Alpenglow Veterinary Specialty + Emergency Center

I took our puppy in for severe diarrhea. They tested her for girardia and sent me home with antibiotics. I was told if she were positive I would need to come back for an additional medication. They never called with results, so I called back twice and was told she was positive but did not need any more medication (even though the treating vet said this is what was needed, she never noted that in the charts). When she did not get better I called back 5 times and nobody returned my call until 7 pm that evening after I yelled at them. I had to take her somewhere else for treatment. They later apologized for not calling me with results as they had been «recycled» before anyone looked at them, and they apologized for nobody getting back to me the 5 times I called when she was still really sick. I told them to just give me a refund as I had to go somewhere else, but I have not received a refund.

We had an excellent experience with Alpenglow Veterinary. Dr Sanderson was so good to us and our dog Maggy! Our terripoo Maggy is 14 ½ years old and started having spells where she would let out a horrible scream and just fall over. It was terrifying! After a quick test,
Dr Sanderson was able to tell right away what Maggy’s issue was and prescribed 2 medications to treat her heart issue.
Maggy was back to herself in 2 days.!!
Dr. Sanderson, was kind, she explained everything that was going on, even drew a picture so we could understand.
I wont hesitate returning to Alpenglow Veterinary clinic!

Kind, compassionate, on time and they gave me options after getting the diagnosis. The cost was challenging for me, but, not exorbitant for a specialist. Would Definetly go back as needed.

This past Fall my little pug of over fifteen years, Mugsy was ready to leave this world. For a very difficult and painful decision, I feel incredibly blessed to have had Dr. Matt Booth caring for Mugsy and our family. Dr. Booth was truly amazing during this experience. I felt complete confidence that he would help guide us through the process, and make the right decisions. Dr. Booth went above beyond for me and my family. He was wonderful with my stepkids, explaining exactly what was going to happen in a way they could understand, and was incredibly honorable, gentle and empathetic to all of us. Mugsy passed away in absolute comfort and with love surrounding him, and I will be forever grateful to Dr. Booth for his care of us all.

No one wants to need to go to a vet ER. I would imagine everyone arrives scared and in a bad mood. The staff here were great from the beginning. My only complaint upfront is that someone should have communicated the very long wait to me, as my dog is crazy at the vet and he could have waited in the car. In fact, they could have texted me to return when needed, then I could have gotten food. I arrived at 6pm. Saw the doc at 7:30pm. Didn’t get home until 11pm. So it was a long night. Dr. Matt was honest, direct and compassionate. You can’t ask for more than that. My dog had to stay the night and they provided high and low estimates for everything, which I appreciated. I received a call first thing in the morning for Dr. Kelly which calmed my fears, then again from her in the afternoon. When I arrived to pick up my dog, the staff were all very friendly, helpful and concerned. The doctor spent as much time as I needed answering questions. The nurses gave me info and made sure I was comfortable with the plan. I was very impressed. I would certainly go back here if necessary.

I went to them as a referral and will go where ever I need for the best care for my dogs.
Without going into the details, I didn’t feel at all the competency from the cardiologist. Information was not offered as questions then were not answered. Front staff was just ok not above an beyond.

My dog was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, last week. He was accumulating blood in his abdomen, so my regular Veterinarian recommended that I go to Alpenglow, to obtain the answer to this dilemma. $ 700.00 later, I was told by one of the Cardiology specialist,“I don’t know what’s going on with your dog, as I’ve never seen this before.” I was then told to rub the affected areas, and maybe the blood would simply go away. I would think that as a specialist, if the answer was not known, the Dr. would preform some research, possibly make some phone calls to other specialist with more experience, and try to ascertain the answer. Unbelievable! I would not take my pet rock to this place.

They did emergency surgery on my hamster Bombur. I knew he would be well taken care of the second we walked through the door. They are there when you need help for your best friends. Thank you.

