Pet Emergency & Specialty Center-East County — Attraction in La Mesa

ZERO STARS IF I COULD!!! Please read all the negative reviews before bringing your pet here because they are ALL true!!! If you were referred here like I was do your research and call around first because hindsight is always 20/20. They are very expensive, and all they care about is your money. They give you an estimate of costs showing a low and high end charging you the high end every time. I brought my 5 month old puppy here after x-rays that were taken at my vet's office showed a heel fracture from her lunging forward and landing wrong, and an old metatarsal fracture that happened due to my other dog stepping on her paw to run to the ball that I threw for him to catch. The Doctor that performed her surgery was Dr. Majeski who seemed fine at first but then became very condescending soon after. The surgery went well and my puppy was splinted and bandaged for 3 weeks. During those 3 weeks I had to take her back to get weekly bandage changes and yes they do try and use scare tactics. The last week I dropped her off for a bandage change I requested that they do not sedate her because I had given her a sedative that was prescribed to her from them,and I had stopped giving her pain medication because she was moving around on her own getting up on all four limbs with the splints as I kept her confined in a small area. I received a call stating that she was moving too much and they needed to sedate her and the price was $300-$500. I had to remind them that I was told the bandage change for the back leg was in a package deal and I shouldn't be paying that much. She put me on hold to confirm what I already knew and gave me a new price of $104 or something around that. I got a call from the Dr. when my puppy was ready to be picked up and was told that she didn't splint her because she felt that anything over 3 weeks was too much for a young growing puppy to be splinted that long. She advised strict kennel rest and follow up in 3 weeks because even though the new x-rays showed she was healing my puppy was not at 100% and still unstable on her back leg. WHY DIDN'T I ASK QUESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!! If my puppy is still unstable why remove that back splint??????? Her nurse was instructed to carry her to my car, which I thought was kind of weird but okay, and as soon as she had her she was yelping and crying and in so much pain. She put her in my car and i secured her in. My puppy was in so much pain, moving, turning, and yelping. I had to pull over 5 times to get her calm. Fast forward to the past weekend she had swelling in that back leg and I took her to the ER part of their facility. They took another set of x-rays which showed a distal tibial fracture. The ER doctor was Dr. Goode who seemed sincere was actually very judgmental. I had been trying to get in touch with her surgeon to get squeezed in but couldn't and since I didn't get in touch with her surgeon it was a whole other charge that was separate because my puppy was seen in the ER. I was thankful that they took off the x-ray charge and only charged for the sedation, medication that I was requesting, and the bandaging totaling $279. I was in the ER from 3:30 pm until after 1 am. Here's the kicker, because of that new fracture her leg has to be amputated. I spent over $4k on her surgery just for them to tell me the whole leg has to be removed. My puppy was yelping and moving so much in the car after check out they removed her from my car to give her a shot and told me Dr. Goode wanted to speak to me. I sat down and waited and when she came in she had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to surrender my puppy. I was so stunned by the question that I flat out said NO! Yesterday I got a notice from the Humane Society wanting to do an animal welfare check because someone was concerned about my puppy's broken limb. Guess who made that call?... ding ding… Dr. Goode. I know because I asked the officer. I was supposed to do a drop off for bandage change but I don't trust these people. DON'T BRING YOUR...

My heart hurts seeing these reviews. I used to manage different veterinary ER/specialty clinics and was very impressed with the experience this team provided.

I had to bring my parents' bird in while they were out of town. It was quite a trek, but every hospital I called looking for avian ER services directed me here. To have this many clinics refer to the same place is a big deal.

Their process was efficient, their communication and patience with questions was wonderful, the ER doctor's avian knowledge was wonderful and the entire team was kind. I wish I captured more names, but I know that Dr. Kuha was our vet and Derek did a great job admitting Zeus.

I'll highlight some things that some people might be frustrated about, but I'm doing so in an effort to help those who are unfamiliar with the industry understand what is beyond a team's control.

Wait times - this is possibly on the higher end given my visit was on one of the busier weekends of the year in vet med, however, I've been out of this area since the demand spiked. When I called, they said it would be at least a 6hr wait. It took me ~90 minutes to get there. While waiting in the lobby, I heard the wait was up to 12hrs. They were checking on nearby ERs (presumably so they could redirect calls), but they all had at least a 12hr wait.

Industry short staffed - the industry was busy prior to Covid, but the steep rise in pet ownership was overwhelming for an industry already at its max. Many left vet med and the problem is now compounded by the struggle to find employees in MOST industries.

