Great Lakes Pet Emergencies Saginaw, Michigan

They assisted us last night with our dog. We called first before arrival and the person who answered the phone was compassionate and gave us instructions on what to do. Within a matter of moments from arriving, they were outside assisting …

My 15 year old cat was having difficulty breathing and I had to take her here for the first time. I was nervous because of the terrible reviews. She ended up needing to be euthanized. It was an awful time for me but the staff were all so kind. Dr Damm was absolutely amazing. So compassionate and patient while I said my final goodbyes. I am forever grateful.

Worst vet experience ever I can’t believe they are still in business

I had a not so great experience a while back.. they lack compassion, luckily I was panicking over a fluke condition, had it been serious I would have taken him to a different vet.. I thought it was an emergency, and they were the only ones open .. they just didn't seem like they cared in my opinion.

Absolutely amazing. Got there early and they got my dog in. Thorough assessment, very kind staff. In and out on a holiday in less than 2 hours.

Very disappointed in the lack of professionalism and common courtesy at this establishment. I wouldn’t trust them with a pet flee.

Had to take my sons 3 month old ferret in on Christmas as she was stepped on and let’s just say Dr.Grant was by far the most unprofessional person I have ever come in contact with. Being in the medical field myself I have never felt so disrespected and ashamed to have taken my beloved animal to someone so cruel and disrespectful as her. Just because I questioned her for doing a test that I hadn’t approved of she became rude mean told me she just waisted 10 min of her time on my sons pet. As I tried to find out what was wrong with her she kept talking over me as if I was nothing and ended up hanging up on me when I asked the status of my pet. All while I’m in my car since we are not aloud to go in due to covid crying cause I thought my sons pet was dying. This was absolutely the worse thing iv ever went threw with a pet and all on Christmas Day. Thank god the amazing technician that answered my call when I called back after being hung up on was incredibly sweet and made me feel better. There is a reason this place only has a 2.8 star rating and I’ll drive two hours before ever going back here again. But I do appreciate the staff who answered the phones they were extremely sweet.

This was the worst experience and Heart wrenching place I have ever been too. These people all of them do not care about your Pet, they tell you it is a business and Money comes first, let me explain, my husband and I are Seniors and we have a dog we love so very much, our dog was labored breathing and sedated, our Vet did this until we could get to the Hospital, they called ahead and gave a thirty minute notice, we ended up waiting 20 minutes in the car with our dog who was struggling for life, what I saw was a girl going to other cars and giving paperwork out, bringing dogs out back to their owners, I had to flag her down the 2nd time, then when our dog was finally brought inside, it had to be 2 minutes they come out with an estimate as if I was buying a car, looked at her for 3 minutes, had no blood work done, actually nothing done and said that it would be 600 dollars!!!!!!, we did not have that kind of money upfront, so they send their financial accountant out and said either you pay or you take your dog, well we only had 300 dollars, they gave our dog a saline solution for her fever was 105 and a steroid shot for 300 dollars, we asked if we could make a payment on Monday and would they take a check till then, No was the answer, she was Cold Hearted, The doctor was cold hearted any contact we had with anyone there was cold hearted, we had to leave with our dog who was dying all because of money and 300 dollars, she said this is a business, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE YOUR PET THERE UNLESS YOU HAVE MONEY, BECAUSE THEY WILL TURN YOU AWAY IN THE MOST CRITICAL SITUATION YOU ARE HAVING WITH YOUR PET, Iwill continue to tell this story, if I could get one person to read this I have done my job here. My Dog died the next day!!!!!!!!!!!

One morning my cat Loofah woke up howling in pain. Called here and they said bring him in immediately, he likely has a bladder blockage. They were very patient with us while we figured out how to pay for his surgery to unblock him. Unfortunately he was one of the few kitties that couldn't be unblocked, and he would need even further surgery at U of M to live. It just wasn't feasible for us. We had to put Loofah down. They again were very patient while we said our goodbyes and stayed and talked to us afterwards. After we built up the courage to leave, they had his paws imprinted on a clay ornament with his name. They also mailed us a condolences/sympathy card. Of course things didn't go as we'd hoped but they handled our bad day very respectfully and professionally.

would like to thank the tech that answered the phone tonight 12/18/21. Told us what to do for are little girl that got ahold of something that's Definitely wasn't good for her. We did what the tech said to do and 7hrs later she is back to her self. Thank you so very much.