I would have given negative stars if there was such an option. We were pretty much ignored at the emergency clinic for 2.5 hrs. The doctor did not show up at all. The staff kept telling us we need to wait another 15 minutes until they ignored us completely. 2.5 hrs later we are going home without seeing the doc. We expected that they care a bit more about a sick patient at a vet clinic.

I had a lost cat that had been gone in sub freezing temps for 26 days. Once found, I took her to Alpenglow. The staff was very knowledgeable and Ashley, the nurse/​receptionist was particularly kind. Each Doctor who saw my cat had a very comprehensive understanding of her particular situation, what she needed minimally and what extra I could do for her. There was nothing that I felt could’ve been done better except for one nurse’s cold lack of tact and empathy.
On my second visit, (to address a nosebleed and more apparent respiratory issues,) one of the nurses, a chubby blond girl with dyed hair, can’t remember her name, before doing any examination, asked me with a condescending tone «how do you even know it’s her» like she was going to expose some delusion of mine.
I wanted to say, «have you ever rescued a young animal and taken care of it on your own, had it live with you for years, played with you, trusted you explicitly, desired your affections, showed total gratitude when receiving them, and became your best friend only to have it go missing? There’s nothing like putting up hundreds of color photo flyers in multiple neighborhoods to engrain your friends unique colorations and mannerisms into your memory.»
I just wanted to get her working without triggering a sociopathic response and so answered her with something she could say was verifiable. Without inspiring my trust and realizing it, she overcompensated when handling my friend to and from the waiting room with what seemed like building nervousness expressed through verbal compliments, not just being busy.
The doctor that came in after her was, kind, professional, articulate, very thorough, and more than compensated. He was excellent.
With two different visits and physical exams, 1 full body X-​ray, 1 draw for blood work, antibiotics, a pain reliever for an inflamed bladder, and fluid administration, it cost $ 730. Pretty reasonable for competent veterinarians at 1−4am. Now kitty is well on the mend and slowly gaining weight.
Thank you Alpenglow.

Money grubbing veterinary care!!! We had a terrible experience with Dr. Booth, owner/​operator of Alpineglow ER. Our pet ended up at Alpineglow as their hospital is authorized to treat ‘stray’ animals by Boulder Animal Control. Our cat had been mauled by a dog (pitbull) when it wandered in this animal’s backyard. We were upset, but not with the dog or its owner. However, Dr. Booth proceeded to chastise us for allowing our cat outside and told us that we would be responsible for not only our own cat’s injuries, but the injuries to the dog (scratches to its face). While we were trying to process our own cat’s terrible condition, Dr. Booth defended the actions of the dog as a «normally sweet girl who only does what dogs do». All of this was very difficult as Dr. Booth was hostile to us, initially not even allowing us to see if this cat was indeed ours until we signed all the liability paperwork. Needless to say, our bill was out of whack — $ 75 to place the catheter, $ 74 for ultrasound fluid check, $ 98 for emergency consultation, $ 85 for 1ltr. fluid, $ 45 for pain meds. As we tried to see if there was somewhere else (less hostile to our family) we could take our badly damaged pet, Dr. Booth informed us that his clinic was the only one that could deal with our level of injuries. We were frustrated that the emergency consultation fee of $ 98 only told us what we non-​medical people could readily see, that our cat had a badly damaged jaw. Dr. Booth told us that continued treatment would start at $ 2500+ (jaw repair) but needed more assessment (and more money) to determine injuries. Dr. Booth was not just dispassionate, but cold and judgmental. We expected a doctor to be unbiased and helpful to the patient he is treating, unless veterinarians are held to lower standards than human medical providers? Given our terrible situation in an environment of unsupportive medical advice, we authorized Dr. Booth to euthanized our cat for an additional $ 102. He was very professionally competent at this. We did write an outline of this to his clinic and waited two months before posting this criticism. Sometimes, the agony of the moment can distort one’s perception. In response to our complaint we received a nice generic sympathy card signed by his staff, Dr. Booth’s signature, as expected, lacking. We since learned there is another ER animal hospital right around the corner from Dr. Booth’s clinic. The dog, owned by a lovely woman in our neighborhood, is doing well.
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I recently found out that my nine year old Jack Russell-​Beagle mix has a slight heart murmur. I followed my primary vets suggestion to go to Alpenglow for an echocardiogram. I knew ahead of time that this was going to be a very expensive procedure, but in my eyes there’s no greater cause to spend that money than his health.
When I called to make the appointment they were able to schedule an appointment with me for the very next day. I was so grateful considering how nervous I was upon learning about his condition.
Then when I got to the appointment I was greeted by a friendly staff. The doctor was incredibly kind and understanding. She was very willing to answer every question I had, and explained it all in a way that made perfect sense to me. Everyone I met there was incredibly kind to not only me but my dog which meant so much to me.
Luckily I found out Chips condition is nothing serious, something I’ll simply have to go in for a year from now to check in on. There’s no doubt I’ll be going there for that check up and any emergency service that, God forbid, I should ever need.

