user
VCA Big Lake Animal Hospital
9750 W Parks Hwy, Wasilla, AK 99654, United States
Appearance

Comments
Ni
Review №1

Erica recently helped my husband and I with some administrative items that came with the dental visit and she was absolutely amazing! Quick to respond, gave a solution, and followed up. I genuinely appreciate her level of customer service and will be repeat customers because of it.Beyond that, the vet and technicians did a phenomenal job cleaning our dogs teeth and helped us with questions and dental solutions along the way.Great experience!!!! Thank you!!!!

Le
Review №2

We transferred our records to the Big Lake VCA because they have been excellent with our dog.We have received friendly, professional care, they have sent us coupons for services savings and gone above and beyond to help us in an emergency. We needed shots today to keep our dog updated and they put cheese on a board for her so she was distracted for the shots and she was so excited, she didn’t even flinch! The BEST!

Ei
Review №3

This is an amazing vet clinic. All the staff are helpful and kind. The front desk staff let us in 10 minutes before opening when our dog was having an emergency, even though the vet wasnt there yet, to get him to the back and hooked up on an IV and monitor. All the staff took great care of us and showed upmost professionalism and compassion and let us know our options. They were so kind and let us say goodbye to our best boy without rushing. I recommend this vet 100%. I cannot praise them enough.

Sa
Review №4

Cant say enough good things about this vet hospital! Have been taking my pets here for over 20 years. Multiple different vets and each one is better than the next. Thanks from all my fur babies.

Am
Review №5

The Dr and staff were great with my little Izzy! Even with my girl being so high strung and anxious, they did amazing with her! Definitely a huge difference from the previous vet clinic we had been using since she was a puppy.

Pa
Review №6

We took my retired service dog there for a swollen toe. Dr Fischer told us she had a tumor, took an xray and stated it showed minimal bone intrusion, and she needed the toe amputated to above the next highest joint, also that she needed a large upper canine tooth extracted.Then I received an email of her records where it stated there was NO visible bone intrusion.Id explained that we want compassionate, conservative care; the suggested mutilation recommended seemed to be neither, so again we drove all the way to Soldotna where we trust Twin Cities Veterinary Hospital. There, they did a biopsy of the toe and a full dental cleaning with xrays. The dog does NOT have a tumor, only scar tissue from snagging her nail (wed explained the nail injury clearly). She also does NOT have an infected tooth!After receiving the biopsy results I called asking if they thought perhaps any refund of our over-300 dollar exam visit might perhaps be appropriate to refund, or if they had anything else to say; weve received no reply whatsoever.This is the second time Wasilla vets have tried to mutilate my dog unnecessarily rather than doing a simple biopsy. If wed done as told shed be incontinent and missing part of her abdominal cavity as well as part of her hind foot.How incredibly cruel and heartless, looking to make thousands of dollars while unnecessarily mutilating and disfiguring my beautiful dog in her old age. Shes served me well and has earned the conservative and compassionate care we seek. Shame on this clinic!

El
Review №7

One of the BEST vets I have been to. Everyone from the people at the desk to the vets and assistants truly cares about my pet as it was their own. Until my job sends me and my family to another state big lake is my vet!!

Al
Review №8

I highly recommend this veterinary hospital. The doctors are the best, and the facilities that they have available to them are top notch. They take wonderful care of my pets.

He
Review №9

While spending the weekend in the Big Lake area, our 4 yr old pup was hit by a car. We immediately called Big Lake-Susitna Veterinary Hospital and explained the circumstances, saying we had a Vet in Anchorage but didnt want to drive that far. Even though it was late on Friday of Labor Day weekend they said to bring him right in. As soon as we walked in the door his condition was immediately evaluated, which fortunately was not life-threatening. We saw Dr. Fisher who examined him very closely, explained how she would treat and stitch his wound. It would take a while to do so she suggested we leave and come back at closing time. I know that Dr Fisher and other staff stayed after closing on this holiday weekend to care for our best friend. The good news is, our boy healed well and fast. Both he and we, had excellent care. The office was very clean, lots of relevant reading material and books and every staff we encountered was professional, friendly and compassionate. Thank you.

