VCA Eye Clinic for Animals San Diego, California

Professional caring group of dedicated animal lovers. Did everything in their power to create a loving environment for a dreaded procedure.

Do not risk your pet’s health here. VCA Eye Clinic only cares about their profit. The only positive is that Dr. Strubbe seems quite knowledgeable and competent. Probably the staff is as well, but “they are in high demand.” I went forward with cataract surgery, in both eyes, for my dog. The aftercare requires 4 weeks in a hard cone, three eye drops SIX times a day. Medication refills are not a priority for VCA Eye Clinic. On one occasion when we ran out I had to call three times in one day asking them to call the prescription into my local Costco before it was finally done. On the second occasion when the doctor prescribed a new medication (which I opted not to have them fill but to call it in to Costco), I had to call the Business Manager and ask her to call it in. On the third occasion when the doctor recommended that we re-start an oral pain medication, I called only to be told that they were too busy and other prescriptions were ahead of mine. The following day, they didn’t notify me until 1:37 that the medication had finally been filled. The surgery after care appointments are scheduled, but I found out when my dog developed problems, they do not have appointments available and they were unable or unwilling to fit us in. In order to be seen I had to call each morning asking for cancellations or one of the few emergency appointments. When I did get an emergency appointment ($$$), I was told by the doctor that it was a good thing I got my pet in because she had developed complications including a corneal ulcer. That ulcer grew from barely noticeable to noticeable. I called first thing Tuesday morning asking for a cancellation or emergency appointment and I was told there were none. I called again on Wednesday and was told the same thing. Thursday was Thanksgiving and when I asked if they were open on Friday, I was told they were not. Because VCA did not take my concerns and my pet’s aftercare seriously, I watched over the course of 7 days the ulcer grow larger and deeper. It was heartbreaking and mentally stressful to watch this happen and know that the place I trusted with her eyes did not care about her. I did not know where to turn for further opthamology help. Thankfully when I came to leave my review, I found another reviewer mentioned an eye clinic in Sorrento Valley. The new clinic was able to get her in on an emergency basis on Tuesday. They told me that the ulcer was so large and so deep she was at risk of bursting the eye. The options were to remove the eye or attempt a graft. They were able to fit her into surgery the next day in an attempt to save her eye by performing a corneal graft. They were shocked that a clinic who had performed a major eye surgery could/would not take care of an existing client and allowed the pet to suffer. Because VCA did not properly take care of us, my dog progressed to needing another expensive surgery or removing the eye, also an additional expense. Before leaving this review, I again reached out to the Business Manager to tell her that I would be sharing this experience. Once again I was told how it was an issue of (lacking) staffing versus the demand for service. I understand that veterinary ophthalmologists are hard to come by, but priority should be given to existing clients and those with emergency conditions. VCA Business model is apparently simply to take your money without any continuing concern or care for your pet. Corporate VCA should step in and make some major business changes. Focus on something other than the money instead of risking the health of the pets and the mental well-being of their owners.

Dr. Strubbe and the staff here are friendly and do their best but are always insanely busy and often have to book appointments 3-4 months out. This is problematic because if your dog winds up on medications that need to be closely managed, they often can't schedule you in as soon as necessary or when you think dosage may need to be adjusted. They routinely struggle to keep up with prescription refills, which I request be sent to Costco to avoid the outrageous prices at their pharmacy. The reason for my low rating is that they called in the wrong medication and did not call in the correct medication for four days despite my repeatedly calling them. This resulted in my dog going without her steroids for five days (!), all the while my dog's immune system starts attacking any pigmented cells in her body. Now I fear her glaucoma is worsening and the skin on her nose and lips is broken open and scabbing over. Calling to see about getting in for an appointment, I got the standard "bring her in for an emergency visit ($$$), wait around all day (because that's realistic), and we'll see what we can do." No apologies or productive solution was offered and minimal (if any) concern was expressed for her well-being. Now I'm here playing doctor adjusting her dosage and trying to get her in to see her regular vet. I'd definitely recommend bringing your pet into this practice for diagnosis, but as it stands they are horrible when it comes to managing long-term care.

Great doctors who take good care of my fearful, reactive dog.

