There were not enough reviews to post for Porter, Noreda, Northridge Pet Hospital, Chatsworth Pet, Adlers, etc. Two vets below were listed as top rated by rating services. Winnetka got 8 reviews, all five stars so I rated him best in the West Valley.
This is NOT the Vet review website I was talking about starting. We are still discussing the scope of that site, format, etc. I am just warming up.
Animal Medical (Van Nuys)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/animal-medical-center-van-nuys#hrid:V2m_cJD_h1htCcDwwv5LMA
McClaves:
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3711579785
Mid Valley Veterinary Hospital
(Be alert here. Lots of vets and other retailers have friends, staff, etc. give positive reviews. When they are consistently short responses such as this, I’d be a bit careful accepting them as authentic. If you have good info, let me know. If you look at Resellerratings.com review of Internet rip offs, you'll often see lots of short, glowing reviews left by employees who spend no time on them, and then some very long and detailed reviews that clearly prove the retailer is a scam artist.)
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3711562777
VCA Santa Monica Dog and Cat:
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710775218
Pet Medical in Santa Monica:
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710698396
http://local.yahoo.com/info-20529694-jones-kenneth-dvm-kenneth-jones-veterinary-hosp-santa-monica?csz=Santa+Monica,+CA
Mission Animal Hospital^ (Worst Rated)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mission-animal-hospital-and-emergency-hospital-granada-hills
Sepulveda Animal Hospital** (Top rated)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sepulveda-animal-hospital-culver-city#hrid:ArNkZPdoWFqF_qvAflwRyQ
Dr. Jason Rattan** (Fairfax Area-Top rated)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/dr-jason-c-rattan-los-angeles#hrid:E1maHAW8hCXL1zjg6SfScw
http://local.yahoo.com/info-20415692-rattan-jason-c-dvm-park-la-brea-veterinary-care-los-angeles?csz=Los+Angeles,+CA
Value Vet West Los Angeles
VCA West Los Angeles:
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710598731
http://www.mojopages.com/biz/value-vet/los-angeles/ca/90024/10562261
Winnetka Animal Hospital (Dr. Smollin)* (Top rated West Valley)
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710923735
McClaves:
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3711579785
Mid Valley Veterinary Hospital
(Be alert here. Lots of vets and other retailers have friends, staff, etc. give positive reviews. When they are consistently short responses such as this, I’d be a bit careful accepting them as authentic. If you have good info, let me know. If you look at Resellerratings.com review of Internet rip offs, you'll often see lots of short, glowing reviews left by employees who spend no time on them, and then some very long and detailed reviews that clearly prove the retailer is a scam artist.)
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3711562777
VCA Santa Monica Dog and Cat:
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710775218
Pet Medical in Santa Monica:
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710698396
Ken Jones, Santa Monica
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710367283
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710367283
http://local.yahoo.com/info-20529694-jones-kenneth-dvm-kenneth-jones-veterinary-hosp-santa-monica?csz=Santa+Monica,+CA
Mission Animal Hospital^ (Worst Rated)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mission-animal-hospital-and-emergency-hospital-granada-hills
Moon Jay (Sherman Oaks)
Sepulveda Animal Hospital** (Top rated)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sepulveda-animal-hospital-culver-city#hrid:ArNkZPdoWFqF_qvAflwRyQ
Dr. Jason Rattan** (Fairfax Area-Top rated)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/dr-jason-c-rattan-los-angeles#hrid:E1maHAW8hCXL1zjg6SfScw
http://local.yahoo.com/info-20415692-rattan-jason-c-dvm-park-la-brea-veterinary-care-los-angeles?csz=Los+Angeles,+CA
Value Vet Canoga Park
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3711606803
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3711606803
Value Vet West Los Angeles
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/15240007658
VCA West Los Angeles:
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710598731
http://www.mojopages.com/biz/value-vet/los-angeles/ca/90024/10562261
Winnetka Animal Hospital (Dr. Smollin)* (Top rated West Valley)
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710923735
8 comments:
Ok. Here's one for McClave's:
It was at McClave's where I rushed my Teeny-Weeny in the middle of the night and requested that I be present with him as he was going to be sedated and then put to sleep when I discovered him laying quadraplegic with a hole in his side in my neighbor's front yard under a bush.
I requested that he be sedated so that he wouldn't feel the damned needle to add to his suffering. The idiot vet tech took him into the back and brought him back to me after a half hour with a damned catheter inserted into his poor little vein so that it was "easier" for them to give the injection.
