VCA Hillcrest Animal Hospital San Diego, California

Dr. Garcia, Desiree and the rest of the staff at VCA Hillcrest Animal Hospital have been incredibly amazing from start to finish. I have been seeing the team for 4 months now. I have a senior citizen corgi who developed a series of skin issues after moving to San Diego, amongst a list of other issues. The team at VCA Hillcrest Animal Hospital was patient, thoughtful and crafted a comprehensive treatment plan. They were collaborative, and helped explain each diagnosis in an insane level of detail. Dr. Garcia, thank you so much for going above and beyond for Robbie and I. Thank you for checking every few days proactively to make sure Robbie and I were doing well. Your dedication to your work and animals is very apparent. Appreciate you so much! Dr. Garcia gets a solid 5 star review, and I recommend him to all my friends in San Diego, CA. If you're considering VCA Hillcrest, here are a few notable watchpoints, which bumped my rating to a 4 star: Overall cost - The bills are pretty expensive. Please be sure to review the itemized bill! I caught one or two errors before, and the friendly staff was quick to help. Medication cost - They're insanely overpriced. Ask for prescriptions and order them via Chewy.com, if your pet can wait a day or two. This can be unavoidable at times, depending on your treatment plan. Older building - The facility is an older building, which does need to be renovated.

Told wrong date for appointment and wasn't able to get in at the time I had arrived without dropping pet off for 3+ hours. Missed out on free VCA appointment for rescue due to this.

Everyone on the VCA Hillcrest team are friendly and welcoming. This was my first visit with my dog and we have found the team that we will work with!

My first time coming here for my kitten was wonderful! The Covid protocols were very welcome and safe. They took good care of my kitten's check up and shots and made sure I was well informed of everything that was going on despite not being able to be in the room. Thank you Dr. Craig for taking care of Taako!!

This clinic is one of the best, if not the best, in San Diego. When I first adopted my dogs and cats, I was taking them to another vet, another company, and had a very bad experience. Then I learned about VCA Hillcrest through the VCA Emergency and Referral Center. Dr. Lew was my pets' first doctor and he was so patient and caring. He always answered all of my questions. Then, I met Drs. Kinshella and Solorzano and I was also greatly impressed by their patience, honesty, and true honest care for my pets. I cannot say enough about what this clinic has done for all of my pets. I am just really sad that I have now moved too far and can't make the drive to Hillcrest as often. But I strongly recommend this clinic, their staff, the technicians and most importantly the doctors.

Poor communication and follow up. Incredibly expensive, even for an emergency clinic.

Dr. Garcia is a fantastic veterinarian. He’s very thorough and so obviously cares about his pet patients. I’m sure through this pandemic they are busier than usual and still was able to get back to us same day. He always calls to give detailed explanations of exams or treatments. He’s also very thorough on instructions placed on pet prescriptions, which is helpful. I do wish there was a way to communicate via email because I can never get to my phone, ha! Thank you!

I have used VCA for many years for my Persian cats. Recently their services have gone from good to very poor. They no longer care about the animal just about how much money they can get from you. The VCA in Hillcrest has phone issues which they don't seem to care to fix. This has caused alot of stress for me caring for my cat with kidney disease. Really ready to find another vet that cares and has a telephone system that works.

So sweet and kind to my pets rose and chloe

The care and compassionate environment here makes it so that our little floofster loves going to the vet. He gets lots of treats and affection and we are usually in and out pretty quickly. We loved our vet there before and when he left his replacement was just as awesome. They've made it easy to order his medications during the pandemic and i recommend them to everyone. I'm a dog groomer so I hear all kinds of horror stories about the vet, but everyone I refer to VCA hillcrest has nothing but good things to say.

Staff and doctor was very helpful. The only thing is when I got there I had to call over and over to get a live person on the line to let them know I was here for my appointment. They ran about 15 minutes behind. Maybe a number for those with appointments so they know you've arrived??. Other than that from what I see things were pretty good. Thanks Covid-19... Dr. Kinshella was pretty great with my cat. Thanks to whole staff.

3 hours for them to give you an update, 3 more hours to decide and 3 more hours to finally start doing the procedures, so rude !!!!!!!!!!! in the phone the don’t care first they tell you to wait for 3 hours outside at 3am thinking it won’t take long than that , and then they tell you you can leave

Extremely rude on the phone like dang, everywhere else was super professional except whoever I spoke to.

Dr. Garcia takes such good care of my pup Brody! The staff is also very accommodating and gentle with anxious dogs like my own. I always know he's in good hands.

Best VCA I have ever taken my fur babies to. The staff is amazing and my babies love them!!!!

