Tier 1 Veterinary Medical Center - Palmer, Alaska

Amber Kilger

I cannot express how incredible this vet is. I took my dog in for an emergency walk-in. The staff was so so kind, professional, and friendly. This is my new vet, hands down.

When I found out I had to leave Chopin there for a few hours for a procedure, the staff made sure I knew exactly what was going to happen, and reassured me I could call in the meantime to check up on him. I felt very empowered, and comforted during the entire appointment.

Procedure went smoothly, and Chopin is recovering well. I am very thankful to Tier 1 for making an anxious situation go as smoothly as possible. <3

Ray Miller

I've gone to Tier 1 maybe a half dozen times since moving here almost 2 yrs ago from TX, where I ran a dog rescue & lived with my girlfriend & two daughters (all vet techs). Each time there was a problem with the bill or procedure not done that I specifically went in for. The last straw was an appt to put my girl Nova down. Made the appt &, of course, had to wait with a failing elderly dog in my arms along with changing offices/rooms 3 times. When I asked about urn/box options, the tech didn't seem to know much & openly stated "I'm not the one that normally does this". Once Nova went back for the IV & I was escorted to the EU room, I barely sat down before another tech was asking for payment because that's the important part of an EU. Nova came in on a gurney & passed before they even gave her the shot, but they gave it to her anyway. That day was pretty rough but not to be outdone, it took a month to get her ashes back & it was the wrong box. I'd paid over $700 to get my girl back in a tin can. When I went back in 3 days later, it took around 30 mins & no less than 4 people to get me the right box. It was the only burial box in the place with no identification. At two different instances, I was asked if my last name was "woods" because that was the only sticker on the box. Noting attached picture, that was where they got the wooden urns from. Finally received the sealed box & when I asked how I was to get Nova's remains inside, I was met with a shoulder shrug & "I don't know. We normally don't do that" from the girl behind the desk, so I left. I even contacted them via email with a receipt # to ask why the situation was handled so poorly & got no response. The handling of Nova's EU, on 3 different visits, was disrespectful at minimum, if not incompetent. In spite of the noticeable lack of vets in AK, I won't be back here & would encourage others to do careful research when choosing a vet, particularly when the animal has to be put to rest.

Michael Gause

*They’d rather let an animal suffer or even die than lose out on a few bucks.*

If you care about your pet, stay far, far away from this place.

This vet clinic is a complete nightmare: they will hang up on you if you dare ask to speak to someone else!

They manipulate you into paying $250 for a walk-in visit instead of offering a $90 appointment. When your pet needs lab work, they’ll automatically perform it "in-house" for an outrageous $300, unless you specifically demand they send it out—which costs only $80.
The staff, especially the people at the front desk, are downright heartless. They don't care about you or your animal's well-being at all.
Their behavior is appalling: they refused to give my pet a week's worth of non-controlled, life-saving seizure medication until his appointment, something they’ve done without issue for years.
This clinic prioritizes squeezing every dollar out of you over the health and safety of your beloved pet. Avoid this place at all costs!

Troy Remy

Words cannot explain how well Tier 1 has taken care of our family in the last couple of years. My parents had their elderly dog stomped out by a moose last year, and the staff was on point getting her to surgery quickly, despite several other emergency visits happening at once. All of the staff were so kind and helpful.

Just this evening, I had my own "emergency" experience with Tier 1 for our new rescue pup. A couple days prior, he had ripped open his back diving under our deck and we had to drive to Anchorage to Pet ER, as they were the only ER clinic open 24 hours and we were outside of Tier 1 hours. Six hours later we were driving back home with a stitched up pup... tired, but thankful. (Thanks Pet ER!!!)

Sure enough, our energetic boy blew out some stitches today. I called just a couple hours before Tier 1 closed to ask if there was anything they could do. I was told at minimum, have us bring him by so a tech could look at his wound and advise what to do from there. Deal. I was fully prepared to drive back to Anchorage for round 2. It was pretty gnarly and bleeding when we walked in the door.

Upon walking in, they had already pulled his records from Pet ER (I'm assuming) and knew our pup's name, which I had not provided over the phone. Within minutes, before my wife was halfway through completing a new patient form, a vet tech was in the lobby assessing our little guy's wound. I'm so sorry, I don't remember your name.

