Avian & Exotic Animal Hospital, Inc. - San Diego, California

Johana Chavez

DO NOT TAKE YOUR PETS HERE!! I took my pet snake to be seen here in August because he was regurgitating his food, and the vet I got (a female) was very friendly and did a physical exam of my ball python. She determined he had an upper respiratory infection and he received a liquid feed and I was sent home with injections to give him every 3 days for a month. In September once his injections were done, I fed him and he did fine. October comes and he ate fine again, then he started the process of shedding. In November, he still had not finished shedding and I noticed he looked like he was losing weight. I took him in to be seen again to this vet on November 11th, and Dr. Jenkins was the one who took the appointment. He didn't do any sort of physical exam whatsoever, he just picked him up briefly and then set him back down telling me the issue was the snakes husbandry, and that I needed to keep it more humid and warmer in his terrarium. I was already doing this because of the long shed he had so I was surprised this is what Dr. Jenkins thought. The entire appointment was basically taken up by the vet talking about himself, telling us how he had so much experience with snakes and the type he had at home, instead of focusing on my pet snake or doing an actual exam on him.

I left and went to buy more items from a pet store to put in my terrarium to make sure the humidity and heat were even more controlled. When I got home I noticed my snake was bleeding from a lifted scale on his body that directly exposed his flesh instead of new shed. I called the vets office to try to get some advice since I had literally just left their office an hour before. The office was closed and I left a voicemail urging them to call me back the following day. They never called me back. A couple of days later my snake looked like he lost a lot more weight and I took him to be seen at a different vet, an emergency one in Mission Valley. The care he received there was such a difference, they actually examined him and injected him with some fluids and meds, and they gave me an ointment to apply to his open wound. Since this was an emergency vet, they told me to do a follow up appointment with a regular vet the following day and they gave me a list of options since I told them I was not happy with the service we received at Avian & Exotics with Dr. Jenkins. 2 of the vet techs shared their similar negative experiences they had with him as well, when they took their own exotic animals to him.

The next day I made an appointment at a different vet in La Mesa for a follow up, but unfortunately before we made it to the appointment my pet snake passed away. The vet at the new place in La Mesa told me that if my snake would have gotten blood work done, it could have been determined what kind of infection he had and perhaps it could have been treated in time. It's extremely upsetting and frustrating that my pet passed away in just a weeks time from being seen by Dr. Jenkins, and no type of tests were administered or even an actual physical exam during his appointment, where he could have also seen the wound that I saw when we got home. Of course there's no way of knowing if the true infection could have been treated in time, but I definitely know that the lack of care and negligence that occurred played a direct role in the last days that my snake was alive.

Angel Sanchez

This review is probably the most important I have posted to google, I decided to write it up on my laptop because the work this vet clinic does can be a matter of life and death. My 2 year old Holland Lop is named Buddy. He is litter box trained and lives inside the house. Buddy is usually very outgoing and social, about a week ago I noticed his energy was off and quickly got worse.
Sometimes with bunnies they can be temperamental depending on time of year, time of day, etc. Initially I was not worried until he did not eat his dinner. That was a red flag for me but because that has happened a few times in his life, I did not panic. Over the course of the next few evening hours, Buddy lacked normal behavior and he started having trouble keeping his head up or showing his normal alertness.
By the time I felt I needed to get Buddy medical treatment, all the local exotic vets were closed and I could not afford the 600.00 bucks for the an emergency visits to one of the big box pet hospitals. I stayed up with Buddy all night, monitoring him and just encourage him to keep fighting.
My bunny groomer had previously praised Avian so I put Buddy in his travel crate and took him there 30 minutes before they opened. This was on a Thursday. The clinic was already staffed and they immediately checked Buddy in. I cant say enough about how much I appreciated that Avian made Buddy a priority and the vet diagnosed him before they opened to their normal scheduled appointments.
The vet believed Buddy has a life threatening infection and he was immediately placed on medications and I was to continue the treatments at home for the next week. Within a few hours of leaving Avian Buddy started showing signs of life but I had to force feed and drink Buddy for the next 5 days. It is very dangerous for bunnies to stop eating and drinking water, their bodies require constant nourishment.
The vet did an awesome job explaining everything. I have just found my new favorite spot to take my bunny. The attention was fast and the price was a third of what the hospital wanted just to check him in. Thank you Avian for saving Buddy!

