Companion Animal Clinic

Dr. Norm Smith is the best Vet in the area. The staff are great. Highly recommend this place.
Susan Weston

The staff is nice, but are either extremely busy or disorganized. Having been to plenty of veterinarians, it seems they are a bit of both.
While clean, the office space is cramped and uncomfortable.
The level of care depends on which vet you get.
Megan was nice, and tried to be helpful. She didn’t offer many suggestions on how to treat our aging dog. I had to ‘google’ the problem and present those answers to her. She agreed to try a prescription treatment. The meds didn’t work well, and it was hard to get an appointment. They price their meds high — have them call in something similar to Rite Aid or Walmart.
Like others have noted, I don’t know why they issues times; might as well show up and take a number.
Eventually the horrific day came when we had to put our friend down. First, as usual, they were late by 30 minutes. This time it was a young female vet; I don’t remember her name. If it was just being late, it wouldn’t have been so bad.
We explained how the last time we had to put a dog down the veterinarian slipped on the injection and caused some trauma. They assured us it would be be relatively painless, she would only feel the first injection.
They shaved a paw, and gave the first of two injections. We waited for about 15 minutes, and then they came to give the final injection, only they pushed the needle through the vein. Our little girl Unilocaled. Most wouldn’t think much of that, but she was one tough cookie and I had only heard one or two Unilocal in her dozen years.
Then they moved onto paw #2. Same basic screw up.
Then they moved onto paw #3. More problems, but they finally did it. 45 minutes to put a dog down. While I have no idea how our little girl felt during all of this, it was appalling for us. Like something out of a bad horror movie. Just to put icing on the cake, the charge for the botched euthanization and mass cremation was high. Personally, if I were a vet and had a regular customer need their pet euthanized, that wouldn’t be the time I’d be trying to make another BMW payment.

I believe this is a good place for vet care. Dr. Colburn is very caring young veterinarian and very knowledgable. She helped me with my wire fox terrier female to the end. The vet techs are very caring and take the time to explain everything. I always got into see the Dr. As needed. My only complaint it they are expensive in my opinion. However you get what you pay for here. The reception is always very kind and polite. Dr. Colburn even sent me a condolence card after my dog passed. Very kind of her!

Pros: It is a great place to take your pets as the vets really do care. The prices are reasonable. I also like to support local business.
Cons: It isn’t easy to get an appointment. I always have to wait past my appointment time, normally 30 mins — 1 hr. The building is too small, and it gets really crowded in there. The techs, vets, and receptionist are always rushed, so it is kind of difficult to talk about anything but the immediate problem.

I recently relocated from Palm Springs to Yucca Valley in the high desert. This area is awesome at 3,800′ elevation, just outside Joshua Tree National Park.
Well my furry friend, Charlie, needed a new vet closer. I did my Internet research, and from the reviews, this animal clinic rocks! So, I made an appointment for Charlie’s annual exam and updated shots. The service was remarkable, the facility was clean, and the doctor, Norm, was extraordinary; spent lots of time checking Charlie out, and getting to know us as new residents. The only other vet near me is VCA; a big multi location vet business; rather impersonal and much more expensive. So, I give Companion animal clinic 5 stars!

Caring, highly professional and knowledgeable. Could not be more pleased with the service.

On my first visit I had a good experience with Dr. Megan Smith. She was bright, had a solid treatment plan, great fund of knowledge, and was generally very on top of the situation.
Second interaction was somewhat less impressive. I do not know which veterinarian was involved, or even if the veterinarian was on the phone with my friend (an RN), but I can only describe the treatment plan as confused. Yes take the dog to an icu for iv fluids. No you can’t give him sub q fluids instead because heart failure. (The dog was taking fluids orally, quite freely). Then there was talk of needing to «wash out» the mildly elevated BUN and creatinine with parenteral fluids because for some reason oral fluids won’t do that.
Really.
My third and last interaction was a visit with a tech 4 days later. At this point (for some reason) sub q fluids were okay, and the plan was to show my friend how to administer them. To her dog with heart failure when absolutely no assessment had been made of his fluid status. Labs can help sort this out, The tech felt that it was too soon to draw labs «because the kidney enzymes wouldn’t be normal». I said «they aren’t enzymes».
Note to anyone dealing with the public: an eye roll is NEVER an appropriate response to a client. Or anyone accompanying a client.
I refrained from asking her where she had gone to vet school since it was already obvious she was way over her head and really just needed to shut up, stay in the back, and clean out cages. It was not my job to educate her about how one uses lab data, and she obviously was not going to listen to me anyway.
I will not be using this practice for my animals. While I was pleased with the first vet, the other one did not have a clear, sensible treatment plan and made statements that were simply not correct. I don’t know if he was oversimplifying because he thought the concepts were too complex, but he came across as muddled and frankly not competent. The behavior of the tech was absolutely intolerable. Under no circumstances should a client ever be treated with a smartass attitude like that.
Reception staff were pleasant, fast and courteous. It seems to be a very busy practice.

