Harbor Veterinary Hospital

I went to Harbor Veterinary Hospital (with a lot of stress/​anxiety) for a second opinion after visiting another local vet twice. I am grateful for Dr. Hoban’s conservative approach to diagnosing my cat’s condition; many other vets in town offer lots of dubious «alternative» treatments that I don’t trust at all. The exam and treatment costs were very reasonable and Dr. Hoban and her staff were friendly and gentle with my cat. I walked out of Harbor Veterinary Hospital feeling a lot less stressed and hopeful that my cat’s condition would improve after Dr. Hoban’s treatment.

Dr. Abraham saved my 11 year old pup, Lucky. From the moment we adopted him, she alerted us of his heart murmur and how it could potentially shorten his life span. A few months ago, he went into congenital heart failure. Devastated, we went to her for advice. She was excellent at providing a plan fit for my whole family and was super kind, considerate, and practical. Along with this, she is soooo patient with crazy, concerned pet parents (hehe, like me!) and will go out of her way to calm our worries (no matter how little/​silly). Dr. Abraham really, truly cares for her patients and their families. I highly, HIGHLY recommend Dr. Abraham to any pet parent wanting the BEST care for their animals. Despite what skeptics may think of doctors, not all of them are out for your wallet, and with Dr. Abraham it shows. She genuinely cares, and her patients and their families thrive from it. Hell, I made a darn Unilocal account solely so I could give her praise for all she has done for our family.

I wish I could give this place more stars!!! I got recommended to Dr. Abraham several months back from several different ppl/​neighbors, when we first got my new pup (Labrador Retriever). We’ve been twice so far, once with an initial check up appointment that lasts a full hr and another time they got me in last minute same day appt for a limp. Both times I was SUPER IMPRESSED with service, care, the time they take!!!, explanation, etc. I couldn’t be more happy, I feel very lucky I found this place & Dr. Abraham! Prices are reasonable, you won’t ever be sold on anything, & will be given all your options for you to make the decision that best fits your family. THANK YOU HARBOR VET, now I pray that Dr. Abraham never retires so we can use her for yrs to come. Ps. my dog also loves & feels very comfortable around Dr. Abraham!

After calling around to most of the animal clinics in Santa Cruz to get my cat’s tape worms treated I called Harbor. While they couldn’t see him that day they recommended that I get the over the counter worm treatment from the pet supply store. This bit of advice saved me a lot of time and money. Thank you!

Dr. Abraham is a fantastic vet that truly cares for the animals she is caring for. I am VERY picky about the vet I take my little pup too. Dr. Abraham never seemed rushed and really took the time to get to know both me and my dog. She didn’t push certain procedures or recommendations on me but rather laid out my options, told me what she would recommend, and then let me make my decision. I also felt that Harbor Veterinary Hosp had reasonable prices for both office visits and procedures. Thank you Harbor vet for treating my dog like a family member — not a means to make money. 5 stars for sure!

When I took my cats to other local Veterinarians, I always felt like they always trying to sell me something. I always felt like they cared more about the sale than my pet’s health. While I am happy to do whatever it takes to keep my pets healthy, I don’t like to feel that my love of my animals is being taken advantage of.
At Harbor Veterinary Hospital, it is completely different! When I brought my kitties to see Dr. Abraham, she was attentive, caring and knowledgeable. I really felt like she was treating my cats like they were her own!
She went over and explained all options of care, without pushing unnecessary and costly procedures. She was very trustworthy and considerate, and took the time to talk to me and answer every single one of my questions. I found out that many of the procedures and supplements that were recommended by my old Vet, were unnecessary for my young cats. When I got the bill, it was a fraction of the cost of my old Vet.
I would recommend Dr. Abraham to anyone who loves their pets, and wants a trustworthy and reliable Veterinarian!

The front office staff is very helpful and all very knowledgeable. Dr Abraham is wonderful, she spends time and listens. I am a minimalist with vaccines after one of my dogs nearly died from a vaccine reaction, and she was very considerate and understanding and is not pushy about it. I have trusted her with 3 surgeries on different dogs and the outcomes have all been excellent.

Dr. Hoban and Dr. Bowerman have been our family’s vets for 19 years. They cared for our two cats — that lived to be 14 and 18 years old — and were compassionate caregivers. We now have two 2 year old cats and an 8 year old dog, and did not hesitate to take them to Harbor Vet Hospital after their adoptions. When I took in our then 5-​month-​old puppy from the shelter to meet Dr. Hoban, not only did she examine him, but she demonstrated how to groom his long coat, and told me I had a good dog, a sweetheart. It was nice to be reassured that we’d made a good choice for our family.
Over the years, we’ve dealt with pet cancer, various issues that go along with senior cats, dog surgery, and a broken dog leg. HVH is top notch, as are the members of their office staff. When our dog had surgery to remove a benign lump on his side, one vet tech actually climbed into his crate with him to offer post-​op comfort. WE know he’s a big, lovable snuggler (90 lb.), but it felt wonderful to know that they recognized that about him, too. Needless to say, he has absolutely no problem going to the vet — treats and affection! It’s all good!

This was my first time coming to this office. I went it in to get my puppy her second round of vaccines with Dr.Hoben. The desk and staff were super friendly and helpful.
When we saw Dr. Hoben, I really appreciated her taking the time and energy to really chat and not rush through our appointment.
The problem I did have was how pushy she got with the vaccines. I was told over and over by the breeder and other people owning the same breed not to get a certain shot and just get 3 rounds of the booster. This is what worked for us with our first dog. I told this to the desk, the dr’s assistant and the doctor and was still pressured. I was happy to listen to her reasons and experience but after saying no again, she seemed defensive and didn’t like me asking questions. I was just trying to educate myself and feel comfortable with what she wanted to inject in my puppy. My puppy also doesn’t have worms and she brought in the deworming even after saying again that we just wanted the 3 boosters, period. I ended up caving and letting her give my puppy the deworming. I would have rather done a poop sample first to show her the puppy was worm free rather then give her something she didn’t need. I just felt like she was up selling every vaccine. I never felt this way going to our other vet.
This office seems to have a good reputation so I’ve scheduled our next appt with a different doctor to give it a second chance. I will update after that appt.