Emily Merrill

I used to have good experiences here, but at my last appointment for my reptile they gave him injections without asking me first and then billed me for it.

I told one of the workers there I just lost my job and I couldn’t afford a massive bill, but I needed to make sure he had bloodwork and an xray before being adopted. After the Xray (which was normal) they insisted they wanted to keep him overnight. I had to insist they give him back because it's $160 to keep them overnight and there wasn’t anything wrong with him.

Before they gave him back they gave him IV fluids and vitamin injections without asking me first and then they billed me for it. The bill was an additional $116 with the fluids and injections.

I've been going to this vet for years and I've never seen them do that before. Luckily my lizard was adopted so I won’t be going back, but if you are planning on going I’d be wary of this.

megan brenner

I wrote a review on Yelp because I was unhappy with the wait time. I waited over and hour and saw walk ins and people with appointments after me go back first whiIe I waited quietly in the waiting room. I have never experienced a wait like that at our domestic animal vet. Based on the conversations I overheard the issues the animals were being seen for didn't appear to be emergent. After over an hour I wrote a Yelp review about it while waiting for the vet. During the appointment the vet received a call from the front desk about my review and he went ballistic. He called me an animal abuser and a lot of other names because I wrote a review that reflected the experience I had with their customer service. I love my tortoise and we do everything we can to care for him. All this vet told me to do was crank up the temperature in the enclosure and switch out the substrate. Not sure how that makes me an animal abuser. People are allowed to write reviews that reflect their experience. Aside from my review, I saw several reviews saying their animals died or seriously declined in health after receiving care from this vetinary hospital. I can't comment on the care my tortoise received though because the vet barely examined him and then had an emotional outburst because I was unhappy with the customer service. I suspect a lot of the positive reviews are paid for or bots. Please read the other negative reviews before going here.

Letty Campa

They say you get what you pay for. I brought my rabbit in for GI stasis and although it was a bit pricey I got what I paid for. Dr. Jeffrey Jenkins is so knowledgeable and provided me with information on common reasons for GI stasis and shared with me research he has been involved in with rabbits . My rabbit stayed overnight one day and then got sent home with two medications and instructions on syringe feeding . It is officially one week later and my rabbit is completely back to normal. Thank you Dr. Jeffrey and your great team for squeezing me in for an emergency appointment.

William Nimmo

Dr. Jeffrey Jenkins and the team at Avian & Exotic Animal Hospital are the actual best in the business.

They have such care, love, and industry knowledge that are frankly unmatched anywhere in the county, potentially the country. Dr. Jenkins and his staff saved my rabbit, Bailey’s life not once, but twice. We are eternally grateful for the Hospital’s expertise and swift judgement. If you have a need for an avian or exotic vet, this is your place.

Bailey and her family loves you guys!

Karie Edwards

So older does not mean wiser. I took my rat into them for something fairly simple, a preventative. I need a Selemectin product for my rat
The doctor said to call in chewy and order the pup and kitten size and told me what to give. I am an RVT this is what I do for a living. My practice does not do exotics so is very unfamiliar with basic drugs. The information was not passed to staff before the doctor left even though I have the medication in writing from the doctor and they won't dispense it. My rat is immunocompromised so this medication is very important and can't wait until Monday for doctor to return. Therefore I asked for my exam fee back because now I have to go some place else. They denied me my refund and won't give me the prescription that I told the doctor to write in the first place because I do work in the industry and see these mistakes which are absolutely unacceptable. I want my exam fee back you can have the money for your overpriced Baytril you charged me and the syringes that are needed for the medication. I am in awe at how Jurassic veterinary medicine can be. From a professional in the industry I advise you take your exotic elsewhere. Bad medicine.

Samantha Trudeau

Dr. Amandine Gillet has helped me with two of my senior pigs. I was able to get in right away to help my pet. Recently my piggy Pudding had an eye ulcer. Her eye was very red and swollen and cloudy and she was in a lot of pain and lethargic. Her eye was so bad she couldn’t even open it. The medicine Dr.Gillet gave her helped her bounce back 100%.I was able to get a huge piece of grass out of her eye and her eye is completely healed now.