Somerset Veterinary Hospital Ames, Iowa

Dr. Rivers is a kind, direct, honest person. I always know she has my furkids' best interests in mind. We won't take them anywhere else!

My husband and I started at Somerset when it first opened (11yrs ago?). As one of the first patients, we have grown our fur family significantly. Dr. Rivers and team have provided significant care for our three 11 y/o cats and now a 92 lb sweet and sensitive dog. This team coordinates whenever have emergency situations that need the ISU hospital. We can't think of going anywhere else.

Dr. Flaming and her staff are the absolute best, they love Medusa and give great care!

Our dog got caught in a barb wire fence and got some bad cuts needing stitches. Somerset said sorry we are too busy even though I've taken my dog angel there many times to get spade shots and everything in-between. I've spent a lot of money but they don't take the care of your injured animal because they are too busy. They are expensive and this is how they treat what would have been a life long customer. If they do this to me they will do it to everyone else and try to pass you over to.someone else. I said I'm done then take me off your list and lose me number

The staff has been great with out pets.

Melissa Rivers and her staff are amazing. Our little guy Charlie receives outstanding care from them! Dr Rivers took her time and figured out a regime to control his allergies. He has never looked and felt better.

Staff is knowledgeable and works well with the pets that are in the facility. The environment is clean and serene, for the most part.

They did wonderful with our Kinkajou Quinnton

Wonderful inviting location. Staff was very friendly and easy going. They were very knowledgeable about the needs of my pets and suggestions to keep them in their best health. Definitely going back for future appointments.

Hands down the BEST veterinary hospital with which I have ever done business. My pets are safe and comfortable there, and as a Fear Free Certified pet trainer myself, that means the world to me. I could not recommend Dr. Rivers more highly, and the staff goes above and beyond at every visit. Somerset is like family.

Awesome vet. Take great care of my dog and the four cats I've had.

I’ve been meaning to leave a review for a while. I am a past client and was going to Somerset before the clinic was sold to Dr. Rivers. I was worried but then I met Dr. Flaming who I miss dearly now that I have moved. She is thorough and practices quality medicine. She will actively attempt to look at the entire animal, not just the symptom. She even impressed my mom who owns an animal clinic and has been practicing for 35 years. She’s just an awesome vet and if I lived within an hour of that hospital, I would still consistently make that drive just to have her as my doctor.

Asked for help when pup got covered with cockle burrs. She is only 12 mo old with short vert fluffy fur. She was covered and tangled with them on her face, covering an eye completely, her tail and bum, her legs, feet and armpits, between her toes, EVERYWHERE. We tired to help her at home, but she squeezed and cried. She was crying and chewing at herself. I called Somerset and explained it was an emergency and that the groomer was not available, they initially said their 1st opening was the end of October. I said she is in pain. They said maybe tomorrow afternoon. I asked if they could give me something to help calm her so we could get the burrs out. They refused. I have ended up going to.another vet suggested by a neighbor and they helped us right away. I will not be taking my pet to Somerset any longer. Seems they don’t care enough when it doesn’t fit their schedule.

The staff at Somerset as a whole take wonderful care of all my pets. Dr Flaming is the best vet I have ever had and truly cares about my old dog and all the cats. Any time I have an emergency and even for routine care, all the Somerset vets and technicians take care to get us seen quickly and with the best care. Wish more clinics were like this one.

Absolutely the worst vet clinic I have ever visited. Too expensive, too little service. Nerdy vet who required me to stay in the exam room while they ran my credit card to pay for over priced services. Find yourself a good farm vet for a better experience.

Very friendly and well oriented place to take your pets

Always getting the best for our furry family

Dr. Rivers was great! I decided to switch vets and this is the first time that I have brought my dog to the veterinarian and she was calm and comfortable. Dr. Rivers made us both feel very welcomed. She was happy to answer all of my questions about my dogs health condition, medications and testing that we would go through. I cannot say enough good things about this vet clinic!

I take both my dogs here. Everyone here seems to really love animals and I feel like my dogs are in good hands.

Love Dr. Flaming. She genuinely cares about my dogs and cat, and has never done an unnecessary procedure.

Somerset veterinary hospital is a great vet clinic. I have been taking my 2 dogs there since it opened with Dr. Felz, and have continued as they transitioned to ownership with Dr. Rivers, and have expanded. I always feel that my dogs are well cared for and that the vets and staff care about my animals. We have had a few emergencies over the years and they have handled them well, and referred when there was someone who would be better suited to handle an issue. I trust them with my animals and enjoy getting to visit. They are reasonably priced for the area. I highly recommend working with them.

Doctor Maisel and the team here are outstanding. They saved my malamutes life in an emergency on a Friday afternoon without hesitation. I absolutely recommend this clinic, the team here, and the doctors. Thank you.

