For The Birds San Jose, California

This place is an absolute racket. Proving once again health care for any living body is reserved for the rich. Multiple visits have resulted in little to no action to actually help my pets but this place has no issue charging you hundreds of dollars to just walk in the door. Need simple antibiotics? You can expect over $200 for that visit. The bird needs to spend the night because it’s having difficulty laying an egg? That’ll be $1000 Your bird got injured and needs a suture? That’ll be $700. It’s a shame that so much suffering needs to occur because of the greed running rampant in this Bay Area. Euthanasia is by far the cheapest and most effective “treatment” these people will provide, obviously with the mental toll it takes to make a decision like that. I guess I’ll be taking my pet home and hope for the best as I watch them suffer because no body is willing to help for a reasonable rate. At this point I am purchasing my medicine through the internet and learning to DIY these procedures because that’s the only option left to receive any kind of health care I can afford in this country.

The nurse person was lovely and wonderful. The vet can go f-k herself. Ive never seen more rude and horrible customer service from a vet. Try telling me what needs fixing instead of making it sound like my bird is going to die tomorrow unless i change his habits. I need to do a diagnostics test but believe me I will not be coming back here to do so.

Loved this store, helped me with my parakeets and will bring them back.

I called Friday morning to express my pet parakeet was wheezing. I wanted to bring in my parakeet as soon as possible. I was told there was nothing available until Tuesday! I then asked if there was anything I could do from now until then and they would not suggest anything. So unprofessional and inhumane. My sons parakeet ended up dying yesterday!! Could have possibly be saved.

I love the whole staff especially Dr Fern and Karina!! I wouldn't trust anyone else with my feathered family ❤️

Excellent vet practice, providing exceptional care and customer service for all your avian needs!

Our new Vet! :))))))

It's all about the money . They tried to sell me a costly complete exam many times . They really could care less about doing a proper visual exam .that was 75. I learned nothing . Soon after I went to vet in redwood City and asked for the same visual exam on my bird .they also asked to do a more complete exam. The doctor talked to me personally and I learned a vast amount of information from him about my bird from just a visual exam .I did add a cbc and fecal test. It's was about 200 total .

The place is not human friendly.

Best bird vet around, helpful friendly staff, all you newd for a hapoy,, healthy bird . Ive been going there for years so can truly say i highly recommed

The best care for your little birdies. We took our very veery sick Green Cheek Conure- emergency- he started throwing up and For the Birds took such amazing care of him.

I loved it and they were really nice and positive, very helpful, definitely suggest them

Very professional and always attentive to our pet. Informed and helpful

Staff is inexperienced and lack professionalism in customer service. # of visits = 2 1. They charge hefty amount so be careful and ask it upfront. Don't be surprise when you see your bills $300+ and there is no up limit to it (thousands). 2. They do extreme treatments that you did not ask for or bird did not need (X-rays/overdose of medications without proper diagnosis, unnecessary putting in oxygen when problem is not lack of oxygen but something else). Super pressing on keeping bird for days (overnight) without proper diagnosis. When going home, force pet owner to take the container with us, which is nothing other than a plastic storage box. We have plenty at home why we should rent from you? Even if you give it free with deposit held, why? If I don't need it, I don't need it. Lastly, upon refusal, pet owner gets to see their faces that they make with rudeness. 3. Turning point for me -- They make you feel guilty as if you don't know what you are doing as a pet owner. From everything like diet, keeping bird in and out of cage, type of cage, how you brought the bird in (what type of pet carrier) etc. If they want to educate a pet owner there is a way to do it, but they don't do that way. They make you feel so horrible as a pet owner as if everything we are doing is wrong here and even all the pet stores. So whatever food, toys, perch, and cages they are selling is toxic for birds and not the appropriate stuff for birds. 4. Moment I realized their bill was multiplying I immediately called another pet hospital in Santa Clara and this staff at "For the Birds" made faces and commented further to give pet owner more guilt if pet owner choose not to keep the birds with them. As a pet owner, I told them I am not happy with service and I care about my bird, just taking them to another place. They just assume and started giving me guilt trip and used verbiage that provided strong objection and consequence of leaving their place without full treatment i.e "your bird will die" (at that point my bill had increased to $600 already. I got proper diagnosis, love, care and treatment for my bird at other pet hospital. Bird is still alive and healthy. If you want your bird alive and not spill money from your wallet because they will surely milk it, do not go to this place. I lost trust in them forever.