Therefore, BE GRATEFUL if you can get access to care, even if it's going to be a long process. The people drawn to veterinary medicine are often some of the kindest souls on earth. They could earn much more in human healthcare, but earn much less because of their love for animals.

$ - yes, it will be expensive. Probably very expensive. Despite the expense, most (if not all) folks you'll interact with deserve paychecks much higher than they get, especially considering their decisions can have life and death consequences on a daily basis. Don't blame them for the expense; they're professionals offering you quality medicine.

Discharge time - still expect a wait after the vet finalizes the discharge plan with you. This took about twice as long as they estimated for me. It's okay because I understand and trust that something more urgent must have come up or with the chaos of a holiday weekend, they didn't factor in the extra time. I know they were busy that day and I rather their mental resources be focused on quality medicine than precisely predicting my wait. Also, and the more likely scenario, stabilizing a critical emergency (whether it's a patient who just came in or a patient they're already monitoring in the back) is more important than my estimated discharge time for my now stable pet.

There is so much more steps to a discharge than what happens in front of your eyes. In order for discharge to occur, the doctor has to fully complete documentation for your pet, someone has to fill the meds, print out any applicable handouts, adequately round the person who will do the discharge, confirm accuracy of all invoice details and then they may or maynot need to do a fresh bandage change, remove IVs or monitors and transfer your pet to a carrier, which can be the hardest part. All while attempting to not get bit or scratched and juggling multiple competing priorities. This isn't a complaint for them, just the reality of what they're accomplishing out of your eyesight.

Ideally, this would be more predictable. However, given how short staffed the entire industry is, those who ARE WORKING deserve to be treated with respect, patience and kindness.

Last observation - there were two gals working at the front when it was time for discharge. Both of them were moving quickly and efficiently the entire time I was there AND manage to express pet humor and kindness.

This team deserves a ton of kudos. I hope you treat them well...

I came here on a Sunday afternoon because my dog was throwing up all day. When I walked in there was quite a few people since regular vets are closed. It took about 1 hour for them to call us up which was fine because it was a little busy, we were sat in a room to wait for the vet. A nurse came in right away and took down her vitals and made notes. 30 minutes later, the vet came in. We chatted, she made notes then said she was going to take our dog to get a “party hat”, not sure what that meant. She returned with our dog 5min later and said she will be right back with the plan.

My wife and I sat in the room another hour before I decided to go to the front desk and see what the hold up was. The waiting area was empty now and there were a couple nurses just standing there leaning against a wall. At that point we had been there for 2 and half hours, I told the nurse that we have been waiting for so long and no one has told us anything. Then I heard someone say “O is that for Nala?” (which is our dogs name) and a nurse said “yea I’ll just take care of it” and then let me know she’d be right in. I went back to the room and within 5min she came in with a sheet of paper showing what kind of test they wanted to do for our dog. When told her I could not afford to make a payment for the long list of tests and treatments they made at that moment, she just said “O ok well what can you afford?” I told her a price I was comfortable with and mentioned I’d have to follow up with whatever that couldn’t cover. She said ok, that she will tell the vet and be right back. It really started to sink that we had already been there for 3 hours and they hadn’t done any test or anything at all. Upsetting that it takes 1 hour for the vet to print out a piece of paper with the list and costs (especially with an empty office) I could only imagine how long it would take to complete their list of tests. I also wonder how much longer would I have waited if I didn’t go the lobby front desk and ask what was going on. My wife and I believe they had forgotten us and decided to just treat her for the nausea as we couldn’t wait any longer for the vet and quite frankly didn’t trust them anymore. I walked out to the lobby again to tell the nurse we just want the shot and we will go to a different vet because we have been here for 3 hours and nothing has been done. She then said well this a emergency vet and sometimes we get busy and the doctors get held up. Which was just an excuse because the office was still completely empty (and the nurses were standing around). I am pretty certain they just forgot about us in that room, why else would they have made us sit there for over an hour after the vet decided what she wanted? To bring us a piece of paper? And only after I complained did they tend to us again.

The nurse took our dog to give her the shot and the other nurse gave us our discharge papers. About 5 min later the nurse came back out bothered with our dog and said “can you get your dog she is being fussy” Which we have never heard anyone say about our dog, so maybe that was just out of spite? Even if she was fussy, what dog is happy to be at the vet. I also wouldn’t blame her considering she had been there for 3 hours. I mean, so were we after those three hours. On our way out we saw some people leaving as well and they were not the same people we saw with us in the waiting room when we first came in, even the staff was new. Pretty evident they just forgot about us in there and didn’t want to admit it. I would have been more understanding if they were honest and not full of excuses. They should not be able to call themselves an “emergency” clinic. I will 100% never return...