This is the first time I have been here and the staff are so very nice and helpful. They explain everything to you and ask if you want this or that done.

We are always extremely satisfied with the level of care we receive at Somerset Veterinary Hospital! Can't imagine going somewhere else!

My cat loves the vet here, all staff are so friendly and they're kind to every animal

I have a 1 year old labrador that is always so happy to go to the vet. The team at Somerset is so friendly and helpful! They're very caring and listen to every concern to make sure we leave better than we came in. I wouldn't take my dog anywhere else!

Horriable place do not recomend this place what so ever very rude very unprofessional

Poor customer service. No attention towards a pet with a fatal condition. My pet's abdomen was very swollen. I called to make an appointment and couldn't give me one until two weeks later (doctor was on vacation). A few days later I checked with another vet, she told me not to keep waiting based on the animal's symptoms and to go to ISU Hospital. Our pet was diagnosed with a fatal disease. The clinic received information from ISU Hospital about the condition of our pet and they haven't called to check on the condition of the animal after two weeks. Probably dead pets do not make them money so they decided to focus on new customers. Terrible customer service. I have now found a place with a caring and compassionate doctor who is treating our family pet and supporting us in this painful process.

Our whole experience with Somerset Vet has been incredible. We recently moved to the area and needed a vet when one of our kitties got sick and everyone we talked with here at the vet was so wonderful. We made the tough decision to let our kitty Casanova go, and everyone was so sweet and caring during the whole process. They went above and beyond with everything. The paw prints they gave us were so sweet with the details, and today I unexpectedly got a package with the sweetest gift from them that was a personalized candle with our kitty’s name on it who passed. We couldn’t be more happy with service and support we received.

5/5 for the STAFF and Dr. Felz (now gone) and Dr Flaming. Past experience with Dr. Felz - one of the best vets we have ever encountered. Logical instructions as to what was needed to keep my cat's early kidney disease controlled. Two years later kitty doing great. Dr. Flaming is also great (where is her bio?) Very kind, compassionate, & listens well. Would have understood that recent situation with my cat had become urgent. So, if you have a cat (esp. older, perhaps w/ kidney disease) who cannot tolerate pain meds (had scary reaction on one dose), goes from moderate to severe oral pain overnight, to the point he can't eat and you are told you STILL can't get him in for a dental and possible extraction for 9 days, there are options. In hindsight, I should have asked to speak with Dr. Flaming. She would have listened, understood and gotten him in on an urgent basis. I recognize this was not an emergency, but it had become urgent. Otherwise, try ANKENY ANIMAL AND AVIAN. This clinic was amazing. They agreed to see him, understood immediately the severity of his pain, the urgency of the situation, and why I had grown so concerned overnight. (Cats who don't eat can rapidly develop fatty acid liver disease - and I didn't want to wait 1, 2, let alone 8 more days to see if that happened to my kitty. What was going to change if he is already in this much pain and can't tolerate the only pain med I was offered?) They did the dental the next day (turns out root was exposed apparently because the gum had eroded away just enough to expose it). If you can't get into this clinic, just make sure you pick a vet that has experience and can do dental x-rays. The Dr. at this Ankeny clinic, Dr. Gigler even specializes in dentals and is kind, compassionate and most importantly, listens. Somerset is also highly qualified to handle dentals, but currently is booked out very far on routine dentals. Had I just accepted what I was told and agreed to wait, my kitty 1. Would still be in severe pain, 2. Would still not be eating and 3. by next week would perhaps no longer be with us or be in much worse shape from the stress and pain and not eating? Instead, he is sitting here on my desk purring and eating. Again, he could not eat b/c of the pain. He tried, but then growled at his food. Attempts to convey this to Dr. Rivers simply fell flat. She was not worried that he hadn't eaten for 24 hours. True. But in a day it would be 48 hours, and so on. And, no, he wasn't upset from the bad drug reaction and not eating. He could not eat even though he was hungry due to the pain. Pain had gone from a 2 to an 8 overnight. This was scary. Good thing I found the Ankeny clinic, b/c, literally, as I was in the exam room the next AM, Dr. Rivers called to say she was taking him off the dental the following week even though I asked if I could please have just a few more minutes to see what the Ankeny Doctor wanted to do. She said no. I had much more to say on this, but will leave it here. We love Somerset.Its staff is some of the best and most knowledgeable I've encountered. It sounds like they often take grief from people on the phone - so don't do that. They are just doing their jobs! This makes them understandably sensitive to folks who sound a bit anxious. I went in to talk to them today and assure them I was never ever upset with them, just very worried about my cat and incredulous as to why I couldn't get him the care he needed. I always treat staff courteously, which is more than I can say for how Dr. R treated me, at a time when I knew something was very wrong with my cat.