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October 2024 by Amanda Peck
Dr. A (Andrew Arriola) and the whole staff at Animal Hospital of South Bay is wonderful. I brought my dog, Sophie, a 7 year old maltese-shih tzu, here after leaving my previous vet, just for a routine checkup as well as to observe a cough she had developed. He diagnosed her that day with heart disease which was obviously a shock as she had been nothing but healthy according to our previous vet. He took X-rays and showed us everything and walked us through it all.
As a puppy, we were told by our previous vet that she had a heart murmur but to bring her in every 6 months for a check up so they could continue to keep an eye on it. We thought they were monitoring it but according to Dr. A, they were not. This was extremely jarring to hear but Dr. A was very reassuring that with proper medication (that we started immediately) and seeking a cardiologist, we could delay her heart failure. Throughout this whole process Dr. A understood our surprise, sadness, and frustrations and did an amazing job at educating and comforting me and my family.
After following the proper protocol and doing everything we could for Sophie to ensure she was comfortable, we unfortunately made the decision to euthanize and, when we did, Dr. A and his staff were extremely supportive. After her passing, we received a card signed by all the staff members which meant a lot. Although we lost Sophie, Dr. A was able to buy us invaluable time with her that we wouldn't have gotten had we never gone to him and stayed at our previous vet -- grateful doesn't even begin to cover it.
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October 2024 by Rebecca Aurelia
It is hard to overstate how compassionate, kind, and thoughtful this entire office is. Everyone from the front desk to the doctors are extremely professional and compassionate.
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October 2024 by Haerim Ryan
Poor professionalism and customer service after a puppy’s death
On August 5th, we lost our ‘healthy’ (according to the multiple vets at this hospital through regular check-ups) 6 months old puppy, Luna, during the spay surgery. Per post mortem which hospital offered to pay for, we learned that she had a congenital heart condition. This is a devastating experience to any pet parents, but the hospital’s poor professionalism and prioritization of their business interests were so outwardly at display throughout the whole experience. There were vital signs missing in the surgery records which the hospital shared is caused by a broken machine. Sure, given the heart condition, the hospital didn’t “kill” our puppy technically, but we are not returning to this place again based on how things were handled after the death.
Few examples:
- Lack of access to the vet who performed the surgery: when my husband and I arrived at the hospital, we talked to the vet (Dr. Andrew Arriola, who performed the surgery) for 5 minutes. He has always had the bad bedside manner as he is impatient in explaining things in laymen’s term. (FYI, we are not in the medical field) As distraught as we were at that time, he was certainly not the most comforting figure to be around. Those 5 minutes were ALL we got since August 5th. The vet who performed surgery, leading to our puppy’s sudden death, was only willing to chat with us for 5 minutes.
- Disarray at the front desk: when we sent Luna’s body to the necropsy facility, we specifically requested the report to be sent to us directly once available. I had to make 5 different calls between the hospital and the facility to confirm that was done. Front desk staffs are always short staffed and they do not follow-up, leading us to call them multiple times for a simple task.
- Lack of urgency: as we reviewed the surgery records, there were missing vital signs, and the doctor’s notes were illegible. We asked the front desk on August 6th to perform a medical review to understand what exactly happened during the surgery. On August 21st, we found out they never started the review process, asking us for additional 45-60 business days.
- Refusal to exchange communications over emails: the medical director, Dr Roberto J. Marchan, reached out to us few days later Luna’s death wanting to talk on the phone. Again, we are not in the medical field, and medical jargon goes over our head. So we asked him to send us his findings about missing vital signs from the surgery record and their theory on what happened to Luna so we can pre-read and digest them before getting on the phone without getting too emotional. He refused to share anything via email and kept requesting to talk over the phone. When we point blanked asked if there are any things to share with us based on his findings, he said no. That’s when we knew this hospital is just a business at the end of the day. That really hurt our feeling.
- Lack of empathy: on the day of Luna’s death, we were in one of the exam rooms holding Luna’s dead body for 7 hours. We were in shock, and grieving. It was difficult to let go and accept. During those 7 hours, nobody offered us water or came in to check in unless we went out looking for a staff.
