VCA Bonita Animal Hospital — Attraction in Chula Vista

Having relocated to the area, we decided to try VCA Bonita, after a long, successful relationship with VCA Hillcrest and our 10-year old cat, Mica. We appreciated the expertise of Drs. McNeil and Altona (sp?), and enjoyed the presence of the friendly office cats, but after several visits, we found Bonita to come up short in some crucial aspects of the vet-pet dynamic: The most serious problem was a lack of follow through on the first, important step of each visit: the weighing in and recording of the animal's weight. Mica is a nervous guy, and difficult to keep from shifting around on (and straining to jump from) the scale, so each first weigh-in was botched. We don't blame any one person (possibly the scale design?) but each time, we were told (or requested) that Mica would be weighed again when taken to the back for his tests, and each time, after leaving, we found the first--false--weight to have been recorded on his paperwork: no second weigh-ins had been performed, on any visit. This was especially serious because weight loss was just about the only clue we had to anything wrong with our cat's health. I tried to communicate this concern to Dr Altona on the phone, but she was noncommittal, and brought up the last weight recorded for Mica as a valid weigh-in. After we hung up, I again checked my notes: at this final visit, I had observed yet again, the first false weight recorded on his exit paperwork, so I had actually brought Mica back in from the car to try to get a proper weigh-in. There it was, 10.58 lbs, proving an upsetting amount of weight loss--but it would not have happened had I not finally insisted on it. A second issue for us was confusion over who among the staff are vet techs, and whom are reception; it should be clearer which employees may be asked pertinent health questions, and there seemed--to us--to be a disproportionate number of non-tech staff. At VCA Hillcrest, vet techs actually trade off answering the phones, which results in better service because the information is delivered in clearer fashion, and health questions can be answered. Someone with a young chipper voice left us a voicemail about Mica's schedule AND test results; she mispronounced Mica's name as "Meeka," and referred to his sex as female; we wondered (and worried) that this person might be a tech. This leads to our final concern, about a certain brusqueness, and a lack of thoroughness we experienced at Bonita: While we appreciated how conscientious Drs. McNeil and Altona were in their communication of test results of some complexity, whether in person or by phone, we did not appreciate the rushed nature of service overall: another younger staff person at the desk, to our surprise and discomfort, actually snapped at us when I corrected her a second time on mispronouncing Mica's name, denying it immediately afterward. Not exactly inspirational of trust, when you've decided to entrust your "beloved pet's" wellbeing to someone clearly lacking the basic prerequisite quality of patience. A suggestion: At Hillcrest, they printed a phonetic form of Mica's name at the top of his chart, and made sure to refer to it. Lastly, though we found no fault with the vets' performance, we did note that had the pace been a little slower, Mica might have been offered some antibiotic ointment to help with a chronic infection that causes irritation to his beautiful green eyes. Though I hope that my review is perceived as balanced enough to be helpful to others, in discerning what might be important for them and their pets, we are, --with thanks for what good service we did receive--going to take our precious, floppy-pawed polydactyl Maine Coon, our ten-year old kitten, back to VCA Hillcrest, where we'd be happy to encounter either of Bonita's fine...

I worked for veternarians for 6 yrs as a teenager and ive seen some wonderful relationships built between client' patient' and doctors tbat truely care about the patients well being. Our pets are our children. We want to do what ever we can to help them. Before corporate days this was the way is was. This hospital has the worst demenor i have ever experienced. Ths staff is poorly trained and educated on common information and procedures and they seem to profile certain clients that dont have an endless amount of money to spend on their pet but care just the same. The simplest way to say it is the give off that uncomfortable "they are better than" feeling if you dissagree on what you feel is in the animals best interest and rather than focusing the main concern which should be our pets health especially in delicate situation with special circumstances. The office manager is the most unprofessional and frankly underquailfied for the title shes paid for and thinks by over talking the client she is doing her job. She then twists the information downplaying her faults in any cituation making the client look as if they are beyond reasonable when the client is seeking information .or clairification from a quailifed doctor' not her uneducated responses. They claim the laws suddenly changed and they couldnt dispense a medication they had been despensing for 2 yrs to my pet born with a liver shunt but actually they had just started dispensing meds through a mail order aervice which no staff was educated on the details of the service. They didnt care that the 2lb dog couldnt wait 3-5 days for the med to be delivered and refused to dispense any to save the dogs life. All i was asking for was a 3 day supply so my dog wouldnt get so sick and start having seizurea waiting on the mail man. I finally argued my poimt for ever it seemed then she couldnt even properly adjust the dispensing fee on their computer system so i had to pay the same price for medication and only receive .06ml rather than the 3ml i had paid every time before and then pay again for the mailing order. Then the doctors of course want to back their staff blind to the facts at hand. Anyway my point being this hospital is so bad that they will let a 2lb dog suffer and get so sick waiting on mail order meds rather than offering an small amount to get the treatment started right then. Even when its a life or death. Its not about them liking me or my opinions its about our pets and them not having the same compassion our vets had just 15yrs ago. This Dr Clark straight refused to even speak to me about the issue making pathetic reasons for that descision. They basically told me to never come back they would not treat my pet and even in an emergency situation being they were my pets only vet at the time or give a damn if my pup died or didnt die . They would not budge even to the possibliity they could have been hasty in their judgement related to the poor front desk help and frankly i have never been treated so poorly even buy a medical facility in my life. I have never had wonderful experences with any staff there over tbe years and do not recommend this hospital at all if you care about your pet or bow youre treated. Not to mention they are extremely over priced in many services. La Jolla Vet Hospital, El Cajon Vet Hospital' the EAC in Mission Valley, are just a few of the vets that truely care about you and your pet and provides excellent service experiences. AVOID BONITA VET HOSPITAL IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. THEY ARE HORRIBLE AND IM SURE THEIR CORPORATE IS PROBABLY...

My schnauzer, Zeus, had a severe grand mal seizure at 1:30 am. My husband and I were sound asleep and woke up immediately, picked up our dog and took him to VCA Animal Medival Center in El Cajon, the closest vet hospital that was open 24 hours. We met Dr. Ted Townsend there and he took our dog to the back to examine him. Dr. Townsend told us it possibly could be a brain tumor judging from the damage he could see. There was nothing we could do but end his suffering by helping him cross over the Rainbow Bridge. Dr. Townsend seated us in a large room that had a couch, and I got to hold Zeus and comfort him. Dr. Townsend told me to take my time and he would be back to check on us. He came back several times to make sure we were okay and then when I told him I was ready, he gave Zeus the final shot while he was asleep on my chest, where he slept every night with ne. Dr Townsend checked for a heartbeat and told me he was gone. Dr Townsend treated us like we were the only patients in the hospital that night, not rushing us at all. Then he carried Zeus to my car and laid him in the back seat. By then it was almost 3 am. I appreciate the kindness Dr Townsend showed us and how patient he was with us. This is one veterinarian I will never forget. Thank you, Dr Townsend for taking care of Zeus and doing everything you could to help us in the middle of the night. Dr. Townsend is worth the drive to the VCA Bonita Animal Hospital where he is...