Idiots caused my dying cat more unnecessary pain moving him around from room to room and stabbing him with the damned catheter.
What kind of pain control is that?!
Idiotic "emergency" techs.
Here is another one for McClave's:
Idiot me cut one of my Dr. King's nails too short and it was bleeding, so I rushed him to McClave's after going to Noreda and waiting for an hour without being seen.
Noreda suggested I buy the clotting powder and I did, but I was afraid my cat's foot was going to become infected and didn't want to take any chances.
After an hour of waiting, I left and decided to go to McClave's.
A doctor there, who's name I have forgotten (there are so many there) was very nice. He gave Dr. King an antibiotic injection and sent me home with Clavamox. I asked for a pain injection and he got it.
He bandaged up my cat's paw, and told me to come back in a few days. I returned to McClave's with my cat as soon as I got home (Houdini got the bandage off in the carrier on the way home).
After a few days, my cat was seen by a different doctor--a doctor Hutchinson. She was wonderful. My cat was having trouble putting his foot down when he walked and I asked if there were any liquid pain meds they could give me for my cat because he was still in pain.
I remembered that there was such a thing as LIQUID PAIN MEDS when a couple of kittens I was fostering were spayed. Dr. Marco at Noreda sent me home with them following my request.
I FORGOT TO REQUEST IDIOTIC PAIN MEDS I COULD TAKE HOME FROM THE FIRST VET I SAW AT McCLAVE'S until I saw DR. HUTCHINSON AND SHE GAVE THEM TO ME WHEN I ASKED FOR THEM.
By that time, it was practically too late. My cat had almost completely healed. 5 days had gone by with my poor cat in pain following the initial pain injection on the first office visit.
If you are not the one to stay on top of your cat's comfort level, everybody just goes about their merry way--the poor cat in pain, no one thinks twice.
Noreda on the otherhand spayed two of my female fosters when they were 12 weeks old. Both were sent home with liquid build up in their abdomen; one developed a Hernia.
The weren't running around either because I had them in a cat condo while they healed from their surgery.
Dr. Marco did not want to drain the fluid. He sent a vet tech to tell me to just apply a hot compresses on the kittens abdomens.
I took Runtie to Dr. Moon. He aspirated the fluid. Three days later, he had to do it again.
Runtie had a hernia. Dr. Moon operated on her immediately.
She then had to have a second operation because the surgery site became infected with more fluid.
When I got Runtie back the first time, she looked as if she had not even been sedated. I waited in the little Mexican place in the parking lot while she got her first surgery, and waited again during the second emergency surgery.
She did not look as if she had been anesthetized... She was wide awake and shivering.
So, Marco didnt' want to acknowledge the kittens after he had taken a city voucher from me and they developed problems following the surgery, and another vet had to correct the problem, but THERE WAS NO PAIN CONTROL.
Here's one in regard to the "wonderful" Mid-Valley Veterinary Hospital on Saticoy and Louise:
I the beginning, when I first started out with this feral cat spay and neuter-return thing called TNR, I was spending a lot of money for veterinary care at Mid-Valley. I went to several vets because I was caring for a lot of cats. Mid-Valley was one of the first vets I went to following TNR.
I took my cat Freeway in for a veterinary exam. Dr. Pit asked how old "my cat" was. I didn't know how old she was...I got her from off the 118 fw. off the Sepulveda blvd. onramp.
Junior, the vet tech, took Freeway into the back room to draw blood from my feral cat.
I was impressed at how he was able to handle her, since Freeway took a slice out of my hand when I first reached down to try to pet her when I first discovered her off the freeway and went back to try to "catch" her by hand.
Freeway was screaming horribly in the back room. When Junior came back with her, he said, "she didn't like us using her arm, so we had to draw blood from her jugular vein."
Now, where does anyone ever find it in themselves to torture a cat like that? The procedure wasn't necessary, if she looked ok; she was eating ok, and the cat didn't like to be held in the first place because she was fractious and terrified of human contact!
Did they ever come back to me to ask me if I would like my cat to be sedated so that the procedure would be safe for everyone? What if they ripped my cat's jugular vein trying to draw blood from a cat who won't allow herself to be held, and most especially held down by force?
Did anyone every tell me what the risks of sedation were if that were an option? Was the test really necessary? She didn't have any diahrrea and she was eating and drinking fine.
Idiots.
