Puget Sound Veterinary Specialty & Emergency

My sweet 10 month old kitten Cece came down with a rare disorder. After seeing three other vets who were unable to identify Cece’s affliction (including an emergency room here in Olympia) I was blessed to go to Puget Sound Veterinary Specialist and Emergency. The emergency clinic saw Cece quickly that very evening…..they were thorough, informative, kind (I was extraordinarily stressed), and identified the best method to get Cece in to see Dr. Brenna (the clinics veterinary neurologist) ASAP. Cece saw Dr. Brenna the very next day. From that point forward Dr. Brenna and her wonderful assistants, Amy and Brittany, took focused, careful, and effective care of my Cece. They investigated multiple possibilities for Cece’s affliction and identified a treatment plan. Dr. Brenna kept Cece at the clinic several days to ensure she did not have a negative reaction to the prescribed medicines. Dr. Brenna continues to see Cece to fine tune the medications, ensure Cece thrives, and hopefully in the long run get Cece off the medications. At all times the clinic advised me in advance of the estimated cost of going forward. I cannot say enough about the care Cece received and how kindly I’ve been treated. Cece loves the staff at Puget Sound Veterinary Specialty…and I do too. We are very fortunate to have this excellent clinic available to us here in the Puget Sound.

DO NOT GO HERE. This is a place that uses scare tactics to squeeze you of all they can. I brought my 1yr old pup in because he ate some clothes over the weekend that we thought he puked up already. The next day I took him to the first vet hospital that could get me in which was PSVS&E. The triage nurse came to check on my puppy within 10 minutes of arrival. The first red flag was before even doing any exam, the nurse immediately made reference to my dog needing surgery. We came in see if there was something they could give our pup for his stomach to make him more comfortable until we get him into our vet the next day. I was told “absolutely not” and instead they took my dog to the back and I was left in the lobby for about 40minutes. I thought they were treating him but apparently not because they brought him back out and said it would be about 40 more mins until the doctor could see him. Finally they bring my dog to a kennel and me to a separate room. After about 3 minutes, the same nurse comes to my room and immediately asks if I am ready to begin surgery prep and do Xrays on my dog. At this point I have no idea if the Dr. has done an exam or what the findings were. I was immediately met with attitude from the nurse and given a side eye as I requested to speak with the Vet directly. I dont remember the nurse’s name but she was a younger petite brunette who claimed she also worked at a Bellevue vet hospital. She was absolutely horrible. Finally, Dr. Anne-Marie Lewis came to talk with me and immediately says “so I heard you have questions?”. I was in complete shock because neither Dr. or nurse filled me in on how my dog’s exam went and gave no indication of checking his vitals, weight, etc. Instead the Dr. looked at me like I was crazy for wanting to know how my dog’s initial exam went. It was an extremely uncomfortable 5 minute of me asking the doctor questions and having a hard time getting any clarity of how my dog’s exam went. The nurse then came back and proceeded to guilt trip me into doing $800 xrays to see what may be going on inside my pup. She said things like “I am being adamant about this because I am looking out for your dog’s best interest. I know you are as well, but your dog cant speak for himself and we are really worried about him. We need to do surgery within 12 hours or your dog may not live.” The nurse and Dr immediately saw my dog and myself as a candidate to take advantage of through scare tactics. I ended up begrudgingly doing the xray after hearing the doctor and nurse talk down to me even after telling them we were planning to take him to our regular vet tomorrow morning. After the xrays, they proceeded to tell me that my dog has 12 hours to live and if I don’t proceed with an emergency $10,000 surgery, he will die. I was in shock. Dr. Anne-Marie Lewis and her nurse had zero empathy, compassion or even awareness of the gravity of their words. They claimed their only concern was my dog and this is what needed to be done. They made me feel like I was a horrible person for even having to consider. Mind you, this was over the course of over an hour. With my dog in a kennel in another room away from me. They kept me in the back room alone for 40 mins to stew with their words. Finally, I listened to my gut and got the hell out of there. I told them I needed a second opinion before signing documents that I was going against their medical advice and releasing them fully from liability. I immediately took my dog to another vet hospital to check his vitals to ensure he would make it through the night. This place never even checked my dogs vitals, weight or bloodwork. I was mindblown at their lack of professionalism. My dog’s vitals were fine and we were assured he would survive through the night. The next morning we ended up going to Pinehurst Vet hospital in Olympia who treated my dog on Christmas eve with a surgery that ended up costing us only $3,000. They were kind, caring and worked with us every step of the way. I could go on for hours about why you should avoid this place at all costs!

