Advanced Veterinary Care of San Elijo San Marcos, California

If you are here to look for feedback to make a decision about this practice, I suggest you keep looking. I have experienced a series of mishaps and miscommunications at this clinic that have resulted, among other things, in my Pomeranian "accidentally" being shaved to the skin without my knowledge or consent due to internal lack of communication and poor oversight. Almost a year later, his fur has still not grown back. The final straw was my experience on November 18 when a stressful day was turned into a near crisis by Dr. Diana Deckert, who was more interested in proving she was right than in understanding the needs of her client. After delays in care - a visit that was expected to take less than an hour turned into a half day escapade complete with boarding fees - were followed by errors in the financial estimate, miscommunication about picking up the dog, and aggressive, condescending communication from the vet who literally hung up on me when I tried to advocate for my pet and myself. To my shock, I received a letter in the mail a few days later from the practice unilaterally terminating my dog's care - without even the courtesy of a call to understand my perspective. To reiterate, the patient's care was terminated in the middle of a clinical issue without any follow up care or concern for continuity, handoff, etc. The letter stated they would be happy to forward my dogs records to me so I could seek further care, which took me two phone calls and 24 hours to receive. I was told the vet needed to "screen the record" before it was turned over to me. When I reviewed the records, the latest entry from Dr. Deckert was a 2 page diatribe clearly intended to document her dislike for me, rather than my pet's clinical care. It was an obvious attempt to cover herself and the practice from their horrendously insensitive and unprofessional actions. The only reason I have given 2 stars instead of 1 is that Dr. Thomas seems to be a kind person with high standards. It is a shame that her standards are not reflected in the operations of the clinic. Actions speak louder than words!

I will never ever go back there again. I will not take my dearest dog to this unfriendly, uncomfortable, and unwelcoming environment again.The staff was not pet friendly... they are not trained properly.. These kind of heartless people shouldn’t work in the veterinary environment. We went there on Saturday early morning. Never again...

Our Vet was very thorough and truly cared about our new dog. She gave us lots of great suggestions and ideas on how to care for her and to help us deal with her separation anxiety.

Do yourself a solid favor And TAKE YOUR PET SOMEWHERE ELSE!! My experience here was unsatisfactory to say the least. I found the staff to be very non personable. It felt like the veterinarian made every attempt to not talk to me! One staff member who kept identifying herself as "lead receptionist" talked to me in a demeaning tone, was brushing me off and kept interruptung me. She was very unpleasant and kept talking to me like she knew better, i want to hear advice about my pet from a nurse or the doctor not the chick who just works the front desk.. I felt like I was being talked down to. Not to mention the prices are ridiculous and they will insist on an exam to address any issue even when you've come in recently for an exam all so they can over charge you. For the amount of money I spent very displeased it seemed like my pet was just a number to them and I was just someone they had to deal with.

I'm so very happy we found advanced veterinary care of San Elijo! Our experiences with the staff have been excellent every time. We've had horrible experiences in the past with other vet clinics so finding this place literally brought me to tears. When you have questions the staff will go over it all with you. They are always professional and kind anytime we have visited. Thank you to all the staff! ????

My Moose had his teeth cleaned and several extracted... great staff. Moose was a happy camper here..

Very kind, very helpful staff. I really appreciate the time and patience spent in explaining everything going on. I've not once felt rushed off the phone or otherwise.

Can’t say enough about the team here, top notch service from techs to the vets. Highly recommend AVC of San Elijo!

Thank you for taking such great care of our pup every time! AVC is professional and informative.

Brought my puppy in to establish care when he was 8 weeks old. The vet tech(male) we had for the initial 3 visits we were there for shots was nice on the surface, but did quite a bit of lecturing without being asked to. This was not our first dog and he knew that, so the information he was giving on things such as training, behavior and such, came across as too much and was delivered in a condescending way. Because of covid I only spoke with the vet on the phone, and she seemed nice. After the interaction with the tech my husband and I considered going to a different vet, but decided not to, since we didn’t have a problem with the vet, only with the vet tech. However, after reaching out for a same day appointment on my sick puppy, I dealt with a different person in the office whom was also not very pleasant. In addition to not getting an appointment, when I asked if they ever did same day appointments I was given a lengthy answer that made no sense. Basically it was a yes, but you have to wait a lot and it is gonna cost you a lot more. ???? I am going to bring my baby elsewhere. Like I said above this is not a review on there actual veterinarian but on the tech and desk staff.

