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December 2023 by Cameron Landry
I had a wonderful first experience all around at this office. Katie was warm and welcoming at check in/check out. Nurse Danella and drs Savacool and Mower were patient with me explaining my dogs history, and incredibly kind and gentle with him considering his anxiety in the exam room. They addressed all my concerns and I feel confident about their treatment plan and with returning to the office for future visits. Thank you!
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December 2023 by Melody Bracken
I love this clinic. They listen to your concerns and are very caring. Dr. Megan was so caring when I brought one of my dogs that was having a hard time breathing. She took x-rays and found she had fluid in her pleural cavity. She was very honest but In a caring way that these types of things rarely have a good outcome but sent us to Ontario where they could drain it and see what's going on. Sadly there was a mass in her lung but they said it's unknown how long before she would fill with fluid. Sadly it was only 2 days later that she was having a hard time breathing again and we had to send her across the rainbow Bridge where I know my husband who passed last year welcomed her with excitement. It's one of the hardest things to lose a loved pet but everyone at this clinic is always caring abd we're blessed to havethem in out community
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December 2023 by Huf No
I called the day I received spay/neuter vouchers from the county. VCA was accepted. I went with them because the vouchers have a time limit and they were the only clinic we called thus far who could get my animals in on time. Lady on the phone told me they will accept my voucher and there should be no cost until the surgery date. I go there, they want me to pay after minimally checking my dogs out (teeth, temp, and feeling my dog’s sides, and when I came in I weighed my own giant dog and my puppy with their machine which was very hard because they were stressed and no one offered any help). I try to give my vouchers when they ask for payment and she said no they won’t cover the required check up they just did and the required shot to get the animals fixed (which ended up costing WAY more than the surgeries combined with my vouchers help). I told the lady the person on the phone said they’d accept and that it wouldn’t cost us anything today, but nope she didn’t believe me. I even asked if they recorded phone calls still nothing. They threw me out and my animals and treated me like a thief. Why not tell me over the phone things will cost a lot for a check up and a rabies shot and that it’s not covered by my voucher? Why not tell me before you take me to the exam room then lie to me and say you told me before the exam started? Just more lying like on the phone. It’s so obvious if you told me before hand why would I even waste my time there? I took work off that day as well just to go. The whole reason I have a voucher is because I’m quite literally struggling I didn’t have money to pay for all of the extra. I asked if they accept a pay plan but they said no and were rude about me asking. After I was thrown out I kept in contact and paid the bill once we got money three days later borrowed from family which was even more humiliating. We are low income and struggling but I am not the thief they wanted to make me out to be. Their attitudes changed with my animals too. They went from being in love to very angry and sending me out telling me they never wanted to see me and my animals again when they see I have no cash. I’ve never seen people so visibly upset in what’s supposed to be a professional setting except at Hart’s Dentist Practice that was in Yucca. After telling me they don’t accept my voucher for the check up I got nervous from how they started to act and so I said maybe my dad could help me pay but even my dad ended up broke. They thought my dad was going to pay no matter what when I mentioned he might. I truly thought he might have been able to as well but it turns out it was a bad time for him financially as well but I only mentioned he MIGHT be able to. He tried to run his card that day four times for them and it declined. Very embarrassing experience having to even ask him and his card declining in front of everyone, I felt incredibly bad for him. That all could have been avoided if their phone staff was properly trained on their clinic’s info, or if people just simply didn’t lie. Why would I go to VCA and try to steal a rabies vaccine and a minimal check up?? I didn’t even want a renewed shot or checkup to begin with but they said it was required. Tired of these company owned practices who only want to service big wallets and not the actual community and their pets. It shouldn’t be hard to have empathy/understanding. JT clinic was so filled to the brim with their cheap fixing it was extremely hard to get in, but at least they care and do their best to give affordable services to all. The clinic in Banning is very sweet as well though much further than VCA for us. Still worth it! They make you sign a contract about cost and try to work with you and what you can afford before you sign focusing on what’s actually needed and helped me with my dog’s pain meds that I couldn’t afford because he didn’t want to see my dog in pain after emergency surgery. I of course paid them back my next visit. Very sweet owners and love seeing my animals. Wish I knew about them before VCA (owned by Mars). Go figure it’s capitalist.