Let me first say that I would not take my pets to any other emergency facility. We have unfortunately had to use Alpenglow on several occasions but our most recent visit was the most intense. Alpenglow saved my 5-​yr-​old Airedale’s life and worked miracles on him after he had gone septic from eating a piece of leather that pierced his intestine. They were very clear that this would be extremely costly and never candy-​coated the potential that he would not make it. They kept me apprised of his progress and backslides several times a day for a week. This was among the most awful experiences I’ve ever had to go through and their emergency and surgery teams handled it honestly and with great care for my pet and myself. Yes, this is an expensive facility but emergency medicine is expensive. I am most grateful to the entire staff for the care and compassion that they have given my and my pet.

The team at Alpenglow is awesome. They came highly recommended to us by friend who have had to use them multiple times for their dog who eats many things he shouldn’t. They’ve always been happy his care. Our dog managed to cut himself open charging through the woods just hours before we had to leave for the airport. It was an extra stressful time for us to to have to take him in. The entire staff was super calm and helpful. Alpenglow got us right in on a weekend afternoon, explained the procedure, took good care of him. They worked with us to have other people pick him up, explained everything that had to be done for aftercare, transferred records to our regular vet for followup care AND worked with our pet insurance company on their questions for the claim. It’s great to have a place that not only takes good care of the patients but also the us!

I LOVE ALPENGLOW VETERINARY EMERGENCY CENTER!!!
I have taken my animals to the veterinarians there on numerous occasions. My experience has been outstanding. The staff is very professional and warm at the same time. I even had a positive experience on the day that I had to put my beloved cat to sleep!!! I highly recommend Alpenglow!!!
Camilla L, Boulder, CO

Money-​hungry emergency care. We took our dying pet here after a seizure asking for some end of life care. They had several staff help get him out of the car and into the clinic. Then they suggested several thousand dollars worth of tests knowing that he would likely die. When we declined to go the route of expensive tests, they reversed course and would not administer any care and then refused to help get him back into the car. They left him in the parking lot while we called family to come help lift him. (90lbs).
Another vet then came to our home to help us diagnose him and said that Alpenglow was totally wrong about their diagnosis. The dog had to be put to sleep that day.
When I received their bill and called their offices to discuss that they never offered any service and did not run a single test, they sent the matter to a collection agency saying they would ruin my credit.
UPDATE FOLLOWING ALPENGLOWS RESPONSE TO THIS Unilocal REVIEW:
Despite Alpenglow’s assertion below that I was too distraught to remember the correct vet, it was them and I have all the email and hard copy letters of their horrific insistence that they would not rescind the bill. Many letters were sent to the owners and they would not budge. When the collection agency called me and I explained why I would never pay that bill, the woman was horrified.
How dare Alpenglow feign a case of mistaken identity. At least they admit their care was unconscionable. That it true.
SECOND UPDATE FOLLOWING SECOND RESPONSE FROM ALPENGLOW
We spent months with you on this at the time. You are only concerned now that the incident is on Unilocal.The only people to benefit now will be the next person who is spared from your practice. I even had the vet who made the house call after your office screwed up willing to testify on your malpractice. I’ve moved on and so should you. Perhaps your staff can show compassion the next time they walk callously by refusing to even care enough to put the dog back in the car.