Best vet in the high desert. Trust the reviews, I bring all my animals here. Great prices, friendly staff, and super docs. Military discount also. Tried VCA when I first got out here. Stay away from that place, Companion is hands down better all day.

This review is truly way over due. Since 1998 my husband and I have brought our fur kids to Companion Animal Clinic. There have been many; cats, dogs, horses. Some still with us, others gone over the Rainbow Bridge. Years ago it was just Norm, a most awesome vet and person, and a great staff including a tech named Megan. Today that tech is Dr. Megan, whom I respect just as much as I do Norm. The tech staff knows and loves (even Thebes, Linda??) our gang almost as much as we do. I consider you all great friends. Thanks for all the honesty, for listening (even to non-​pet stuff), and for going that extra mile… so many times. We appreciate you, each and every day. Because we know you will always be there for our kids.

Norm is the best. Great vet, and good man. They are compassionate and give excellent care at an affordable price. I have used the other place in town, and had the bad experience many other have cited. You can’t go wrong bringing your pet here!

Just moved here and I Unilocal a vet office and believe the reviews they are amazing and very caring!!!

Our poor dog had cancer and Dr Megan was amazing and compassionate during our difficult time. Thank you Dr Megan. This is a great clinic. Jango you are already sorely missed.

This is the only veterinary clinic in the desert we’ll take our dogs to. Norm and Megan are wonderful veterinarians as well as wonderful human beings. In fact, everyone at the clinic is extremely kind, compassionate and caring. You can tell they love animals and aren’t just in it for the money.
Thankfully our dogs have generally been quite healthy but when we first arrived in the desert, we had an emergency where Megan saved our dog’s life. She and Norm are very knowledgeable and competent general practitioners. For something like cancer treatment, they will refer you to a specialist. Back in LA, our regular vet would also administer chemo (after consulting with an oncologist), which was very convenient when one of our dogs was diagnosed with lymphoma years ago, but they don’t do that at Companion Animal Clinic. When a friend’s dog was diagnosed with the same cancer last year, she had to take him to the lower desert for chemo treatments.
On the other hand, we’ve had a few urgent situations that turned out to be non-​life threatening (though we didn’t know that at the time) and they always find a way to squeeze us in at Companion Animal Clinic, even when they’re totally booked (which is almost always, due to their excellent reputation).
The downside of being so popular and always available for emergencies is that they’re occasionally quite rushed even when you’ve made an appointment days in advance. A couple of months ago we had an appointment that involved starting one of our dogs on medication and there were several options but they were totally swamped and neither Megan nor the tech really had time to go over the pros and cons of the various medication options with us.
Another issue for us is that they’re pretty traditionally allopathic and not really acquainted with or interested in alternative veterinary medicine. That said, they have a «live and let live» attitude and aren’t hostile to our decision to pursue holistic/​natural options where possible, which is much appreciated.
I do wish they were open on weekends and offered after hours emergency services (for reasons unknown, our dogs always pick evenings, nights or weekends to experience a veterinary emergency) and I’d also like to see them add at least one more vet along the same lines as Norm and Megan so they’ll have more time for their patients. I realize though that that’s probably easier said than done. After all, vets as awesome as Norm and Megan are rare.

I called first thing Monday morning (8:00am) to make an appointment for our Rottweiler
as an emergency visit (her back hips had given out completely and she could not move
whatsoever). We knew, unfortunately that we might have to put her down :-(. Megan (receptionist) had told me the soonest that they could get her in was @ 2pm as I tried for sooner but they don’t make appointments between noon-​2pm. I later called to let them know that it will be closer to 2:30pm (as my husband works down the hill was running a little behind). I personally could not lift her into our vehicle as she weighed 120 pounds. The receptionist (I want to say her name was Lisa) proceeded to tell me that they did not have an appointment for me. She put me on hold as I explained the situation and how I had spoken to someone first thing in the morning. She stated that there was nothing that they could do especially if we were going to be 30 minutes late anyway. I explained that this matter couldn’t wait and it basically is an emergency visit. She stated that they are completely booked and there is nothing they could do. I asked if we had come in at 2pm what would they have done. She replied, «We would have taken you.» I was rather surprised as I had heard good things about this clinic. I am one not to complain as I have worked in customer service for over 12 years, but this really left a bad taste in my mouth. I called another clinic and they were extremely empathetic and told us to come in right away. They explained that the fee was a little higher since it was an emergency visit, which was no problem to us at all. We just wanted to help our poor pup.

