Foothill Animal Hospital, Inc. - Lake Forest, California

Kyle Song

Recently, my childhood dog, Autumn, had become ill from kidney issues. After receiving care that I wasn’t looking for at another hospital, I asked Foothill Animal Hospital last minute to have her seen. Dr. Reagan, Sara, and the staff were kind enough to make time out of their schedule to see her. Although her prognosis wasn’t the best, the entire hospital was very friendly and supportive. Dr. Watkins also was willing to discuss even more treatment options and make Autumn more comfortable towards the end of her life. I am thankful for all of the help and kindness from Foothill Animal Hospital’s staff. I’m not one to write reviews, but I would recommend anyone to have their beloved pets to be seen here for the best care possible.

Sogol Pahlevan

I took my two mid-sized goldendoodles to the Foothill Animal Hospital for grooming and I am really happy with the overall experience. Sean is who we had our appointment with and he was so professional and super friendly with out pets. I have been to many other groomers in the Lake Forest area and by far this was the best groom my pets have had! Because the groomer is located inside a Vet office, the vet tech examines the pets before going home, which I think is amazing since we've have incidents at other places with our dogs getting cut in the past during grooming sessions and us having to take them to the Urgent Care. Sean did a great job! I will definitely return.

Ashley Wright

Top Animal Hospital in all of Orange County in my opinion and my fur babies agree. Dr Regan and his team truly make you feel comfortable to ask any questions and truly take the time to hear every need of your animals need. 100% recommend if your looking for a new vets office for your pet ?

Kevin Yu

I bring my Russian testudo male tortoise here vets are patient and calm kind but am I glad to have a great vet Dvm like Heidi Watkins look at Titus thankful for you guys 🙂 I always can trust you guys 🙂

Michelle Lee

I brought my dog in today for diarrhea and left him there for a couple of hours so they could monitor him. Later, Dr, McCarthy called me and repeatedly expressed concern (at least five times) that my dog might be anemic or have Von Willebrand's disease. She based this on his capillary refill time being over two seconds.

After emphasizing her concerns, she sent me an invoice totaling nearly $600. This included charges for fluids, anti-nausea medication, Giardia treatment, and more--despite no fecal test having been done yet to confirm any diagnosis.

I called back and requested they proceed only with fluids and a fecal test because I wanted to get a second opinion from another vet. At this point, Dr. McCarthy questioned my decision, made me feel bad, and said, "Well, he's your dog." This comment was condescending and unnecessary.

Frustrated, I asked to speak to the receptionist (who was kind and professional) to add a nail trim. Dr. McCarthy even questioned me on this saying.. you want to speak to the "receptionist..?" Instead, she transferred me to a vet tech named Sarah, who also started questioning my choices. She asked about my dog's history with Metronidazole, why I didn't want to use it again, and if it worked before. By this point, the constant questioning and pressure from the staff made me feel uncomfortable and annoyed.

I ultimately decided not to proceed with anything other than the exam fee and left. The entire experience felt like they were trying to upsell unnecessary treatments.

For comparison, I went to my original vet afterward and shared the situation. He told me my dog didn't need any of the additional treatments the first vet suggested and advised starting with a fecal test before deciding on next steps. It was refreshing to deal with someone honest who clearly wasn't trying to take advantage of the situation.

One more strange thing: after I picked up my dog, the clinic called multiple times to tell me they had saved a poop sample because my dog had another bout of diarrhea before leaving. I never asked them to do this, but they called twice to notify me and a third time to tell me they were throwing it out.

This entire experience was bizarre, frustrating, and felt overly focused on money. I won't be returning.

Katherine Hernandez

I cannot say enough great things about this vet! In fact, I never realized I wasn’t getting the best service at previous veterinarians until I tried this one. These dogs I have now are my first, and it’s taken some research, trial and error, and a bit of figuring out! Although I can’t claim to have tried it all, everything about the Foothill Animal Hospital and Dr. McCarthy was like a breath of fresh air.

The location is nestled in the heart of South Orange County, with major crossroads of El Toro & Portola (right across from Saddleback Church and not far from the Lake Forest Sports Park)! I actually didn’t even realize how convenient and close it was until I took my doggie in.

The service was top-notch and above and beyond. My puppy, Ruby, is a little bit of a problem child when she it comes to going to the vet- she’s had to have many visits in the past and gets very scared and anxious. The staff here did wonders to put her nerves at ease, with treats and amazing service. Even when Ruby was on edge, they were understanding and sympathetic to all her “spunk,” as I like to call it.

I really appreciated how streamlined and modern the service was as well; anything from appointment reminders, patient forms, a summary of the visit, prescription information, and detailed thorough notes from the doctor on how to proceed were emailed directly to me. It wasn’t all cold and digital though - I had real folks making plenty of personalized phone calls to confirm our appointments, summarize the visit, and follow up afterwards. There is a huge effort to pay lots of attention to the client before and after the appointment - this strong line of communication is nice in any industry and is the mark of a good business with great customer relations. At previous vets we’ve tried, there wasn’t much follow-up or follow-through. This was the most noticeable difference with Dr. McCarthy at Foothill Animal Hospital.

Really truly I’d like to especially highlight Dr. McCarthy’s impressive attention to detail and over abundance of thoroughness. She posed questions and gave information that no one else had ever touched on in the past. She left a detailed voicemail recapping our visit as well as a comprehensive, yet concise written report. She will be personally calling me again when Ruby’s lab results come in. Her love and passion for animals shows, and she embodies Foothill Animal Hospital’s mantra that they will “treat our pets as if they were theirs.”

demyana mansour

Such a great animal hospital. The staff and veterinarians are so loving and kind. They love their jobs and work with you every step of the way. Pharaoh and Kaya are happy to call this place their hospital.

Matt Theurich

We had a wonderful experience at this Vet’s office. Very kind receptionists and incredibly kind, calm and patient veterinary staff. They bring positive energy into the space and my pet felt very safe and comfortable thanks to them. Will definitely be coming back for my pets.