We have been trying to determine what is wrong with furry four legged family member for over a year now. Having been to our general veterinarian to being recommended to Alpenglow’s sister location (Aspen Meadow) and even trying eastern and homeopathic medicine to no avail.
Aspen Meadows did a neurological exam with X-​rays and could not determine what is wrong with him. They still prescribed pain killers which after several days we discontinued given him because they were not improving his condition but making him loopy.
We thought there was no hope in determining why our puppy could not play like other puppies or even go on walks.
We had visited a highly recommend, highly regarded veterinarian hospital/​clinic (CSU school of veterinary medicine) whom were finally able to diagnose what is wrong with our beloved furry family member. After a few hours they determined that he has PDA with a right to left shunt. Which unfortunate is not correctable but the symptoms are manageable with Sildenafil 20 mg (similar to Viagra) and the occasional phlebotomy (blood letting) to reduce the amount of red blood cells.
Since CSU is an hour away and only open regular business hours (emergency care ²⁴⁄₇ is available) we had asked our CSU doctor if another vet would be able to perform the phlebotomy. He said yes as long as they are comfortable.
Alpenglow is within walking distance of my work and seemed very convenient. My wife had called after our visit with CSU, sent Alpenglow his records and they said they would be able to do the phlebotomy. A week or 2 later I had explained our situation again to them over the phone and made an appointment. I had forwarded our email correspondence with CSU with his records and results.
On the day of his appointment: Alpenglow is a very clean and nice facility. The staff is also very pleasant and speedy to get us checked in to a room.
I had explained our situation with the cardiologist and told him the treatment CSU had recommend and we wanted to do this before our trip overseas. They said that they are able to do phlebotomies but do not recommend doing them unless red blood count is at 75%, his is at 70%. After highly suggesting that they preform the phlebotomy because this is what CSU recommend he said he would get an estimate.
After returning he said he spoke with the other cardiologist and they do not recommend the phlebotomy because he is not at 75%, they wanted to see if the Sildenafil had any effect and also did not want to do it since we would be traveling and he would be in the care of our friends. They suggested to come back to test his blood and possibly do the phlebotomy at a later date. Seemed reasonable so I thanked him and went to the front desk.
Thinking since I was there for 30 minutes and talking to the vet for 10 – 15 minutes of that time the charge would be minimal. Not at all. We were charged a consultation fee of $ 112! I was a little blown away since they had not performed any services. I asked the lady at the front desk if the $ 112 would go towards his treatment when we came back. She said no the next time you come in there will be a revisit fee of $ 75 plus the cost of treatment/​services. I was shocked but I did not cause a scene and paid her $ 112 for the visit.
What I am most disappointed about was that they had his records (sent to them on 2 occasions) which included his blood results and never did they say that they only preform a phlebotomy when red blood cell counts are at 75% or higher. I feel like I was taken advantage of and had to paid a consultation for them to tell me something they could have told me for free. I am not sure if I would ever go back here or recommend them to anyone.
I am sure they take good care of your animal family member but be prepared that they are probably in the business of making money first caring for animals second.

Great emergency vet. Have taken both of my dogs there over the years for various emergencies. Friendly staff and great vets. I feel totally comfortable with them.

I did receive a call from management after posting my review. They left a message on my phone with a kind apology and let me know that the nurses actions were not what the business condones. I didn’t call back b/​c honestly I just want to forget this experience. It’s been four weeks and my dog is fully back to health.