WOW is all I can say. I would never leave my pet here. The girl who answered the phone and spoke….it was all about MONEY and “waiting several hours in my car”. Yeahhhhh I said no thanks. No compassion whatsoever. Disgusting whoever works Friday evenings at 5 pm. Get a different job this isn’t for you.

Didn’t get the doctors name but all personnel working tonight Nov 17 2021 where complete angles to me and my puppy flash can not thank you enough I greatly appreciate all there help will definitely recommend drove all the way down from west branch and came right out and got my dog!!

My senior dog was convulsing and was going through a major seizure, she was having trouble breathing, and needed immediate medical care. I called them ahead of time to let them know I was coming. They told me to not bother because they close in 2.5 hours. They made us go all the way to Burton since that was the closest vet. We ended up having to put our baby down and personally I think that if they had been more competent she would've been in less distress and pain for less time if they had taken us. Fast forward to last night, I called about our new puppy who was running and hurt her paw. She is very dramatic but was screaming nonstop and wouldn't put any weight on it. They recommended waiting until today to get her to the vet since they were "booked" and don't work with broken bones. They said they could only x-ray and then that was it. I'm disgusted with this place and I hope they realize that they are putting animals in more pain. Also my puppy is okay, no thanks to them.

Our German Shepard was running along a couple days ago and his hip came completely out of place. After calling every veterinary clinic within an hour radius and being turned down time and again our last resort was to come here. Obviously we knew an emergency vet would not be cheap and I was very Leary due to the reviews left by disgruntled pet owners but it was either this or let our family pet suffer. Five hours and $900 later our 7-8 year old German had his hip back into place and he is walking around again. I would recommend this clinic if you have no other options left as they were honest and got the job done the only thing that I would complain about is the high price but it is what it is.

Our dog had an allergic reaction at 5am on Memorial day and they calmed us over the phone while we drove like crazy to get there. They got us in, while we had given her Benadryl, they taught us the proper dose she should of had and had her swelling down and on her way within an hour or two! Plus it was affordable!

I do not recommend this place at all. Dr. Grant was the vet when I took my cat Bob Ross in the morning of 10/24/21. He had been to his regular vet on 10/21/21 and was given an anti-inflammatory and flea treatment. His condition seemed to improve but by Saturday night he was much worse. I called this "emergency" clinic at 4am and they said they were unable to see him until 9:30. When I got there, the girls were all polite and listened to me. They took him back so the Dr could examine him. She called me with an estimate of $697 just for testing. When I told her I didn't have that money, her attitude changed and she became rude. She said "You know, I'll have this conversation once an hour for the rest of the day. This is why I don't understand why people don't have pet insurance. You obviously can't afford this animal." I then told them that I would have to drive to Midland to get the money from someone. They asked how long I'd be gone, collected my examination fee and began tests. When I was on my way back from Midland, driving as fast as I could, the Dr called again to ask how I would like them to handle CPR because he wasn't doing well at all. I asked what was wrong and she said "Well, for one thing, he misses his Mom because she's out running around. CPR, yes or no? I've got other animals to take care of. " I asked would he pull through if CPR were performed and she said no, but still not explaining why or what was happening. When I expressed my confusion, she said "I've never in my life had a client just leave their pet when it was this bad." I reminded her that I left to get the exorbitant amount of money she had requested. Her words: "Well, most people do that stuff over the phone. CPR yes or no?" I said no ma'am, she told me I'd better hurry and say goodbye to him then. I said yes I'm sorry, I'm on my way. I drove as quickly as I could to get back. He died not 2 minutes after I walked in. I stood sobbing, alone, no idea what happened. All they could tell me was he has fluid in his chest and heart failure. They allowed me about 10 minutes with him and then came to collect payment. It was $95 to leave him there to be cremated. If I wanted his ashes, 300 more. All in all, the tests and oxygen and cremation were $435. I am appalled at Dr Grants lack of compassion, understanding, sympathy, empathy, and common decency. She essentially shamed me for being poor, then berated me for going to get her money from someone. I will drive to Flint or further is I ever have a pet emergency again. To be clear, the other staff was fine. It's just Dr Grant who was horrible to me. Zero stars.