Va
Review №10

I drive over 10 miles out of my way to take my animals to Big Lake, passing three other, closer veterinary offices to do that. The care, compassion and expertize is amazing. I have been taking my animals to Big Lake Vet for years and years (decades?) and wouldnt consider going to another vet, regardless of how close the other vet office may be.

Ry
Review №11

Big Lake vet is amazing! I had to take my rabbit to the emergency vet and the next day they wanted me to bring him into a vet for a check up the next day. Everywhere was booked or I would have to drop him off but luckily big lake was open. I brought him in and they were so kind as soon as we walked in. I had some x-rays sent over and Dr. fisher wasnt sure about the x-rays so asked opinions of other doctors. She also went above and beyond for us making sure he would be okay. She did such a great job. Also on top of that they sent a thank you card to me afterwards, super nice! Big Lake vet is our new go to vet! ( I had to write this on my brothers account haha)

Ei
Review №12

If the man in charge of this hospital still is Bryan Baetsle, there is no better place to go. He goes way beyond duty to save a dog, He CARES. Sadly very few vets in this world that are like that. He is the BEST. Wish there was someone half as great where I reside now, on the other side of this globe.Dogs are normally reluctant to enter any clinic, but going to this one my setter always went happily straight to the desk, (particularly if Brenda was there!) paws up on it, hello, I have arrived!. They know.

G
Review №13

I am very disappointed with this veterinary hospital. Our expectations were not met. I was looking for alternative medicine for our dogs . I researched for holistic veterinaries in Anchorage because we wanted to take our dog to a holistic vet while we are there for vacation. The VCA Big Lake Hospital showed up in my Google search. I checked their website and I was happy to see on their website that they offer alternative medicines. It is not in Anchorage but we were willing to go to Wasilla to take our dogs in this clinic as long as we are getting a holistic vet. I called them and specifically asked the receptionist for a holistic vet, I explained to her the situation that our two dogs already went to several traditional vets for their condition and that I am just looking specifically for an alternative medicine. The receptionist was not really nice, I find her quite rude. She said , they still need to do an initial check up. I said ok that’s fine but I repeated again that I am looking for an alternative medicine. My husband also found the receptionist quite rude.When we went to the clinic, I was really expecting that we will be talking to a holistic vet who knows about alternative medicines but my husband and I got confused because the vet who was scheduled to assist us does not know anything about alternative medicine, she kept insisting about traditional medicines such as steroid and hormone therapy. We kept explaining to them that we have done all the tests already and we need different options , we need alternative medicine. Finally, she was able to understand that we need holistic vet. She was nice and doing her best to help, but the issue here was that our expectations were not met. We do not need to go to this clinic to look for a traditional vet , driving around 300 miles, going out of our way from our vacation just to get another traditional vet. We have lots of good traditional vets in Fairbanks and our local vet is also very good and knowledgeable, someone who has lots of experience in the veterinary field already. What we do not have in our small town is a vet who practice alternative medicines. After the vet was able to understand the reason why we were there in their clinic, she talked to their holistic vet and gave us second hand information. I felt that we wasted our time, and our expectations were not met. Sure we got these herbal medicines but I was not able to talk personally to the holistic vet so she can explain to me clearly what are these herbal products she prescribed. She was not able to check the dogs herself too. They did not charge us for consultation, I think it looks like a promotion for first time consultation based on what I saw on their FB page but the supplements or herbal medicines are very expensive compared to if we buy them outside.The receptionist did not do her job well. To me, that is being incompetent. There was miscommunication. For the clinic, please do not advertise that you are offering alternative medicines in your clinic, if you really don’t offer it so you don’t waste the customer’s time and money. On the other hand, if you are offering this type of service, make sure that if the customer requested for it, the customer gets that. Very unprofessional! In addition, I recommend that the receptionist needs to undergo customer service skills training to improve her customer interaction as well as her listening skills. Moreover, this is the only vet clinic that we ever visited that never gave us courtesy call to check the dogs after our visits.Overall, the experience was not good, and we will not come back to this clinic anymore.

