Huntington Beach Pet Hospital

Reviews 3

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Tara Stemper

OK people, settle in, because this is going to be a long one. They truly love animals and Dr Lewis has extensive knowledge in many different areas within his field. I transferred from HB Pet Vet because I just wasnt happy with the care or un-care I was receiving there. One thing people need to understand is, the cheapest vet is not always the best vet. So here is my story: I was very unhappy with my prior vet so I started researching vets online, I was willing to drive clear to LA, San Diego or Garden Grove (I live in Huntington Beach). I researched for 2 full days and made calls to the offices to chat with the staffs and get a feel for them, their care and their prices. I prefer holistic healing when possible. When I read the yelp reviews and google reviews for HB Pet Hospital specifically Dr Lewis I was beyond impressed so I wrote to him through yelp. Literally, within 29 seconds he responded. The second time I messaged him, he answered in the same amount of time or less maybe.He was very through concerning everything I had told him to the best of what he could be considering it was a yelp message. But he impressed me enough with the way he said what he said that I thought OK, Ill call the office and go from there. I called 2 different times and talked with Kelsey and then Amanda and was impressed further with their patience and time to chat with me about anything that I wanted to. They made me feel listened to and important. They truly cared for the pain and frustration my dog & I had been going through. So I had my appt today, the staff was wonderful and took their time with my dog who had been so traumatized by the last vet experience he shook like it was an earthquake. They let him warm up to them and gave him hyper allergenic treats. By the time we left there he was running around the office hanging out with them all. Heart-warming for me, considering how he was when he walked in. So we had an appt at 5:00 and we did not have to wait one minute past 5:00. They took us into a room and got all the info they needed. Prior to our visit, we had the former vet send over all our records and they had already reviewed them when I arrived for my appt. So Dr Lewis came in and greeted my Dog Muki Bear first (which I loved). We went over all his prior treatment and issues and concerns and the thing I love most about what he said was: "Let me be perfectly honest" and he was. He told me as thoroughly as I have ever had anyone speak to me about all my options, his opinion what I thought etc. Truly amazing experience. So here is my pups issues: 1) he has very bad environmental allergies. He gets itchy to the point he gets raw in places, his paws turn bright red and swell so bad they look like they are going to pop, his ears get very red and he has a tendency to have common UTIs. He was on Apoquel and it was managing all his symptom fine until he got a growth in-between his toes. Turns out it was a papilloma which is a virus. My last vet did surgery on it twice to try to remove it within 3 weeks. It was awful. Dr Lewis said he would have never done that. Its a virus and it could go away on its own. Since Apoquel is an immune inhibitor, we decided to take him off it until his immune system gets better. Dr Lewis put him on a super low dose of Prednisone which will act as an anti-inflammatory until his paw heels totally and we will take it from there. No over prescribing anything. He suggested some Zyrtec (NOT Zyrtec-D) if needed, that I can buy at the store myself, for excessive licking, chewing and scratching in the meantime. He called my old vets office a few times to get clarification on some of the previous treatment. He was so thorough and I was very impressed. I had no question left unanswered. Thank you so much for all your time and care for my Muki Bear. He is my fur baby and the center of our lives. Your office took such great care of us that I actually felt like dancing when I left. My boyfriend was so happy because he could see a huge weight had been lifted. I super duper highly recommend Dr Lewis

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Nan Kappeler

I have to agree with other reviews that ACC of HB is difficult to work with on prices. They are expensive and will not work with you on reducing costs and they have a very weird thing that they tape record everything said in their office...which during my visit Dr. Hill noted several times that she was going to refer back to the tape recording. Is this a usual practice that a vet office tape records everything? The office is nice and located well in HB, the office staff does seem to be working hard to be efficient but my dissatisfaction comes with the treatment. While Dr. Hill seems to be compassionate to the animals, but close to two weeks after bringing my cat in, she wasnt any better...in fact getting worse. Since i had already paid $261 for the first visit PLUS another $85 for meds, I sought a second opinion at a lower cost clinic. Please note, that anywhere in the medical profession, doctors have different treatment plans so when the next vet said the antibiotic wasnt strong enough and so on, Im not blaming Dr. Hill because sometimes meds arent effective the first time but i was afraid of what i would be charged on a return visit. And when i went to return the just purchased bottles of antibiotics that we didnt need and asked for the $85 credit--there was no way. And, they charged me .35 for a syringe. Im not holding against Dr. HIll that her treatment didnt work, what i am disappointed in is they charge too much and if they can get .35 more--they will. I feel this group is just too expensive--though Dr. Hill says she drives a very simple car and isnt getting rich--its too much for me and to cure my cat it would have taken multiple visits at who knows what costs. I got her cured at another clinic for total...with meds, xrays, exam, two enemas, iv and fluid--$160--half the price of ACC of HB and shes getting better. As much as i love my animals, and hate to argue over pricing when my cat is so sick, i i feel like many vets take advantage of billing and there must be better options for lower cost quality care.

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A Private User

I took my dog here for problems dealing with her allergy symptoms sometime around September of 09. Over the countless check ups and re-checks and skin testings, still no long term solution was given to me on how to treat her allergies. I kept getting prescribed different things, being told to bring her in every 2 weeks, spending (wasting) hundreds of dollars. I felt that all of my suggestions were ignored, and Dr. Hill would not even be present in the room to give me updates, she would send a vet tech to do it. My questions received the run around, and upon my last conversation with them, was told that I was the one who was not following vet instructions. That seems very odd to me when each time I went in to see the vet they gave me different instructions on what to do! Everything was inconsistent. 4 months of trial runs on medicine with no answer as to the problem seems ridiculous to me. Instead of trying to be customer oriented, Dr. Hill, yet again, sent a vet tech to call me to try and resolve the problem. The vet tech was rude and did not try to save my account what so ever. She did not listen to my concerns, kept talking over me, gave me an attitude, and only kept trying to defend "what the Dr. said." I have discontinued my business here because of the lack of concern they all had towards my dogs on-going discomfort for 4 continuous months. I am now taking her elsewhere where I hope I can finally get an answer on how to treat her long term. The only positive things about this vet is their receptionist, Chris, is nice and upbeat...and there also is a male vet tech who always seemed attentive and concerned with what was going on with us. My dog also took to him very well. Other than that, was not happy with results. Would not recommend going here if you have what seems to be a long-term problem, you will not get anywhere.