SAVES - Small Animal Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Lebanon, Vermont

We are from out of town visiting on a ski weekend . We had outstanding communication and care at 2AM on an emergency visit for our sick dog. Thanks for being there!

Our dog got quilled (thankfully not terribly) with quills in her snout, tongue, mouth, and neck on a Sunday afternoon. She was stressed and pawing at her face (first time for both of us). We brought her in and they triaged her and got her back immediately. This might not be your experience if your emergency isn't as life threatening as a dog that comes in at the same time. I'm impressed that they triage pet-patients and treat them in order of severity. They popped back out with a breakdown of cost estimates and were super upfront with us about what services were optional, which ones were necessary, and why. I appreciated that. She got the quills removed and the DVM came out and answered all the additional questions we had. We were definitely put at ease after talking to her. A lot of people complaining about the bill probably don't understand the cost of staffing and overhead of a large building directly in Lebanon. It's a high expense area and in general goods and services are 30% more expensive here, which we expect. Our total bill was around $700, which is, of course hard to swallow but I think overall reasonable. They do have a military discount which is very generous. If I had to offer any suggestions, we felt like the front desk guys were maybe "lacking urgency" slightly. Otherwise everyone was very professional and our baby is at home sleeping without a face full of quills.

We unfortunately, unexpectedly had to put down our cat. Saves was mostly great during the session. We paid extra to have her cremated separately. Unfortuantely it was not explained that the extra cost would not cover the cost of cremation but only the transportation to the crematory. Being a little tight on funds and finding a few extra 100 dollars is tough after covering the cost of the euthanasia. Definitely make sure to ask any and all questions during the process.

If you have a true emergency don’t come here, arrived at clinic, rang the buzzer, tech came out and said we had to text them to let them know we we here and walked away. Texted them and proceeded to Wait in parking lot for 25 minutes for someone to come out and no one did, left and went somewhere else. Horrible service, horrible communication.

Won't see a sick cat.

Our beloved pup had an unfortunate accident where he ran into a barb wire fence. It happened to be on a Sunday and no other vets are of course open. This was literally our only option during this untimely emergency. I called ahead and gave an ETA of 45 minutes. We arrived and followed the call in procedures. About 20 minutes later a tech came out to assess and triage. She said the wait would be approximately an hour or maybe longer as it was hard to say with other emergencies going on. We waited almost 4 hours in our car with a dog who could no longer sit still and a very large laceration that was becoming bigger with his movements. Finally after I sent a text with a pic of his wound and expressed his discomfort and inability to no longer sit, someone finally came back out. I was presented with the most absurd estimate have ever encountered! A range of $1250-1648 for stitches, sedation and some meds! Unbelievable really. You could decline and leave, but there are literally no other options on the weekends. When questioning the charges all I could feel was taken advantage of and exploited. It was clear the focus was the money and my credit card was initially charged the entire amount. Thankfully my dog is recovering and after 7 hours of waiting we took him home to recover. The final bill was $1270. Still outrageous in my opinion. I pray we never have to be in this situation again. If you have another option to go elsewhere, I would recommend you do. Even in an emergency, pet owners should not be charged this outrageous fees.

It’s hard to describe the distress I felt when I had a dog who was in labor and would not live long without help and yet saves refused to help my dog. I’m an experienced compassionate careful breeder and I’ve had many litters over the years, but this was the first that I’ve had a dog who simply couldn’t pass the next puppy in her womb because of how it was positioned and blocking. There was no way for me to take care of it alone so I brought Penny to saves for help. It would’ve cost probably between four and $5000 for the procedure and they refused to do it without full payment right then and there. To me this is unthinkable unforgivable. We pleaded and pleaded to try to work something out with them but to no avail. I believe it’s too much about the money for saves since my dog nearly died except for one compassionate vet in Sunapee New Hampshire who stepped up worked out a payment plan as he was not concerned about money but about Penny, and for which we paid every cent do. To me it’s just cold and heartless to just let an animal and their puppies all suffer and die and at that, a very painful excruciating death because payment couldn’t be made in full at that moment. Shame on you saves. I’ve often said I would never go back to saves under any circumstances ever again with any animal. This was a few years back and yet I never wrote a review and I’ve decided I should have. So I leave two stars only because the vet that I was talking to was a nice man and felt bad. However his hands were tied over the rules of the “ Business“. In my eyes there’s something wrong with a company who has that little compassion and cold in their hearts to not care and let the animals that they supposedly they are there to save suffer and die.

I found the staff extremely helpful and knowledgeable in a time of considerable stress. They were open on a weekend at a time when nobody else was in the northeast kingdom and they were very, very kind and thoughtful in the care that they provided. I'm very grateful and I would highly recommend this organization.

