Alta View Veterinary Clinic

I’ve been a client with Alta View over the past 25+ years with all my cats. I’m writing this review because on 5÷26÷15, we noticed a sore on my cat that wasn’t evident the night before, therefore, whatever it was progressed rather quickly. My husband called at 11:15am to arrange for an appt, however, we couldn’t bring him in until Thursday ⁵⁄₂₈. I really thought it was a big concern so I contacted them back at around 12:30pm and asked if there was some way to see my cat that day. The receptionist said she would have to talk to the vet and give us a call back. I got home from work at 4:00pm and still there was no phone call back from the clinic.
At this time the sore progressed to an abscess about 5 – 6 in diameter in size. It was red and yellow, obviously showing the sign of infection. The clinic finally called at around 4:30 and said they couldn’t get him in so in the meantime, buy an E collar so he doesn’t continue to bother it. I called them back within 10 mins pleading for them to let us come in. I explained that within a 4 hr time frame, the sore worsened severely. I explained the color and size, how it definitely had fluid built up. The receptionist asked me if it had a smell, which no it didn’t but clearly was infected. She then said I’m sorry, get an E collar so that he doesn’t continue to irritate it and we will see him on Thursday. I told her I will obviously have to take him elsewhere since you refuse to see him as an urgent situation. She again apologized.
We took my cat to Advanced Animal Hospital, who graciously got us in for an appt the next morning, which was OK with me since it was now 5:30pm and too late in the evening. I knew he was going to be OK since he wasn’t lethargic and was still eating and drinking. I also didn’t want to pay the high cost of an emergency service unless he turned for the worse. So fortunately he was OK through the night, however, in the morning the abscess was now pretty much black in color and very warm to the touch. He made it into the vet on the morning of 5/​27, in which the vet took one look at it and couldn’t believe that Alta View wouldn’t see him as an urgent situation. She barely touched the abscess and it broke open. You can imagine what came out of this abscess plus the smell in which the receptionist from Alta View asked about, was definitely present.
They had to put him under, lacerate it, clean it out, debride the dead skin and place stitches. This was a pretty severe infection that could have lead to something unimaginable if we waited another day to take him to Alta View. He was sent home with pain meds and antibiotics for the next two weeks. We will need to return for the stitches to be removed. I can’t thank Advanced Animal Hospital enough for helping us out.
So bottom line, I’ve been a client for a long time. I would have thought they set aside time to allow for urgent/​emergent situations. There has been a few other incidents with Alta View that I considered going else where over, one being that my favorite vet that treated my cats for years left and the clinic didn’t feel the need to share that with me until I asked for her in particular because I wasn’t happy with the current vet that kept seeing my cat. She wasn’t specialized in treating cats with diabetes and once prescribed too much insulin for my cat. My favorite vet caught it and had to confront her about it. After my favorite vet left, i had no choice to see whoever was available because my cat was really sick. Needless to say, due to the lack of knowledge of the vet, I ended up having to put my cat to sleep because she developed a tumor that was not detected in previous exams. I could share a few other issues if your interested, message me.
The quality of this clinic has diminished and I’m sorry I didn’t leave a long time ago. The fact that I never took my 2 other cats there after my one was put to sleep is because of the lack of trust and faith that they would provide adequate treatment. But when my cat developed the sore this week, I thought that since the clinic merged with another clinic, quality of care might have improved. I was obviously wrong!

Overpriced, and the vet is a joke. $ 130.00 for a minor cut on my puppy. And the head cone he was sent home with broke.

Alta View has some great vets. Having moved several times and gone through the hassle of looking for a vet, I stumbled upon Alta View after a recommendation from a co-​worker. I wasn’t disappointed. The docs and the staff were always helpful and compassionate as I went through the gamut of things that happen to any pet owner: from a mild illness to the painful decision to end the suffering of a long-​time friend.