I have been taking my dogs to Dr. Norm Smith and staff for the past 15 years. Everyone in the office is kind, understanding, experienced and knowledgeable. If there is a problem that they need to research, they have always called back as promised with a response and a treatment. As we all know, our animals are extremely important to us and we want only the best care — that is what I have received for all these years and now that also includes the care of Dr. Megan Smith. An actual joy to go to Companion Animal Clinic and feel that everyone cares the most for your animal. Even when we say goodbye to our pets, the staff is there to say goodbye as well. Thank you Companion Animal Clinic for ALL you do.

This is the only veterinarian clinic in the area with facilities to treat horses and other large animals, and they also make barn calls. They’ve taken care of our horses and other animals for over a decade. They’re friendly, knowledgeable, and give back to this community, which is where Dr. Norm Smith and Dr. Megan Smith grew up and have lived most of their lives. Good people, good vets.

Companion really cares about the animals that come in, everyone from the receptionist to the Vet show nothing but kindness to both the pet and the worried parent. They don’t just worry about the money, in fact they partner with a charity that may assist financially for those who can’t afford the needed care for their sick pets.
The vet tries to keep your costs down if you mention you have a hardship. I have taken all of my pets here for years. However, last week my beautiful dog Blue became ill during the long holiday weekend. I was forced to take him to the corporate vet VCA in Yucca Valley. All they wanted was money and refused to give immediate emergency first aid. You can read my review on their page!
Thank you Companion for everything and please don’t change or sell out!

I’ve been taking my new puppy here for his shots and every time I’ve gone everyone is super sweet and friendly! I’m glad I read the reviews and decide to go to this vet clinic instead of the other one in town!

This is the only veterinary office in the entire Morongo Basin that isn’t owned by the evil, overpriced, gouging VCA corporation.
Dr. Smith was the vet for my beloved Black Dog for a number of years. She just passed away from bone cancer at 13. He was the diagnosing vet and once we got that bad news he referred us to a great oncology clinic. He was still our regular vet and stayed a valued, supportive member of our team until the very end.
Dr. Smith is wonderful, a kind and compassionate man (and movie star handsome, a nice plus). When we are ready for another canine companion, Dr. Smith will once again be our vet.

When our 3 year-​old dog Lucy’s liver failed one weekend, we were forced to drive all the way down to Palm Springs to the VCA, the nearest animal hospital open on Sunday. We spent the entire morning from 0800 to almost 1100 with her on our laps, trying to make her as comfortable as possible, as she couldn’t stand on her own. At the time, we didn’t know it was her liver that failed her. After spending the entire day down there, Lucy on fluids and awaiting results from a blood test, we took her home with a long list of expensive medications that «might work.»
Two days later, Lucy wasn’t eating or drinking, so we took her to the Companion Animal Clinic and saw Dr. Megan. I can’t even express how kind and compassionate she was to us and Lucy. The CAC was able have an ultrasound done on her abdomen, and found her liver to be half the size it should be, and riddled with blood-​filled pustules. Dr. Megan stayed late after the clinic closed while we drove out there, and waited for us to arrive and explain the results to us while we cried over our poor dog. She advised us on what medication we could continue that wouldn’t upset her stomach, and simply told us to feed her whatever she wanted to eat… bacon, eggs, meat, rice, whatever would make her happy and comfortable.
Less than a week later, Lucy died in our arms back at the Companion Animal Clinic, just minutes after we got there with her. A veterinary technician sat with us on the floor, monitoring her pulse, and sat with us through her passing.
The level of kindness, compassion, and understanding that we received from every single person at the Companion Animal Clinic was outstanding. The VCA’s we went to seemed more focused on prescribing expensive medications and treatments, rather than understanding the stress and pain that the owners and the animals go through.
If you’re looking for the best veterinary practice in the Hi-​Desert area, look no further. This is the place for you and your companions.