Jamul Veterinary Hospital

This place is amazing. Dr. Katzer is an artist and his vet techs (i apologize for forgetting the girl’s name) is super friendly and easy to chat with. My baby Indi looks great and everything came out perfect. Thank you soo much!

Very convenient and local friendly. With 3 dogs and 1 cat coming to get shots, JVH is the only place for us. Animals seem to love it. Fast, efficient, and nice.

We live in Clairemont and we are willing to drive all the way to Jamul. I guess that shows how much my husband and I like and trust this pet hospital with our puppy!

We had been putting off a decision to euthanize our 18 year old cat, but finally it was clear that for her, it was the right decision. I had been reading about in-​home vets, but decided to go to our local vet in hopes that it would be all right for our cat.
Dr. Sawyer was gentle, kind and compassionate. Our sweet old kitty was a bit uncomfortable, being touched by strange hands as well as mine, but after an initial tiny hiss, she relaxed and Dr. Sawyer gently led her into sleep. We were encouraged to stay with her as long as we wished to say our last goodbyes. I feel she went as peacefully as we could hope for. Thank you Dr. Sawyer for being such a kind man.

We recently brought our 15 year old cat in to have him euthanized, after careful discussion and consideration to end his suffering from an illness it seemed he would never recover from. The staff was AMAZING, professional and extremely caring in the entire process. My husband and I were completely impressed in the empathy they showed to our family and our cat through the entire emotionally draining process. We have been customers of this vet for a couple of years, bringing our two labs in for routine vaccinations and misc other visits. The staff and service has always been top notch, but this visit they really earned our business for life. Shantel, the doctors and rest of the staff there are simply the BEST!

I have been seeing Dr. Katzer since I moved to Jamul in 1986. Brought my cat in who had been attacked by my dogs. Xrays revealed she had a broken but not displaced pelvis. He told me you might think I’m crazy but this cat will heal on her own and within days you won’t even know anything was wrong. He was right, I did think he was crazy. But two days later my cat jumped up on top of my bookcase. WOW. He has treated everything from bloat complications to even doing a tonsillectomy on my Gt. Dane who had chronic tonsilitis (didn’t even know dogs had tonsils). Yes he’s gruff but he’s also a softy and he doesn’t fool me one wit.
I have been seeing Dr. Sawyer also and he has treated my dogs for all sort of infections and weird things that dogs get into. He is kind and knowledgeable. I recently had to have my senior dog put down and he was very kind to me and my dog. Gave Monty a shot to relax him and then let him wait for 10 minutes for it to take effect before proceding.
I love Chantel (the spelling of her name I probably just butchered), she is truly the voice for this clinic. She is funny, kind, efficient and knowledgeable. She is a great asset to this clinic and I think they need to do everything they can to keep her there. In fact I have never had an unpleasant experience with any employee at this animal hospital. I know that even people who live in Oceanside drive their dogs down to be seen here.

I’d give them 5 stars if they were closer to me. Very happy with the way they handle my dogs. Had gone to two other clinics that were more conveniently located to my home but my male dog (normally oh so friendly with everyone) began behaving aggressively with the vets. My female is a rescue and she was a nervous wreck with the previous clinics I tried with her. So I hunted for Dr Sawyer, found him out in the sticks. Dr Katzer also handled my «kids». I am very pleased with both vets and will continue to make the journey out to the sticks cause I want my kids to be treated well and not fear medical visits. They are certainly worth the drive.

My family has been going here for years, so naturally when I inherited a relative’s cat, I took him to JVH too! Dr. Sawyer gave my cat a check-​up, and I had to bring him back the following week to get his front teeth taken out. :(
Dr. Sawyer was wonderful. He told me everything I needed to know and gave me a very fair price for the services. I had to call back a few weeks later because my cat’s teeth weren’t healing, and he was very understanding and willing to give info and prescribe medicine over the phone, rather than have me bring my miserable cat all the way out to Jamul again. I can’t express how much I appreciate that, because I know they lose money when I call with questions rather than come in for a visit. This office really has their priorities straight.
I have not personally worked with Dr. Katzer, but my parents have and they swear by him. He was extremely kind to my elderly grandfather before he (my grandpa) passed away. I know other people have some issues with his gruff persona, but my family knows he’s a great guy underneath. You will too if you come in for a visit!

