Lake Harriet Veterinary

I've been taking my dog to Lake Harriet Vet for a few years due to the company having a conventional and integrative (holistic) approach. I've always had a good experience until recently. My dog was diagnosed with a serious disease and I wasn't educated or informed of the severity of the illness. Nor was I given any type holistic options on how to treat this disease (including diet). Despite the seriousness of the disease, Dr. S.W. still went ahead and gave my dog a rabies vaccination shot knowing my dog's protein levels were extremely low. Any concerning Vet would NEVER do that to a sick dog and would hold off until the dog's health was in better condition to handle the vaccination. As a result, my dog was very sick for 4 weeks and her body stunk from the vaccination due to her illness. On a side note, I should have been offered a titer instead of the rabies vaccination which was never brought up. I felt the Dr. was more concerned about the bottom dollar instead of my dog's health. In talking to other Vets, I've since found out my dog could have possibly died from the vaccination and should have NEVER been administered while she's sick. Terrible judgement from a Dr who should have known better.

I LOVE this place. Prior to Lake Harriet I couldn't imagine actually looking forward to vet visits. The staff seem to all be friendly animal lovers and the Vets are excellent. The office is warm and inviting. It might cost a bit more than other offices and it's not in my neighborhood, but the cost and the drive are well worth it. They are also very responsive by phone, text, and email which has been very helpful, event helping me avoid unnecessary visits a couple of times.

I would use them again in future.

They're very friendly, they take their time, and I may be able to ask all the questions that I need, I really like the vets. I like that they have a mix of a traditional and holistic service. They're very caring and professional and they're location is also very convenient.

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With three different vaccinations and international health certificate it was around $200.

Expensive, predatory, and unethical ? run away from LHV!
LHV claims to provide a combination of holistic and
traditional medicine, however in the time that we used them they provided no holistic
recommendations for veterinary care. In fact, when we asked for advice on
feeding a raw diet to one of our pets they suggested we look online and check
out some books. Additionally, their services are overpriced when compared with
their competitors.
Perhaps the scariest thing of all is that this clinic does not obtain informed consent from the pet
owner prior to performing tests and taking action. We went in to get updated
vaccinations for our dog and instead they whisked her away, claiming to hear
crackling in her lungs, and performed a slew of unnecessary and expensive
tests, leaving us with an unexpected bill of $465, with no vaccines. This type
of action is unethical and literally meets the definition of veterinary malpractice
(i.e., not obtaining informed consent). When we asked for a credit or refund
back afterwards they claimed that they were acting in our best interests and
flat out refused. Even when we filed with the BBB they refused to provide us
with resolution.
We have since filed complaints with the MN Board of
Veterinary Medicine and the MN Attorney General?s office. At this point I don?t
even care so much about the money as much as I just don?t want anyone else to
fall victim to LHV?s scummy, fraudulent, and predatory practices.
Anyone considering LHV should run far, far away. Don?t fall
victim to their claims of providing holistic treatment. You?re better off taking
your pets nearly anywhere else.

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I like them. They're one of the best. They're just extremely friendly towards the animals.

It was very good; very positive. They are terrific. She was very good, very thorough, and very competent. I have been using them for one and a half years. I chose them because they are holistic, so they don’t recommend all sorts of junk and they don’t try to up sell.

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My greyhound Travis had gotten injured in our backyard on a Sunday night, resulting in a tear to the skin over his ribcage. I cleaned it up to the best of my abilities, but I couldn't tell how extensive the injury was, so I wanted to have it looked at and treated by a professional. Lake Harriet is where I take both my dogs for their regular veterinary care, so I called on Monday morning to see if they could possibly get me in. I was thrilled that they could see us that morning. We usually see Dr. Nicole, but for this appointment we saw Dr. Jessy, and I would not hesitate to recommend either vet. Dr. Jessy was wonderful, calm, competent, thorough, and extremely helpful. She and her staff clipped the fur around the wound, examined it and cleaned it up. I was sent home with detailed instructions and supplies for tending to the wound, which thankfully was minor. Communication throughout was excellent. The staff as always was friendly and helpful, and the office is always clean. They are up on the latest technology and blend it with traditional healing arts (for example, in our time with Lake Harriet, my dogs have had both acupuncture and laser therapy) and I trust them. I would also recommend that if you go in once and don't particularly gel with the first vet you see, try them again and ask to see one of the other vets, because the overall care our dogs have received there has been of the highest quality.

I really enjoy taking my cat in to this clinic. They are always really friendly and all the employees are great with my cat. They also called to follow up every other day after her surgery for a week which was great. I would recommend Lake Harriet Vet.

Great - the place is clean and bright and every staff member was friendly and professional.

