Santa Margarita Animal Care Center

This is quite possibly the worst veterinarian’s office we have ever been to.
We brought our dog in last August because of a lump in her lower abdomen that the entire family felt. Dr. McKee saw her and told us that she didn’t feel anything and it was just that her bladder was full.
Right after Christmas, our dog got sick one night and wouldn’t eat in the morning. We took her in to Dr. Hayek and she said that she was really worried about the mass in her abdomen. After doing an x-​ray, she informed us that our poor dog had cancer. Without doing any blood work, urine samples, etc. she prescribed her several medications, one of which she told us had a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ chance of shrinking the tumor and making her more comfortable. After talking to her the next day about the results of the x-​rays from the radiologists, it was very clear she had no idea what she was talking about and did not make any sense whatsoever. She gave us no concrete answers regarding our dog and what steps to take or what was even completely wrong with her.
When we decided to get a second opinion, our new vet not only informed us that one of the medications she prescribed for our dog would not shrink her tumor at all, but also that after taking a urine sample and finding out she had a UTI, it was the WORST medication she could possibly be on. We also had her file faxed over and our new vet said there were absolutely no doctor’s notes in her file so she had a really hard time deciphering her medical history.
Do your animals a favor and do not bring them here! If we had a vet that actually knew was she was doing back in August, we wouldn’t be in the horrible situation we are in now and could have caught it before it was too late. Surgery could have been an option, but now considering how large it is and how much it has spread, it’s too late.

Been a long time customer, besides Dr. Kelpe don’t really feel confident in the other vets, way to much turnover. And they need to dust, the picture frames and fake flowers are covered in dust. Being are facility, we would expect a clean environment.

Suan, if your rant on 6÷2÷15 is directed at me, you might want to fully read my post before you go totally off on someone. I can’t get cozy with my dog tonight because like I said in my review, my dog died. I read all your negative reviews and I’m truly sorry your dog died but you say your dog wasn’t in Dr. McKee’s care anymore, you were referred and seeing a specialist and it was the specialist who prescribed your dogs medicines… not Dr. McKee. The specialist should have been the one to schedule any necessary or needed blood test based on the medicine they prescribed. not Dr. McKee. I went to the same specialty hospital as you, if they were negligent how would Dr. McKee be to blame?. Again, I’m sorry for your loss. just remember, I wrote a nice review of my great experience with Dr. McKee and was sharing my positive experience… I never thought I would be bashed for giving a positive review… lol! Take care.

