El Cerrito Veterinary Care

I’ve always had good experiences here. My cat has severe allergies and Dr. Fernandez helped us get things under control. The staff are friendly and can usually fit in emergency appointments within one or two days. Billing is straightforward and I never feel like they push unnecessary expenses. Thanks for all your assistance! Manchego appreciates it.

I know vets can be desensitized but they really take it to a new level. Dr K is great but Dr F has an out of this world ego and can be nice one appointment and completely antagonizing when she is over it on her next. If you over step her or her staffs invisible boundary or ask the wrong question they will definitely hold it against you. We had the most bizarre ending to a professional relationship I've ever had. There are better places to spend your hard earned money.

My family has been seeing the vets here for our 5 pets since 2020. We have received excellent care from all the vets in this clinic, and I highly recommend all 3 of the vets in this practice. Our pets have needed dental work, support for chronic diseases, as well as treatment for the minor injuries that happen in every pet’s life. The front desk staff are efficient and thorough, and they juggle their patients well- sometimes there’s a line, but I don’t mind waiting 5 mins. Sometimes I have to wait a week or so for an appointment, but that is standard in the Bay Area - most vet offices are fully booked. We also are grateful that this office accepts Care Credit, which is a must-have for a pet-loving family, to help us pay for all those unexpected issues that come up. Pricing for services is average, and sometimes lower cost than other local vets I’ve called.

Reception is unreliable and rude. They didn't send vet records after a phone call, and an email. I had to reach out a third and fourth time to make sure I received them. They saw my dog for blood work 8 months ago, and vaccines 6 months ago, though say it's a legal liability to renew heartworm and tick and flea meds since they haven't done an annual exam in over a year (despite seeing the dog multiple times throughout the year). Their doctor even recommended there be no lapse in this medication. Seems like this is only important as long as I keep paying them. There are better vets up the road. Steer clear of here.

Do not take your pet to this clinic. While I believe that Dr. Kriensky and many on the team really care about animals, somewhere within the team that fails to translate into practice and their care is beyond negligent. Things of particular note: * Some members of their staff did not understand how to handle cats and caused high-levels of undue stress in generally low-stress animals. * Anesthesia was unreasonably recommended to do lab work on a cat that has, without any sedation, had lab work, ultrasounds, and more done at other clinics before and since visiting this practice. * The facility itself is in dire need of maintenance, and they have a hole in the floor of their back room that cats can escape into for hours. This happened to my cat and I was told at least one cat before me. It took hours to get the cat back. Yet there seemed to be no understanding that this hole needed repair. The only compensation I was given for this nightmare scenario was “complementary anesthesia” for doing the blood work on the next visit. * Their prices are extremely high when compared to similar clinics in the Bay Area. * They pay people to write good reviews on Yelp and Google (give a 10% discount on services for doing so), meaning you absolutely cannot trust the positive reviews you read here.