My Last Straw with Mid Valley:
After having rescued two out of three kittens from underneath the bookstore complex at the nearby university, one of the kittens died in my hands (after the place was flea bombed), and the remaining two needed emergency vet care.
I rushed them over to McClaves and a vet there looked at me with disgust because I had the mom in a trap and wanted to keep the kittens close to her. McClave's said they would board the mom when I called them on the telephone and then refused her when I got there.
The kittens needed a blood transfusion and Capstar. They were covered in dried blood and had flea anemia. One died on the table and the vet revived him.
I named the boy Dante Aligheri, and the female, Hope.
Hope and Dante develop open wounds in the back of their necks from time to time. Both are also allergic to Advantage and Frontline.
Hope and Dante have seen three different vets for this recurring itchy spot in the back of their neck. Dr. Moon says it's nothing, and applies a sulfuric solution and sends them home (over time, I have discovered that Animax helps them heal and keeps the bacteria down--but it took two years to figure this out after returning to the office with the cats over and over again with the same problem).
Dr. Marco gave them Lysene. Good that did. Said it was Herpes.
So, it is possible that Hope and Dante received Herpes-infected blood as three-week-old kittens at McClaves. Nobody advised me of the risks at that time.
Here's the good part:
I decided to go to Dr. Pit with the two siblings. Dr. Pit also suggested it was Herpes, but said that we could treat the cats if I wanted to do that, or we could try to find out what the problem was by taking a biopsy.
Idiot me, didn't know what kind of procedure that was and didn't know how to ask the right questions.
I trusted Dr. Pit because he cured a kitten who's leg was ripped apart and had non-stop diahhrea which 3 other vets couldn't cure, including Dr. Brown (Noreda), Dr. Abrahms (Affordable Pet Hospital), or Dr. Brian Bomgard (Affordable Pet Hospital, and a colleague of Dr. Pit at Mid-Valley). All it took was CORTISONE to cure the IBD, after hundreds and hundreds of $$$$ spent on the diahrrea problem. Dr. Pit told Dr. Bomgard to treat with Cortison, and Voila! I was a fan of Dr. Pit from that moment on, until...the Freeway stab the jugular vein incident in the back room...and then the biopsy on Dante Aligheri.
Dante was taken into the back room for the biopsy, of course.
He came back to me with staples in the back of his neck.
I told Dr. Pit that Dante was going to rip the staples off because he scratches, and that is why he is there at the office...trying to relieve the suffering caused by the itching.
Dr. Pit said, "no he won't." I gave him some cortisone to take care of the itching.
Just like with Dr. King and the disappearing leg bandage after the trip to McClave's, Dante had ripped off the staples from his neck in the carrier on the way home.
I called Mid Valley and told them what had happened. The vet tech said, we can take care of that, just bring him back. We won't charge you for the return visit.
They took Dante into the back, and gave him back to me with a fresh new set of staples in the back of his neck only seconds later.
NOW WHAT KIND OF HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS IS THAT! I was in such shock that I couldn't fathom to think that they could take a staple gun to a fresh, open wound after a piece of his skin was cut off for a biopsy without giving the poor animal any kind of lidocane treatment beforehand, but that is probably what happened.
As far as the results of the biopsy...I didn't get them for two months. Dr. Pit had gone to Europe on vacation, and a month after calling repeatedly, I got a stand-in vet who told me that it was probably a flea allergy.
MY CATS DON'T HAVE ANY FLEAS. I faithfully spend tons of time and money buying and applying Advantage on everybody and apply the darn thing on the rest of the INDOOR cats and OUTDOOR cats, who ARE able to tolerate the flea control without a problem, every four weeks on time!
Did Dr. Pit mention it could have been a flea allergy when he physically examined my cats and before he went off to Europe with my $600? He could have. But he didn't.
So, it turns out that Mid-Valley not only charged me $600 to diagnose a flea allergy, but also put my cat through torture by stapling together an open wound.
Now I wonder how in the hell they drew a skin sample when they cut open into my cat's skin if I didn't get back a sedated or an anesthetized cat.
The damned vet techs sure didn't try to calm Freeway either when they took a huge needle to her jugular vein when they held her down by force and stuck the damned thing into her neck!
If you are not a vet or a registered vet tech yourself or you haven't seen procedure after procedure performed on cat after cat, you don't know what the hell is going on back there and you are as much in the dark as your poor cats.