He was quickly taken back to be assessed. We had a solution within minutes. It was done. Everyone here did us so right, we will be customers for life. Thank you, everyone involved.

Shane Semenuk

They failed to triage our sick pup properly and minutes later she died. Minutes that could have potentially saved her life.

I had an emergency visit to Teir 1 with our sick pup. She was acting very unusual and looked very sick to us, we figured it was something she ate. After a few minutes They took her back and did a “triage” on our dog and after a few minutes came back and said nothing looked abnormal or particularly unusual. They decided that she was not a critical need for care, but she was obviously sick. We waited in the waiting room for almost 20-30 minutes before they could see our dog. Meanwhile she continued to deteriorate in terms of acting more sick, drooling, anxious, whining, not able to concentrate or listen to any basic commands. Once we got into the room she was looked at and they started running tests. The veterinarian came in with a look of disappointment and asked if the dog go into any drugs at home. We realize mistakes can happen but we are very diligent in keeping things out of reach of our dogs. So we are 100% positive she did not get into anything we had. Yet they looked at us and assumed she got into some weed gummies which happens quite frequently I guess. Minutes later she coded and died in the back. After some more tests they found amphetamines in her system, NOT WEED.
I realize mistakes can be made but when a dog is obviously sick and need of care and they assumed she was ok. A mistake that took a life of a family member. You decide if you want to take that risk.

Arta Hajdari

My dog developed an abscess and tumor. I had brought him there with concern because it had appeared so late into the evening and they were the only vet open at the time. They performed a surgery to remove the abscess and tumor which were located mostly on his neck. Surgery was performed on Wednesday, was informed to bring my dog back on Saturday for the drains to be removed. Arrive Saturday to remove drains. Tuesday comes around, dog has fluid build up where the tumor was. Brought the dog back in, and I'm expected to pay for tube installation again. Mind you I've already paid thousands of dollars for this surgery, I followed their every step in after care, and even tube removal appointment, and I'm hit with another bill to have the tube's reinstalled for draining even though they removed them. No outside influence to make someone pay twice. No stitches were ripped, no irritation, no outside influence to make someone pay for a second time. Completely unacceptable to make a guest have to pay for tube installment when they removed them. This is entirely their mess up. The provider called me after surgery and just said my dog was ready for pick up and asked for an eta of when I'll arrive. Didn't even explain how he did or what was done in surgery. I had to call the front desk back and ask them for information about my dog because the provider didn't tell me anything. This place is totally money hungry I will never do service with them again. I'll be taking my dog else where for tube and stich removal. Totally disappointed in this place. Recommend going somewhere else unless you'd like to pay twice for a procedure. In my books, this is a come back, if no outside influence was involved, which there was none, a guest should not have to pay twice for your mistake the first time. Absolutely ridiculous.

lani link

I'm kinda disappointed in this place. My dog has been coming here for a few years. I had a appointment and called to cancel because my dog passed away. I was so surprised that I didn't even get I'm sorry to hear that. It really made me sad. Oh well. It is a great place. Just no compassion.

Alexis Stormer

Ashley, Charlotte, our vet techs, and Dr. Sean McPeck are absolutely the best, and deserve the highest of praises. They were able to get my 9mo german shepherd and fixed in just
THREE days after calling just to see if they could do a fracture repair - which I was told by the PET office in Anchorage would likely need to be done in Seattle due to no one in Anchorage having the ability to do the procedure! The quote I received was thousands of dollars cheaper than what PET and our main vet told us to expect. We were even given a very large partial refund after paying the lower end of the quote as all of the services weren't needed as expected, which was a pleasant surprise!
Her care was top notch, you can tell the entire staff truly cares about your animal and you. I have really bad anxiety, and with this office I didn't need to worry about anything.
We are forever thankful for the quick amazing help, and the compassion behind everyone who helped us in this office. As an active duty military family, we are thankful to work with a Vet vet! Dr. McPeck's history with military dogs is so impressive and had us feel at ease before even coming in for the operation. While we continue to visit for our pups checkups, we will slowly be transferring our other dog and 4 cats to Tier 1's primary care. I can't recommend enough.