Don’t be misled. It’s not ‘care’ you’re getting from Dr. Kim McKee, it’s CYA and someone trying desperately to fix their reputation and hold on to their license because my young, huge dog died horrifically under her ‘care’. You have no clue about her.
My dog is dead because ‘Dr’. McKee neglected to perform the most routine! of medical procedures. Complete negligence. My huge dog died like a poisoned rat. Do you know what that’s like? To be massive and die like a poisoned rat? Blood doesn’t clot. Lungs fill with blood. Then, when the veins, arteries, organs, brain, heart can no longer take it, the dog hemorrhages internally. She bleeds out inside. Your beloved, precious animals suffers and dies horrifically before your eyes, next to your bed, completely traumatizing you, your animal loving son, your entire family. The dog suffers to her death. You have no idea what’s going on because your dog had just been to the vet’s office. Later, your neighbors grieve and tell you how they miss your dog. You family grieves at the horrific tragedy. Everyone suffers nightmares because the dog should never have died. It was a preventable death.
Do you think that’s normal vet care? Five star care? Medical negligence and incompetence resulting in a dog’s horrific death should not be given five stars. Whatever McKee is doing, is just covering for the mistakes she’s already done. Mistakes that led to death of a canine family member.
Do you know the trauma our family has been through because of this woman and this place? You have no clue about her. I watched our beloved animal die next to our bed, vomiting a massive amount of blood right before her abdomen rose and fell for the last time, with no more ability to take a breath. My dog had been released to me just hours before from this place, dying. Now listen carefully to these three words from me: They were clueless.
After my dog’s death, I was told: Hindsight is ²⁰⁄₂₀. So, apparently, my young dog’s death is a learning experience for them. A cliché’. That’s special. Here’s the hindsight pet owners can learn from my experience: take your pet elsewhere! I wish I had. My dog would still be alive! She wouldn’t have suffered. We wouldn’t be suffering.
Dr. McKee is not well respected among other vets; she’s been fired; she’s been complained about from other vets, from customers… yet, she is never held accountable. These owners continue to employ her with no regard for the disrespect she has among colleagues, complaints from customers and even dead dogs from her incompetency.
They must find employees who run their company into the ground valuable to retain.
And if you don’t want to believe me on any of this because your dog is still breathing, you can visit my dog at her grave site. Go there, kneel down. Feel our pain. Feel what she went through. You can see firsthand the result of the medical negligence. My dog is six feet under. She can’t see her sixth birthday, my son grow up, her canine sisters, bark happily, go for walks, get her tummy rubbed, sit and lay by my side. No, she can’t. That was cut short for her because no one there could conduct a routine medical procedure.
Believe me, I wholeheartedly wish I wasn’t the one writing this because if I wasn’t, my dog would still be alive.
So, take your warm feline or canine to bed tonight and give him/​her a big hug, and appreciate that NONE of this horrific ending happened for your animal under the care of this place. Appreciate that you can sleep at night and don’t have to live with the horror of what your pet went thru from medical negligence and your family was not traumatized and dealing with a tragic, preventable loss. And rest peacefully with your head on the pillow sending a little prayer for my family to recover from this tragic and painful loss and prayers that my dog may be resting in peace as well, having lost her life in this horrific, horrific manner, from this place, from these people who were completely incompetent. People, vets, whom we trusted… just like you are doing now. I trusted them. And my dog is dead.

My roommates and I have 2 cats and 1 dog in the house. We moved here from AZ about a year ago. We live just a few miles from this place so gave it every chance. We have taken all 3 pets here at least once. At this point, we are done with this place. Consistently bad service, way over priced, doing things that cost without getting prior approval from us. This is the worst vet office any of us have been to. Shame as it is a really nice facility.

I have been taking my menagerie of animals to SMACC for at least a decade. My dog alone has had 2 knee surgeries. Recently, my cat had to be put down. I was beside myself… As you can imagine. The staff at SMACC was so understanding and accommodating. They were kind and thoughtful. They were supportive and kind. If this really had to happen, I was grateful to have it done with the staff at SMACC. From the front office people to the vet we dealt with, everyone was pleasant and helpful during this difficult time. In addition, the vet hand-​wrote a condolence card and the facility sent a card with a paw print on it. I am still upset about losing my cat, and I will miss her tremendously, but working with SMACC made a difficult time easier to deal with.