What is worse is that it is costing more pain for your animals than you will ever know while these horrible experiences drain your already depleted bank account.
If you are involved with TNR, nobody is going to come to your rescue. Not even the vets.
It's just you and the cats you have taken on doing this thing Alley Cat Allies tells you to do as your community responsibility and as the West VAlley Animal shelter dumps on you when they refuse to accept them and tell you to spay and neuter them and put them back.
As the Feral Cat Caretaker's Coalition says, "if you see a problem, it's your responsibility to do something about it. You can't just leave it alone. You know those cats need a caretaker and 40 cats aren't going to survive on an occasional two cans of food...You can't not know what you already know."
So, who is going to pay for all of this constant care they need? Who is going to bail YOU out? Not the taxpayers.
Not only is all of this care expensive, it is often extremely painful....
If you ask Dr. Moon to sedate your cat because he/she is a semi-feral and you can't stand the way in which he is forcefully held down and at risk of getting his vein ripped open as the needle goes in unsuccessfully....forget it. He tells you to leave the room.
That's your low-cost vet.
The higher cost vets are the ones that gave my kitten a hernia after surgery and wouldn't treat (Marco) and stabbed in the jugular (Mid-Valley techs and/or Dr. Pit--behind the scenes); and stapled together while fully conscious and aware....
Soon--if not now--you can contact our consultant who will review the medical records and give you a direct analysis and response.
Just email me your contact email or phone and we will deal with your complaints.
Ed
edwardmuzika@sbcglobal.net
You must spend a fortune.
Re - Winnetka Animal Clinic -
I've been going to Dr. Smollin for almost 20 years.
Not only does he have a compassionate, warm 'bedside' manner - when you go there you aren't put thru a mill with vet techs prior to seeing the Dr. It's pretty much Dr. Smollin. He is the one who comes out to examine your pet and he is the one who will talk to you about what may be wrong, etc. He also will often just suggest a problem could be "such and such," and before taking costly blood tests, he'll give meds and ask for a call back in a few days for a progress report. If there is no improvement, then he'll take further measures.
He's been a vet for many, many years and I, for one,appreciate his experience and his counter-measures to costly procedures, which most of the time are correct. His prices also are pretty reasonable.
Lori, The Pet Press
from crazy hater kittypoops to cool Lori what a trip
"You must spend a fortune."
Yes, Mr. Muzika. You are so sensitive.
As a matter of fact, I have been taking advantage of the Scoop Away Kitty Litter sale at Costco and saved $2.50 on each 40 lb. bins. It's a good sale with a coupon, as you know. It sure helps people who have a lot of cats to care for in this economy, and with my husband now ill, I really need all I can get for these cats I ended up caring for after TNR. I bought 35 40lb. bins, so at $2.50 off, it's a savings enough so that it allows me to compensate, allowing me to buy a 25 lb. bag of dry food, which lasts me a little less than a week for just the cats I care for at home alone, and at least a a couple of 13 oz. cases of Friskeys's canned at the Red Barn. (You asked about where you can get the best deals on canned Friskeys...It's the Red Barn. If you buy it by the case, it comes out better).
These kitties over here won't touch the 22oz cans that are also available by the case for some reason, so I have to buy either the smaller 5oz cans, or the 13oz.
I go through 5 cases of the 13oz cans every three weeks or so; and, as for the frontline and advantage, I get that in the large dog size either at the Red Barn, or I order the six-pack viles from Australia and buy 15 boxes for a year's supply. One of the vets told me that each 4.0 tube of Advantage is sufficient enough to cover 10 applications, or 10 cats @ .4ml per cat.
For some of the others who are allergic to Advantage, I buy the Frontline, and apply .5 cc's on each cat (or 1/2 a ml.). For my 20 lb. indoor cat, I have to use .8 ml of Advantage, and that has worked very well.
Well, it's quite an expense between the expense of the kitty litter, food, flea control, and medical expenses, it sure adds up. Too bad Alley Cat Allies never warned the TNR people about all the incredible expenses caregivers would have to face as they humanely are required to maintain these cats they have trapped for spay, neuter and release.
Then add to this the cost of liquid detergent you go through like there's no tommorrow after all of the endless washing of linen and bedding the cats use. Some of them pee like crazy, so it's a lot of time spent cleaning, washing, and scrubbing. It isn't true that ferals and semi-ferals stop peeing after they're fixed.
