Montclair Pet Hospital

I am so grateful to Dr. Salinas and the team at Montclair Pet Hospital. They gave our older dog good care and helped me get the answers that I haven't been able to get from our previous vet. From the time I called to book the appointment to the time she had been seen by a vet and we had test results in hand was less than 48 hours. Thank you for your great care!

I'd been taking my large dog here for 7 years because it's local and hadn't had any occasion for serious health inquiries... until last spring. My partner and I took my pup in to the office to asses some swellings we found on her belly and chest. During one visit they took a small sample to see if it was something to worry about and the test came back negative for any malignancy. We were told to check in if it didn't go away. The lumps persisted and we set up a follow up appointment. During the second visit, the veterinarian who saw us didn't look at all at the notes from the last visit and launched into bullying us into scheduling an emergency X-ray and full removal of my senior dog's mamory glands by the end of the week. She concieded that we might do an x-ray before moving to the surgery but mainly she wanted to schedule an extremely invasive emergency surgery without any further investigation for 2 days hense. We were flustered and decided to schedule the x-ray for the same day so we could at least confirm her suspicious, as she aggressively pushed us to do in lue of just blindly following her urgent demand for the surgery. After leaving the office and collecting my thoughts I realized that this was all crazy and I called to change the x-ray to a more extensive biopsy to confirm if the lumps were in fact cancerous or not before spending upwards of 5 or 6 thousand dollars to subject my senior dog to a huge surgery. (The more extensive biopsy was aggressively discouraged by the veterinarian btw) Well, the biopsy came back a few days later and revealed that there was plant material in the swellings and they were infact foxtails. Fortunately the biopsy itself removed the foxtail and my dog has healed up nicely since. I was SHOCKED and dismayed at the malpractice and over zealous car salesman fear tactics used by the veterinarian we saw. I experienced a very real, fear driven and guilt tripping money grab. At the very least, this office condones the employment of this individual and there really are no checks and balances. Shame on you Montclair Pet Hospital! Make sure to take a step back and get a second opinion before getting swept away by fear mongering.

I came here regularly because it was convenient. I always felt like they did an "Ok" job at best, but it was convenient. This most recent visit was my last. My dog has been drinking more water and we were worried about kidney issue we took her here and they ordered a panel of blood tests. First at the visit I asked the doctor to check her ears since I missed a follow up for an ear infection. She said she would during the blood test and then forgot. I asked the tech and she said the doctor had already moved on to an ultra sound and would not be able to do it. I said what if I wait and she said that "Bailey was really scared and it was a no fear vet so we needed to come back another time". It felt like an excuse at the time, since she did not start with it. I then mentioned that it cost another visit, she said she would reach out to the manager about a complimentary visit and get back to me. I never received an email updating me on the complimentary visit. The labs were supposed to come on that Monday and I waited no email no call. I called Wednesday and asked if they could at least send me the labs. They said not until a doctor calls and they would ask a doctor. (Kaiser makes labs immediately available so I don't know why they would'nt here especially since they obviously have operational issues). A doctor finally called Thursday which is too long when you are worried about you're dog. The information they gave me was that we suspect Chronic Kidney Disease that it is very early. I should put my dog on a prescription diet and that we could do an ultra sound. That was it. She seemed disinterested and rushed. I was processing the information so I did not ask a lot of follow up questions. However, my expectation for these calls from a vet/medical professional minimum. This is why I suspect chronic kidney disease, these values are still really low. This is why they might be so low, this is what I would expect to see in the future if it is in fact chronic kidney disease. We should put her on a prescription diet. (Check she did do this.) We should follow up on these tests in x num days/months. Other than food, there are x medicines we could use this is when/how/why we would prescribe them. Since we only suspect here are some alternatives, that we can test for or why we rule them out/wouldn't test for them .i.e. Cushing Disease (After talking to another vet, he mentioned this) We can also do an ultra sound of her kidneys. Here is what we would be looking for and why we would perform these tests.( She sort of did this but it was just "we could do an ultra sound and see kidney function") This is barely helpful information. Will it make it immediately clear this is chronic kidney disease, does it have the potential to help us identify some other cause? Why would we do it what are the outcomes? Lastly, expectations of how this will affect her life if it is in fact Chronic Kidney Disease. I asked about this and the answer was "Hard to say, I can't give a range". This could be put in a range and with some clarity for example many dogs live very long lives after this diagnosis with proper treatment I have seen dogs live 5 years, but you do have to be aware that there are cases where we see rapid declines and sometimes it's months or within a year it's really important that you keep an eye on your dog and if anything changes you book a follow up immediately. Here are some symptoms I would keep an eye out for just in case..... Anyway, I have intermittently taken her to Berkeley Dog and Cat hospital for emergency visits. They always handle with this level of care/professionalism, but if anyone knows of a vet closer that cares please let me know.

I cannot say enough good things about this vet office. In a world of waiting on hold for forever and month long waits for appointments; Montclair is an exception. I rarely write reviews on google but I truly love this vet office so much. I take my own dogs as well as my foster dogs; they always are able to get them in in a timely manner and I rarely have to wait for extended periods of time.