I can't say enough good things about the staff here. My dog Frank is really anxious about restraint and handling for vet care. I am a fear free certified trainer, but with COVID severely limiting our ability to practice with strangers present, I wasn't able to train him for an eye exam by strangers. My regular vet and I were convinced this exam would need to be done under sedation. I was really skeptical when they insisted on trying to examine him first with just the normal anti-anxiety meds he takes prior to vet visits. Everyone here was wonderful and clearly used to dealing with anxious pets. Dr. Cooper and vet tech Krista took time to help Frank feel comfortable with all the things they needed to do and were able to complete the exam without sedation! He was not stressed at all afterwards. Frank's issue turned out to not require further treatment at this point, but if we ever need further eye care, I will absolutely return here. If you pet needs specialty eye care, you will not find a better group of caring professionals than this. Thank you so much.

All they care about is money. We were told we can call in to get a prescription renewed, but our vet has moved, so they said I need to make an appt and bring my cat in. The next available appt is in 2 months. They couldn’t care less about animals, just the money money money

We were very relieved as a result of this appointment and are much more hopeful that our dogs skin problems will reduce and diminish.

I took my pug/ chihuahua in for routine cataract surgery. Her eyes became very cloudy a few days after surgery. I called the office and was told to continue the eye drops. We went in for exam after exam because her eye site never improved. She was falling off the sidewalk and bumping into walls. Dr Strubbe minimized the whole thing and we continued on the same eye drops for over a year. One of these drops was Prednisone. I questioned the long term use of this as I was concerned about her developing Diabetes. He showed no concern at all. Just continue the drops 3 times a day. So, after a year and a half of my poor little dog getting eye drops 3 times a day, she developed diabetes. She became sicker and sicker and we had to euthanize her. I am very disappointed with not being told the truth while my dog progressively went blind, and the negligence of continuing a steroid for over a year

Love the staff! Even with covid and having to be parked in my car I could tell my little turtle Spike got loving exam day care. My turtle's eye issue is complicated and they provided alot of options without being pushy and had wonderful follow up. I will keep them in mind for my animals eye care in the future.

Dr. Strubbe and the staff at VCA Eye Clinic have been amazing! My dog had cataracts in both eyes and was almost blind. Thankful he was a candidate for the surgery. It’s been a year and a half and he is doing great with his eyesight. The most important things that we have done is to diligently put the drops in his eyes EVERY day/several times a day, and to go in for eye pressure checks every 2 months & full time exams every 4 months.

Was very happy with my experience with Benjamin, the technician, and Dr. Strubbe. Even though it wasn't the best news for our dog, Bubba, we felt they gave him the best care and understood to be gentle with him in his condition (he had cancer). Benjamin was very sweet and was very patient with my partner and I when we had to make some serious decisions for Bubba and referred us to a at home euthanasia vet that was so sweet to our fur baby in his last hours. Thank you for giving Bubba the best care and referring us to someone you trusted.

The people are extremely nice here and help in every way possible.

Spike is having eye surgery this Wednesday.

Dr. Strube is the best! Our dog has been a patient for 3 years now and we highly recommend the team there.

Baxter’s surgeon was awesome! I was really pleased by him! Yet, he DID tell me he that Baxter could have a follow up at any time. It’s been a little less than two years, and the hospital did not want to do that! They wanted to charge an extra $180 after spending over $3,000. So, my end result, Not satisfied!

Eye clinic has great vets and techs! Love from Catarina.

They did a great surgery on our dogs

I can't state enough how incredibly important it is to not only listen but DOCUMENT everything from the dog owners. We explicitly told the vet after them constantly pushing steroidal eye drops on our dog, that we are NOT interested. In her last checkup they added it in and my husband did not know what they were, he thought it was part of her regular drops that our dog needed for her healing. They did not tell him it was steroids. We were advised from another vet that we were with for years and trusted that this was a terrible approach for her eye condition. Thankfully we realized early enough. Plenty of other clinics for animal eye care.

I find this Vet to be questionable. My dog has eye allergies that causes one eye to swell and discharge. Our regular Vet has prescribed Apoquel and it does help her. Well as Spring hath sprung we took her here for a second opinion as she had a flare-up. They had her for four hours since we had to drop her off due to C-19 protocols. They obviously did not let her go to the bathroom nor give her water. We received a call from the doctor who recommended surgery to stop her lower eyelid from turning in. He also told us she had a "tumor" on her upper lid and a "warty mass" on the top of her head. We thought it was just a hot spot. He wanted to two 3 procedures. Surgery on the lower lid, laser for the "tumor", and laser for the "warty mass". His pitch was very used car salesmen. I asked him, "What is the underlying cause for her eye swelling?" He said he didn't know but they would monitor it after surgery. I said, "If you don't know why it's swelling, won't the swelling come back?" He said if it does, we can do another surgery. Then without provocation or question he says, "If this were my dog I would do this without hesitation". I was like, "Go pick her up now". It was $211 dollars for this eval and some eye gel. We go to our regular Vet. They said, it's her allergies. They put dye in her eye to check for tears, (this other place did not), and said her eye was fine. She has a "stye" on her upper lid and they reccomended a warm compress. She also had a hot spot on her head. They gave us antibiotics and anti-inflammatories along with Apoquel. No mention of tumors, surgery, or an emergency. If you do use this vet and they recommend surgery, I would recommend getting a second opinion. They were my second opinion and now I wish we went to VSH. My husband did say that everyone was friendly. I do not plan on returning.

