El Cerrito Veterinary Hospital La Mesa, California

Even with COVID precautions and the changes it forces in operations, we got an appointment quickly. Arrived on time, called in and we were in an exam room within 10 minutes. Dr Massey is just the greatest - caring, compassionate and listens to your concerns about your pet.

Always kind and friendly. My grandma and neighbors go here as well. It's a nice feeling to know my fur baby is in good hands.????

Had a great experience when i first visited them in otober 2019. NOW THEY ARE HORRIBLE, especially allison the manager. Who is VERY rude and a flat out liar. I have been using the perscription they wrote to me for my male cats UTI(Which never goes away, so there is no reason to not stray from giving him this food) every single week/month to buy food at petco in store. Got some yesterday in fact. But decided i wanted to order online for petcos redelivery to save the time and hassle of driving in store. I called 11/09/21 9:32 am and spoke to the lady who picked up the phone, whose name i do not reall because everything went pleasantly. She confirmed my full name, my cat's name and that we were seen 10/2019 and given perscription for UTI. I explained to her what I wanted to do, she put me on brief hold, then came back and told me once tey got the request by fax rom petco they would go ahead and approve it. So i went and placed the order through petco. I get a call on 11/10/21 saying they got a request from petco but will decline it beause they need to see my cat again first, which is not possible because we now live muh farther away from them. I told her I had confirmed the previous day with a lady that all would be fine. She put me on old and brought ALLISSON, the deranged serial liar who was extremely aggressive and rude. She told me THEY NEVER WROTE MY CAT A PRESCRIPTION(WHICH IS A LIE BECAUSE I HAVE IT IN HAND). MY MALE AT HAS LIFE LONG BATTLES WITH UTI, AND IT IS MUCH WORSE FOR A MALE CCAT DUE TO NARROW URETHRA. ALL THEY WANT IS AN EXTRA $60 FROM SOMEONE INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY LOOKING OUT FOR CAT THAT CLEARLY NEEDS THIS FOOD TO SURVIVE. I GUESS I WILL JUST ONTINUE TO DRIVE TO THE STORE AND GET IT USING THE PRESCRIPTION THEY WROTE ME INSTEAD OF BEING ABLE TO ORDER ONLINE...... I SUGGEST NOT DEALING WITH ALLISSON AND MAYBE LOOKING FOR A VETIRINARY HOSPITAL THAT ATUALLY CARES FOR YOUR PETS HEALTH INSTEAD OF TRYING TO GET AN EXTRA $60 FROM YOU..... RIDICULOUS!!!!

I've been coming here for years and years and my Mom too. Service is excellent, caring, and efficient.

My 1st visit with my dog Melody and she was very comfortable with her visit with Dr. Tritt. My vet before sold the business and I wanted to find another vet closer to my house. This clinic was highly recommended by 2 friends of mine who had been taking their standard poodles there for years. I made the right choice bringing my dog here.

I have been going to El Cerrito Vets for 30+ years. They are wonderful! So caring, knowledgeable and compassionate. The office staff is friendly and helpful. Each of the vets I worked with have given 100% to the care of my critters; dogs, cats and even a pet rat! If you want excellent care for your pets, I highly recommend El Cerrito Vet Hospital! They do everything with love and respect for critters and their humans!

Been going for almost 30 years

Fantastic staff and care at this place

They are the most caring, professional vets I have ever been to. We love all of their vets. They care so much about every animal!

Requiring people to were a mask is in American. Vacationed people should not be required to were a mask when employees are to lazy or uneducated to get the vaccine.

We have been seeing the doctors and staff here for 22 years! Initially, we found El Cerrito for our two Ragdoll cats. The cats are now gone, and we have a very large Doodle and eight-month old doodle puppy who both receive from Dr. Massey. They've been spayed and neutered here, had x-rays taken, been administered regular vaccines and puppy parvo shots, and numerous other ailments along the way. The care and customer service has never faltered. Susan at the front desk has been with the office since the day I walked in with my cat and my (now 23-year old) baby. Carrie, has been there at least ten years . . . the longevity of the staff speaks volumes. (*We moved to Point Loma 15 years ago, and tried a closer clinic but it just wasn't the quality of care or personal service we'd always received at El Cerrito - so, we gladly drive the 30 minutes to see Dr. Massey in La Mesa when our pets need attention.) We can't recommend this clinic enough - Take your pets to El Cerrito with confidence ;-)

They are excellent. We have gone to them for over 50 years if you count when my Mom started bringing her first kittens there. Dr. Massey is wonderful.