First of all I want to say this is one of the absolute best veterinarian interactions I have ever had. Beginning to end- All of our Vet ER’s were at capacity or closed in Olympia and we ended up in Gig Harbor almost an hour away. Of course I was a little annoyed because my 18 year old dog was in pain and we had to drive an hour, but the kind soul on the other side of the phone was reassuring and loving. She let us know we could stay at home and she would send a message when she was ready for us to leave our house. That’s a great plan, and really kept everyone more comfortable. We got into the vet once we were called and were greeted by the front desk and she was so lovely. Her dog, Lola (the best baby) was even more adorable. Thanks for letting us pet her and love on her. Then out comes Melody. This woman. She is such a beautiful soul. She loved on our sweet Kia bear. She listened, is empathetic, and is a person who truly loves her job. Melody, thank you for showing up. Thank you for being such an amazing human being. Thank you validating our concerns, fears. Hearing us. You are in the right field, and you touched our lives in a way you won’t ever know. Now to the real meat-Dr. Cameron Smithee-This man is an absolute legend of a DVM. I could sing his praises for literal years. Kia like I said earlier is 18 years old, she has presented with chronic pancreatitis her entire life. Lately it’s just been worse. We haven’t been able to control it with normal measures. We talked to Dr. Smithee about her previous lab values over the course of her life. How her kidney values have always just been out of range, how she has intermittent chronic pancreatitis, how she has crazy increased thirst. He highly suspects she had addison’s. Are you freaking kidding me. The thing that has been plaguing my dog for 14 years, and at an emergency veterinarian this man diagnoses (well still needs to be confirmed but highly suspects) she has an adrenal disease and this could alter her life, and change it for the better until she truly is ready to go. Dr. Smithee-you will never know how much that changed our lives, I will sing your praises until the end of my days. I will tell the story of this great Vet ER Doctor in Gig Harbor. You could have possibly given us our Kia back. We thought we might be at the end, but you gave us hope and that’s a gift. You are an absolute gift to this world. Thank you seems like such a pitiful word, but it’s all I have for now. You make such a difference, and you made such a difference in Kia’s life. You heard us. You listened, you pieced this puzzle together. I’m still in awe. We are all resting peacefully at home this morning because of this great team, and I hope this team reads this message on hard days. You are worth it. Keep going, because we see you. ♥️

I drive here from Seattle because they are so good with my dog. He has needed to see the orthopedic and neurology departments and both were great! The doctors spend a good amount of time going over recommendations and answering questions. I really appreciate the whole teams compassion and commitment to great care!

I had an extremely good experience here with my cat, Maybe. Unfortunately, Maybe had gotten into an accident and had to be put down. I brought her in on a Thursday morning and she was seen almost immediately. I drove to this specific clinic from Puyallup because I heard the wait times are not as bad as others close to me. I can’t promise that you’ll have that exact experience, but I think it was worth the drive. The staff was very patient with me and the vet laid my options out along with an estimate of how much each procedure would cost. I did not feel pressured in anyway and they gave me the time I needed to make a decision. Ultimately, we decided that our cat needed to be put down. I went to get my husband from work and they kept her really comfortable until I was able to get back. Obviously, losing your pet is really horrible experience. However, going out of our way to drive an extra 30 minutes to go this vet clinic made the whole experience better for us and for our sweet kitty. I just have my dog now and would come back to this clinic instantly if something were to happen to him.