Brookhurst Animal Medical Center — Attraction in Anaheim

Last week was the week that our bird had it's first night fright, and as a result their first broken blood feather. Due to our inexperience, and concern about making things worse, we didn't feel comfortable handling it on our own. This started a chain of events that ended with us feeling scammed by doctor Carlos Lopez.

Before coming to Brookhurst Animal Medical Center, we took our bird to a shop that examined the broken blood feather. They said that it would be fine, as it was already healing. We felt unsure about this, and decided our bird was overdue for a first exam anyways, so we asked for a vet referral. They sent us here.

First off, I read the reviews for this place. Yes we got a referral but to me that's not enough. We were concerned about the very mixed reviews, but figured that some people must have just had a bad one off experience. How wrong we were.

We called Dr. Lopez after deciding we'd give him a shot. He answered promptly, and we told him that we were looking to have our cockatiel get a first check up. We mentioned that he had a broken blood feather and we wanted that looked at too, but clarified that it was no longer bleeding. He said we could come in in 30 minutes if we wanted. It was a weekday afternoon so we thought nothing of it, and agreed. We show up, stupidly ignore the old, decrepit signage out front, and step through the door.

We were greeted by a nice enough woman, Dr. Lopez, and the smell of dog urine. Again, we ignored this because hey, it's a vet right? We were told to fill out a form and wait in the exam room. We did so, and not long after that Dr. Lopez came in. He removed our bird from it's cage, gave it a once over, and zoned in on the blood feather. We discussed how it happened, and that our bird had a night fright. He proceeded to tell us this is not normal (very wrong), and then after a bit more discussion about how we plan to prevent it, told us to wait in the exam room. He then quickly grabbed our bird and took it to what looked like a back room, closing the door behind him. What snapped into my mind were the bad reviews I had read, but we naively trusted Dr. Lopez. As he closed the door, my girlfriend was giving me looks of concern. I wish we acted on the feelings behind that look.

Keep in mind, we were here for an exam first and foremost. We hadn't yet discussed anything exam related besides the blood feather. Also keep in mind that we NEVER discussed Dr. Lopez performing any service besides the exam.

It is these thoughts that are swimming in my head as I begin to hear our cockatiel crying out in pain in a way I've never heard him do before. After about 5 or 10 excruciating minutes of this, Dr. Lopez comes back to the exam room. He tells us to follow him to the back were we proceed to find out our bird has just had his blood feather wound cauterized. A broken blood feather, that was not bleeding anymore, and was healing, was CAUTERIZED. Without any discussion beforehand. And here's the damn kicker, in the process of showing us his handiwork, he accidentally brushed his hand against the wound, and IT STARTED BLEEDING. In other words, not only did he perform an almost definite, unnecessary, and painful procedure, he didn't even do it right!? His assistant to the procedure even stupidly said in spanish that he opened the wound again, likely assuming that we didn't speak it because we have light skin. I purposefully acted like I didn't understand and sure enough the Dr. tried to play it off.

We were then briskly taken back to the exam room, given some chloxiderm to clean the wound that was just made worse, had our bird packed back into his cage, and sent on our merry way to the front desk to pay. We paid $120. The receipt said it was for an exam, a cauterization, and Chloxiderm spray. Read: a service that was never performed, a procedure that was done unnecessarily for a buck, and a spray to make sure that procedure doesn't end up infecting our pet.

This whole ordeal just angers me to no end. This Dr. is terrible, and I regret trusting him with our cockatiel. DO...

Wow, people on this Google review page seem to have a lot of hostility, and that seems unfair because I really like the services we've received with Dr. Lopez and his staff. I feel compelled to share our own positive experiences.

We first came here when we adopted our dachshund puppy, to have all his initial shots and checkup. Dr. Lopez and his staff were friendly, courteous, professional, and above all else, they showed lots of tenderness and care to our puppy! They handled him so well, and because of their great service we've never had a desire to bring our dog anywhere else. That was seven years ago.

Since then, we've adopted another puppy (a morkie = maltese + Yorkie), and Dr. Lopez now takes fantastic care of both of them. We've also used their pet boarding service, for the times when we've gone out of town; we've used this service perhaps four times and have been very happy with them. Other services that Dr. Lopez offers that we've had for our dogs include: neuter and spay; microchip implants; grooming; dental/teeth cleaning; and certificates of good health for airlines that require that kind of paperwork for animal travel.

One thing I like to see is that whenever Dr. Lopez and his staff lean down to pick up our little ones, our dogs stand up into their arms -- they are quite comfortable being held by the staff members here; they don't wiggle around or try to get away; instead, they allow themselves to be carried and held, and that's very reassuring for me to see.

I highly recommend Brookhurst Animal Medical Centre. They have been continuously improving their facilities over the years, including updating their signage and their interior as well. Dr. Lopez cares about his business, and he shows this every time he takes excellent care of our dogs. If you're looking for a place with friendly staff and great service, then try Brookhust Animal. We've trusted them with our little ones for seven years, and we're extremely happy with them!

Note: if you'd like to see other positive reviews, I saw other happy customers on Yelp and Insider Pages. Check them out, and judge for yourself. It would be terrible to let a few unhappy people's opinions overshadow those of happy customers' (who may not be social media-savvy, or feel the need to leave positive reviews on these kinds of sites). All I can say is that if I were to have let these few negative reviews deter me, then I would have missed out on some very nice people and great service...

An A+ 5 star ⭐ rating for Dr. Lopez and his staff! This is by far the best veterinary clinic I have ever been to. He was the second vet I had taken my cat Junie to with an infected incision and the first vet clinic I went to just immediately wanted to do a 1000$ surgery and we didn't have that kind of money. We were in a panic because basically without the surgery she would get worse or at least this is how it was being presented to us. In tears I started calling other veterinary clinics and online I found Brookhurst Animal Medical Center (Dr. Lopez). I called them and told them the situation and they told me to bring Junie to them immediately so Dr. Lopez could look at her. Dr. Lopez said surgery was definitely a possibility but that we could also try a more conservative approach first. He let us know up front there were no promises it would work but he was willing to give it a try and also put faith in us because this was going to require work on our end as well. He put Junie on Antibiotics and also gave her a shot and taught us how to clean and bandage her open incision 3 times a day. We went back every 2 days at first so he could keep a close eye on it. Thank the Lord and thanks to Dr. Lopez it worked! Our Junie is getting better and no surgery needed. The difference between the first vet I went to and Dr. Lopez is that the first vet was corporate. I didn't realize veterinary clinics were corporately owned. However, Brookhurst Animal Medical Center is family owned! Dr. Lopez is the owner and let me tell you how you can literally feel the difference when you walk in the place. It's like walking into home when going to see Dr. Lopez. Veterinary clinics always seem so cold to me but Dr. Lopez's clinic is warm and inviting. His Staff is fantastic and so caring. All in all I have found a real gem! Our financial situation wasn't great and Dr. Lopez knew this and was very conservative in his pricing and just really worked with us to make treating Junie possible so we didn't have to lose our baby. I will be bringing all my cats here now and I absolutely dread the day Dr. Lopez retires! Absolutely the best Veterinary Clinic in Orange County! LOOK NO FURTHER and trust...