- No flowers, no condolence cards: I know the hospitals are business at the end of the day. But we have been taking Luna to this place since she was 8 weeks old for regular check-ups and vaccinations. Even our daycare that Luna attended for THREE DAYS sent us a card filled with kind notes from all staffs that met Luna.
We have another older dog, and we are never returning to this place ever again. Puppy’s death alone was tragic, but the hospital’s treatment of the situation during such a difficult time really showed us who they are.
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October 2024 by Ashley Hankus
The receptionists at the front was rude as hell to me. I asked her how my kitty was not how long it would be. Yea I know I look like a impatient child. I’m 19 like I want to know if she is freaking out she’s a cat for dogs sake like come on don’t be snarky.
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October 2024 by AC Spencer
Wonderful care was given to our precious dog! She wouldn't be here today if the Animal Hospital of South Bay hadn't taken her in without an appointment and made time for her emergency surgery. The vet and office loved and saved our dog. We couldn't be more grateful. Doctor A. was so empathetic and caring and the staff was as well. They didn't want to perform unnecessary surgery so they referred us to a specialist. If she would have had the surgery at the specialist's hospital, it would have cost $12,000 which we could not afford. The staff at Animal Hospital of South Bay took her in and performed the surgery for a more reasonable price. Their staff is extremely loving and kind and we couldn't be more grateful.
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October 2024 by Marc Salonsky
Good attentive care and service. Doctors communicate clearly and professionally. Staff is friendly and caring. Highly recommended!
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October 2024 by Laura YouTube
Best vet in our area and staff is amazing.
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October 2024 by justin morrisroe
Great staff, can get you in when you need to, and extremely pleasant when you are there.
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October 2024 by Gordon Shotwell
The staff and prices for my visit was fantastic
Will be my vet for my animals
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October 2024 by JM S
I brought my cat in for what I thought was a UTI. The vet did an ultrasound and said it looked like she had a bladder stone. An assistant came into the room with a breakdown of the costs for x-rays, urinalysis, analysis etc.. A cost of $1,000 just to determine what she had?! That was a bit of a shock considering my cat seemed fine (eating, sleeping, and playing normally) except that she kept going in and out of her litter box. I was also told that if she had a calcium oxalate stone it would cost $4-5,000 to remove. A male assistant told me that bladder stones can only be removed by surgery, which isn't true. Thankfully the doctor clarified that for me. Rather than agreeing to pay for the tests I decided that I wanted to do a little research first. The vet gave me a prescription for pet food (which I appreciated). Two days later my cat was acting normally and had no trouble peeing. I also ordered Tinkle Tonic from Amazon and that might have helped as well. I just wish the doctor had given me the option of changing her diet before I was told she needed all of those expensive tests. If she had been very ill and not peeing at all, that would have been a different story and I would have done anything for her. I must say that the people at the hospital didn't make me feel guilty for not agreeing to have her tested. Everyone there was very nice.
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August 2024 by Simone Ruff
My family and I have been bringing our cats & dogs for 10+ years. They have taken good care of our pups Lucy, Smokey & Onyx. Thank you guys so much!
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August 2024 by Norma Soto
Best knows
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August 2024 by Zoi Flores
Do not trust this clinic, my cat her name was MIA" was coughing, On May 2024 I went to the clinic and the doctorlady said that my cat was very well and that she is breathing well.
I went home trusting in her words that everything was fine, but after a month my cat coughed again and opened her mouth as if wanting air.
I went to the emergency room at Access Hospital in Torrance made the doctor examens told me that my cat had neomonia caused by the feline herpesvirus.
El doctor put her on treatment pero died because the disease was advanced.
If the doctor lady at Animal Hospital Of South Bay had given me the diagnosis and makes examens, I might have saved her. Now I cry a lot for my cat "my beautiful feline daughter and I love her so much with all my soul I had her by my side for 10 years. I'm sorry for my long review but you have to know this experience with this clinic because I know the big love you feel for your animals.
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August 2024 by Naomi Szki
It’s clean office, veterinarian is nice.
I hope there is reasonable price for rescued animal to help more.
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July 2024 by Ro Israel
Booking an appointment was quick and easy, which was a huge relief given our dog's urgent need. The front desk staff was friendly and Dr. A, who attended to our dog demonstrated commendable knowledge and professionalism.
