Philip L. Nelson DVM

HORRIBLE! Treated our cat with such force it made me cry, just grabbed him by the bladder and then gave us an oral shlacking as well. I get that some of the smartest people have social issues, but we will NEVER ever take a pet there. We need to link these reviews to his clinic Unilocal page because I checked Unilocal before going, but didn’t see the reviews of the head vet, just the clinic. YIKES!

I took my 3 year old, healthy dog here for a check up because it was so close to our house. I am now driving a distance up Central ave to avoid going back here. The doctor was rude and condescending. Our dog is somewhat nervous, especially at the vet, and he didn’t even take this into consideration. He was rough and quick. Then, after suggesting multiple shots, meds, etc., I asked about how much it would all cost. When he said the total, which was quite high, I made a joke about how it was a good thing I like my dog. He said, «Well if you are going to have a dog, you should probably take care of it.» Easy buddy. I am. By taking him somewhere else.

I guess we’re in the minority on Unilocal but my wife and I like Dr. Nelson.
I love Unilocal… But this may be one case where 7 reviews (at the time of this writing) doesn’t represent the majority of his customers. My wife and I own a building about a block away from Dr. Nelson’s clinic. I’ve seen his building nearly every single day for 8 years. My wife and I must not be the only ones who like him because his parking lot is always full! He seems to have a lot of regular, satisfied customers.
You have to pick a vet that jives with your personality. Don’t expect any new age, lovey dovey, touchy feely treatment from Dr. Nelson. He’s tough, practical, knowledgeable, a little brash, and he tells it like it is. He actually reminds me a lot of Dr. Pol from the cable TV show… with a no nonsense farm vet type of style. Some people are offended by that style… but I really appreciate it.
I have to add the disclaimer that my only experiences with him were for some special needs. He cropped the ears on two of our dogs. My wife and I were very, very happy with the ear cropping artistry and skill that he performed on our pure bred Presa Canarios. He helped to calm us down when we were freaking out, thinking they were healing wrong. But they turned out to be perfect. (You can look them up in his photo album.)
He also helped us find an expert for large dog breed knee surgery (and titanium implant). He didn’t charge us a dime for the appointment to evaluate the knee or for the referral. The surgeon that he referred did phenomenal work.
As a side note, several times, I’ve walked into the clinic (without an appointment) to get some advice on a problem. Each time, he made time for me and gave me great advice – no charge. He isn’t the kind of guy that will talk you into an appointment if it isn’t necessary.
In a world of politically correct crap, Dr. Nelson’s no bullshit style really appeals to me. He reminds me of the super practical, old school people I knew growing up in a rural Minnesota farmland. He’s also one of the few Twin Cities vets that will still crop ears. Like my wife and I, he thinks it’s hypocritical and ridiculous that people have no problem cutting the testicles off a male dog or removing the ovaries from a female dog… but for some reason, cropping the ears is animal abuse. Give me a break!
Dr. Nelson was part of the Audubon Neighborhood long before my wife and I got there. I hope that Dr. Nelson and his new, larger, modern building are there for many more years.
–Daddy Maxx Retro

This clinic cares little for your animal and less for your pocket book. Just because I am poor, does not mean I don’t love my dogs. I never walk out of there without paying at least 200 bucks. Today, when I called desperate for some help they totally refused.
My dog has a history of ear infections. Last time I brought her in it cost me almost 300, so this time I called. BEGGED them to PLEASE just prescribe me the meds, because I can’t let my dog be sick, but I don’t have any money. I’m crying on the phone. They totally refuse.
I found another vet, that was willing to see her for a lower price, that told me how horrible he thought that was. He assured me that my dog will have an outstanding prescription for this medicine, because of her breed and allergies, she will always have reoccurring ear infections. Thank god. Had all my records transferred over from Pet Central and will not be going back. You shouldn’t go there either.

Well, this was an odd appointment. A stray cat ran into my house late one Friday night and it looked like she was pregnant. I immediately started searching for a place close by that would be able to see her on the following Saturday morning. I didn’t have any issues with the receptionist or making an appointment, but unfortunately that didn’t really save my experience with Dr. Nelson.
I brought her in under the impression I was paying for a full exam but her temperature was never taken? Hm. He did scan her and look at her ears, eyes, and mouth and after feeling her belly told me that she wasn’t pregnant but had given birth somewhat recently. Ok cool. Now what do I do with her? At first he told me to just let her back outside so she could find her kittens and said I shouldn’t feed her so she wouldn’t return to my house. Well… she was so skinny that of COURSE I’d fed her the previous night and I was hesitant to let her back outside because she seemed very happy being indoors and we have lots of coyotes or foxes (seriously don’t know which) that hang out near my house. AND. She’s the sweetest damn cat I’ve ever met and if I could adopt her and give her a good home I wanted to. As much as I would have loved for the potentially alive kittens to be saved, she had so much milk in her that it was apparent she hadn’t been feeding kittens recently and I didn’t want to risk her health on the chance they might be out there somewhere. Instead of responding to those concerns he started talking about how they must be coyotes and not foxes and talked for 10 minutes about the coyote population in NE. Great. What about this cat I would like maybe adopt?
He seemed slightly dismissive of me and my cat because she was just some stray I’d brought in and he didn’t give me the answers I was looking for. He’d been suggesting that I let her go until I mentioned that I wanted to have her spayed if I couldn’t find an owner. After I had hinted at a follow-​up appointment with him he went from «oh, just throw her back outside» to «alright. bring her in, it’ll cost this much to have her spayed and this much to have her micro-​chipped».
I’d never dealt with a stray before, definitely not one that had been nursing and all I wanted to figure out was the best thing to do given the circumstances. He didn’t make it easy and seemed disinterested. Maybe that’s just a lack of «bedside manner» on his part but, as a Vet, what you lack in the social department should be made up for in how much you care about the animals you see.