I have been coming to Katzer for years. We love him & he loves our animals! He is a rough old man that tells it like it is. That doesn’t bother me a bit because I know my pets are in great hands. I so appreciate him and his staff. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Nothing like continuing on the doggy generations of business by using the same family vet as my in-​laws. My husband grew up out in Jamul and J.V.H. was the spot for those who lived out there, probably the only spot come to think of it.
Either way, the work of Dr. Katzer has always been spoken highly of and when we announced we would be getting a puppy, the obvious suggestion was to come here.
As my husband likes to politely put it, «he was old when I was a kid!!!» I hear that Dr. Katzer can be a little «rough» with the animals but has a magical touch to revive animals who appear to be a goner to the non-​vet expert. I haven’t had the chance of meeting him yet on my visit there but, the younger man who (might be a vet assistant??) was very helpful explaining proper food amounts for my dog and was very gentle with her when we went in for final round of puppy shots.
The services J.V.H. provides are much less costly than a regular vet. We were quoted nearly 200 dollars less for the upcoming spay of our puppy compared to the vet here in downtown San Diego. Rent probably had something to do with that one. I love how the people here are very straight-​forward with you, all of the girls are very polite at the front, and there is a small doggy/​kitty boutique area to browse while you wait for your appointment.
They board overnight and have a good sized grassy patch outside that is secured and fenced in for doggy frolics so they are not confined to their kennels for the duration of your vacation.
This is the new location which is bright, beautiful, secured with sensors so no one’s dog bolts out the door by accidents without it being noticed, and ample parking available in both a paved and dirt lot.
It’s the family joke that their previous pugs they owned must have paid for the brand new hospital with as many times as it would get into things. Clumsy little devils.
The most classic line of all came from Katzer himself when he saw his new patient, «Spackman’s and their pugs!»

Never use this vet if you value your pet’s life. Our Cairn Terrier had emergency surgery due to the discovery of cancer in her colon. The emergency clinic vet advised us that she would need supervised 24 hour care. Since the emergency clinic closed at 8 am, the emergency vet advised us to take our dog to our regular vet or a local one then pick her up and bring her back to the emergency clinic in the late afternoon when they reopened. We told the emergency vet that we would take her to her regular vet office, The Jamul Veterinary Hospital. The emergency vet told us he would call our vet and fax over our dog’s medical sheet. Dr Sawyer met us and advised that the emergency vet had called and faxed over the medical records just as he promised. Dr Sawyer made a suggestion that I will never understand or forget as it was unfathomable to me that someone in his position was uncaring and would blatantly lie to us. He told us that the emergency vet did call with instructions for our dog’s care, he then said «why go back and forth, just leave her here, I told Dr Sawyer that I wanted what was best for our dog, he said «then leave her here». What he neglected to tell us was that they closed at 6 pm and there would be no one there to monitor our dog’s condition. She died sometime that morning, alone and without the needed care we thought had been promised. When the emergency vet was told that our dog died and that she didn’t get care that she was suppose to that night, he was obviously distraught and told us our vet’s actions were a blatant disregard for our dog’s life. Why did Dr Sawyer do what he did?, I will never know, maybe our dog dies that night with supervised care, but the emergency vet didn’t think so, he said we would most likely have from a few days to a few weeks, even a few months with a 10 percent change of recovery. I do know that she wasn’t given that chance because of the actions of Dr Sawyer. I find his actions and disregard for our dog’s life repugnant.

Our family has been taking our dogs to this veterinary hospital for a couple years now and had satisfactory service up until recently. Dr. Katzer is up front and a bit abrasive but gets the job done. My last experience with this clinic was a learning experience for me and I hope MY MISTAKE and their UNPROFESSIONAL low ball rape-​your-​pocket tactic will be a lesson to other overly trusting pet owners. On our last visit we brought our dog in for a surgical procedure and was verbally quoted a price. We were rushed out the door because it was their lunch hour and I mistakingly did not get anything in writing. I TRUSTED this business. Imagine my surprise and anger when I was given a bill for $ 120+ more than I was quoted. No one bothered to call me to ask my permission for additional work done to our pet or to inform me of the additional charges. I explained this to the receptionist and even spoke with Dr. Katzer and he admitted someone should have called me and offered no apology or discount. I reluctantly give this business two stars only because they do the job. GET YOUR QUOTE IN WRITING!

I only went here because I tracked down my vet who had changed offices. The office is very clean and the staff is very friendly. I went there today because my dog had a skin problem on his face. The vet, Dr. Sawyer, has treated my dog when he swallowed a foam ball last year and he took such GREAT care of my dog that I had to seek him out for this more minor problem. I like that they accept walk-​ins from 2:30−6 w/​o charging «urgent care» prices.

Today I had my little girl fixed. Although I thought this was a nice enough place imagine my shock when I went to pick her up and was told she had wire stitches inside that would never melt away. They even laughed and told me when she gained weight they would be covered by fat and I would no longer be aware of them. I have had several pets spayed and neutered over the years and they all had dissolving stitches. I was not informed when I dropped her off and had originally chosen this vet for the laser technology that would be used during the surgery. Seeming so far ahead of the times I had no idea they were in the dark ages as far as the stitches. Upon picking her up I was told it was to save time and use for x-​ray proof of spay later. My major complaint here is the fact that I should have been told ahead of time about none removable sutures. If I had it to do over I would not use this vet. Long story short if this sort of thing bothers you make sure you ask questions ahead of time.