Lifetime Animal Care Center — Attraction in San Diego

Going to lifetime animal care felt like going to the dmv or something along those lines. I called the vet being concerned about my dog's stool as well as another pathology she's been dealing with to see if the two could potentially be related and to assess how urgent the situation was. All I wanted to know was if I should be concerned or not. And all they do is tell you how much something is going to cost. When I went to drop off a stool sample, the entire time the receptionists was trying to process the payment and were so focused on only the payment. Not once did they ask how my dog was doing since the initial visit or give any signs that they actually care for the wellbeing of my animal. Or give any eye contact or genuine human interaction for that matter. This is a health care industry not some barber shop or shoe store. Finding a right vet needs to feel like I can trust the people and that comes with quality customer service. I think the actual veterinarians are better than the receptionists but the receptionists are rude, finance focused, impatient, and do not explain how anything works. I had an actual appointment at 5 or 5:15pm for my dog and when I got there the entire appointment felt so rushed and the vet looked at the affected area briefly and automatically prescribed antibiotics and then added a whole list of expenses for my dog to take or be on. I took their recommendations and paid for all of these things but at least they could have given me advice on how to treat the affected area at home as well instead of telling me to leave it alone and put a cone on my dog which actually just made things worse. Why can't vets be more knowledge and giving with information on nutrition and antiinflammatory protocols instead of just writing off the next prescription? Just because you are the only few people in this world that are trained on the anatomy and physiology of animals does not give you the right to keep your knowledge to yourself while you run a business that runs people's pockets dry. Have some compassion for animals and their owners and actually try to HELP them. Additionally, when you see a patient that can easily afford a 500 dollar treatment or medication, fine let them do that, but when you see someone who verbally expresses the financial burden, don't just leave them without any information and leave them worried that they won't be able to help their animal without the 700 dollar steroid shot (suppressant) or antibiotic (microbiome depletor). The healthcare industry relies on trust. Why would I just blindly follow what you say without you having the decency of explaining why you want to put my animal on this protocol. Just because you have a vet degree, I'm supposed to blindly trust you? I think not because there are vets out there that are doing a lot better in the caring and explaining aspects and it shows in their customer loyalty as well as their revenue. Shame on you. Do a better job to find different ways to treat animals based off of the patients situation and need not based off of how much money your business can make. I guarantee that if the receptionists showed more compassion and normal customer service skills, Lifetime Animal Care Center, would have customers for life as their...

After 2 years of using this vet, I can confidently say you should avoid them. They have made multiple grave and expensive errors that are frankly inexcusable.

Here is a summary of the mistakes made by this vet:

Brought in my 14 pound Chihuahua mutt. While they were filling a prescription, I noticed they had his weight in the computer as 69 pounds. If I hadn't caught this, the drugs would have killed him.

After apologizing for the weight error above, on my next visit they still had not corrected his weight in the computer system (once again, potentially almost killing him).

They charged me hundreds for sedation and X-rays. After completing them, they conveniently mention that they don't have the people on staff who can actually review them, so that will be hundreds more.

Brought in my 40 pound Aussie for a leg injury. First visit, they gave me drugs and told me it would improve in 2 weeks. After 3 days, she couldn't walk. Visit number two, I weigh my dog as usual. The staff says, "She weighs 28 pounds, right?". I say "No, she weighs 40 pounds.". Later in the office, I see her weight is still incorrect at 28 pounds. More apologies and excuses. Later at checkout, for the 3rd time in the same visit, her weight is STILL incorrect on the checkout sheet. More apologies and excuses and they finally comped the 2nd visit b/c they missed seriousness of the leg injury on my first visit three days earlier. (At first they were only going to slightly discount, but I pushed for a free visit.)

They tell me that my Aussie need X-rays and then an MRI (warning me it may cost around $10,000). I complete the X-rays but decide to get a second opinion from a new vet. New vet says they gave her the wrong dose of medication (probably for a 28 pound dog). After fixing her dose, her leg improves naturally within 1 week. No procedure necessary at all.

Not only did they recommend the expensive MRI (etc.) above, they also frequently pressured me to have my dog neutered. I told them I wasn't interested (she is young, and also I read it's not recommended anymore for this breed at this age). Even after refusing, they told me they would neuter when they did the MRI! Guess what? My new vet pulled up a "per breed and sex chart", and told me that the latest science says neutering is optional for my dog (risks and benefits are about the same). Exactly what I had researched.

TL;DR

I would not trust this vet---this is probably a "for profit" business. Everytime you walk in, expect to shell out hundreds of dollars and be prepared for them to make serious errors. They frequently got my dog's weight wrong in their system, almost killing 1 dog and preventing my other dog from healing from low dosage...

My aunt is a senior citizen and unable to post, so she asked me to post the following on her behalf.

My aunt’s dog of 17 years recently died within 2 days of having dental work performed by Dr. Koral Solorzano at the Lifetime Animal Care Center. Even at 17 years old, he was running around and chasing my aunt's daughter's dog just the day before the dental visit.

It was not explained to my aunt that her dog would need to be put under anesthesia (and therefore, the risks associated for a 17 year old dog were also not explained). After my aunt left her dog in the care of the vet, the doctor called her to request permission for blood work. The doctor also mentioned that teeth might need to be extracted and that her dog might need to be given a prescription for special food because of blood observed in stool. My aunt gave her approval for blood work, but not tooth extraction. My aunt told the doctor to call her back if her dog indeed needed teeth extraction. The doctor said "okay" three times. The doctor also said she'd come out and speak with my aunt in person when she came to pick up her dog.

My aunt went to pick up her dog and learned that his teeth were extracted without her consent. She waited 20-25 minutes for the doctor to come out, but she never did. My aunt told the staff that her dog didn’t look good. A staff member said her dog would be all right, but my aunt insisted that her dog didn't look good and asked if he could stay overnight to be monitored. The staff said no and that her dog would be good. The doctor never came out to speak with my aunt and never explained any home care instructions for her dog. Even though my aunt expressed her concern multiple times, no one called that evening to check in on her dog.

The next day, my aunt's dog still hadn't improved or returned to his normal self. He was whining and crying and remained lying down. His mouth was still bleeding from the dental extraction and he didn’t want to drink or eat. My aunt called the vet and left a voicemail because she wanted to bring him in. They returned her call but said they would not fit him into their schedule, again ignoring her concerns. My aunt's dog died the next day. My aunt wishes she had been more assertive, but that can be difficult when "experts" tell you that your dog...