You also have to buy shelters; dog houses; barn-like structures, etc. and give up your garage and home for them in order to protect them from the weather; purchase snuggle discs to keep them warm over the winter months....lots and lots of bedding....
Yes, Mr. Muzika, it's quite an enormous expense. We owe quite a bit on our mortgage too, so we constantly have to dip into the home equity line of credit and end up with two mortages in order to cover bills, expenses, and all of the stuff that the cats require.
I'll bet some people have either abandoned their cats or lost their homes trying to keep up humane care of their TNR's. Nobody ever tells you none of these expenses are non-tax deductible, although some people might illegaly claim the expenses for the care of the strays on their taxes.
Commenter #5 thinks for some reason I'm a cat hater. That is so funny...I wonder where she got that idea? I adore "my" cats.
You can't help but to bond with them once you've seen them and worked like hell trying to care for them in the way that it is legal and humane. I would never neglect or abandon these cats, as quite a number of people do when they move, or can lo longer provide for them.
If you pour yourself out on the guys and claimed responsibility for them by caring for them--providing for all of their needs, I wonder how that is considered hating them? Funny the way in which people read things...perhaps commenter #5 really does hate cats herself and she is projecting because she isn't caring for them either legally or humanely. They require every once of your attention and energy day after day, for the rest of their lives, for as long as you live and any remain.
Many people just let them die: "attrition." Like "euthanasia, attrition is a nice word for neglect and abandonment.
Euphemisms.
So, #5, you didn't identify yourself by any name, so I'm calling you commenter #5 in answer to the ignorant comment you made about how you think I hate cats.
You are so far from the truth---but then again, you are probably blind to the truth.
You're a strange creature if you think people who have taken cat after cat to a veterninarian for treatment is a cat hater. It's probable that you are jealous that someone can dig from their pocket to care for so many cats without becoming a 501 c 3 and not ever had to become an organization so that we can "contribute" our own money to that organization and thereby avoid paying our taxes and then claim all the cat's expenses--homeless cats who someone worked their a8*ss off to take from the street, nurtured, bottle-fed, and healed by virtue of extraordinary time expenditure and veterinary out-of-pocket expenses, rather than having taken them directly from an animal shelter.
TNR people who invest their lives doing this thing and maintain them according to the way that Feral Cat Caretaker's Coalition teaches and requires as part of the humane treatment of feral and homeless cats is not an easy job. If you had some vet stories to tell, #5, that might say something about the fact that you have actually taken your TNR's to a vet as they required, and not just relied on a feral cat clinic to do the spaying, neutering, initial flea control and vaccinations.
There are actually people like Muzika and others who I know that are stuck with out-of-pocket expenses. Just because you talk about those expenses and the vets you've been to doens't mean in the least that you are a cat hater. If that were the case, these cats would have been trapped, neutered, and abandoned.
Perhaps that's the reason you don't like to hear about people treating and providing for homeless cats--without having become a bonified 501 c3. You people call them hoarders...all kinds of things.
I think you are feeling a little jealous at how much someone actually cares about the life their TNRs lead and has resulted in a surprising outpouring of expenditures over the 15 year life-span these cats are capable of living if they are treated with the care they need, require, and deserve. But, perhaps you don't understand that #5 because since you don't do any of this, obviously (or you would understand)---there is nothing anyone can say or do:
"Pearls before Swine."
You probably don't even clean up after your cats, do you little swine friend?
Therein lies the difference between a hoarder and a caregiver.
Kitty,
You have impressed me with your knowlege and your level of care for your cats. I don't think our friend #5 was calling you a cat hater. Hater is an off the cuff term for anyone who says something negative about something or someone else. I think your honest (and quite intelligent) remarks about some of the vets with whom you have experience, prompted the remark. I wouldn't worry about it. They may not have even been thinkig about you when they wrote it.
Anyway, who cares? You are obviously a smart person who and a VERY responsible cat owner. Heck, I feel like I have to go clean my litterboxes now because I just read about you washing linens and heating disks!
Take care, my dear!
Such a sweet, sensitive, and thoughtful response, Anonymous #7.
You are so encouraging during these most difficult times....I can't thank you enough for caring about people's feelings and animals.
I apologize for not having responded to your kindness earlier. I've been attending to my family and my husband's heatlh issues right now in addition to my cats, and I have been even too exhausted to come back to the site in order to write a few thankful words in response to your kindness and caring.
Thank you again. You are truly an angel; a gem and a doll!
Please take care of yourself too!
Hugs.
Kitty Poops
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