Nor Cal Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospital

Reviews 7

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Denise B.

1st visit: When my young Rottweiler needed treatment for his ear his regular vet had no appointments available since it was 5:00 PM. I was relieved to learn of a new veterinary hospital close to home. The NorCal Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Hospital is located at 2201 Junipero Serra Blvd., Suite C in Daly City. You turn on Citrus to enter the large parking lot. The new building as well as its waiting room are spacious. The staff were courteous and professional. The front desk has handy clips to secure your dog’s leash to the counter. Dr. Pearlstein was patient, gentle, kind, calm, soft-spoken, thorough and sensitive to my dog’s needs; she took the time to gain his trust. The bill was reasonable and I received a follow-up phone call. This area needed a veterinary emergency hospital; I’m sure glad we have this one! 2nd visit: My young Rottweiler suddenly developed a few hot spots despite bi-monthly bathing and using topical flea prevention. He was irritable, uncomfortable and I couldn’t apply topical treatment. It was after hours for my veterinarian, so we took him to Nor Cal Veterinary Emergency. The staff was very nice. Dr Ybarra was very knowledgeable, informative, upbeat and put our dog at ease. She was impressed that despite his discomfort he did a sit, down and handshake for her during the exam. She explained all the treatment options and answered all our questions. He’s doing much better and I’m grateful for this new hospital in our community.

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Deborah Garfinkle

We had a fantastic experience at Nor Cal Veterinary Emergency. Its never easy when a pet is ill. Our little guy had been throwing up and we were initially told by our vet that it was all nerves. When my friend, a people doctor, suggested I get a second opinion, we decided to take our puppy to Nor Cal. Even though we live in the City, the location was very convenient, a straight shot down 280 from the Ballpark, more convenient than going across town to our regular vet which often takes longer. Plus there was lots of parking. The facility is state of the art, immaculately clean and the staff was excellent. But the best thing was Dr. Ybarra who was so knowledgeable and caring. She told us it wasnt just nerves, that there could be an underlying physical cause to his problem that needed to be addressed. She laid out a conservative treatment plan for our dog to see how he would respond to the least invasive (and least expensive) measures. She also followed up with us by phone and email. So far, our dog is really responding well - hes no longer throwing up and suffering needlessly. While the visit was more expensive than a trip to our usual vet (to be expected), it was reasonable compared to other pet emergency services in SF and Dr. Ybarra and Nor Cal were worth every penny. We are so relieved to know that Nor Cal is there 24/7 if, God forbid, we should ever have to a real emergency.

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John Pallatto

Nor Cal Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospital treated our cat "M" for a serious abscess that came to light suddenly one evening after work. The hospitals location was very convenient for us right off Route 280 on Junipero Serra Blvd. in Daly City. The hospitals professionals were able to examine our cat very quickly after we got signed in and provided excellent treatment. They kept M overnight for treatment and observation before sending her home the following morning where she made a rapid recovery. They didnt just treat the immediate problem, but made a thorough examination and offered recommendations for followup care with Ms primary care veterinarian. I think we are fortunate to have this facility that focuses on all-hours emergency animal care in northern San Mateo and San Francisco Counties. It is staffed by skilled professionals who are clearly passionate about providing great care for sick and injured family pets. I considered the hospitals fees fair for the high quality of care provided.

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PapillionStar

It is so comforting to know that there is a wonderful 24 hour Vet so close to the Coastside that I can take my pets to when they get ill. I have taken two of my pets here after they suffered from severe bouts of diarrhea. When I took my pets here to stay overnight to get treatment, I felt that they were in great hands and that I was doing the best thing for my sick pet. The price can be expensive, but they are providing around the clock care and part of the cost is funding them to be there and open 24 hours a day, which to me is priceless. One of my pets is very skittish and has a fear of men and vets, but one of the veterinary assistants (who happened to be male) had such a calm demeanor and gentle touch that he was able to hold my pet and administer treatment with little stress to my pet. This is a dog who has bit many vet assistants and vets due to his fearful nature. Thank you Nor Cal Veterninary! I hope you are around for a long time!

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Tina Chan Ling

Excellent team of Veterinarians and conveniently located off the 280. The best part is that they are open 24 hours a day and the costs were reasonable for an ER facility. The staff was SUPER friendly (except for one front staff), compassionate and will try to make your pet feel as comfortable as possible from the moment you walk through the door. They never pushed us to do one thing over another - advised us what options were available and clearly outlined the costs line by line. We decided the best option was to put down our dog, Puddles (almost 15 years strong), and they provided us a private room to let us say goodbye to him for as long as we wanted to. Even though it was one of the toughest moment and saddest decision to make, we were happy that we got the chance to say goodbye and he was able to go peacefully, without any pain. Thank you to the team at Nor Cal Veterinary for making us feel like our dog was #1 priority.

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Shiraz Siddiqui

Very expensive, but I do appreciate the upfrontness. You have to agree to their estimate before they do anything, but because its an ER hospital the costs are way higher. We brought my cat in for constipation, and possibly a UTI. Its been 5 days and they still havent called me back on the Urinalysis results... and after speaking to other vets they suggested I bring in my cat to get his anal glands checked. Im no expert, but this was not brought up a possible cause or get should get checked during our visit here. But every other vet said that should be the first thing to check instead of all these expensive work ups. The front desk and techs were EXTREMELY nice, but I felt the Dr wasnt that into our cat. Maybe he was busy, but that was the impression we got. I would only suggest coming here if its close and truly an emergency/cost is not a concern.

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Corinne Corrigan

My dog had an injury that I didnt notice until after his vet closed. These guys saw us right away. While the $95 visit fee is steep, they dont try to offer unnecessary procedures once you are there. You are paying for the immediate availability of a vet. My dogs dew claw was hanging off. The doctor was able to pull it out without any surgery. He recommended waiting to see if my dog needed antibiotics before having me buy any. Our old vet was the opposite, constantly getting us to pay for expensive medicines and procedures left and right. The people at Nor Cal even followed up a couple of days later to make sure my dog was doing well. I will definitely go back when we need an emergency vet.

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