I have taken my animals to Dr. Salava for almost two years. Recently, I moved about an hour away,…read moreand I still make the drive back to Salava Vet Clinic. Here's why:
I have a Great Dane that seems intent on hurting herself. One weekend (I believe it was a Sunday) last year, she ran through a barbed-wire fence at 100mph and sliced her ear up pretty badly. I called the emergency number for Salava Vet, and a doctor met me at the clinic within 30 minutes. When I got there, she put my dog under anesthesia, (which was a struggle- she's 80lbs of "I don't like needles") and stitched her right up. I braced myself for the cost: my dog had swung her paws around in the struggle and broke a vial of the "knock-out" drug.
All in all, with the after-hours visit, the two doses of anesthesia, the stitching, and the reversal drug, I ended up paying around $125. I had expected $300+.
Recently, I had a kitty that fell off a balcony and landed on some stairs and broke her rear leg. I frantically called local vets, and none of them could get her in, or they were closed for lunch, or they simply didn't answer their phones. Frustrated, I just rushed her to Dr. Salava. He examined her right away, splinted the injury, and kept her overnight. I called him the next morning, and things didn't look good: the injury was higher on the bone than he had expected, and my kitty had pushed the splint off her leg. He gave me some options: try the splint again (which could make it worse because of how much she fought it), do nothing at all, (in which case it would eventually heal, but would be painful and may not be functional afterward) or do surgery. He recommended a few veterinarians, as they do not do orthopedic surgery at his office.
I found a local surgeon and went to pick her up from Dr. Salava. I couldn't stop myself from crying (it was a struggle to find an affordable surgeon- Dr. Atherton in Salina did the surgery, bless him) and the staff at Salava Vet were angels to me. They ended up not charging me for the splint, and sent me on my way with their best wishes.
Dr. Salava and his staff truly care about their clients and their animals. I would highly recommend him to anyone.
On a side note- their boarding is exceptionally affordable and you can pick up AFTER HOURS! I boarded my Great Dane at his office every time I went to my one-weekend-a-month drill with the Army National Guard. It was wonderful to be able to pick her up at 8pm on Sundays, and be able to get up and go to work on Monday without trying to schedule around picking my dog up.
I will never use any other vet!