VCA California Veterinary Specialists-Carlsbad - Carlsbad, California

Cintia Malagon

Excelente atención, siempre tratando a nuestros mejores amigos con amor....
Excelentes instalaciones y gran equipo medico altamente calificado.

Yazmin

I’m very thankful with VCA for saving my cats life!! Our baby had a medical emergency. He had a urinary blockage which was live threatening. They admitted him right away and assessed him in case he didn’t have to get a surgery. They treated us with compassion and respect. It ended being that our beloved pet needed the surgery in order to live. They were very kind and they would call us 2 times per day to give us updates on his condition. They treated us like family, let us visit him anytime too. He stayed in the hospital for about a week. There’s no words to express how grateful we are because without VCA our beloved pet wouldn’t have survived!! He’s 3 years old and has a lot to live for and lots of love to give and receive. I highly recommend VCA!! From the bottom of our hearts Thank you VCA!!

Dylan Jones

Over the weekend my sweet boy Joseph had some complications which unfortunately led to me making the decision to put him down at a young age. I just wanted to thank the staff for their love and attention to my friend during his final days. I was grateful to be able to spend some time with him in a peaceful and comfortable environment before I let him go. I trust that his passing was as peaceful as possible as the staff here were nothing but kind and compassionate. Thank you all ❤️

Jessika Renay

Beautiful, clean facility. Cathy at the front desk was absolutely wonderful. She is truly an asset to VCA and they are lucky to have her! During a very difficult time with my bulldog, she made my husband and i feel SO comfortable and welcomed. She engaged in conversation with us and it was such a nice distraction from the emergency situation while my dog was in the back. Dr. Stephanie was also very kind and understanding. She made my dog comfortable and stable so that we could get him to another facility in the morning. I am very grateful for both of these women. i am only giving 4 out of 5 stars because it is quite expensive. Besides that, i was very happy with my visit and the care my dog received.

Hector Cardenas

My pup Phineas developed osteosarcoma back in November and the team here has been a blessing. They handled the amputation, they handle post-op infection, and they handled the round of chemotherapy. The oncology team has given me so much joy to see my pup happy, running, and jumping chasing lizards and all. Thank you Dr. Ogilvie.

Update 11Jun2023, we can’t thank enough then incredible team at VCA for everything they did for our pup Phineas. We are super great full for the time we had but had to reckon with this disease. When Phin’s health rapidly began to decline this last week we were given help with making him comfortable and this allowed us to be with him when he passed at home with us after a great day with a picnic and all the walking he could muster. We are so great ful to the surgical team, emergency medicine team, and radiation and oncology teams.

Dave N

I brought in my dog on September 26 for a surgical consultation. They performed surgery that evening. Sometime the next day after surgery, my dog was transferred from the surgery department to the ER for the remainder of his post-surgery recovery. About 36 hours after surgery, the ER doctor called and said my dog was an anxious patient, would do better recovering at home, and was ready for release.

At release, he was in poor shape, limping and barely walking under his own power. His condition worsened. He was unwilling/unable to eat, could barely walk, then the vomiting started. I called and they prescribed anti-nausea medication. That stopped the vomiting, but nothing else improved. This situation reached its limit by Monday morning when he started walking in right circles. I brought him back to the ER. It is clear now in retrospect that my dog was in no condition to be released 36 hours after surgery.

The doctor on duty was hammering me about sending him out for an MRI somewhere. She even said that stray dogs do not eat for this long, but they are okay. What stray dogs have organs removed then do not eat for 5 days and end up fine? And what is the point of getting an MRI of my dog’s brain if my dog is going to be dead because he is no longer eating 5 days post-surgery? By later that afternoon, my dog was observed to be moving normally by a different doctor.

The ER kept my dog for further care and observation. During this second stay, he was placed on a fentanyl patch of all possible painkillers that negatively affected his appetite and energy. He eventually started eating a small amount of a certain food, but no one on staff could be bothered to note that specific food in his file so we could provide him that food going forward. He was released on October 2 in somewhat more stable shape.

I removed the fentanyl patch as directed and he started to turn around once that was out of his system, until about a day after release, I noticed spots of blood on my carpet and the dog’s bedding. I could not locate the source on the dog. As the frequency and intensity of the bleeding increased over the next days, I was finally able to see that his hock was the source of the bleeding.

I brought my dog back to the ER on October 7. The hock bleeding was diagnosed as an ulcer/bed sore – something no one at the ER noticed or apparently checked for despite his prolonged and repeated stays there. The ER department sent out a culture from the wound.

While at the ER for evaluation of the wound, they overdosed him on butorphanol and had to do a partial reversal using naloxone, which was downplayed to me over the phone by the doctor and does not even appear in the discharge summary of his visit. They wrapped his leg up in bandages and sent him home that day still drugged out of his mind. I paid over $1,000 for this privilege of them overdosing my dog and bandaging his leg.

I called on the morning of October 12 and was told no culture results were available. An hour later, I took my dog to a new veterinarian to get a second opinion on the hock wound. The new veterinarian received a copy of his file from California Veterinary Specialists and told me there were preliminary culture results in my dog’s file and that my dog actually had MRSP, which means the antibiotics he was on were useless since MRSP is nearly antibiotic resistant.

No one from bothered to call me with that preliminary information after whenever they initially received it. They wasted valuable time that could have been used switching my dog appropriate antibiotics. They also put my household’s safety at greater risk by withholding this information since persons need to take greater precautions caring for and interacting with dogs with MRSP in this kind of situation.

Between releasing my dog too early post-surgery, then not noticing the development of bed sores over his multi-day stays at the hospital, then overdosing my dog to simply apply a leg bandage wrap, then withholding MRSP culture results, they are beyond incompetent. I am lucky they have not killed my dog yet.

Kathy Mathy

Our sweet Bernese Mountain Dog Emma was in need of a delicate surgery (vulvoplasty) Our Vet recommended we find a board certified surgeon. It was a difficult decision however the results are absolutely amazing!! Our dog has been suffering with many types of infections requiring antibiotics for over a year. We are so pleased with the care and support team of doctors and staff are the best! The recovery is a bit over two weeks we took our first 15 minute walk today after our check up!

Claudia Simon

My Havanese had a ruptured salivary duct and needed surgery to remove it (sialocele removal). My dog received better care than I did in connection with my own recent 4-hr surgery. First, he had a thorough consultation with a team of 4 healthcare professionals (and they even consulted with a radiologist and internal medicine expert in-house). They treated him like the most important patient they’d ever seen. All the risks and options were thoroughly explained. On the day of his procedure, I received 5 phone calls with updates on pre-op testing and the status of his surgery.

Unlike me, my dog got to stay in the hospital overnight at a reasonable cost. He had no complications and his incision has healed beautifully. I’m so grateful that this issue is behind us.

Dr. Osmond is a meticulous surgeon and I highly recommend him and his team for any surgery.