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December 2023 by Olivia Bridle
We were not impressed by the handling of our dogs emergency. Maybe they are okay for primary care but if you have an an emergency you’re better off going straight to Redlands. They downplayed the severity of what was going on with our dog and sent us home the same day and it cost us a small fortune, only for him to need emergency surgery the next day. I would highly recommend veterinary emergency center of Redlands, much cheaper too.
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December 2023 by Mariel Lowe
The staff were very kind and professional! I felt like they took extra special care of my dog upon seeing how anxious he was. Best VCA experience I’ve ever had.
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December 2023 by Reilly Powell
I really appreciate the staff at this VCA. The front staff and the vet techs have been helpful, friendly, and good with my cat.TL:DR I thought bringing my cat in for small things would prevent bigger things, so he's been to VCA Yucca Valley many times. I would not make that decision again. He has been overtreated and misdiagnosed, and even mistreated including being scruffed by Dr. Miller to get him out of his carrier at one of his first visits when he was not even being resistant. He came in to his first vet appointment very calm and affectionate, but now is scared and stressed out to receive even noninvasive care.Dr. Mower has told me twice that my two-year-old cat was dying, both times based on a blood test without additional observation, testing, or research. In both cases, the labs were definitely concerning but were not definitive and the proposed diagnoses didn't actually make sense.In July, she told me he had a congenital liver shunt. She said that "about 90%" of liver shunts are inoperable and that even operating on a shunt did not guarantee any extension of life. She came to this diagnosis exclusively because he had a single extremely high liver value (18x higher than normal).However, I found out at the ultrasound to "confirm" that shunts are rare in cats and we would've seen signs by the time he turned one. The emergency vet at VUCD (who I do recommend) pointed out that every other lab value was normal and consistent with his previous bloodwork. The liver value went down without any medical intervention.I spoke to both Tamra, the hospital manager, and Dr. Nitzsche, the medical director, about this. My concerns were that 1) I was told that I should expect to make decision between surgery and euthanasia based on a faulty and ultimately false diagnosis, 2) I asked about other potential diagnoses and Dr. Mower dismissed me outright, and 3) the medication given created side effects that seemed to support liver failure which was traumatic for both of us. There was an expected amount of CYA, but I'd made my compliant known and I was still paying for CareClub so we kept going to VCA.We ended up seeing Dr. Mower again because she was available for a routine check. She ordered bloodwork. After the thyroid test was high-normal, she had it rechecked. The test has an upper range of 4. His result was 3.8 initially and 4.2 on recheck.The recheck test also had an additional value. Dr. Mower called me while this value was still being finalized to advise that we start hyperthyroidism medication and consider iodine radiation treatment at a specialty hospital. The value came back 48.2 on a test with an upper range of 50. High-normal.I reached out to multiple facilities specializing in hyperthyroidism in cats and heard the same from all of them: Hyperthyroidism is extremely rare in cats younger than seven and that before diagnosing hyperthyroidism and starting medication that could potentially cause lifelong hypothyroidism, they would perform a physical/behavioral/clinical exam and recheck using a more sensitive test.When I asked about rechecking the value or doing additional evaluation of any kind, Dr. Mower said that thyroid values "don't really fluctuate" and that "once it's high, that's pretty much what it is".We got a second opinion from Dr. Diaz at the Cat Clinic in Cathedral City (who I recommend). She retested and the result was high-normal, trending downward. She did not see any physical, behavioral, or clinical evidence of hyperthyroidism. She did notice an unrelated symptom that was potentially concerning, but told me she would do some research before making her recommendations. Imagine that.It was worth the settlement fee I had to pay to get out of my CareClub contract.
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December 2023 by Teressa
The people at VCA in yucca are absolutely amazing. From the ladies at the front desk, the vet techs and drs. I have 2 male german shepherds who are a bit timid due to other vets in the past. Angie at the front desk is always welcoming and very informative. Today we saw Danella who I believe is a tech there. She by far is my favorite tech. Danella is informative and gentle. She openly listens to concerns and has the biggest heart. my boys I always see dr Miller due to her kind nature and calm energy. If you want to have a vet that cares then take your fur babies here.