My cat came home with an arrow through his back on Sunday, this is the closest emergency clinic. We got here, they took him in quickly which was good, but the staff accidentally jostled him around in the cage and his wound bled more. My cat waited in a room over an hour after they said the wait would only be 45mins. They sedated him to get vitals and were going to xray but the estimate for just xrays, vitals and sedation/reversal was $700. We only had $550 in hand(which we stated multiple times prior to the estimate) so we asked them to wait so we could make some calls. Even though his condition was stable, barely 30 minutes later, a staff member came out and told us that if we didn't have the money, we would have to euthanize him or leave(with the arrow still in him) and pay for everything they already did. They told us 2000-3000 over the phone and the estimate just kept getting larger. Every worker gave us a different number. Someone came out to our car and said it could be over 10,000 dollars for everything he needed. Which was frankly impossible at the moment, so we had them reverse the sedation, and we took him home, we paid over $350 just for vitals, sedation and pain medication. The doctor told my mother that she was a cruel owner and she reported us to animal control for not getting it done right at that time. But, after a frantic day, we got him in at MSU Veterinary later that same day. MSU fixed our boy up for only about $4000, which my aunt so graciously offered to pay for us. If you have an emergency that can wait for an hour or two drive, I would definitely make the trip to MSU instead of great lakes pet emergency.

Way over priced they wouldn't expect payments I didn't have enough to pay for the $1000 surgery to pop his eye back in the socket cause he had to be put under so then they tried selling me a ton of stuff to send him home with .smh if I pay all that then I can get his eye fixed so I left after paying $163 for the check up and pain meds then went to Walmart and got the other stuff for $25 that they tried charging me 100 for. What happened to caring about pets ? They just want $$$$$ id give them zero stars if I could

Our doggo broke his leg after vet hours, and we took him to Great Lakes. They were great. They addressed his pain first, then did xrays to confirm that next steps were beyond their services. They referred us to a surgeon, called and set up for us to take him to that center immidiately. They were kind, caring, and provided everything needed to get him to the next step of care. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is the person who answers the phone (before we arrived) was not good. To her the most important information we have before we arrived was that we could be in the parking lot for several hours (we weren't) and that payment was due up front- no compassion for the panic we were in! So my advice is ignore the receptionist, you will get great care and service when you arrive from the techs and the Dr.

There are no Emergency Vets in my town,we called and explained that our 14.5 year old Beagle needed help to cross The Rainbow Bridge. They told us to come on in. We are an hour away. Even with COVID restrictions we were seen in a very timely manner. Staff was very kind and compassionate. Georgie crossed the bridge and is no longer in pain. Thank you for being so kind.

The absolute lack of care, respect and just genuine compassion that this place lacks is absoluty astonishing. As a last resort my parents had to take our family dog to them as they were the only vet open after 5 p.m.. The lack of communication with the staff ultimately led to the chances of us telling our dog goodbye. Would never recommend them to anyone. You should all be ashamed of yourself, the way you communicate and treat the public is absolutey revolting.

Nobody should ever take their pets there this place is absolutely horrible. They kill more pets than they save. The staff is also very rude. I will never take any of my pets there again and try to inform people of this place.

Not a true emergency vet, no staffing overnight. Summary: 1. First visit was good, Dr. Amanda Audo was great; second time around, not at all. 2. Not a true emergency vet; they are not staffed overnight. 3. Extremely poor followup 4. They are expensive. 5. To the night clerk at the clinic in the early morning hours of 09/25/2021; why do you have this job? Is it because the only job you could get because from my view, it's not because you care about the welfare of animals. I brought my cat to the Great Lakes Pet Emergencies on the night of 09/23/2021. She had quit eating and drinking two days before, and her regular vet could not get her in until the following Tuesday. After multiple tests, the vet did say that she thought it would be less stressful for my kitty to be at home rather than hospital, so I did opt to do this. I was asked to follow up with my vet the next day. My kitty was given subcutaneous fluids before they discharged her. When I got her home, her back was completely wet. I called the clinic and they told me that this was perfectly normal since she had the subcutaneous fluids. It's not! I had a diabetic cat that I had to give fluids at home, and the fluids are slowly put under the skin until a bubble forms and then pressure needs to be placed at the site of the needle to seal this up and prevent fluid leakage. She had no bubble and all of the fluid appeared to have leaked out, so this treatment did not benefit her at all. In total, this visit cost me over $1200. The next day, I followed up with her vet and she felt the ultrasound needed to be done as soon as possible. Her clinic referred me to the Greater Lansing Veterinary Hospital to obtain the ultrasound. Unfortunately, this was the wrong referral, we were never able to get the ultrasound and her condition worsened while she was there. I brought her home the night of 09/24/2021 after that miserable visit as I did not trust them. She was very sedated and I thought a few times that I lost her that night. But by 4:30 a.m. on 09/25/2021, she tried to get up and walk, and she was holding her head up. I decided to bring her back over to Great Lakes Pet Emergencies to get supportive care. I arrived there around 5 a.m. that morning. I was met at the door by the night clerk and told that there was not a vet or vet techs in attendance, that she was the only one there and didn't have the training to treat an animal. I told her that my kitty had just been there and seen, and that supportive treatment was offered, but she said the clinic couldn't take her. She also said a vet could not be called in and the soonest she could be seen was at 10 a.m. that day. I asked why they said they were an emergency vet if not staffed overnight, and she got very snippy with me, said that they couldn't afford (!) to keep a vet on staff. I told about being referred to the Greater Lansing Vet Hospital for ultrasound, and she cut me off mid-sentence, said that I was referred to the wrong clinic, they should have sent us to MSU Vet Hospital, which was the first I had heard of this hospital or I would have taken her there the night before after learning Greater Lansing. She said if I left now to drive to Lansing I could probably get her seen before 10 a.m., the "soonest" they could see her. I practically begged for a vet to be called in, that I thought she was going to die during the night, and she said "She doesn't look that sick, she's holding up her head." So I left and drove to Lansing. MSU immediately got her in and started IV lines and medications, but she was too sick by that point, likely septic, and I ended up losing her the morning of 09/25/2021 at around 10:30 a.m. After IV fluids, medications, ultrasound, total cost from MSU? $250! I received a call from Great Lakes Pet Emergencies on Friday, 10/08/2021 to "check on" my kitty; over two weeks since she had been seen there and almost two weeks after she had died! In the future, if any of my cats or dogs are ill and I cannot get them into my regular vet, I will be driving to MSU East Lansing.

