Long Beach Animal Emergency

24 Hour Veterinary Care !!! It reassuring that Long Beach Animal Emergency is always open in case my pet needs veterinary care at any time.

My daughter and I had to bring in our 12 year old cat Jack who had developed a large growth on his jaw. It grew very quickly and on a Sunday morning we realized how miserable he was. We had never been to this vet office before but were very happy they were open on Sunday. I can't say enough about the staff. I wish I knew the name of the nurse who came in and brought Jack a bowl of canned (human) chicken which he gobbled right down. He had not been eating at all so we were happy that he enjoyed his last meal so. She was wonderful and even brought him a hostess ho ho which she scooped out the creamy fillng for him to enjoy. The doctor agree with us that Jack should not suffer any longer and that he should remain his dignity. They were wonderful and treated us as if we had been their clients for years and years. I highly recommend them to any freinds and family.

I've just the reviews and I agree. I was given an estimate and then I was charged more when I came to pick up my cat. The front office staff is cold and mean. They said they called the house and never did. Four hours later I followed up and asked why they didn't try to reach me again. They left my 17 year old cat in a cage that long. They left us in a room and when we came out, someone said they were never told we needed to be seen. Now, something from the previous injury looks weird, but I would have to pay for another office visit for them to recheck the wound. Back to Blue Cross Vet!

Death trap. Do not, do not take your pet here.

I have owned pets for decades and have been to many hospitals in the southern California area over the years. I feel this gives me a good perspective on the quality of care veterinarians in southern California provide.

I was first attracted to the Long Beach Animal Hospital in 1989 because they provide free care for injured wildlife. Even though it was just a pigeon, the gladly took it in. Over the years I do not recollect any other animal hospital so willing to care for animals that do not "pay their own way" so to say.

Over these last decades I have brought all my pets exclusively to them, except for the occasional time when they referred me to a specialist for advanced care. To put it mildly they would get a 6 star rating instead of 5 if only they had a little better situation for parking.

They are open 7 days, have evening hours, and actually have doctors that enjoy their work, are happy to see you, and even thank you for coming in. I would not think of taking my pets anywhere else, which is confirmed by how busy their waiting room is whenever I go there. SInce they have 5 doctors on staff overall along with plenty of staff there is no waiting time.

As an added benefit they have the best veterinary web site on the Internet bar none. Every other veterinary web site is nothing more than a glorified business card that shows lots of smiling staff and lets you read a few care sheets. Their web site has detailed information on diseases that shows you the anatomy and physiology, along with causes, blood reports, xrays, and ultrasound pictures for a comprehensive explanation of diseases. I can go on and on, but suffice to say that they are the best around, and I have no faith in the other reviews about them where people complain about them. Don't be fooled by people with an ax to grind.

I am writing a review of this facility in order to share my personal experience of the doctors and staff at this animal hospital today.

The individuals who run this facility are deplorable, unethical, and run the most shady animal hospital operation I have ever encountered in my long history of taking my animals to get medical care.

My little dog had broken his leg while my brother was house sitting and took him to this hospital to give him medical care. They called me with a quote on how much to give my dog surgery and told me the surgery would cost between $3400 - $3800 with the latter being the maximum amount the surgery would cost. They told us that MAXIMUM it would cost $3800 dollars and that they would bill my card the full amount, and if the surgery cost less they would “refund us the difference”. We proceeded forward with this agreement. So far so good.

However it was a different story when I went to go pick up my animal….

When I got home I went to pick up my dog and the first thing that hit my nose the moment I walked was a wall of urine stench. Strong. Like too many dogs had urinated in their front room without adequate cleaning. This was the first sign that something is very wrong with this animal hospital.

Then the receptionist came out and proceeded to tell me that the cost was $5000 dollars!!!! WHAT?!?!?! And I told them politely that the quote I had received said that the maximum cost for surgery was going to be $3800 dollars. That’s when they said “well you signed this contract and in fine print it reads that the estimate is just an “estimate” and that the cost is “subject to change”. (As a side note I had called the nurse who I asked if there had been any surgery complications and she said “no” so the surgery had gone as planned). Obviously there is a HUGE difference between billing me $3800 dollars and $5000 dollars. I told them that the quote was misleading, unethical, and a gross misrepresentation. Their staff had no explanation for why the surgery cost more than their maximum quote. I told them that they needed to honor our agreement. But in the end, they have your animal as hostage, so what are you going to do, not get your animal from them? I ended up having them charge my card for the additional $1100 dollars.

Anyone knows that when you take your car in to get it fixed and they quote one amount and then you go to pick up your vehicle and it costs an extra $1100 dollars, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Scam artists. They have your property as collateral and then extort money from you in order to get it back. In my opinion this animal hospital is like a sleezy car repair business. They won’t give you their cost until you do business with them and then hike up the price as much and as high as they possibly can and use your property as collateral in order to get you to pay their new price. Oh yeah, and then tell you that you signed a “contract” with fine print that gives them the go ahead to charge whatever they want regardless of their quote.

Anyone that I talk to that has experience with vets says that $5000 dollars for this type of surgery is way overpriced. Even $3800 was overpriced.

On a side note, besides the uncleanly appearance of their hospital and wall of urine ammonia that hit my nose in the waiting room, when I picked up my dog he was flea bitten and infested with fleas. (Just to be sure that the fleas didn’t come from my two other dogs, I just checked their white fur. Nothing.)

So, if you want to get hustled for money, overcharged, deal with immoral and unethical doctors and staff, and board your animal in run-down dirty conditions, get lied to, and have your dog become infested with fleas, then by all means take your loved animal to this dirty hurting-for-cash hospital. And good luck to you!

I cannot speak to anyone else’s experience except my own dealing with these people.

but customer service can often be poor. Good luck dealing with front office staff.