Ca
Review №14

The staff at Big Lake-Susitna Veterinary Hospital is exemplary for the following reasons: up to date medical knowledge regarding diagnosis, treatment and follow-up for each of our pets - l lab pup, 1 nine-year old lab, and 1 9 year-old cat. We previously had a lab who was cared for his entire life until he was faced with cancer. The treatment for him included contact with other medical personnel to ensure appropriate and timely services.The office staff is always personable and prompt to assist as needed and appropriate follow-up as needed.We have recommended BLSV to many friends because of the outstanding care and boarding for our pets.

Ev
Review №15

We painfully went through kidney failure with my 3yr old boy who crossed the rainbow bridge 3-22-19 they have a peaceful room and caring staff I was blessed a vet I can count on again in a painful time they were very thoughtful and patience and understandingIf u pup acts off just spend the money get blood wrk done ur be thankful later !!Thank you !

JO
Review №16

My outdoor cat, Lulu, came home acting very funny. About 18-20 hours later I decided to take her to the vet. I figured she had gotten a hold of a poisoned mouse. As soon as the vet walked in, she said, “No, this looks more like antifreeze poisoning.” She checked Lulu over. We talked a little about treatment, and obviously I asked her about survival, to which she replied the standard, “If only I had a crystal ball…”Ok, she walks in, identifies the problem by looking at the cat so she is obviously VERY familiar with antifreeze poisoning, knows approximate hours since ingestion and can’t give me a, “based on hours, it’s doubtful . . . or . . . she hasn’t hit the critical hour yet, there is still time . . .” I had no idea about antifreeze poisoning, this is my first experience with it.However, after this appointment, I quickly learned Lulu had little to no chance of survival based on the number of hours since ingestion and Im pretty sure this vet had to have a pretty good idea she didnt have a very good chance of survival as well.But before I could finish with my questions, because I think she knew I would come around to the fact that Lulu needed to be put down right then therefore she wouldn’t make a dime on us, she said she would be back with the price and a care plan. She never returned. She sent a very timid tech with a tablet who placed it on the table, scrolled through the plan, very roughly explained it, and landed on a bottom line of $1082!On that note, I told the tech I had more questions and needed to TALK to the vet and could not afford that much money. The tech went away with my questions, came back without the vet but some vague answers to my questions. She again scrolled through the care plan and landed on $844 but said it would be under $799 or something like that.At that point I was frustrated, I had just gotten off a 12-hour shift at a hospital in Anchorage so was exhausted, confused, stressed, feeling taken advantage of, but Lulu had crawled into the corner of the shelf and it was breaking my heart, so I went with it. This was on a Saturday morning.Lulu and I suffered through the weekend and she was put down on Monday morning.I feel taken advantage of by this vet clinic and do not recommend it.Sending the top dollar care plan in with a tech who can barely explain it, then almost halving it, having a vet who avoids coming back to answer all your questions in case you might just figure out the scam going on, and last but not least not having a vet be HONEST with you is just not good business sense in this small community.I see VCAs response and I will contact them even though they are chalking this up to emotion.Be honest? The vet said she was coming back. She did not come back even after I requested she come back to answer the rest of the questions I had.Ill contact their manager but Im also filing a complaint with the VCA Corporate office so maybe at least next time Big Lake VCA will be upfront with people.

Sa
Review №17

I think they are top notch! Even though I now live in Palmer, I would not consider changing to a vet near my home because my dog and I trust the doctors and staff to give us the best care they can. They have alway shown alot of kindness, caring and expertise in working with us and I trust them completely. They went way beyond the call of duty when my prior pet died and I will always remember and bless them for that.

