Clairemont Village Pet Clinic — Local services in San Diego

I had the worst experience here and HIGHLY RECOMMEND taking your pet elsewhere. My dog had developed a really bad cough which I suspected to be kennel cough. I made an appointment and brought him in to be seen. The main Vet, Dr. Diamond, was on vacation out of the country and they had a stand-in/visiting Vet in his place. She diagnosed my dog with kennel cough and prescribed him two medications, an antibiotic (enrofloxacin) and a cough suppressant. The cough suppressant was a controlled medication and I was told the person who has the keys for it was out on lunch, so I could either wait an hour, come back later, or they could write me a written prescription to go pick it up. I asked for a written prescription for it, which they provided. They then tried to charge me $90 for the antibiotic, so I asked for a written prescription for it as well, as I knew it would be cheaper at the pharmacy where I was going (Costco, where it ended up being $47). They reluctantly did this (even though it's CA law). I then presented them with the 20% off coupon that is provided on Yelp for the exam fee for my dog's first visit to their clinic. The ladies at the front desk had no clue about the coupon and didn't want to accept it, but when I showed it to them they knew they had to honor it so they did and I ended up paying about $45 for the exam fee.

I took the prescriptions to Costco to be filled and was told the one for the cough suppressant wasn't written on the correct form (no barcode and it didn't have the prescribing Dr's name at the top). I was told that I'd need to go back and get the correct form from the vet as it's not a prescription that could be called in. I called the vet's office and was told "Oh yeah, we don't have the right forms here, we know that's the law, but we did that because we thought we'd try and see if they'd accept it". I then asked how much it cost at the vet directly and was told $160, when it was $40 at Costco. I didn't want to pay four times the cost so I asked if they could match the price since they already wasted my time doing something they knew wouldn't work and wasn't the legal way. They said no and then they prescribed me with an alternative medication, "cough tabs". They gave me 60 of these cough tabs for $40. I later found that a bottle of 250 of these costs $45 at most places online, so again, I was charged four times the price. Apparently the medications is where this place makes their money.

After four days of my dog taking the medication it got worse. Nothing was working and I ended up taking him to a very highly reviewed Vet Hospital in Tijuana. I had never done this before and I don't speak Spanish, but I couldn't get my dog in to be seen anywhere around San Diego and the Vet Hospitals charge a tremendous amount of money for their services. I called the office in Tijuana and the person that answered spoke English. I made an appointment the same day, took him in and the nurses and front desk receptionist spoke fluent English. They took my dog in, performed an exam, X-ray, blood tests, ultrasound, gave him an injection of prednisone, prescribed him with a better antibiotic (Doxycycline, they said the one provided by the vet at Clairemont Village Pet Clinic wasn't as effective at treating kennel cough), gave me the medications, and scheduled him a free follow-up exam for the following week. Total price for everything? $40!!!

I'll never go back to Clairemont Village Pet Clinic. It was a waste of my time, money, energy, and if this review can save just one of you from visiting this place then I...

I brought my small dog in for an annual exam. Dr. Hynes examined her and brought her to the back for routine procedures (vaccines, blood draw, nail trim). My dog has never had a problem behaving for procedures in the past, and although nervous, has never been difficult while being worked on at other clinics.

While my dog was in the back with the technicians I heard her screaming for a prolonged period of time. It was so disturbing I finally poked my head out of the door and asked someone if she was ok. They replied, “ She’s fine; they are just working on her” as she continued to scream. They eventually brought her back and when I asked what happened the tech said, “She started creaming when she saw the nail clippers.”

I have clipped her nails several times myself and have never seen such a reaction. I thought maybe they clipped her nails too short and hurt her nail. But her nails looked fine. I didn’t believe their story, but I let it go and went home.

Later in the day I noticed her tail was swollen and bent in an awkward position. She was very uncomfortable and couldn’t raise her tail. I called the clinic and sent them photos and a video of her tail. They agreed to see her in the morning.

I spoke with Dr. Hymes about what I heard while they were working on my dog. She was not present at the time (which is normal). It’s the tech’s job to due routine procedures.

I shared my concern that something may have happened to her while being restrained. Dr. Hynes was immediately defensive and said I was being disrespectful for insinuating that they hurt my animal.

I asked Dr. Hymes to hold a meeting with her staff to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to handling animals. I would also expect that if something goes wrong, they would communicate that to the pet owner immediately. These ideas were brushed aside.

I was given a multitude of reasons why she could have screamed, but none of them included that it could have been due to an injury. As to how her tail was injured, I was given other wild ideas such as, “Maybe it’s a mast cell tumor”.

Dr. Hymes was more interested in defending herself and her staff than admitting the possibility that something could have gone wrong. Her focus should have been rebuilding the trust I lost in them and making a simple promise to have a talk with the staff. We will not...

I have a four-year-old dog that was recently diagnosed with Addison’s disease. Her diagnosis came from a previous vet, and I wasn’t all that thrilled with how it was handled at the time of diagnosis. I found a vet close to me that assured me they had experience with Addison’s disease. Upon diagnosis of Addison’s disease, there are some very simple, but important procedures that are supposed to happen in order to get your dog to the correct dosage for the medication that they will be taking consistently for the rest of their life. At my new vet, this didn’t happen, nor were they interested in following a low-dose protocol or even checking my dog’s electrolytes to see what needed to be done. Instead, they bullied me into just excepting their explanation. Based on what I know from research and talking to others with dogs who have Addison’s disease, I knew this wasn’t appropriate. I called all over San Diego County, even up into Riverside County to see if I could find a vet that would be better suited. No vets would take the time to get on the phone with me until I called Clairemont Village pet clinic…. The individual that answered the phone was very receptive to what I was saying, and actually put me on hold to get me on the phone with the vet immediately. Dr. Diamond took the time to talk with me and assure me that he understood what I was asking for. They even squeezed me in the next day to get bloodwork and my dog’s shot taken care of immediately. We adjusted some dosages, and this was on a Friday, but the positive experience didn’t stop there. I had some concerns over the weekend and I sent an email on a Saturday evening to the vet expecting that I would hear back on Monday. Dr. Diamond took the time to email me back that same night and give me some guidance as to what to change as far as the medication was concerned to help alleviate the symptoms my dog was experiencing.

The front desk has been nothing but helpful the vets have been great. Communication has been wonderful and I am so glad I found them. I drive almost an hour each way to take my dog here and it is well worth it. I find their prices to be reasonable and their staff always gives my “extra” dog a little extra love...