Revel Vet brings a specialized twist on the traditional veterinary practice. In fact, as they say, “nothing we do is ordinary.”
Located in Queen Creek at 24754 S. Ellsworth Road, Revel Vet opened in December 2022 with the mission being to make each visit one in which you leave feeling empowered, appreciated and loved.
It’s not just a clinic where you’re rushed in and out, told your pet needs this test or this vaccine, etc. It’s a place where you’re creating a relationship with your veterinarian so that they can understand your pet and deliver customized lifestyle medicine. Whether your fur friend enjoys swimming or hiking, or is a couch potato, all of that is taken into account when curating the best roadmap for your best friend.
“There was so much discussion from clients that there no longer was a hometown feel. It’s corporate, it’s cold and only about money… That’s where the idea of having a small veterinary clinic that would bring back that hometown feel came about,” said Dr. Scott Meyer, veterinarian and co-owner. “It’s about caring for your pets with compassion. It’s what you need as an owner. What does your pet need for care? How can we be more personable, more warm?”
Practicing in California and Montana doing relief and full-time work, Dr. Kris Latson, veterinarian and co-owner, found it difficult to really dive deep with her clients when appointments were limited to 15 minutes. With hopes to level up the veterinary experience, she was driven to the idea of opening Revel Vet.
Opening Revel Vet in Queen Creek was coming back home for Dr. Scott. After graduating from Gilbert High School he played college baseball in Denver until an injury ended his semi-pro career. He ended up on a cattle ranch in Wyoming working with the vet there who convinced him to go back and finish school at Colorado State.
Graduating with his bachelor’s degree in microbiology and his master’s in anatomy and neurobiology and then his doctorate, Dr. Scott ended up spending around 10 years working in California doing sports medicine with racehorses. After he and his wife had their daughter they decided to come back to Queen Creek, where there was a large demand for small animal medicine.
At the time that veterinarians and co-owners Dr. Scott, Dr. Kris, Dr. Keith Latson and registered nurse Julie Meyer had come together to discuss the opening of Revel Vet, the fear-free concept was gaining popularity.
As a Fear Free Certified Vet Practice, their goal is to prevent and alleviate the stress that a lot of pets feel when at the vet. All of their veterinarians are Fear Free Certified practitioners that are specially trained in methods that help ease a pet's anxiety.
Their clinic has separate cat and dog waiting areas and pheromones room diffusers. Their stainless steel exam tables have yoga mats on them for comfort and to create a non-slip surface. They have towel warmers, and for some pets they’ll do the exams on the floor if getting on the exam table causes them stress. If they’re having trouble drawing blood or examining the pet, they always use positive reinforcement, never force.
By distracting your pet with treats and lick mats, they’ll hopefully walk out the door at the end of their visit happy. They want to rewire that instant fear a lot of pets feel when walking into a vet by creating this safe, cozy environment of love.
“We all have a very good alignment about how we want to approach veterinary medicine, how we want our customers to feel when they walk out the door and how we want the pet to feel when they leave the exam room. We want the employees to feel filled up, empowered and educated,” explained Dr. Kris.
As a veterinarian, it can be difficult because everyday you’re seeing the good and the bad, which is why they put such a heavy focus on creating a good work-life balance for their staff.
“How do you stay in this busy practice with all different types of diseases and euthanasia? You get so many things thrown at you in a day… We want our employees to clock out at the end of the day and have enough left over for their family and the things they do outside of veterinary medicine that fills them up,” said Dr Kris. “You need that in order to be good at what you do in your job. I want people to be excited to work at Revel Vet. I don’t want it to just be where you make money and get two weeks of vacation. I want Revel Vet to be an extension of the staff’s life.”
Their staff is full of animal lovers who go out of their way on their own time to help out animals who find themselves in unfortunate situations.
“To me, that’s love. That’s the passion that we have,” said Dr. Kris. “They all love animals and are willing to do things outside of the box to make things happen and that just fills me up.”
Right now their focus is on continuing to grow their Queen Creek location by hiring people that have the same values as them and work to level up veterinary medicine. Long term, they’ve discussed potentially opening up multiple locations.
It’s about the quality of the care versus the quantity. When they see an animal they don’t only look at what you came in for, but examine them as a whole. Maybe they’ve been undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, or they have low thyroid levels and it’s a simple blood test and supplement that can make all the difference.
Another major pillar in their practice is making sure the client knows that to their pets, they are the best human ever.
“The word 'Revel' we imagined is how your pet looks at you. When you get home at the end of the day it’s like they won the Super Bowl… whether we come home frustrated or tired, it doesn’t matter. To our animals you’re just the best and I wanted to extend that to making sure that the clients who walk in the door know that they are already the best human ever,” explained Dr. Kris.
It’s not only to the owner, but also to the staff. When they feel they’re the best human ever while helping out each individual animal, they’re able to serve those clients and pets so much better.
“It's a lot about practicing and within the means of a good balance. How do we grow in terms of supporting the community and giving a service that's needed? And then, how can we support our veterinarians and not grind them up and overwhelm them, but to grow in a sense that we have a well balanced life with all our staff so we’re able to serve the community needs,” said Dr. Scott. “We just wanted to bring back that warmth and humanity to veterinary medicine that I think all of us feel we’ve lost.”
They offer a variety of wellness services for your cats and dogs from physical exams to microchipping, complete in-house laboratory, ultrasounds, prescription diets, different surgery services and more.
For more information or to book an appointment, visit revelvet.com.