Quite frankly my rating is up in the air. I like the vet I take my cats in to see. She is great with them and rather than just telling me after she tries to explain to me what is going on with them. HOWEVER I recently called about getting them declawed (I very much understand many people do not agree with this procedure) I was told the price would be $ 333.00 per kitten, I do not know what is normal but I wanted to know what I was looking at.
I scheduled an appointment for them for their last set of vaccines. When I called to ask about seeing a doctor I was shocked. The lady who answered the phone told me that they are kittens and HAD to see the doctor, that is fine with me, but when the appointment was first scheduled why would the girl tell me it was alright if they saw a technician, clearly someone was NOT reading the files, that’s shock #1. Secondly, I asked again about getting them declawed and the lady on the phone proceeded to question me in what I interrupted as judgmental tone. She first asked why I wanted to declaw them so I gave her my some of reasons. I’m slightly confused as to what business of hers it is, but I politely answered. She then asked if I’ve tried training them, clearly she did not understand so i explained they do not intentionally rip things apart, they’re kittens and in playing, they’re mistakes that are getting expensive. So then she asked I have scratching posts, yes I do. She then responds with «Well you know they are just kittens.» Yes thank you, I am well aware. We got off the phone and that was that, I was angry and considered looking for another vet.
I went to my scheduled appointment, and asked the Dr. again about getting them declawed and she explained some of the process, great! I was relieved to not get a sense that we was judging. The kittens were checked and vaccines administered. The Dr. came back with pricing for the declawing $ 526. I did not question it however I am confused as to why I have now been quoted 2 different prices. Still needing my cats declawed, and now looking at about a $ 200 change in price I am considering going else where.
Despite all of this and my now hesitant feelings about this office, I called again to make an appointment for their declawing. AGAIN I was transferred to the same woman as before. I told her I wanted to schedule and appointment for both kittens, she again asked why, again I politely answered, she proceeded to ask if I have tried certain methods, I continued to answer despite feeling like I am being interrogated. I am sure she now felt my anger and just said «OK.» As we are trying to schedule an appointment, she asks what Dr. I want and proceeds to give me their schedule I said preferably a Monday or Wednesday. She settled for Wednesday. As she is gathering information she tells me that the Dr. in the morning that day has not performed this procedure in years, but it is OK because he is the co-​owner of the office. Uhh… WHAT! No No. So I ask what Dr. has done some recently I would rather make an appointment with that doctor. She informs me it is the doctor they typically see. I still managed to book the appointment.
This doctor has seen this kittens since they came home, and my previous cat for years before, I do like the way she handles them. However with my recent encounters with the woman on the phone and the price change, I think I am going to start looking around for a new vet before their declawing appointment. I am torn though.

I had been taking my 9 year-​old Yorkie here his whole life. Every time I left here I was confused. The vets don’t do a very good job explaining the plan of care or what is wrong with the pet. Their services ARE VERY EXPENSIVE. The only reason I went here is because it is super easy to get an appointment. And I saw the reason for this is because it’s a ghost town: there is never anyone there. How does this place stay in business? All of the doctors seem fairly nice except Dr. Maillard. She has a very abrasive bedside manner and makes you feel like s*** when something is not right with your dog. I went to BANFIELD PET HOSPITAL at PetSmart in Lake Forest, and they are fantastic. I highly recommend Banfield instead! I am so happy I switched!!!

We have been taking our dog here for 3 yrs. some of the staff have changed over the course of the time we have been going to SMAC and most of our visits have been good. Our dog was boarded twice at the facility while we were on vacation and she had a lot of anxiety. The staff called us immediately and treated her to make her comfortable.

They took us as a walk-​in, our Boston Terrier had not been feeling well for a couple days. We saw Dr. Brown, she was very kind and pet Puffin all over. She gave her a very thorough exam but did not order any tests or X-​rays because she felt they were not needed. I have never been to a vet who doesn’t order a plethora of expensive tests. She prescribed some medication, clipped Puffins nails, and sent us on our way. We have liked this facility for a while and usually see Dr. McKee who is just as wonderful as Dr. Brown. As always everything was very clean and well maintained.

My poor kitty of over 18 years had to be put down. She has been dying for a while, but she started to show signs of distress so I wanted to do what was right for her.
I called to get their prices. Not only do they charge extra for the owner to be with their dying pet in their last moments, but they actually wanted to charge me $ 63.00 to have her examined!!! Examined? For what? A 3-​year old on NyQuil could tell you that this cat was dying.
Way to milk ever cent from your heartbroken patients!!!
Obviously, I did not bring my kitty there, nor will I bring any one of my pets to this facility.
Here’s a little piece of advice: Empathy and compassion go a lot farther than greed and profit.

Dr. Kelpe is the best. I drive 40 minutes to see him for his expertise. Everyone that works there seems to care about my puppy Jeffrey. I am baffled that there isn’t a 5 star rating. Come here if you care about your pet, just my advice.

My experience was good. I had not been to this vet in many years, I have different pets now and after a groomer mishap I needed to take my 3 year old dog in on a Sunday. They got us right in, the vet was nice and seemed to know what he was doing. He gave me options of treatment and let me decide, I did not feel pressured at all to buy or treat for something I may not need. I will be returning for regular veterinary care.