Our 14 yo dog had a health emergency in the middle of the night that we knew would be end of life. We had not used SAVES previously but, under the most stressful circumstances, they were incredible. As soon as we arrived our dog was taken in and until the moment we had to say goodbye, the team was kind, empathetic and professional. Wish we didn't have to send our girl over the rainbow bridge but are so happy that her final moments were in the kind hands of an amazing team. Thank you!

Yesterday our cat Amigo was treated at your office and we ultimately made the decision to euthanize him. It was clear how stretched you are on staffing, and for that reason we’re doubly appreciative of the time Dr. Partridge took to explain to us what was going on and to help us say goodbye to Amigo. She was very kind and we never felt rushed. Please forward our thanks to Dr. Partridge and the rest of the staff our thanks for the kindness and care.

I took my dog here cause she didnt feel well . The person told me that they would take x-rays and some blood . It was going g to cost 800 00 and be a hour with results. One hour turned to be four. So I don't have money . But she is our baby so I said ok. I sat in parking lot for 4 hours with my grandkids.This was hard on them What really makes me upset is them saying a hour and me having to call and say hey I want my dog because from 5 pm to after 8pm I kept getting told hold on. Then when they finally told me just before releasing her they didn't find anything blocking her passages but wanted to keep her for fluids for 2000 dollars more . I said no. They asked my daughter on phone this knowing im Sitting in the parking lot waiting. Then one last thing does it matter who owns dog me or my daughter. Im The one that brought her . It was the money they were worried about who was paying . The next time I will wait for my own vet. I would t have taken her there if my vet wouldn't have said take her here . I had a gut feeling . I had bad experience here before but I gave them the benefit without a doubt and now my second bad experience. I Understand that they are a emergency hospital and they have other patients but don't tell someone an hour and be almost 4 hours .

I have several small dogs and there are times when an ER occurs. The staff is excellent besides friendly. Their knowledge base is very good because typically you go their for an ER visit.

Care was great for or cat Bernard who was diagnosed with LUTD. Efficient despite 5 cards ahead of us (they triage based on severity so you can expect a wait if you have low acuity pet issue), answered all my questions, kind as well.

I honestly don’t understand how anyone could give SAVES anything but five stars. We had an emergency on a Saturday and were recommended by our usual vet to try SAVES. The wait wasn’t too long but it is NOT first come first serve. Instead - like a human hospital - they triage everyone that arrives. YAY. The car was thorough and compassionate. They called to follow up and check on our kitten two days later as well and when I had questions the doctor called to follow up again. Truly recommend.

A big thank you to Saves for helping us when our big guy ingested rat poison. Super professional and kind.

I had a very bad experience with this vet. They appear very professional, but they were wrong about my cat's diagnosis (they had all sorts of ideas), and they were very expensive. There is not a lot of expertise going on with this place. They remind me of a fortune teller at the carnival- just put another grand on the credit card and we'll reveal what really going on with your pet. I wish I tried another place, even if it meant driving a little further

Saved my Bernese Mountain Dog’s life when he had gastric torsion and bloat at 2am one night. Excellent surgery, and he’s been healthy ever since. I found the doctors to be communicative and kind.

Our 4yr lab ungloved his right rear foot on sat afternoon,being from northern vt there is nothing open , thank you so much to saves for there compassion and professionalism in dealing with our tragedy could say enough thank you p.s he's doing excellent

I brought my small pug mix here because she suffered a bite wound on her eye. It was so bad that they removed her eye that night. My experience was totally impersonal due to unnecessary Covid restrictions (all were lifted in NH weeks before). I never met the vet face to face and I can only imagine my dog’s stress when I wasn’t with her. The vet was upbeat and friendly... but again, I never saw her face. Her care and surgery there seemed adequate and she seems to be healing well. However, what a rip off! $2800 for a one hour surgery to remove her eye and an overnight stay. They told me that I had to give them a deposit right then and when I went to give them the deposit ...they told me that I had to pay the full amount upfront!!! I told them that $2800 was too expensive and they came back with $2500. I felt really taken advantage of! Like what do you do in that situation... it’s not like you can really argue or bring your dog somewhere else at 9o’clock at night. I think these sort of places need to be regulated because they can get away charging whatever they want. I fully understood that it was going to cost money but I figured there’s no way it was going to cost over $1000-1500. Then to add insult to injury.... they called me at 6:30 AM in to update me on how she was doing (which I appreciated). However, they told me that I needed to get down there by 8 o’clock AM or I would be charged more! I let them know that I wouldn’t be there until 9 o’clock as that is what the vet told me the night before. I just felt like they made money the main focus rather than her care or my feelings. I noted that the company response to my complaint below about the OUTRAGEOUS FEES was completely ignored. In addition I went to SAVED again today to pick up a liquid form of one of the medications that they gave me. I asked for liquids the night of the surgery but they said they didn’t think it came in liquid form. I then found out that they wanted to charge me $150 after I drove all the way down there to pick it up The next day after I called and they said they did have it. They also would not send a prescription to another ver closer to home for obvious reasons so they could charge me themselves the $150. Why would they give a tiny dog a huge pill that clearly would not be easy to get down her throat in the condition she’s in. The extremely rude receptionist hung up on me when I complained about price.