I have been taking my dogs and cats to El Cerrito for over 25 years. Amazing, caring vets and staff! They have always taken such good care of my 4-legged kids. Dr. Massey was so patient talking to my grandkids about my very elderly cat as they were very worried about him and his health. They call to check up on their patients during treatment too. Dr. Massey and all her staff are top-notch!

I have gone there for over 50 years. I have only used 2 different Vets since I was a teenager. The other only because a friend worked there and i got to go back with my dogs. That was only for 2 or 3 years. Otherwise only El Cerrito

Love El Cerrito Veterinary Hospital, Dr. Massey is the best and all of the employees are great.

Love this veterinarian. Nikki R is my dog's vet and he actually likes going good see her. She is very through and takes great care of our fur babies. She even went about and beyond to get one of our dogs to a cardiologist very quickly, when he was incongestive heart failure. Extended his life another year and we really appreciated jt.

TWO FORMER LONG TIME CLIENTS OF EL CERRITO VET HAVE SEEN THEIR TRUE COLORS. To preface, both my SO and I have been cat people all of our adult lives. Each of us lost our kitties within the last five years. When we were cat parents, we took the to El Cerrito vet. They were always attentive to the animals and the humans. I nursed my cat through two years of IV flushes that the office prescribed, and they were very supportive. Cut to now……There are a few cats in the neighborhood that come by and visit. We feed them, pet them and worry about them. One of the cats, we call him Frankie because he has beautiful blue eyes, showed up with a huge gaping wound on his face. We put a note on him (he had a generic flea type plastic collar) asking if he belonged to anyone. No response. The next day we realized we needed to help him because his face was looking very bad. Yesterday morning at 8:30 am I called El Cerrito as soon as they opened. Susan answered the phone. We talked at length about the situation. I told her that I was going to catch the cat and then I would like to bring him to the clinic. Susan put me on hold to go speak with the vet. When she came back to the phone, she said “The Doctor said to call us when you catch him”. I said ok, thank you, that’s perfect. What time do you close? 5:30 was Susan’s response. She also told me to be careful while catching him. So she knew exactly what was going on. The days passes and finally I get the little guy at 4:15. We put him in a carrier which terrorized him and jumped in the car to take him to the vet. We called while we were on the way. We were literally 5 minutes from the office. They said to call when we park. We get into the parking lot, call, and now they say they won’t take him. Susan said it was too close to the end of the day, Susan said she didn’t understand that I was going to catch him and bring him there. And she said it with an ugly straight face, even with the mask. was beyond stunned. I begged them to take this cat. We were more than willing top pay for his care, which I did cover with Susan on our morning phone call conversation. Finally Susan came out to the parking lot. When she looked at the cat, she saw he was in distress. Susan did not care. Susan did not have ANY concrete recommendations as to where we could take him. Why would they work with me, make a plan for his care that day, and then turn this animal away? The words to describe this elude me. My mission now, is to make sure I can notify every possible person about them. Update 1: We took the cat to the Humane Society after El Cerrito failed. Update 2: I have filed a complaint with the state of California, veterinary board against El Cerrito. I encourage anyone who has had a disgusting experience with this practice to do the same. Update 3: Regarding Julie's comment: there was no recommendation, she is lying. But she is telling the truth regarding that I cussed her out, told her she was evil and gave her the finger (obscene!!). Mind you, i was sitting in the car, cat carrier on my lap, and Julie is just standing there like a wet rag. If i was so terrible, she should have walked away. That's what they do, right? She deserved it and i have zero issue with telling her off. She is in the wrong business. Further, my one star review is NOT the only one, it has lots of company.

Dr. Kistling is the best vet in the world. She has amazing bedside manner. Understands how animals will react. She is also real with the owners. No upsales at this vet. They have your animal and pocket book in mind. Highly recommend.

El Cerrito Vet has always been top notch, but my most recent experience is worth sharing. My cat was diagnosed with diabetes and they took the extra time to teach me how to give my cat shots, allowed me to practice under their supervision, and made me feel so much better during a difficult situation. The staff is always warm and caring and I’ve overheard the way they talk to the animals in their care. They really are wonderful people who truly care about animals and love what they do...and it shows!

It's really nice staff and they take care of the animals

Very friendly and lovely people.... been going to the same place for over 5 years

They are fair and reasonable with their pricing. They really care about their patients.