I saw worms in my dogs feces so I took him in to ONLY get that looked at. They ended up charging me $ 325. Without my consent or even telling me they were doing this, they gave him a bordadella shot, tested him for heartworms (which he just had tested at his last vet, I had the documents to prove it and I told them) and just charged me $ 84 for flea and tick meds. They also tacked on $ 60 for a «physical examination» which included weighing him and listening to his heart. I feel totally taken advantage of. This is a terrible way to do business with a new patient. I ended up going back to question them about the bill and got $ 150 back but I still would never go back there again.

I realize not everyone has a good experience no matter what place is being reviewed, yet I have been very happy with Dr. Kelpe over the years. He gets back to me in a timely fashion and sincerely cares about my dog and cat. I trust him completely with my pet’s health and that is very important to me. I have to say if I ever board my cat their accommodations for cats is wonderful. The cages look over the garden and there is a giant kitty tower for them to get out and play or just stretch. Probably the best place I have seen for boarding cats. I have been very happy with Dr. Kelpe and the Santa Margarita Animal Care Center.

I used to bring my cat here a long time ago. At first I used to like this place. The place was clean and the staff was friendly, but as time passed I realized they seemed to care more about making money than helping my baby.
Ginger was 15 and she had an inicdent where she fell off my bed and hurt her back leg. She started limping on it and so my family took her to the vet to get her checked out. When we took her, the doctor seemed like they were in more of a hurry and didnt take the time to properly examine her. They didnt even take any x-​rays. They just said it will heal on its own and sent us on our way. Did I mention they also tried to charge me $ 100 more than what they should have? Be careful and watch how much they try and charge!
Over time the limp got a little better, but in December of that year it showed up again and progressively got worse. In time she got to the point where she couldnt even walk or go to the bathroom on her own. When we took her to the Emergency care, they told her that she had a fracture on that leg and the bone ewas protruding in towards her butt and was very fragile. It also started causing her problems with her kidneys and just complicated things.
Within a couple of months she passed away and it was the most heartbreaking thing to go through. If the hospital took the time to get xrays and look into her fall a little bit more, things could have been different.
I was so upset and disappointed with what happened there and I havent gone back since and wont take my two new cats there. Ive since found better places that seem to care about my babies and take the time to really take care of them.

Clean and Friendly staff

My silly little pug decided to eat an entire pack of Hershey’s Kisses one night. She had been vomiting all day while I was in class, and my brothers did nothing about it. When I finally got home, I rushed her here.
Now I have no idea how animal hospitals work. Is there an ER? I don’t get it. But the women up front were very helpful through my worries, and the doctor took excellent care of my dog. She was good as new in a matter of days.

I’ve been bringing my dogs here for over 10 years. That said, I think they’ve really struggled in the past two years. Once upon a time when I would go in they would have tons of people going in and out. The last few times I’ve noticed it’s very quiet. Maybe people aren’t taking their pets to see a doctor unless they’re really sick now? They’ve turned over vets frequently. The only constant I think has been Dr. Kelpe. He’s a great vet and is the reason I started taking my dogs here in the first place.
Overall, I think the staff tries really hard but there are probably too few and they’re overwhelmed at times. They’re really nice and helpful once you get to them, so if you’re patient they’re great.
The vets have always been really good though and I’ll keep going back just for them. They did a great job of helping my first dog thru cancer treatments and I can’t imagine going anywhere else.

Nice people, but very disorganized front office process and staff. Double dosed my dog on post operative meds. Staff always seems frazzled – can’t locate files, you have to tell several people why you’re there because they don’t read files (once they find them) or review what’s in the computer.
Visited again after follow up to dog’s neutering due to concerns with suture healing – sat in exam room and waited to be helped for 30 mins. I got up and left. Thought I’d give them another chance after the first bad experience, but no dice!
I changed vets… even though I have to drive further away.