Very prompt in scheduling, no wait and very friendly. Through exam which was not rushed like other vets. They even allowed us to come back to the treatment room when our dog was microchipped so we could give treats and distract him while being microchipped.
Dr. Jesse suggest some supplements to help future arthritis problems with our dog's legs and also examined his birth defect of his leg. Asked lots of questions.
A+ -- Lake Harriet Vet is a great place to go - especially if you want to investigate less invasive options / preventive options. Not the typically treat with drugs vet.

Our former dog was pretty old and had special needs; they did a great job of taking care of him. They're very caring and detail-oriented. They are also holistic vets - they did acupuncture on our old dog's arthritis, which worked. They offer a wide variety of treatment options, which other vets may not try.

I visited this vet with my dog for two reasons -- A. to get a second opinion and B. to check out a holistic vet. The second opinion went fine. The vet barely looked at me the entire duration of the visit, he focused on my dog instead. I felt ignored and wondered if he even listened to anything I was asking about. He didn't have any advice for some ongoing issues and tried to send me out the door with expensive pro-biotics that he thought would fix things. I would not return to this vet.

Dr. Jim discovered a mass cell cancer tumor on my dog's leg. His recommendation was to have it removed promptly. I thought about taking my dog to the U to have the surgery done but was assured that Lake Harriet could do just as good of job and get it done faster so I scheduled the surgery at Lake Harriet. When I picked my dog up after the surgery, she howled in pain all the way home in the car and then howled more when I got her into the house. She is normally a quiet, calm dog. I was concerned as her stiches had been pulled loose down the 12 inch incision on her leg. I called the vet (this was at 6:30 that night) and the receptionist told me that the Vets didn't take afterhours calls. She advised that I take her to an emergency vet. We rode out the night together, neither of us getting much sleep due to her distress. My dog has had several surgeries including surgery for a torn ACL. I have never seen a dog in that much pain.
In the morning Lake Harriet called to check on my dog and the decision was to give her a sedative to handle the pain. She was able to rest after the sedative. Over the next 4 days, she seemed to be getting better. Then I came home from work and her leg was shaking although there was no redness around her stiches. I took her to the UOM Vet immediately. She had a very bad infection within her wound. They kept her at the U to monitor her giving her strong antibiotics. She was to the point that she could not left her head, all she could do was wag her tail when I came into the room. The Vet at the U kept monitoring her when she came home, calling to check, even monitoring my dog’s progress through my eMails on the days she wasn’t working. Zoe pulled through it! She is doing fine now!
Dr. Meagan did the surgery. She was paid in full. She never called once to check on my dog.
Dr. Jim did call to see how my dog was doing. I told him what I thought had gone wrong. I suggested several best-practice changes he could make but he said he did not intend to change his practice. I asked if he would help cover the cost of my dog’s vet bill at the U which was well over a thousand dollars. He wasn’t willing to do that either. Below are the suggestions I gave him:
and middot; Provide follow-thru/assistance/monitoring after a surgery
and middot; Provide pain management for the ride home and when the dog is at home
and middot; Provide a sterile environment during surgery to prevent serious infections inside the wounds
and middot; Accountability, if there is a problem the surgeon should be concerned and call to provide support, assistance and a solution
and middot; Accountability, if a patient has to pay another provided, the clinic should either not charge for their service or be responsible for the other provider’s bill

I brought my dog in for a yearly checkup, and having moved to the Twin Cities recently, it was a new vet for us. The staff was highly professional, facilities were clean and comfortable and the approach was relaxed and felt more like an appointment at home than going to a stainless, sterile office. The Dr. was very caring and kind as was the aide. The Dr. gave me a rundown of their services offered and even had my dog's nails trimmed even though I hadn't scheduled the service. Top notch facilty and top notch staff! Would reccomend them in a heartbeat! Only reason my bill was as high as it was is because I purchased a year of heartworm meds which was around $100. Otherwise, two shots, fecal test, nail trim, overall exam....definitely worth the price.

They're extremely professional and they are very, very, knowledgeable. They are holistic with my dogs and cats. I can get in very quickly when necessary for appointments with my animals and they have just been great.

I think they are good. I like their concern and that they listen to you. They care about you and your pet.

They are very nice and very thorough and they seem to genuinely love animals. The clinic feels very welcoming and I really like that we have a clinic right in the neighborhood.

They were wonderful. It was hard to compare but when I am doing pets I hoped that it would not cost much and I knew that I did not have insurance, so in that realm it seemed reasonable.

I see both the vets over there and they are the owners. Both are good. They are just very thorough and they explain the services really well. They are caring and they definitely love animals. They don't immediately jump to expensive solutions and they are pretty holistic.