Without a doubt, this was one of the most terrible and horrifying experiences we have ever had with a veterinarian facility. My wife and I have been animal lovers and owners for our entire lives and this was a horrible and vastly expensive experience. We shelled out close to $ 8000 because of a mistake they made. We even gave them a chance to step up and rectify things but our attempt to do so was an exercise in futility. We are considering seeking legal representation to bring some closure to this situation.
I will try to describe our experience in as much detail as I can. First off, the weekend urgent care staff are the ones that are solely responsible. The regular weekday staff were very kind and were key participants in saving our dog. But here is the issue, they keep the emergency staff and the normal staff itemized as different companies. This is how they were able to circumnavigate any reparations due to us and how they were able to seriously mislead and financially drain us.
We had an incident at our home late one Saturday evening when one of our dogs (very old and irritable) nipped our other dog in the neck over some food. As we later found out, the cut was very minor, but it bled profusely so we panicked and drove to Alpenglow. On arrival, they were immediately able to tend to our mini dachshund named Fiddle (fitting name as my wife is a violinist). Only a few minutes after arriving, a doctor came into our waiting room to discuss treatment. She said the cut appeared small but she wanted to so some tests to make sure that injury was not internal. She suggested some pain medications but said we were able to decline if we wanted. So we opted not to do any meds as Fiddle showed no sign of pain on the way to the animal hospital and we both had heard that miniature breeds were very susceptible to side effects from medications. We did still sign a sheet that said we would allow medications but our doctor assured us that she was not going to administer any and that the paper was just a formality in case something went horribly wrong.
This is when things seemed to be going great. The doctor and nurse returned not long after that with Fiddle in bandages. They said the cut didn’t even need a stitch and that we were good to return home. But as soon as we returned to our house, things took a turn for the worse. Fiddle began to vomit and poop blood. We raced back to the vet. When talking to the doctor in the waiting room, we had discovered that when we were first there, they had administered not 1 but 3 heavy doses of medications including dilaudid which is one of the most powerful drugs on the planet. How could this opposite end of the spectrum occur when our original conversation with our veterinarian was everything to the contrary? Had they gotten our dog’s charts swapped with another? Apprehensively, we left Fiddle in their care as we feared moving her to another facility might be her end.
Over the next 24 hours, the emergency staff took full responsibility (not financially though) and did admit that the medication was most likely the cause as her injury was so minor. Our emergency doctor even seemed scared to death and apologetic like she had discovered, but wouldn’t admit, some major mistake taking place. Fiddle ended up being in their care for a total of 5 days. Her rehabilitation started when the weekday staff showed up on Monday and began nursing her back to health, and just in the nick of time I might add. During that time, Fiddle lost weight, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink, vomited/​defecated blood, and we were told she might not make it. We were a wreck.
Thanks to the weekday staff, Fiddle made a slow recovery and was able to return home for a 2 week schedule of several medications. Although a lot of the drugs used in her regimen were not even proposed by our doctor and I had to recommend them to her along the way. Upon discharge, we were hit with a whopping $ 6500 bill in addition to our emergency services which we had already paid for. We felt used and cheated but were happy to have our Fiddle home.
During our debacle I had given one of the vets (their weekday staff) a chance to discuss the outrageous bill and even meet me halfway on it. Pretty generous considering the life threatening situation was caused by their major oversight. That offer was quickly dismissed and I didn’t bring it up again in fear that it might effect our dog’d care. Since then, Fiddle is back on her feet and has made a full recovery. So after the waters subsided, we are left feeling lied to and stolen from. We will be meeting with lawyers as we believe we have every right to seek reparations for this horrifying experience. It’s a shame really because we had a chance to meet one of the owners while there and he didn’t seem like the type to run a business like this. We wish we could talk to him directly. Please avoid Alpenglow on the weekends at all costs. Thank you for reading.