Ka
Review №18

VCA Big Lake has been taking care of my pets for many years now. I have cats of my own, and when Ive had foster cats whove needed care (including emergency care), the staff has been completely awesome. Sadly, I most recently had to have one of my beloved cats, Boo-Boo, euthanized. Their newest veterinarian, Dr. Kidder, was very kind and gentle with my kitty and me. I love that they built that crying room which is comfortable and non-clinical where you can hold your fur-baby as they are sent over the rainbow bridge. This is the 2nd time Ive had to use them for this purpose, and both times, the staff has shown such wonderful compassion. They even have an electric candle on the counter in the waiting room that is lit, with a sign letting folks in the waiting area know that someone is saying goodbye to their pet and to please be respectful and quiet, (or something to that effect...I was crying so I dont remember exactly how it was worded). When I got there, I told Erica at the front desk (shes awfully wonderful), that I wanted the vet techs and veterinarians present to see Boo-Boo (who was 19 years old), and see what crippling effects declawing a cat have on them as they get older. Erica informed me that they refuse to declaw cats, or to do any of the other maiming procedures (docking of ears/tails). If it was possible, this clinic went up even higher in my estimation. This proves, to me, that they are more about humane and compassionate care for our non-human family members than they are about making a profit off doing unnecessary convenience or cosmetic surgeries. Thank you, VCA Big Lake.

Ja
Review №19

Veterinarians, vet techs, and staff are well-qualified and personable. Everyone shares a love of animals whether your pet is a dog or cat or one of the more exotic animals. BLSVH is open six days a week and tries to set appointments to fit into clients schedule as much as possible. Ive been a client at BLSVH since I moved to the Valley in the mid-80s, and theyve cared for all my four-legged family members since then. Top-notch all the way!

Da
Review №20

This vet clinic did an amazing job on my doggie’s teeth. His teeth were very gross and covered with buildup. Now he had a movie star doggie smile! Dr. K did such a good job. Sorry, I don’t know how to spell this vet’s last name, but she’s great and understands rural pets. My dogs are from a village and have a more cautious temperament, but Dr. K was great with both of my shy dogs. So glad there is a vet office around that understands that not everyone out here is a millionaire, but we still love our pets. Prices are reasonable and they are very honest about telling you if a service is optional. Not like some other money grubbing vet clinics I have been to where the estimated make my eyeballs pop out and I have to feel like a grinch with my doggie’s care. Big lake is super understanding about pet owners needing to keep costs down so they can access services for their pets. Thanks!!!

De
Review №21

I have been a client of Big Lake Vet for many years and no matter how large or small the need of my animals the staff always has been wonderful,be it for wellness checks or major surgery. They are professional but warm and caring with each animal.If you care for your animal this is the place to take them for all their health needs.

Ma
Review №22

After sampling almost every veterinary clinic in the valley, I chose BLSVM hospital to care for my kennel of canines. The doctors are highly intelligent, good diagnosticians, and excellent surgeons. The staff is professional and friendly.

Ha
Review №23

This is one of the best and most professional vet clinics I have been too. The staff there is very helpful and open minded, and they always like to love on my dogs and give them plenty of cookies when I go there. I cant even begin to say enough good things about the veterinarians there. I have never had a problem with them trying to push their products on me or belittle me for the products I choose to use already. Theyre one of the few vets that doesnt believe in overvaccinating (Dr. Fisher suggested I get a blood test done on one of my dogs to find out if he even needed the vaccine before she gave it to him). When I was having trouble putting weight on my other dog she even suggested supplimenting some hamburger into his diet. Their offices are very clean and inviting, just like the staff that works there

Ri
Review №24

We have been with Big Lake Vets for years. Drs. Baetsle, Hambach, Fisher, & Lehman are all very caring and knowledgeable professionals. The staff is always helpful and caring. We wouldnt go anywhere else. Thank you for all you do.

Si
Review №25

We know BLSVH since November 1999 when we rescued our best friend Buddy and can only praise everybody there for their knowledge, exceptional care and the love they provide to all pets.We wouldnt see any other Veterinary - never, ever!

