Caring for Lincoln, four paws at a time

For the past 31 years, once a month, you can find a white motor home sitting outside the Sportsman's Motel. Inside, you will find Dr. Loren Keller waiting to care for the four-legged residents of Lincoln.

During his college years, Keller spent his summers on a ranch in the Bitterroot Valley. When the vet would come, he would help out, which stoked his interest in medicine. During a summer spent doing research with a doctor at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Md., the doctor suggested that he go into medicine.

Keller decided on veterinary medicine and headed back to school to finish another year of pre-requisites before heading off to the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine.

Keller's career took him from Big Sandy to Conrad and then to Great Falls. Early in his career he was mostly in barns helping care for horses and cattle. After making the decision to leave the practice he was at in Great Falls, he wanted to go out on his own. However, there were already several other veterinarians practicing in the area.

"I didn't want to move, but I wanted to offer something different, find a niche" said Keller.

He spoke with several doctors from across the United States who had mobile practices and they all said it was the way to go. In 1987, Keller's Mobile Veterinary Clinic became a reality.

Keller used to vacation to Lincoln and thought it was an area that could use a veterinary practice. When he started, he went to Lincoln and Fairfield, in addition to seeing pets in the Great Falls area.

Keller found he had started his mobile service between phone book printings, a major source of advertising for such services at the time. So, he turned to the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch for advertising. The first time he pulled in to town, there were at least 20 cars waiting for him.

"They had to move just so I could get parked. It just boomed from there." he said.

There were a few bad years over the course of three decades, but with the help of Lincoln's residents he came back and has been caring for our pets ever since.

"I love animals" said Keller,

He said his favorite part his job is the variety he finds in working with both animals and people, and had had some memorable cases over the years.

He remembers one case were a stock trailer with African Antelope were heading from the LA Zoo to the Calgary Zoo. When they got to the border, they didn't have the required blood tests to be admitted to Canada. They ended up in Conrad to get the proper tests.

"We had to figure out how to get blood out of these critters. We figured it out and we got it done," he said.

Another unforgettable case for him was getting blood from a Mountain Lion.

Keller still sets up shop at the Sportsman Motel in Lincoln once a month, andsaid he's had some of the same human clients for as long as he has been coming here.

The clinic offers a wide variety of services, from check ups and vaccinations to surgical procedures. He still advertises in the paper, too. Look for his ad each month to see when he will visit next.