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October 2023 by Melodi McCauley
This place is awful. The Doctor does not care for animals. She was lazy with her general exam of a stray dog off the street and three days later when an injury came out she had zero information about his neck or ear area. She could give any knowledge to type of infections or injury that would cause what she is prescribing medication for. She went straight to a $1500 bill as a treatment plan instead of trial and elimination of infections. Stay away from this place.
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October 2023 by Jena Glavy
I am so disappointed in this VCA. We have used VCA in a different location for our other dog and had such a good experience with the care club. Be very weary when signing up for the care club at this location - they did not inform me of the automatic renewal after a year and were charged almost $50 twice without us knowing. They were less than helpful - very dismissive when I brought this concern to them. Will never use again.
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October 2023 by Brian
God forbid you walk in and ask a question to one of the girls at the front desk especially the one with the earring in her nose not very courteous and they're too expensive they're going to charge $85 for a visit and not put it to the visit? I mean really? Take advantage of a small town and a poor town at that actually &people's feelings . Didn't your mother teach you to be fair?
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September 2023 by kaitlyn lubinski
We were a little hesitant to go to VCA based on what we've heard from other people in the past, and were unsure if a larger/corporate clinic was right for us. From the first phone call scheduling the appointment to the minute we were checking out, and everything in between, we were very pleased with this VCA location! All of the reception and technician staff were absolutely wonderful and we loved Dr. Megan Smith. She was incredibly easy to discuss our cat's health history with, never made any question feel silly (and I ask a lot of them), and addressed all of our concerns. She took the time to do extra research on a possible option I brought up and had called me with an answer before we even made it back home. I ended up having blood work done for my cat at another veterinary clinic after our appointment and had sent the results to VCA just to keep her informed also, as his primary vet.Dr. Smith herself called me the same day to discuss her interpretation of the results and give her best recommendations on treatment options. That was something I never expected when I sent the results, but greatly appreciated. All of the staff members we interacted with at VCA Yucca Valley truly do seem to care about their patients. Don't let the corporate name scare you away! They are a little bit more expensive than some other clinics in the area but it's not entirely unreasonable and they have decent availability, while other places usually are booked out a bit (and remember, nobody in that building sets the prices, so take it up with corporate if you don't like the cost).
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September 2023 by Alyssa S.
After the concerns of my visit were brought to the manager's attention I was given a complimentary appointment to review the concerns of my pet! I did meet with Dr. Mower and she was very helpful and prescribed something that did indeed treat the symptoms my pet was experiencing. The manager was very nice and professional and so was Dr. mower. I appreciated VCA- Yucca for resolving my issue! However I personally feel that my typical experiences with this vet are average so I will update my rating to a 3 star.
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August 2023 by Knowledge Is Power Media Productions
My pet rat, Splinter got very ill Aug. 25th, 2023 and over the next 3 days became worse and worse. She was 3 years old. A long life. I took her in on the evening of the 28th and was greeted by the kindest, compassionate and gentle people I've ever seen in veterinary care. They gave me more time than I ever thought was possible. No rushing. They explained everything to me about helping her on her journey. They were so gentle with her. I am so thankful they stepped up to help me. I will never forget that. She is laid to rest now. I miss her terribly. She was my sweet little chunky butt. So loving and full of life. These are wonderful people with heart of gold. Thank you all so much for your compassion. Rest in peace sweet baby. October 2020 - August 29th, 2023
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August 2023 by Tianna Bryant
Had a wonderful experience here with Dr. Mower and staff! I was able to get an appointment relatively quickly to have my senior dog seen for facial swelling from an abscessed tooth. Dr. Mower was very kind, explained everything thoroughly and came up with a detailed care plan for my pup, I loved that she sat on the floor with my dog to ease her nervousness. Care staff and techs were very personable and down to earth, really appreciate the compassionate care my baby received! Thank you all so much!
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August 2023 by C. N.
Very efficient and fast service. My dog did great with the staff. Definitely recommend coming here for all your pets health care.