Our dog needed immediate attention for a deep cut on her leg and no local vets could see her, even with her emergency status. I called saves on a whim and they were pleasant, concerned and very transparent during my initial contact. We discussed the injury, initial visit cost and possible wait times, as well as their covid protocols. I arrived about an hour later and was checked in within 5 minutes. When the vet tech came out (curbside service) and brought my pup in she was so friendly and very gentle while she assessed my dogs leg. she let me know that I would receive a call from the dr. With a game plan. The dr. Called within 20 minutes and went over all the options, including costs for each, and was so patient while she answered all my questions. We decided on a course of action and were headed home within the next half an hour! My dog came out wagging her tail which tells me they were great inside, and the prescription process and payment went smoothly, it cost significantly less than I anticipated! Everyone was great, the customer service was too-notch, and the care given seemed like they’ve been seeing my dog her entire life! I would 100% recommend SAVES to anyone in need of urgent care for their pet!

Samantha took very good care of our kitty and was so kind. The drop off process works well and the staff is great!

Prompt service and always able to handle my over reactions

My dog got quilled with over 150 quills in her face, mouth and throat. We called saves and they said there was little to no wait time and that she would be considered a top priority because of the severity of her condition. We drove the 30 mins to the vet and when we got there they said there was one other dog ahead of her. So we waited, I called multiple times to try and find out how long we would be waiting for but they kept either not calling me back or giving me inaccurate times. So I waited in the car with my dog scratching and breaking the quills into her face and mouth for over 3 hours....on an 85° sunny day. Also, it costs a minimum of $400 to get quills out so I highly recommend doing it at home unless you totally can’t.

I recently had to bring my 1 1/2 year old cat Moonlight to SAVES because I noticed he was sick. Saves gladly answered all my questions and quickly got me a diagnosis for Moonlight. I then had a very difficult time finding a way to pay for Moonlights surgery and it was looking like I was gonna have to put him down which I really didn't want to do because he was so young and barely lived, one of the vets saw Moonlight and like myself did not wanna see him be put down so she offered to pay for moonlights surgery if I released ownership of him and gave him to her, I of course agreed and did some paperwork and asked if I could get an update to see if he pulled threw. I got a call the next morning and was told that Moonlight didn't make it and the kind vet gave me the option to take his body home if I wanted even though he technically wasn't my cat anymore bc I released ownership. Long story short the staff at SAVES are very kind and truly do love animals. Thank you for making sure my baby wasn't in pain anymore.

Had to make the decision to put my daughters kitten down. The friendly, kind, compassionate and caring staff put me at ease knowing that it was the best decision for Panda. Everyone of the staff members were excellent and showed Panda and myself through that hard decision. I thank everyone of the staff that was present on Friday. I don't know what we would have done if you guys weren't around. THANK YOU ALL AGAIN!!

I had to bring my dog to SAVES due to consistent vomiting and even at a late hour the staff were prompt and professional as well as taking the time to calm my nerves. My dog is doing much better now I'm happy to say.

our golden Enola was so sick for days and very sick when we brought her to SAVES in Lebanon. By dinner time she was bounceing back so fast. Thanks for being there on Easter Sunday and taking us right in.

My friend was just dealing with them here and they were no help at ALL. They kept her on hold for 30 mins and then they refused to answer her simple question! They told her to call poison control for $75 just to ASK a QUESTION!!!!

If I could give them 0 stars I would. Horrible service, they try to add things on that are completely unnecessary. Extremely overpriced. I will never go back.

I have never been so FURIOUS at a veterinarian office. I found a very wounded kitty in the road I almost hit him and other's also, so I stopped and helped him out of the road and seen he needed some desperate care. The wonderful couple that helped me with something to wrap him in and let me know where you we're located. So I brought him here and they REFUSED this cat. I was so FURIOUS that an emergency office turned this baby down.... So I used my husband's soft coat in one of my grocery bags and put him in there he collapsed in the bag. We went to Wal-Mart and I seen they had a dunkin donut so I asked for a little cup and I grab a can of cat food and gave the baby some and off we went. Home to Vermont and I called our veterinarian and they had an opening and it was the saddest moment for me. I had a feeling he was in really bad shape but it still hit hard. We did have him euthanized and is resting in peace. You should be ashamed of yourself and your company..