Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota (AERC)

My wife and I adopted a new puppy a couple of years ago. A few days after getting him he decided he wasn't hungry one day. We figured he would eat eventually if he got hungry enough so we gave him a day to find his appetite. The next day he was with us on a trip and he started to get a little too calm, like he was out of it. Seeing as how he weighed less than 2 lbs. we knew he couldn't go very long without food, so we figured he was hypoglycemic and brought him to AERC to get some food/sugar in him. They did some tests and came back in our room twice. The first time they came in they said he was negative for parvo (canine parvovirus). Then 15 seconds later another person comes in and says he's positive for parvo. So we begin reading about parvo, and quickly notice how he has almost none of the symptoms of parvo but decide it's best to let the experts take care of him. Mind you parvo is a near death sentence so it is an extremely serious situation and incredibly tragic to hear. So he stays in the emergency parvo unit for 4 days. Every day we leave work and drive 2 hours to come see him for a little bit. He's hanging in there but looks so sad with the IV in his little leg, in such a cold and unfamiliar environment, around other sad dogs diagnosed with Parvo. He wasn't even in our house long enough to know us yet. They keep telling us how he's "the most stable Parvo patient we've ever had". He had almost none of the Parvo symptoms aside from lack of appetite and lethargy. We accumulate over $6000 in vet costs over the course of the few days he's at AERC. On the last day of his stay we reviewed the IDEXX SNAP test protocol because we are getting skeptical of the diagnosis. The individual we adopted him from has no Parvo dogs. Our dog Louie has almost none of the telltale signs of parvo. He is not getting better or worse, just the same every day. It turns out that they did not follow the procedure according to the test manufacturer. They did not take the results at the correct time. They read the test results twice, before and after the recommended time of interpretation. The first reading was a negative, the second reading was a positive. All involved veterinarians were fairly young as well. So we decided to take him home and figure out what tricks we needed to do to get him interested in eating again. It took a lot of trial and error but once he gained some confidence back he eats like a champ. I am sure that most people's experience at AERC is not like this, but I am writing this out and putting it here because it was the experience for my wife, me, and our little dog Louie who is a very confident eater now and always looks forward to dinner.

My wife and I drove all the way from Fargo, ND to get our puppy Blaze seen for his heart. The moment we stepped into the building everyone was very welcoming and friendly. Once we got to the 2nd floor we noticed the sign that was welcoming all of the animals being seen today, my wife and I loved that. Special shout out to everyone on the 2nd floor. They were beyond amazing. They took great care of Blaze and answered all of our questions. We can't wait to come back when Blaze has his surgery. We have no doubts he will always be in good hands.

We have been to AERC more than we would like, unfortunately. Most recently, we had to bring our very reactive, very scared doggo in. The staff is all phenomenal - from the agent talking the call, to having a room prepared when we arrived and bringing Shadow a blanket right when we got there, to our awesome tech, Kelsie, who is one of their staff trained in working with reactive dogs - they did their best to make us comfortable. The vet was great, as always - working with and meeting us - and Shadow, where we were at and giving us options. No one likes an emergency trip to the vet, but AERC truly does their best to make it as painless as possible.

Never a good day (or night) if you have to take your fur baby into the emergency vet, however with AERC I could not have asked for a better experience. I called them and told them about my situation (Charlie decided he was hungry for a t shirt!) And asked if they thought I should bring him in, ultimately they said it wouldn't be the worst idea to get him seen tonight. As soon as I walked in I was greeted with kindness, and compassion for my situation, and charlie was taken back to be seen within 5 minutes of us walking in the door. The woman on the phone was incredibly helpful, front desk workers were knowledgeable and kind, and the doctor was attentive and friendly. Not one bad thing to say about the staff! Front desk and waiting area are very neat and clean. I appreciated the snack and coffee/ tea bar! Exam room was clean as well as the bathrooms! They were extremely transparent with pricing ($255 for emergency exam and consult) which I appreciate! It can be intimidating not knowing how much you will be paying for your pets exam. And provided me a rough estimate of what I can expect on the bill. They do have a third party payment option as well if you are not able to pay in full, which is incredibly helpful. All in all, I hope you don't have to go to an emergency vet, however unpredictable things happen so, if you do find yourself in need, go to AERC. Thanks Again! Adrianna and Charlie :)

This place is amazing. They handled a life-threatening situation with compassion and clarity - they were very forthcoming about exactly what the problem was and what the options were for addressing it. Whiskey was hospitalized for two nights and during the 36 hours he was there, I received 3 phone calls from the doctors and 3 text updates with photos from the vet techs. It made it easy to trust that we was receiving a high level of care but also was being loved on by the staff. Happy to report that after 2 nights back home now, Whiskey is getting his energy back and feeling so much better!