First off, Todd Strubbe is such a knowledgeable and skilled Ophthalmologist. He surgically treated one of our pugs who was starting to go blind from too much pigment on his cornea. After the operation, our dog Nacho has continued to have excellent vision and has not further diminished from best we can tell. Our other dog Buster was older and we opted for medical therapy (eye drops) and he’s maintained his limited vision since then. I took one of our other dogs to a different Ophthalmologist who had terrible bedside manner, and who offered no treatment for our dog’s eye problem. This is the place to go if your dog has eye problems.

My dog had a routine eye surgery on Wednesday, May 13, 2020, had a follow up visit one week later on Wednesday, May 20, 2020...I now had a dead dog in my living room. He was a healthy puppy ( 6 months) who went I for a Roy time cherry eye surgery. We called all week and told them he was not acting like himself, the doctor told us to continue the medication. He cleared his follow-up appointment yesterday, the doctor said he was healthy. My husband called this morning and said the dog was not doing well, The doctor now said to stop the medication, my dog died 6 hours later. The manger of the clinic said sorely, but not our fault, get an autopsy to figure it out. I paid $4000 for a surgery that killed my dog. Of course the clinic does not respond. Stay away from this clinic, they are unprofessional and insensitive. We lost a family member, they got paid so they are good. What a terrible loss...

Things started a little rough when they gave away my appointment to someone else when I had carefully arranged time off work for that day and time and it was a bit of a drive for me and my cat. I even had a confirmation email, but they wouldn't give me my appointment back and insisted on me rescheduling instead of the other person. But they are one of the very few animal opthalmologists in the county, so I was kind of stuck. Once we got there, I was very impressed by their professionalism. They were perfectly on schedule, even during COVID-19, and had everything perfectly worked out for essentially touchless service. The doctor called my cell and explained everything she found in the exam in a very clear and easy-to-understand way. They even shared all their findings directly with our regular vet so I didn't have to. I would go back again, but as they are veterinary specialists, I hope we don't have to!

Dr. Cooper is a wonderful and caring doctor. Her and her staff were extremely helpful when my sweet cat, Moses, was diagnosed with a rare nasal cancer. Highly recommend!

Very helpful. Even with terrible news they were great.

Good place for doggie eye check-up

Thank you for seeing Ryko! Very friendly staff that was patient and took the time to explain everything.

Bad service and shady doctors who prey on the emotions of their patients

Dr Cooper is very clear and super nice when she is explaining what treatment to recommend. She has treated both my cats and they r doing excellent under her care. I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend dr Cooper and all the staff for taking such great care of my furry babies. I just can’t say enough great things about this particular eye clinic. They r awesome!!!!!!!!

I wish I could give this place more credit than 2 stars but I feel that it’s the most fair after the experiences I’ve had here. I’ll start with the good - Dr. Strubbe was knowledgeable in the diagnosis of my cat, Jax, but it was apparently a guessing game at the expense of my cat when it came to treatments. After one month of using a topical immunosuppressive drop with little success, we switched to a topical steroid at a high daily frequency which caused a flare-up. So it was “back to the drawing board” and finally, during our third and final visit, we were prescribed 6-12 rounds of drops PER DAY in each eye with 5 minutes between each drop, each round consisting of 3-4 different types of drops. So basically that’s about FOUR HOURS worth of eye drops every single day. With his diagnosis being heavily triggered by stress, surely a vet wouldn’t be telling me to put that much stress on my cat?? Like are you kidding me? And this was just a guessing game for the vet who wasn’t even sure if it would work or not. Just to add to everything we were in the middle of moving (so much stress for a cat) and got so much attitude when we asked for more pain meds until we were able to bring him in again... we got a big fat NO from them. Switching ophthalmologists was the best option for my cat, even though VCA refused to send over our records.

Genuine care and compassion, along with professional training and know how