hand in his death. We have since wrote emails back and forth with Mary Green, the vet at LCVC, and all she has done is deny. We spent a lot of time making sure our emails were professional and courteous. She has been nothing but defensive & condescending. She will not even say she is sorry. She claims she “was available” and that the third-party service was having “technical difficulties”. We believe that is just an excuse/lie. LCVC had an ECP that they did NOT uphold. End of story. We asked if she could at least reimburse us for our emergency bill in Sioux falls since she was negligent in upholding her ECP. She said that she “was available” and it wasn’t her fault that they couldn’t get ahold of her. She was just blaming the third-party televet service to not take any personal responsibility. Just because her chosen third-party might have had a “technical malfunction” doesn’t take her business off the hook. They had an ECP for after hours that they did NOT uphold. They are liable as a business. She is in the wrong. At the end of the day there was no talking any sense into her. She truly believes she was not at fault and that she “was available.” Meanwhile our child is dead, and she gets to keep living her life like normal. She has since CHANGED her ECP to NOT provide after hours services anymore. So, if your child has a procedure and then 2 days later there is an emergency, you have to drive all the way to Sioux Falls which is over 1 hr away to get help. It seems fishy that after our child’s death she removes her after hours ECP… very interesting. Lastly, I want to say that if LCVC responds to this review with some sort of “come back” or saying they are sorry (like every company does to save face) please don’t fall for it. This review is the only form of “justice” Cooper is going to get because they refuse to admit their wrongdoing. Please, I am begging you not to trust this vet/facility. Cooper didn’t deserve what happened to him and neither does your child. If we could go back in time, we would.

Jul 31, 2023

Stacy Kotalik

Very poor communication from scheduling to post op. Dr. Green didn't call for post op report. Discharge instructions were vague. Did not receive written discharge instructions. Would not recommend Dr. Green to perform nares surgery. She didn't really do the procedure, but sure charged a lot for it. Will not go back. Seems to just want your money, and not do what is best for the animals. Also, nearly impossible to get vet records from her. Had to ask multiple times before they would send them. Acted like they didn't want to send our records.

Mar 18, 2023

Alexandra Jaggers

Facility is very professional looking. Cross between doctors office and spa, and the faculty had always been helpful and friendly. Forewarning, there's a middle section of the counter that's big dog height, my rotty mix decided to jump up on the counter when she smelled that the nice lady had put a treat up there. Incredibly embarrassing but if you also have a jumper; now you know. Do wish they'd do grooming to though

Feb 21, 2023

Veronica Clarke

As full time rvers, finding good veterinary services when we are traveling for my husband's work can be challenging. Dr. Green and her staff were wonderful at calming our very nervous dog, getting down on the floor with her to examine her for a digestive issue. On learning she does both chiropractic and acupuncture interventions, we booked our 2 elderly dogs in for an intervention as they were struggling to get up the steps to the rv without help. The difference has been night and day. Although they are slow, they can get up the steps by themselves. Only wish we could stay longer for more interventions for them. Thank you Dr Green for your patience, help and explaining what you you were doing.

Jul 19, 2021

Angela Kralicek

Great service. Very helpful and they took great care of Gracie! I am very satisfied with everyrhing.

Jan 26, 2023