I moved to SC a year ago and since then took my animals (now 2 dogs and a cat) to Dr.Hoban. She and her staff are so nice with our animals (and us too, lol) I completely trust her and she listens and explains with so much passion. She takes excellent care of animals (one of our dogs turns 18 !!!) I can only recommend that clinic.

I have been taking my two cats to Harbor Vet since 2006 and have been extremely happy with their care and services. My one cat is a constant trouble-​maker and as a result, I have had to take him in to Harbor Vet regularly. They are so kind and compassionate with him and have provided fantastic advice on how to curb his ramblings.
I have since moved further away from Harbor Vet but am still taking my kitty there. I love Dr. Abraham who only works part-​time. She has gotten to know my pets intimately and as such, continues to give them (what I feel is) special care. I also have seen Dr. Kuwano. I trust Harbor Vet and will continue to have them as my primary pet provider.

New to the area, we depended on the kindness of Unilocal.We liked that there were no late night horror stories and the one bad review wasn’t really that bad. Our dog was acting a listless and shaking. I called and although they didn’t take walk in, the agreed to take him at a certain time if I paid the emergency rate. The emergency rate was lower than most other vets standard office visit minimum, so I didn’t have an issue, and it wasn’t that much more than a standard visit. I appreciated when they saw my dog, Dr. Abraham took her time to diagnose the issue. She really worked well to gain a relationship withour dog and to check for symptoms. The doctor gave her diagnosis and gave me multiple options from the least expensive to X-​Ray and MRI, but felt it was probably sufficient to start with the lower end and gave me alternatives there as well. We decided to treat with medicine first and that seems to be doing the trick. They also checked records with our prior vet and offerred vaccinations with a call ahead where we would not be charged with an office visit. They also called the next day to follow up.
I found it very comforting that they put that much effort into the issue with low pressure to do expensive tests and procedures. It looks like Lucky is doing much better.

I love Harbor Veterinary Hospital. My puppy has been seeing Dr. Kawano and we love her. She is well educated, and answers every question I have. She is very caring to my little pup and makes her feel comfortable. The staff up front are also very friendly and easy going. It’s never a hassle bringing my puppy to the vet and I love that!

I have known Kerrin Hoban since she got out of vet school and located in Santa Cruz… and she has taken care of my pets since then! She has always had great diagnostic skills, is honest and thorough!

I’m a fan of Dr. Hoban at Harbor Vet.
Dr. Hoban has been my family pet doctor of choice for 19 years. She has been so in-​sync with my animals — I appreciate her so much.
I had a rottweiler that was a BELOVED member of my family. She got very sick and I was so appreciative of Dr. Hoban’s attentiveness — I swear, she treated my wonderful dog as if it were her own. It AMAZED me to watch a doctor, with tons of other patients to take care of, show so much care and concern for me and my dog. Dr. Hoban was a caring and knowledgeable professional all the way through that horribly sad time. When the dreaded day came that my dog died, the doctor was compassionate, understanding and gentle. Couldn’t have asked for more!
I know and trust Dr. Bowerman as well. She is excellent too! — very personable, knowledgeable and wonderful!
Thank The Good Lord For Dr. Hoban and Dr. Bowerman!
I’ve had 4 dogs under their care and referrred many many people to them.

Our animals have received excellent attentive care on everything from routine care to emergency evaluation and care, with the doctor even directly sending us over to another clinic with more testing and treatment immediately available. I have had follow-​up phone calls to check on an animal’s progress as well as lengthy consultations regarding treatment, behavior and training all at no extra cost. I am extremely happy with this clinic. They also place animals from a «kill’ shelter whenever possible on their time, effort, and cost. They have saved many, many sweet lives.

I was very disappointed after years of this clinic being a great place to find horrendous lapses in communication and procedure (and I cannot get into details about here). During those years I saw a large amount of turn over in the front office and did not get along with Dr. Hoban because she disliked me asking questions about treatment and having my own input on treatment of MY dogs so I found it hard to continue my relationship since I had to see her when my usual vet was unavailable.
I left for another vet when she retired and returned to Harbor. Well turns out returning was not such a great idea since that return ended up with a ton of mistakes and horrible communication. Sad very sad.
To top it all off when I wanted to pay for another clients rescue dogs treatment — when my name was mentioned they refused to see the dog all together. It’s an old rescue dog for goodness sake. Don’t vets take an oath also?

Took my old kitty there a year ago. I don’t think he’d still be here if it wasn’t for them. They are up on the latest treatments, are very compassionate, and are reasonably priced.

Dr. Abraham was most thoughtful, patient and gentle while caring for our cats. She always took the time to put the cats at ease and never seemed in a rush. She was also especially caring and considerate when we recently had to put one of them to sleep. We highly recommend her.

I recently moved and just had a poor experience at a vet clinic where I live now. It made me realized just how special everyone at Harbor Vet is. Dr. Kawano had the best bed side manner with our animals. Her ability to handle our spirited kitty with grace and ease was unbelievable. I will miss everyone at Harbor Vet and hopefully will be able to find a comparable replacement. Thank you for almost 10 years of care, compassion and professionalism!