Update- This is slightly better now. Thank you for treating her like an animal that just had a major operation on her tail. I was, literally coming on here to change this review to reflect the changes you have made for my dog. The facts about what happened to my dog here in the past are absolutely 100 Percent True. Someone there Really Did cut my dogs paw pads while ineptly trimming her claws some years ago when they did another surgery. They didn't just graze one paw... They cut off almost a third of three out of 4 pads. Something that I have long since believed could only be done in anger.They were cleanly cut, straight through her dark brown pads and the cuts followed the exact line of the trim cuts on the claws. This is a documented and verified fact. I have two witnesses, and no statement from the office. When it originally happened, the nurse said they would check. It turned into '' I'm sorry I forgot about that ''. That is why I have not been nearly as trusting the last years of the 20 or so that I have been down there. I see that you have stated that what I said was incorrect. It was all true, with the One exception that maybe the wound was not Badly infected. It was oozing and the bandages did slide down her tail. Per your own words... '' Antibiotics are Never used... And Only if a wound is infected ''. Maybe I shouldn't have asked for a liquid pain killer. Li Lu wasn't taking the pills, no matter what I did, and she was in pain. Susan sarcastically asked me '' Is she actually in pain...? '' Literally the day after surgery. What was I supposed to do... Sit there like the first time? With the paw pads? I love my dog too much to do nothing. Yes, I cursed twice, with two words only. I did it. The antibiotics you prescribed have helped the Infection, so that is better now. I'm sorry I couldn't have changed this review to a 4 or 5. I told your staff that if she didn't listen to me fully, I would post the facts in a review. She hung up so I did that. It pays to be nice to a customer, especially when you have such a horrible incident on the record in the past. The paw pads were cut, and I have a state judge as a witness if you ever want to tangle with that Fact. If you ever want to see the photos, I would be happy to bring them down to show every single one of you, and figure out exactly who did it. Those years back, I should have brought the police but I was thinking of other peoples pets as well. This surgery is done now. Better bandages and the antibiotics helped, but mainly it was me sitting with her. The attitude toward me, most likely because of the past, isn't fair at all. It's something I will never get beyond. It's not something I did, it's something that was done to her. I got no closure from it, and it was a horrible experience that left my dog screaming whenever her paws were touched. Do not dare call that a lie. If anyone there creates the illusion that I am lying about what happened to her paws, I would consider doing something about that immediately. I am sorry I said the B word one time, and I am sorry I cannot change this review. You may have a couple great doctors, but a smarmy dismissive staff doesn't help a dog in immediate pain, and a dog owner in a bit of a panic. At least we know now that I actually did want the biopsy ( Thank you for fixing that by going back to the tumor refrigerator and finally sending that out. After all, it was marked down three times, asked for three times, and paid for once before finally being acknowledged as needed ). I have already found a new vet, So don't worry. I did that in the middle of this. Only stitches removal to go. Good luck to you as well

Wonderful/friendly staff and great place to bring your pet when you have to. Highly recommended.

I have been acquainted with El Cerrito for almost twenty years and shared the care of two family pets with them. I expect any veterinary hospital to exhibit excellent clinical skills. What I am looking for is the empathic side of veterinary medicine that clearly demonstrates their ability to offer comfort, healing and direction/path to understanding the condition my pet is experiencing. It's here and they show it every time we visit from routine tests to dealing with an ailment. We are lucky to have them in our community.

The staff is very sweet and very service oriented. We have been seeing Dr. Macy for over 20 years.

They are great and have good covid procedures.

Always treated well, we feel very comfortable with all here.

Trying to establish care for my animals here was impossible for nearly 6 weeks. I understand the covid 19 pandemic is serious, but that should not prevent this clinic from serving their community. They are a medical facility. Provide medical care for all patients, it’s that simple. There are procedures that other vets have implemented to allow the intake of new patients. Drop off services are one example.

I recently switched from Banfield to Dr. Massey and El Cerrito, and wish I wouldn't have waited this long to do so. Banfield was just trying to get me to sign up for their wellness program, which I didn't feel I needed because my dog is perfectly healthy, and made their prices astronomical when you weren't on the plan. Dr. Massey genuinely cares about my dog, and isn't just trying to turn a profit. She gave me free pain meds samples for my dog, and was able to fit my dog in quickly during her flea-mergency. It's nice to have a neighborhood vet that cares!