Dr. Nelson was very helpful, kind and took his time with my pet. He treated us both with respect and I have returned to Pet Central and have seen Dr. Mary and she has been wonderful, too. They are considerate, not too pricey and kind. Their cat groomer Elizabeth, is WONDERFUL. I find their service to be reasonably priced and very professional. I have not experienced anything negative, nor has my family. The staff is wonderful, too. I will continue to take my cat to Dr. Nelson and to Elizabeth, the cat groomer.

This is the worst vet clinic I’ve ever been to. Supposed dr. Nelson seems so far out there I wouldn’t be surprised if he was in back poping the pet meds. This guy walks in the room without a word straight to his computer then walk out no words still. Comes back and defiantly doesn’t really know how to approach dogs any better than humans. All in all came in for a small issue and he wanted 500 for issues that really were not (this was according to our great vet in boulder co). So we decided to get a shot and he was telling us about his children’s worts? And my fiancé and I were kind of not paying attention any more to this fool and he blind sides us and our Siberian husky with the needle with a rightfully so Unilocal from our dog and a twist this «dr» throws the needle damn near across the room. Our dog is extremely calm even in past getting shots but this was not how to go about it the dog could have bit him or my fiancé who he was sitting near. Gave him the shot again while I held him and what do you know it was fine. So we will call him mr. Nelson walked out of the room again no words to leave us sit and wonder if we were done? Are we to leave the room to go pay for this non sense? So we walk out to the front desk and the dip shut was just standing up there so we ask are done? He was like yeah I guess. Defiantly will not go back or recommend them to any one ever!

We took our cat there for her first exam. I scheduled our appointment for 10:15, we were not seen there until 10:30. We were seen by doctor Ngo.
I will not be taking my kitty there again. The doctor did not listen to our concerns and spend maybe 2 minutes examining the animal. She was also kinda of rough with her, and did not seem that she liked her job or animals…

His license has not been revoked, surprisingly. I went to this vet anticipating this man’s behavior, as there are numerous warnings on other websites.
I brought my pet rat there to get some antibiotics. I’m not a bleeding heart, nor impractical, just trying to keep my pet alive if possible. I do not believe Dr. Nelson looked at my face once while I was in his waiting room. He consistently called my pet by the opposite gender (a sign that he could care less about her well-​being) and referred to her as a «thing». For a veterinarian that advertises «pocket-​pet» care, he sure treated her like vermin.
Long story short, I ended up returning to have my pet put down. The vet tech was wonderful, and they (surprisingly, illegally?) euthanized her without an examination. (Just a rat, afterall…) 15 $ for death, reasonable. I’d have paid much more for some compassion. Indeed, this man was sadistic and in the wrong profession.

I’m posting this review of Central Animal Hospital for a family member:
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My adult indoor cat had a small area (3″ X 2″) of matted hair on her back. A fine veterinarian, Dr. Barbara Ault had previously removed it by hand, — causing no pain — and showed me how to remove the hair by gently drawing it away from the direction of its growth. I was particularly impressed with her kindness, compassion, and skill.
Unfortunately, I was unable to remember her technique well enough to perform it myself, so I called the clinic. I was advised that she was no longer there. I made an appointment anyway: to have her matted hair removed, and for her to be «chipped» (installation of a microchip for identification).
When we arrived at Dr. Philip Nelson’s clinic, his Central Avenue Animal Hospital was under construction — adjacent to the clinic. We went into the examination room with a technician. My cat waited patiently on the examination table. She was unhappy about being away from home, but well-​behaved.
Dr. Nelson stormed into the room, banging the examination room door against the wall as he entered. Without a word, he abruptly grabbed my cat by her head and began violently tearing out her hair. She was in obvious distress. He refused to stop — until she began to defecate on his exam table. He angrily cleaned the feces from the table while stating that my cat needed sedation and left. Total time elapsed: 1 minute.
He returned with the syringe for the injection of the microchip. We should have left the clinic immediately after the hair ripping incident, but I was truly in shock, and very nearly as traumatized as my cat. I’m aware of how microchip injections are performed, but Dr. Nelson’s technique was particularly brutal. He stabbed the syringe into her back with excessive force.
In my opinion, Dr. Nelson displayed conflicted, sadistic, and disturbed behavior. I do not advise bringing any living creature into his clinic. I’ve been having trouble loading his website. Perhaps his license to practice veterinary medicine has mercifully been revoked.