Ka
Review №26

The staff expertise at BLSVH is exceptional and thorough. We have a kennel of racing sled dogs and when needed, we feel each dog gets the most up to date treatment and we get extensive information on the course of treatment and after care. As you can imagine, with 85 dogs, weve had just about every dog issue imaginable. BLSVH staff, from the receptionist to the docs, have shown kindness and a keen awareness of the bond between owner and animal. Thank you to all the staff at BLSVH from Martin Busers Happy Trails Kennel.

Wi
Review №27

Ive been going to Big Lake-Susitna Veterinary Hospital for 14 years with my dogs and cats. It has always been easy to schedule an appointment for a new pet or an animal that is having problems. This past March my old dog collapsed on his way to breakfast. I called BLSVH at around 8 AM and Dr. Hambach was checking him out by 9 AM. (I live a half an hour away from the hospital) The diagnosis was such that having him put to sleep was the best option for him. The staff and doctors were all very compassionate and understanding and allowed us plenty of time to say good bye. The next month my wife adopted a kitten from an adoption clinic in Eagle River. She call BLSVH on her way home to set up an appointment and was told she could stop by for a wellness exam without an appointment. This was on a Saturday when they generally dont do walk-ins. Just this past week I adopted a new puppy from animal control to replace the dog that died in March. I was able to get an appointment the next day to make sure it was safe to allow the puppy with the rest of our animals. I love the way Dr. Lehman gets down to the animals level and does the exam so the dog hardly knows its being examinded. This hospital is staffed with professionals that not only care about their animal patients but the people that own the animals. When one of my dogs was diagnosed with diabetes Dr. Lehman called all around to find a place for me to get the insulin my dog would need at a price that I could afford. I just cant speak highly enough of this organization.

La
Review №28

I was on my way to a dog show in Anchorage and my Russian Blue, Enjoli, had developed serious symptoms the day before. I could not get her into 3 vets in Fairbanks so decided to take her with me. I stopped at the first vet hospital that I came to on the Parks which was Big Lake-Susitna Vet Hospital. I arrived about 4:45 and they didnt turn me away. I was impressed with this clinic the minute I walked in the door with the services they offered and the pet food they sold! They do stem cell therapy, lapriscopy, endoscopy, acupuncture, laser therapy and accept Care Credit. Dr. Hambach diagnosed her problem and prescribed an injectable antibiotic so I didnt have to further stress my little cat. Dr. Hambach suggested a cause that no other vet has offered so were going back to Wasilla for further treatment. I would suggest this clinic to anyone who cares about their pets. Thanks, BLDVH Staff!!!

Ja
Review №29

An outstanding veterinary hospital.... our pure-bred Polish Redewski Shepard,Mr. Fetters, absolutely loves the care he gets there!!!!!

Wa
Review №30

Not far from my house and they do great work! I highly recommend them.

Ju
Review №31

Dr Fisher was wonderful to Dakota Blue.

Do
Review №32

Excellent !!

Da
Review №33

Expensive!

Information
81 Photos
33 Comments
4.5 Rating
  • Address:9750 W Parks Hwy, Wasilla, AK 99654, United States
  • Site:https://vcahospitals.com/big-lake?utm_source=maps&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=VCA_Big_Lake_Animal_Hospital
  • Phone:+1 907-892-9292
Categories
  • Emergency veterinarian service
  • Animal hospital
  • Pet groomer
  • Veterinarian
Working hours
  • Monday:Closed
  • Tuesday:8am–6pm
  • Wednesday:8am–6pm
  • Thursday:8am–6pm
  • Friday:8am–6pm
  • Saturday:8am–6pm
  • Sunday:8am–6pm
Health and safety
  • Mask required:Yes
  • Staff wear masks:Yes
  • Staff required to disinfect surfaces between visits:Yes
Accessibility
  • Wheelchair-accessible toilet:No
Amenities
  • Toilets:Yes
Planning
  • Appointments recommended:Yes
Similar organizations