Do NOT use unless your last option!!!!Not impressed!! Our older dog experienced a bout of vestibular disease, unable to move or stand on her own. I realize that is not ideal for an older large breed dog. However, we were made to feel like our only option was to put her down. I said we were willing to give the extra care and attention she might need for the next few days, if there was a chance she could pull out of it. The doctor was then very short and condescending with us, not a very empathetic attitude towards a stressed out pet owner…terrible bedside manner, although only able to talk on the phone!! Needless to say, 3 days later, our girl is showing giant improvements…to think I was made to feel like I should’ve put her down right then and there. Not out of the woods yet, but sooo much better! I’m very realistic that it might come soon, but want our girl to have a fair shot. Wouldn’t have happened if I listened to her. Our last experience there was almost 12yrs ago, when our same girl ate part of a rug. Made to feel if I didn’t do a $2K surgery, she would die! As I’m in tears asking is there nothing else we can do, finally recommended feeding her pure pumpkin…our dog passed the rug in less than 12hrs. I do NOT trust them…please only use if it’s your very last option!!!!!

Our dog was in need of euthanasia due to her suffering. Vet techs were not compassionate at all. They call our “child” because to us she was, a he, didn’t pay attention to our needs, and when we came to pick her up after having her cremated, we asked for our dog, and the tech said, “Oh you mean ashes?” No! I’m here to get my dog! Have some compassion for someone who is saying good bye to a family member we have had for 15 years!!!!! Further training is required

Our dog injured his back, we were able to get him on the list, and even though it was later in the evening, they were able to get him almost as soon as we got there. They took great care of him.

If i could give no stars i would. Rude people, not helpful, could of cared less in regards to the needs of my friends animal. Do not recommend.

Terrible experience! Given multiple prescriptions with little to no information about the actual diagnosis. After 5 hours my dog was finally returned to me, but with feces all over his backside and acting worse than when we took him. The prescriptions we were instructed to give him were immediately thrown up. He was clearly dehydrated. It seems like they could have given him an injection of the anti nausea medication to prevent this.

This is NOT an emergency vet clinic. They have 0 triage and sympathy for animals who are in bad condition and in pain- they’ll turn you away regardless. Our dog was attacked by a pit bull and in severe condition, still wouldn’t see us. They’d rather watch a dog die than make room for an animal that actually needs it. My advice- if you’re gonna label as emergency, you should probably attend to emergencies- not take appointments. Because in case you idiots didn’t know, emergency’s aren’t planned. For people reading, don’t waste your time going here.

We utilized their services last night for my Wife's 16 y/o cat. Everyone we had interactions with including the Vet on duty were very professional and caring. Some folks may consider the pricing of some services high and you do pay up front. I have no problem with either of those things. Keep in mind this is an after hours emergency care providor. I look at the level of service provided when we NEEDED IT I have no problem paying a little more for an immediate appointment, not 3 weeks from now like the offices up North were offering appointments. Hopefully we do not require the services of a emergency vet anytime soon but we would definately return.