Nicollet Veterinary Clinic

At first I was very pleased with the clinic. I felt like my dog and I were valued as more than just patients. However, over the last several years the clinic has grown exponentially and the quality of the care received decreased dramatically. The clinic is hiring vets just out of school and the senior vets are not doing enough oversight of the new vets and so diagnoses were missed or made incorrectly. Additionally, when on-call, the vets seem to not want to go out of their way to help. On one occasion, my dog clearly had injured her back and the vet - a newer one - wouldn't prescribe steroids or see us emergently because my dog was already taking pain medications and anti-spasm drugs. We had to to wait 4 days (over the weekend) to see a vet who said my dog should have been on steroids. But the damage was already done and she never recovered full use of her hind quarters, despite me taking her to a rehab clinic. Also, while waiting the 10 days it would take to get into the rehab clinic, the Nicollet clinic didn't want to use their cold laser therapy on her. They said I should just wait to see the rehab clinic doctor. Finally, on my dog's last night, she was coughing and had so much phlegm and moisture in her chest that she couldn't breathe well. The on-call vet was one of the senior vets. However, he had absolutely no suggestions for how to help her until morning, when another vet was coming to do at-home euthanasia. He was unwilling to do anything except tell me that she was probably near the end. He refused to prescribe other meds to calm her and only at 6:30am, on my fourth and last call to him, did he offer to go to the clinic early to euthanize her. By that time, I had already given her medication that I had at home - with his knowledge - and she was resting. When I found out that she had only limited time, I told the vet that I wanted her last day to be a good one and that I didn't want her to suffer. He suggested that I probably had weeks to a month with her. I know it's not science, but as it turned out, I only had days as she declined rapidly. If I had known that, I would have scheduled her euthanasia sooner. I am still haunted by the fact that her last hours on this earth were filled with pain and anxiety as she tried to breathe. After she died, I never received any recognition from the clinic, which always sends out notes to the guardians of patients who have died. When I asked my dad to get my Cat's records from them so I could transfer his care to another clinic, the receptionist said everyone there knew that she had died and that there was a card for me "somewhere around here." The lack of compassion in those final weeks are incomprehensible to me. Other facts: - A few years before her death she had microscopic amounts of blood in her urine over several months. One of the senior vets used their absolutely antiquated US machine to look at her bladder and determined that there was an abnormality that she assumed was bladder cancer. I immediately took my dog to the vet school where tests showed that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her bladder or any part of her urinary system. They suspected the microscopic blood was from stress from a recent move. Their antiquated US machine and resulting misdiagnosis caused me unneeded stress as bladder cancer is nearly always fatal. And it cost me over $600 in fees at the vet school. - When she was diagnosed with the mass in her lung that ended up being her cause of death, the vet compared it with one they had taken only 3 months earlier and was able to see the mass, which was much smaller at the time. Because they hadn't invested in digital X-ray, the films couldn't be manipulated as much and so the vet who read the first X-ray missed the mass. Both vets were senior vets at the clinic. - I also have a cat who was a patient at the clinic when he was a kitten. He was not gaining weight and was acting very lethargic. The initial tests were inconclusive but the vet - a senior one - suggested that he thought my kitten had FIP, a fatal disease. It turns out that he had giardia, easily treated with medication. However, for three weeks while he continued to test my kitten for FIP, I was emotionally distraught and my kitten underwent invasive tests, including a needle stuck in his abdomen. - My kitten also had scaly pads and scabs in a line up the back of each hind leg. One of the junior vets saw us. When I told her what I thought it might be based on my internet searches, she immediately dismissed me and said that it was something else. When she did a biopsy, the result was what I had thought it was. I only learned this after taking him to another clinic because she told me that the biopsy didn't give a clear diagnosis. - On our first appointment at the new clinic, they diagnosed my kitten with Grade 4 gingivitis as well as cataracts. They did additional diagnostic tests and eventually arrived at three different diagnoses that require him to be on special food for life. - To this day, no one from the clinic has called or written to talk to me about what happened at the end of my dog's life or to find out why I removed my cat from their care. I can only conclude that they don't care.

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I am really impressed by their facilities, but the doctors and staff are very nice and friendly. I prefer Dr. Norell, who seemed to listen to me more than talk.

I have used the Nicollet Veternarian Clinic for 40 years. I currently have a horse boarding operation. At one time, I had 60 horses, full time trainer and 2 breeding stallions. Nicollet vet has been there for me thoughout it all. They are avaliable 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. I would not consider calling anyone else.

Both of our cats have been going to Nicollet Veterinary Clinic since they were kittens -- they were neutered, microchipped, and fully vaccinated at the clinic when they were little, and they come back every year for their booster shots. Dr. Doug is usually the one who sees them. He's great with the animals -- even though they are terrified about being at the vet, he knows how to coax them out of their cage (canned cat food) and keep them content while he examines them and administers the shot. He makes it as stress-free as possible for the cat, and it's greatly appreciated.The veterinarians are on call 24 hours a day in case of emergencies, so if you do have an emergency after hours you just call the regular office number and leave a message and one of the vets will call you back within like 15 minutes. It's not as immediate as other vet clinics, but I did have (what I thought was) an emergency and the on-call veterinarian called me back within 5 minutes.One of our cats was often ill as a kitten, and on more than one occasion I called Nicollet Veterinary Clinic to ask if they could squeeze me in to the schedule for that day because the kitty wasn't eating, and the vet would always make time to see him. Like some of the other reviewers have said, it can be a bit of a pain driving 20 minutes out of town to get to the clinic, but it is well worth the drive! The entire staff is friendly and knowledgeable -- I couldn't imagine taking my pets anywhere else.

It was GREAT! I highly recommend NVC, from start to finish they were friendly and easy to work with, and worked with me and my dogs so we could have the best possible experience. We were in and out the door in snap, and taking the dogs to the vet is now so effortless!

I take my cat here on the advice of two of my friends; and I am very glad I took their advice! Not only does Shasta react well to their staff (and she's a very shy cat) and Doug Schauberger, but whenever I have questions they are happy to talk over the phone or squeeze her in if it's an emergency. Her yearly exam went well again this year, and even though the 20 minute drive from Mankato is kind of inconvienent, I'll gladly drive it if it makes going to the vet easier on my pet.

As always it was a pleasant experience for both us and the dog. I only have experience with the male veterinarian at this clinic but I wouldn't take our dog anywhere else. He is always kind and compassionate. The technicians are always ready with treats...she enjoys going to the vet. I had her spayed there when she was a puppy and had a great experience. My dog is also prone to food allergies, rather than put her on medication for it right away he helped me find a food for her that she wouldn't react to. They are well worth the drive for the friendly service and great advice.