Castro Valley Animal Hospital

Dr. Birar and his staff at Castro Valley Animal Hospital are amazing! He is a great man, helpful and a man of his words. They saved my cat's (Helo) life with his quick diagnosis and treatment. I want to thank Dr Birar and his staff. I would highly recommend them to anyone who needs veterinary care.

posted: 06/14/2023

Where do I start? My dog was sick and throwing up. I called the vet and was happy to get a quick apt. I was advised that he would get a parvo test which he did and was negative, but this was not before he was handled by two nurse in the lobby in front of my 11 year old to get the sample from his behind ,wow! Next we were permitted to enter the back where we spoke to Dr. Barrar. He wanted to take a blood sample and prescribed medication to help the nausea but no Antibiotics! I had to ask that he at least take a fecal sample which we had to bring back to check for any disease ( more on this later). Several hundred dollars late, and we were headed out the door. He said if the dog vomit's again, bring him back even if he does it once. My dog threw up when stepped outside of the building, but we didn't think anything of it. He seemed to have comfort that night until the next morning when his regular symptoms returned. I called and spoke to the staff and Dr. Barar called back and stated that the stool sample was negative and he wanted to run x-rays and IV and that I could leave my dog there over night to ensure safety. My GF exclaimed NOO! I asked the Dr. for medicine for any bacterial issues, what he said next ended the gravy train. Dr. Barar said that , the Parvo test came back negative, and that there was NOTHING else that matched the symptoms that my dog had! I was surprised but told the Dr. to send the bill and hung up. By the time the staff called back to give us the damage of over $1000 for xrays and overnight stay we had already found the issue, Kennel Cough! I told the Nurse that I needed to speak to Dr. B and she asked why. I said that we needed medicine and she fault back saying that he was negative for Parvo and needed xrays. I told her what the Dr said and that we had found a match of his exact symptoms in Kennel cough and demanded antibiotics. The staff said that she would speak to the Dr and 10 minutes later they called us and said to pick up the medicine. I started my Dog on them right away and was amazed by his recovery! I mean literally 100% recovery in a week. While we are happy that he didn't have parvo, and is now well, we also feel that we dodged another $1500 bill!

posted: 07/25/2023

This place only cares about money!! Took my dog there because he’s been vomiting, have diarrhea, and unable to walk without falling over. After spending hundreds on many tests they said his abdomen is feels hard and other than that everything seems fine. And only prescribed medicine for the vomiting instead!! After a few days of using that medicine he started getting worse and started having seizures, and stopped being able to walk fully. DONT EVER TAKE YOUR PETS TO THIS VET

posted: 06/18/2023

Had a VERY odd first time experience here,sheriff's were unknowingly called on my vehicle due to it being "suspiciously tinted",so if you have a tinted sports or luxury car,maybe don't park it near the vet lmfao. Anywho,my pup was examined & dewormed,fine until a few days later needed to be re dewormed. Unfortunately no flea medicine available at the time,but I was refunded. Wait times are annoying but that's pretty normal anywhere.Had a friend who used to be a client here tell me not to come here but,wanted to try it for myself.

posted: 06/17/2023

DONT BOTHER! My cats leg was dislocated. I had already taken him for X-rays but my vet was unable to perform the necessary surgery. I was calling all vets in the area for help. The person on the phone was sympathetic and acted genuinely concerned. After the vet reviewed the X-rays I emailed them they called me to come in right away. BEFORE CONFIRMING I WOULD COME IN I advised that I had already received a quote of $3,700. I also let them know my financial situation isn’t great and I would need options besides care credit. They confirmed they would work with me and the price would be “much better” than my previous quote. I went in and saw the vet who was nice and explained the surgery. I reiterated again that I’m poor and needed payment option, he assured me the front desk would help. Then the rude woman who does the estimates came in and plopped down a $3,900 estimate. I asked again about payment options and she looked at me like I’m stupid and said “we don’t do that and no one would have told you we do”. So basically they conned me to come in and took $65 from me for a useless appointment. I found another vet to do the surgery for $2800 and will be taking my guy there. Don’t bother trying at CVAH, they don’t care about you or your pet and will lie to your face to get you in there to spend your money. If you have an emergency go to VCA in San Leandro or use one of the other wonderful vets in the area because this place is the worst.

posted: 03/31/2023