Dr. Garcia is truly one of a kind. The research, interest, and care he’s showed for my senior dog, Eddie, is unparalleled by any doctor I’ve ever encountered (animal or human specializes!). He explains all options while ensuring you know the decision is yours and there is no guilt associated with picking one over the other. He provides you with the information you need to make a decision. But also if you ask him what he would do, he isn’t shy to make that decisive recommendation. He always checks in post visit via text or email. As Eddie’s health declines, he’s been checking in more frequently with options for pain meds even though we haven’t been in his office in quite a few weeks. The staff at VCA Hillcrest that come out to grab Eddie (during COVID times when parents have to wait outside) are so kind and patient with the slow old guy. They genuinely are happy to see him as well. I couldn’t recommend Dr. Garcia any more. As I said at the top - he is truly one of a kind.

They took special care of my baby my Doggie T.T.

We brought our dog in over a concern for a potential eye infection. We usually bring her to VCA Market Street but they could not see her for over a week, so we took her to VCA Hillcrest. The doctor explained that it did not appear she had a serious infection but wanted to do several tests. When I indicated I did not think the testing was necessary given the eye's appearance I got push back and then despite telling them I did not want to proceed, the doctor said he would have a quote put together and they would call me back. They then called me back with the quote and I basically felt guilted into approving the tests. I was told testing would take 10 minutes. 30 minutes later I got a call that the testing results came back fine. Basically I felt like i got upsold into spending over a couple hundred dollars on testing that did not seem indicated.

They always have me in and out so quickly. They are extremely friendly and efficient and I would 10/10 reccomend this vet office and location.

Dr. Kinshella is always a pleasure to work with. He's caring and will always look out of the best for my Wasabi. We've moved away from the area, but make it a point to keep him as her vet.

They took good care of my Yorkie, and are very helpful during this crazy time

Imagine how they treat your pets they do not treat human customers with respect. Based on reviews, I was hesitant to come here but had a previous good experience with Dr. Lew who is unfortunately no longer at this location. We have only returned to this location out of sheer convenience of location. I had brought my pet in for a senior wellness exam recently, and after $400 of labs, everything was “fine.” Unfortunately our pet had fallen ill recently, did the “drop off” appointment and was recommended (over the phone) by the vet to do an abdominal X-ray. After this horrifying experience at VCA Hillcrest, we got a second opinion and was told that the X-ray was completely useless for differentiating a tumor versus a functional mass, and only an ultrasound could truly, accurately diagnose the issue. What a waste and what a complete scam. IF THE VET SUGGESTS AN X-RAY, MAKE SURE TO ASK IF IT WILL ACTUALLY BE DIAGNOSTICALLY RELEVANT VERSUS AN ULTRASOUND. Hopefully this information will save another family’s pet from being put through an irrelevant procedure and incurring additional costs. Eva returned my pet in a urine-soaked carrier, without the medications I was promised by the vet over the phone. When I asked for the medication, Eva handed it over with no instruction and when I questioned the size of the pills they expected me to administer, Eva coldly responded- “he’s a big cat he can take it.” They call you over the phone to provide a credit card payment. When I finally received the physical, itemized bill, upwards of $550, I questioned one item and Eva was incredibly rude and passive aggressive. With the way I was treated, I fear how my pet was handled without me there as a patient advocate. Clearly he was so distressed by the staff to have urinated all over his carrier.

Very responsive and caring for my little pup. I felt like she was safe im their care. Thank you for helping me get her back to health!

Very friendly staff. Very professional. My cat is a rescue from an abused home and she came back to me with little to no distressed. She was really relaxed and i love that. They took into account her past and understanding. They made sure she was fixed with minimal shaving. This is the best place I've been to for my animals. I greatly appreciate them and there understanding of my kitty cats needs.

Staff is very helpful. Great place to take your pets. The groomer, Sal is awesome. He does a fantastic job grooming my pets.

Called in to check on an online offer

They were very kind and attentive and took good care of my Trixie❤️????????????????????????

Love Dr C. He is so sweet to my cat when we go in.. front desk is very nice & they are so polite & friendly.. customer 15 yrs or more! Wow i wont go anywhere else.

I’ve been going to Vca about 3 years not only to see Drs but to have my pup groomed by Saul. The front desk girls are friendly and caring. Dr Lu was amazing with my Linus at the end of his sweet life. So kind truly caring put other clients on the back burner to make sure Linus and my family came first. Another Dr there also cared for Linus and I too appreciate his concern. The loss has been SO HARD on me! We asked for Linus’s ashes they provided them to me in a beautiful box with lock and key, a foot print of Linus paw in clay put into a beautiful bag wrapped pretty with over the rainbow book markers pomes a beautiful sincere card. I will get a pup again but still grieving bad. When I do I will take out a puppy plan with Vca Hillcrest and follow Drs orders. You can be assured your baby will get the right care

Good pet vet, friendly helpful staff.