Piggybacking off what Ash said below; I can only speak for my experience with Dr. Van Sant, but I hope to god her staff is much more professional than she is. Not to mention Dr. Van Sant thinks she is playing god; there easily dozens of other professionals who do her job better in the Bay Area. I brought in a cockatiel who had an accident for a visit. The clinic is predatory with their work, do not ask for authorization, and simply put they charge 2-3 times as much as any other vet. Had there been some communication, 95% of the issues would never have came up. Problems are as follows: 1) Only after dropping my bird off for the visit was I informed it would be charged as an emergency rather than a regular exam. Should have been cleared on the phone. 2) I had made it clear I consented to an exam and pain meds ONLY. The doctor then went ahead and provided other services without calling me to authorize this service. In previous experience veterinary professionals ALWAYS call to authorize care BEFORE giving it and charging you for it. 3) When asking for an estimate, I was informed services I did not authorize were already completed and billed. I called to negotiate because the bill had suddenly multiplied to more than I could afford. Dr. Van Sant was beyond rude, bordering on hostile, and threatened to call animal control because I didn't want to pay the exaggerated cost for some services I could've done at home and did not authorize. 4) Dr. Van Sant does a fantastic job of trying to guilt trip you into paying your ridiculous fee, by saying your bird will die, or be horribly disfigured without her care. Combined with the fact that they bill before you even know what you got billed for, this is downright predatory and frankly a little disgusting. 5) Like others have mentioned they try to force you to take your bird back into a plastic box. When you refuse (because most people have plastic boxes at home), they turn their noses up at you In summary save your money, see another avian vet. This place is obviously only in it for the cash. Find a place that will actually care for our bird, not milk you for every cent they can.

Birds vet is very acknowledge and nice, she explained us everything about our cockatiel and helped me to calm him down after being traumatized in the pet store. I highly recommend her!

Expert veterinary care for birds by highly qualified, experienced, and skilled veterinarians. I have known Dr Van Sant as a friend and professional colleague for nearly 30-yrs and highly recommend her.

I'm so grateful for For The Birds. That staff is kind and experienced and very, very knowledgeable. I feel like my bird is in great hands!

Best bird vets n fabulous staff

Great place for taking care of pet birds and boarding.

Dr. VanSant and her crew are wonderful!!! I took my cockatiel Sweetie Pie in on an emergency trauma and these people absolutely amazed me with not only kindness when I walked in but heartfelt care for my bird, but including phone calls on updates as well as recommending the best way to keep my baby comfortable during recovery. Their always happy to answer any questions no matter how many times I might call to make sure I'm doing things right or worried about something I may not be sure of. For the Birds is the best place to go with best Doctor/crew! I THANK YOU ALL for being here at this emotional time for me. God Bless ❤

the receptionis and the dr are very friendly and profecional. They always tell you what food and toys are best for your birds!????????

Brought my newly bought sun conure for check up about 10 months ago. Paid $300 for the visit and tests. Was given a folder with some general educational information about owning a parrot. Was told that the bird is in such a bad condition, she even managed to hear heart murmur in less than 5 second listening to the bird's heart. Told me they can give me cardiologist 's contact. No thank you. She gave bird a vitamin A shot. Took blood. They were supposed to contact me after the test results came, usually1 - 1,5 weeks. Didn't hear from them for 3 weeks. Finally after third call I got the test results. Delivered In oral form by phone. Needless to say nobody ever bothered to send the results to me. They called me soon after to schedule my next visit. I declined politely. The parrot is doing great btw. No, I wouldn't recommend this place.

Great staff. Very informative and compassionate.

Best avian specialist vet I have found. Very knowledgeable and insightful.

The staff here is SUPER nice and they know what they are doing. The appointments are super quick too.

We come to buy foods for the birds ; is very nice place to shop their food, the lady give us a lots recommendations, thanks

Dr. Van Sant is great.

Dr Van Zant is one of the very best.

Expert bird care! My parrot hurt her leg in a fall and For The Birds checked her out, provided me with care instructions, rented a hospital cage and did a follow up. She's all better now and will become our new vet for our birds.