We didn't even use their service and we are unhappy. We needed an emergency vet so we called. It was 8 PM on a Wednesday. Their answering machine said their hours are until 10 PM. Their vague message did say to call Sacramento Emergency Vet if "you can't reach us". Still not clear if they were there or not. We drove up the hill and they were closed. Read Less

Like Christina on 4/24/12, a horrible experience two nights ago !! I went with a friend to help with a shared Kitty get help in the middle of the night because of her struggle to breathe and coughing fits. It had been 5 years since my friend was last here with not such fond memories. When we arrived, the wait time after they took her temperature was well over 25 minutes and hardly anyone was there seeking treatment. No one checked on us and in the middle of the night, this really was daunting.  Then, the bedside manner of the doctor  was appalling as he struggled to get the cat out of the carrier incorrectly and added  to her prolonged terror since the temperature reading. I could not stop wondering how he was so clueless to his poor behavior and terrible bedside manner ? The result was a bid for over $500 to scope her throat with no idea what this could be.  No other services, except her temperature reading took place. I could not take the poor bedside manners or lack of compassion here, so i promplty left after the super high bid for the throat scope. They tried to charge me alot for this appt which only included a  temperature reading, of which i wrote on the bill that i only agreed to pay 1/2 of the sum of bill. So abstract was the billing for  barely any services rendered. To follow up, we called our local vet right after leaving Mother Lode Pet Emergency Clinic and left a message about this place to our local vet. , They called back first thing Monday morning and asked for details, ushering us right in to seek better and more humane treatment for our cat. No verdict yet on her outcome, but such relief to be away from M.L. emergency pet clinic. Be careful who you trust your pets (kids in my case) with. Can anyone recommend a better emergency facility in the surrounding areas of Mother Lode??? Read Less

Even though my dog wasn't treated here. Mother lode clinic was really helpful at 1:30 am on the morning the day after thanksgiving when I called not knowing what to do about my dog. My dog had started urinating blood and we didn't know what to do. Their wasn't a vet on call that morning because of the holiday but they referred me to next closest clinic which was VCA Sacramento where we brought him and had a great experience. Thank you Mother lode! Read Less

My dog came in to the emergency clinic in Shingle Springs with a laceration. I was seen immediately. Sammy was sutured up and sent home on pain medication and antibiotics. Dr Hilleary and the staff were compassionate and Sammy was given great care. Thank you Mother Lode! Read Less

We took our dog here twice over a 1 year period. So glad they were open late. Both times the staff was kind, gentle and compassionate. This hospital is our number one choice for late night emergencies. Great job... and many kudos... !!! Read Less

I had the exact opposite experience with this clinic.  Late one night, we raced our dog here after she was hit by a car.  The clinic took x rays, told us our dog had a collapsed lung and fractured pelvis and suggested that we leave her at the clinic until we could arrange to get her to an orthopedic surgeon.  They mentioned that there would be no one at the clinic during the day, but that someone would come by to check up on our dog.  The next morning, we contacted our normal vet clinic, found a surgeon, made the appointment, and contacted Mother Lode to meet the vet at the clinic and pick up our dog.  We arrived at Mother Lode and discovered that our dog had died.  The vet explained that they had given her pain medication and an IV, and then left her alone for the day.  She even went so far as to cover her mouth with her hand and say "Oops!" as if our dog's death was a minor issue.  When we called our regular vet to cancel the surgery and told her what happened, she let us know that it isn't legal to leave animals alone after giving them pain medication or an IV.  I realize that our dog probably had more severe injuries than anyone could have known about, but I can't help but think that this vet leaving her alone for the day contributed to her death.  Please don't leave your pets with this clinic! Read Less

I am very pleased with the care I received at Mother Lode.  I should say, I'm very pleased with the care that my DOG Max received.  We first knew something was wrong when I woke up in the morning and realized there was a wet spot on the bed under Max.  I moved all the blankets to discover that he had emptied his entire bladder on the bed where he slept and had just continued to lie on it. Totally unlike him. He was pretty unresponsive and it was all we could do to get him to get off the bed. He was totally unable to control his bladder and dribbled all over the place. He just laid on the floor after I washed off the urine and didn't move except to follow us with his eyes. With a lot of coaxing we got him to walk to the car and load himself up. When we arrived at Mother Lode Max was acting totally drugged, unable to hold himself up or control his bladder, his eyes were glazed and not tracking, and I think he wasn't seeing too well because he wouldn't react to our hands as we approached his head until the very last second, and then he'd flinch.We arrived at Mother Lode at 8:00AM on a Sunday morning.  There was actually a veterinarian there who had also just arrived and saw Max right away.  At first they thought he had found some medication and eaten it but after a set of labs they determined that he had a bad case of pancreatits.  They pumped him full of 3 bags of IV fluids over the course of 24 hours, did at least 3 sets of labs, two sets of urinalysis, gave him shots for the pain and to help fix the inflammation, monitored his heartbeat on an hourly basis during his entire stay, and sent him home with antibiotics, just in case.  When they finally told me I could take him home, I was so excited to see my dog again (and to see him moving around, happy to see me, and able to control his bladder) that I forgot the antibiotics on the counter.  Within 20 minutes, the vet tech who was on duty gave me a call and offered to drop them off at my house since I'm on her way home.  How great is that!  Plus, they were very understanding about the fee.  There is absolutely no way I could have afforded the over $1,000 that all of Max's procedures would have cost.  I know that figure is outrageously expensive, but how much would a 24 hour hospital stay cost a person?  And how cheap is an overnight veterinary visit ever going to be?  Anyway, I told them on Sunday afternoon that there was absolutely no way we'd ever be able to afford more than $650 so they capped the fee.  They kept taking great care of my dog, kept running labs on him, and did everything they could to keep him happy and healthy... without charging me more even after they reached the upper limit of what they knew I could afford. Read Less