Best and most caring Drs and vet techs. They truly care and love our fur child. Never over prescribe medications or procedures. They just want our babies to be their healthiest. Thank you!!

They are the best! I bring all of my dogs to them, and they go out of their way to make sure my dogs receive the best treatment. Brenden and the other techs are so caring and awesome. It’s hard to find trusting vets, but I 100% trust advanced vet care with all my dogs.

This place is *amazing.* On the first visit, they figured out what had been making our cat sluggish and barfy for 6+ years (no other vet was able to figure this out). Within 2 weeks of the special diet and probiotics they prescribed him, he was a different cat- no more stomach problems, and no more constantly sleeping. He's exploring and playing and seems to be enjoying his day-to-day cat activities. About 2 months ago, we noticed a growth on him, which turned out to be a tumor. They did an excellent job with the surgery and our cat feels EVEN BETTER. He's gone from sleeping all the time to causing mischief and being generally cat-like. It's like he's a different cat. You can tell he feels good for the first time in his life. Thank you for giving our cat a great quality of life that no other vet was able to do. We appreciate you!!!!!

LOVE all the vets and every single person on staff...so loving and patient with my fur babies!❤️

Great Vet- the people are so nice and truly love their job and the babies they take care of. My only issue was pricing- we got a proposal for teeth cleaning and it was extremely high. (like really high). When it comes to my 2 babies I cant put a price on their health but dang the teeth cleaning should not break the bank. However the staff here was so kind and caring and my babies had no anxiety at all which is pretty awesome.

Always such a great experience!

Everyone is so nice, helpful and knowledgeable.

Very expensive, but very thorough and good. The practice is very concerned with the animals’ comfort — to the point where they nearly refused to get a stool sample from my cat the difficult way. I had to beg and insist quarantine would be impossible; but I was grateful they were so sensitive about the animal’s comfort. I did not feel rushed, which I appreciated.

Such an amazing establishment! They always take great care of my fur baby even though he's massive and an anxious wreck when he's being checked. They always get to the bottom of any issue right away!

Dr. Rhiel is so professional, yet caring. She saved our dog Brady. Thanks to her and her wonderful staff.

I cannot speak highly enough of the staff here. Today we had to make one of the hardest decisions of our lives and say goodbye to our 14 year old “boonie” dog. The staff was kind, compassionate, sensitive, loving, caring, and gentle throughout the whole process; to our dog but also to us too. If you’re looking for a vet who will care for your fur babies like you do, go see them.

They really care about their customer. Would recommend to anyone .

Very friendly and always do a great job with my dog. My dog is always excited to go here, she loves everyone here.

They take fantastic care of your pet! Our puppy has had a number of incidences and we're new dog owners. From handling emergencies to educating us about what to do about crating, food, and nutrition these doctors are there for us to answer our questions and guide us as new pet owners.

Very knowledgable staff and very caring towards your animals...feels like home.

Really pleased with Dr. Thomas' genuine honest care for Buster.

Excellent classes for kids!!! My daughter loved the hands on experience, being a "vet for a day"! Great for homeschool science unit (what we used it for), or for any kids who love animals or might be interested in becoming a vet. I appreciated that it was of a much higher educational value than many field trips we have done in the past. Usually kids have to just sit and listen and watch, but this was extremely interactive and the kids were given a lot of responsibility to give the animals examinations. My daughter and her friends came home and looked over all of our pets .... her knowledge and confidence has increased a lot just from one class. We would like to come back for more.

The doctors there are extremely caring! They saved my little birds life. I absolutely loved my experience here!