Altadena Pet Hospital

I really like the vet on staff here, she is very knowledgeable and honest about dog care, but some major stressful downsides. I’ve come for 2 wellness checkups and both took 1hr 15 minutes with some stress: when you arrive, you usually wait 15-20 minutes, and then are brought into the exam room where the vet tech takes all the notes on a notepad. For me, they kept forgetting essential questions I wanted to ask the vet myself and came back to check several times. They then take your dog and you’re sitting in the exam room for about 30-45 minutes (!) with no updates as the vet sees the dog in the back and they run tests. Due to this, I didn’t realize they would do things I didn’t want to be done and couldn’t ask them to not do (like getting poop sample by sticking a tube in, I prefer to bring). The vet then comes back and goes over everything and you basically repeat yourself a second time. This is not a major downside but the fact that they use notepads and entirely paper files worries me that concerns will be forgotten or create inconsistent records in her file. They also upsell a service for dental cleaning that advertises like half-anesthesia, but then this means the cleaning isn’t done under the gums which is the part you can’t get to with a toothbrush and really necessitates a cleaning in the first place. Other vets I asked didn’t recognize this type of cleaning. A simple wellness check took 1 hr 15 minutes each time and I can’t even be with my dog to calm their anxiety.

posted: 08/22/2023

Experienced a distressing series of events and decisions that led to surgery on one of my dogs eyes and a very long recovery. I reached out to Altadena Pet hospital to share as a learning experience but never heard back. I am disappointed as I was a regular customer for 4 years. I have moved my 3 dogs to another vet clinic where feedback is more openly received.

posted: 09/02/2023

I recently took my puppy to Altadena Pet Hospital for her first check-up and vaccinations. I had high hopes for the visit as I had read positive reviews of Dr. Sahi. However, I was disappointed with the overall experience and will not be returning. If you want a place that can do basic veterinarian procedures, I’m sure this place is adequate. But if you want to have a meaningful conversation with an actual vet or to be treated like they actually want your business, steer clear. Upon arrival, the front office staff was friendly and helpful. However, when it was time for the vet tech to take us back, things took a turn for the worse. Our vet tech was nice, but she seemed distracted and unprofessional. Her cell phone rang twice during our conversation, she kept calling my dog a boy (she’s not), and (much later in the visit) when it came time to prescribe a flea medication, they recommended a dosage that wasn’t even appropriate for my dog’s size/weight. After the initial intake, my dog was taken from me, presumably to be seen by the vet. I wasn’t really told what was happening, i.e., exactly what exams were being done, where she was being kept, how long she might be gone, or any other information. I was just told to wait in the waiting room. (It ended up being over an hour before I saw my dog again.) 20-30min after they took my pup, the tech came out and said they were backed up and that she would proceed with administering the vaccines herself. After another 20 minutes she brought me back in to the exam room (still, I’m wondering where my dog is). The tech said the vet gave her permission to speak on her behalf and to tell me that my dog is healthy and there is nothing for me to be concerned about. As someone who just got a puppy, I wasn’t bringing my dog in because something was terribly wrong with her; I merely wanted to establish a relationship with a vet, take care of any required shots/vaccines, and get some advice on how best to care for my pup (things to look out for over the next couple months, things to be aware of with her breed, etc.). I’ve had puppies in the past, and this is how all of my initial visits had gone at prior vets. But it became clear they treat their business more like an assembly line than anything built on relationships between vets and their customers. When I insisted on actually meeting the vet, the tech was reluctant and acted like this was an odd request. Even though I was under the impression I was scheduling an appointment with Dr. Sahi and he is the only DVM on the clinic's website, the vet I ended up seeing was someone else entirely. From the get-go, she seemed bothered and uninterested in our conversation. When I expressed some concerns about my puppy she discussed a few options and then basically walked out of the room without saying anything else or telling me when I was going to get my dog back. Eventually – again over an hour after they took my pup – they brought her back. I paid the bill and left feeling quite disappointed. I’m sure other people have had good experiences, but my experience at Altadena Pet Hospital can only be described as uncaring and unprofessional.

posted: 01/28/2023

I’m surprised to see any negative reviews here. Dr Sahi and the team at Altadena pet hospital have been nothing but kind and accommodating to my little chihuahua (who I might add- absolutely despises the vet!) and even gotten her in last minute when she’s had minor emergencies. They really do their due diligence here and it feels like a pillar of the neighborhood. Thank you Altadena Pet Hospital!! ❤️

posted: 01/27/2023

We went to Dr. Sahi for four years. The direct care that my dogs received was great. But they had chronic communication issues, like not calling back with lab results, not having notes in charts for meds, having a non-functional email. the office staff are nice and I think they try hard. I suspect office manager needs help. We finally gave up and moved on.

posted: 11/08/2022