Crystal Springs Pet Hospital - San Mateo, California

Michael Maddox

Over the last four years, Dr. Hoppe has taken superb care of my two super-senior rescue dogs. She really goes above-and-beyond, including e-mail communication after hours.

Moreover, I have never experienced “upselling” at this facility or any other such dubious practices; this is a wonderful, albeit small, neighborhood vet.

I am unfamiliar with the other vets, but if you can get in with Dr. Hoppe, it will be well worth it!

Patricia Haddad

We have been going to Crystal Springs Pet Hospital for the past 3 years. The staff is courteous and helpful. The clinic is well organized with good communication with us with reminder emails, billing, and request for feedback. We rarely wait more than 10 minutes to be seen and personnel are gentle and loving with the animal patients. I love that they are open during the week and on week-ends . I so am glad that we switched to this animal hospital because we can trust them and it shows professionalism on behalf of its office staff, techs, and doctors.

Katie Voice

At the time we needed a vet the most- this business let us down badly. We were visiting family during Thanksgiving when our pet began a nose dive towards what would become her final hours. I called this business and left voice mails upon arrival to town and got no calls back over a three day period. I had our pet’s hometown vet records on my phone and, since there was no call back from Crystal Springs Vet, we took our elderly, failing cat to Sage ER Pet Hospital. That vet helped us know the end was near. The following morning, we knew it was time to say goodbye. We called Crystal Springs Vet to explain our situation, our decision, and asked to make an appointment for euthanasia. We were giving one at 9:30 AM. When we arrived we found a facility that did not look very clean. Oddly enough, when my son and I stepped forward to register arrival, my eye fell to a small sign and small electric candle on a dusty counter. The sign announced that, if the candle was lit, it meant that someone in the clinic was saying good bye to a dying pet and asked lobby customers to lower their voices. I swallowed back tears- knowing soon that candle would be lit for us. That sign and the electric candle turned out to to be empty performative tokens. Callus delivery of actual service was the reality to come. The candle was an empty gesture.
The receptionist who has dyed blue hair, raised her gaze but never made eye contact with me. She seemed annoyed to have us appear at the door and broadcasted her feelings by way of impatient body language and avoidant eye gaze. There was no, “Hello.” There was no, “Good Morning, How may I help you?” There was no greeting of any kind and there was zero expression of compassion when I introduced myself. I said we had just booked an appointment for our dying pet to be euthanized. This young lady directed a vacant stare over her shoulder with a wave and dismissed us to another receptionist, saying “Rebecca- these are yours.” Rebecca took us past stacks of stored items into an exam room and, as I was pulling up emailed medical records on my phone, announced that she had spoken with Dr. Balagooyen, a relief vet, that she said, “did things differently”. Rebecca said that the vet was refusing our 9:30 AM euthanasia appointment. That vet insisted our cat undergo a complete exam and tests and postponed the appointment to 12 noon. The vet would then render a decision regarding approval of euthanasia. We departed then and there, without any service, having lost precious time to help our elderly pet, who was obviously suffering. We had no choice but to drive the additional distance to the 24 hour Emergency vet. We were effectively turned away when we came with an appointment for help. Asking us to make our our dying cat, who was in pain, wait 3 more hours, only to endure a completely un-necessary physical exam and tests was an untenable requirement. The overall neglect of care and courtesy from this clinic, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. What we were offered smacked of opportunistic up-charging and vacated any sense of humane service. We should have known this was coming when none of our calls or emails were returned. We should have seen this coming when our quiet arrival with a dying pet was met with curt annoyance by the blue-haired receptionist. Rebecca, who was the receptionist who took us to the back room - was apologetic and later sent a text to share condolences as we were in route to the Emergency Vet. She should be recognised as doing what she could to reflect a small measure of common sense and kindness. We thank her for reaching out. My family has lived in the Crystal Springs Highlands since 1963. I wish I could recommend this local veterinarian service. We love our neighborhood and loyally support local businesses. Unfortunately, I must instead issue a crystal clear warning to anyone considering veterinary care to go somewhere else. The service we received today was cold, borderline cruel and money-driven. The very last type of service you want when your pet is dying.

Chloé Owen

I have deep gratitude and appreciation to the entire team at Crystal Springs Pet Hospital for their immediate triage and diligent care of my dog. They made space for him as a walk in when he had a respiratory incident in the shopping center, accommodated immediate x-rays late that evening, and even were prepared to stay after closing to let us know his results that very same night. Dr. Diaz is exceptional and common sense, and took so much time to answer all of my questions. My dog left the practice with a thorough diagnosis, robust and common sense care plan, and same day medication.

They took a shakey covid-era chihuahua who is so afraid of non-family and made him feel so safe and loved. Each and every person at that clinic was his champion and treated him as if he were their own. He had extraordinarily competent and compassionate care. Thank you again to Dr. Diaz and the whole team! <3

Anne Marie Cortis

Thank you to all staff at Crystal Springs for always taking such good care of our Rocky. Dr Hoppe was always gentle, knowledgeable and understanding. She also performed Rocky’s neutering and he had no issues recovering and answered all our concerns. We appreciate that they always tried their best to accommodate appointments. We moved to San Jose last year and still went to them, that is how much we loved them. Now we have moved over two hours away so unfortunately we are too far to be able to go to them, otherwise we would still be their patient. Thank you for everything <3

Shane Baiza

I called a couple weeks ago to get a certificate of health for my dog to travel. The system was down and the tech who schedules the certificate of health was not in the office. I left my name and number for them to call me the next day. I never received a call.

Called today for them to put me on hold and tell me they are no longer accepting new patients.

YUNO OKADA

Super dedicated & professional service! We have tried a couple of vets in Bay Area, but here is by far the best! Their staffs were very friendly and Dr. Gadde not only listened to our concerns but also he took good amount of time to ask his questions to understand our dog’s recent condition, and he provided the detailed instructions which definitely gave us lots of trust.

Christina Peck

I've been going to Crystal Springs since 2020 when I was referred there for emergency splenectomy surgery with Dr Gadde. The prices were the most reasonable and follow up was so attentive and amazing. I live in Oakland and continue traveling down to use them because I just trust all the vets. I now am with Dr Cherry, who my dog loves and was so thoughtful going through pros and cons of tooth extraction with an older (13) dog (which went off without a hitch). After his latest bout with vestibular disease, Dr Hoppe went above and beyond to follow up check in with us during a really scary time when I had a ton of questions but couldn't travel with him. I cannot recommend this office enough.