My wife and I have gone through about 5 different vet offices from West Seattle to Ballard over the past 15 yrs. Ended up at QA Animal Clinic and have been with them for the past 5 yrs. Plan to stay... More

My wife and I have gone through about 5 different vet offices from West Seattle to Ballard over the past 15 yrs. Ended up at QA Animal Clinic and have been with them for the past 5 yrs. Plan to stay with them too! Sure we've gone to places that charges less. And places that charged more. In fact with one place that charged less, what started as a routine checkup ended up with us having to put our cat down. We should've known. They were cheaper. They were faster. But faster ended up costing the life of our cat. Just as I'd never take my car into a Jiffy Lube. My pets are too important to me. Never again! At QA Animal Clinic, as many of the reviews have noted, they are super friendly people and we definitely get the warm and fussy from them. Their waiting area is small but they get us into a room fairly quickly so I have not had to wait with more than 1 other pet owner at a time. No, they are not the cheapest but you know what, they are not pushy like other vets either. e.g. for my older cats, other vets kept warning me about how the kidney disease will shorten the life of my cat and so we need to do all these procedures on a monthly basis and we need to feed them this prescription diet... etc. (we've had older cats died from this before so we know) Sure QA offered the same stuff but they also offered alternatives. We only visit on an annual basis. My cat's kidney was stable. And we made our own kidney food for many years (way cheaper and all organic unlike these chemical foods). When it did come time for our old buddy at the ripe old age of 17 to pass, the whole place was there for us. Our vet (Dr. Westerdahl) let us say goodbye for as long as we need. We had friends come down to say their goodbyes too. The dr told the office staff to go but they all stayed, an hour after closing. They all loved our cat too. When we were done, we signed the cremation papers and they sent us home. Telling us not to worry about the bill til next week. They have been the best and we'll continue to bring them our cats.
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Isn't "the system" is supposed to weed out incompetence and poor performance? Dr. Spencer, the new owner, refused to see my dying cat just because I saw another vet. I consider this serious... More

Isn't "the system" is supposed to weed out incompetence and poor performance? Dr. Spencer, the new owner, refused to see my dying cat just because I saw another vet. I consider this serious professional misconduct. After the first office visit, I repeatedly and diplomatically asked to see another, ANY other veterinarian there. Apparently, it was the previous vet-owner, Dr. Stephen Jones, who built up the reputation of this clinic. Spencer misdiagnosed speckling on my cat's nose as precancerous lesions based on a two-second examination, handed us the estimate, and thus was ready to do surgery. This left me with the impression that he pretends to know things he does not. He generously told me that he could clean my cat's teeth and remove the lesion at the same time, provided that I submit the cat to an ultrasound cardiac screening ($500). He did not explain the risks involved in doing such surgery on a geriatric cat. This initial office visit was, to put it mildly, inadequate. Even the generally noncommittal cat's co-owner--on the faculty of the University of Washington., not disposed to comment negatively on anything--concurred, "He's [really] not very good, is he?" He examined my for a total of two minutes. He showed no genuine interest in my cat. His approach can be described as "shooting-from-the-hip." He summarized the first office visit by saying that my cat was in terrible shape. The next day, however, after he actually SEEN the lab results, he promptly reversed his opinion. And he stated that I could stop doing the sub-cutaneous injections completely, advice which, I believe, harmed my cat and led to his premature death. His expertise on felines is frankly nil, in my opinion. Claiming that a cat with chronic renal failure, just based on numbers, is back in a "pre-crash" phase flew in the face of good common sense (kidney function does not regenerate) and misleading. He can also be a control-freak as well. Refusing refills and stingily prescribing only three tablets of a medication widely used for feline in my cat's condition is absurd, when he is so slapdash himself. An illustration of his telephone manners, churlish, would be as follows: In the middle of a message left on your answering machine, he harangues you with "...and I'M TELLING YOU..." He could have walked straight out of Harry Hope's saloon (O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh"). Without my permission, he demanded--and revealed--sensitive personal information, which he admitted, later on, had not actually been necessary to have. To that say the other vet, Dr. Westerdahl, is mediocre would be to give her undue praise, notwithstanding her credentials, which look good only on paper. Her guarded, glacial demeanor did not make communication exactly easy. She did the bare minimum, evincing little interest, and then exited without even informing me the visit (all of 12 minutes) was over. When I informed an assistant that I still a question to ask, she primly and grimly returned, after having finished the urinalysis, and spent another five minutes with me. She had also had my cat's nails, trimmed, something I had not asked for. It did not compensate for a sub-mediocre office visit, unfortunately. I get the impression that they observe their clients with not exactly benign interest. I felt all along uncomfortable with the ambient distrust in the air, not helped the size of the reception area (equivalent to that of a large closet). I should have known better when, before deciding whether to go here or not, I interviewed the vet tech. We were suddenly pulled out of the room by a staff person who gave me a dirty look and then presented me with a bill for $40 (No one had even seen my cat!). They did not allow us to see our cat's blood being drawn, inventing a bit of nonsense for not doing so. (Who exactly is paying for this, by the way?). One vet tech, Kay, was very professional and genuinely caring, honest, and friendly. I am grateful to this sterling individual. The other staff, with their cosmetic smiles and occasional insolence, do their jobs. One other positive note: they do write prescriptions so you don't have to feel ripped off getting medications from their limited dispensary. New clients receive a pet handbook; the web-site also is moderately informative. Not a good place to bring a cat, in any case. Now I can see why a local pet store told me "NO ONE likes them." Note: Neither vet is a cat-owner, though the staff insists, a bit too strenuously, that they both "really like" cats. Really.
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Over the summer a groomer clumsily clipped my dog's tail. Not only did they have time for me, the doctor preformed emergency surgery to repair his tail (vet noted as a tail amputation). I will... More

Over the summer a groomer clumsily clipped my dog's tail. Not only did they have time for me, the doctor preformed emergency surgery to repair his tail (vet noted as a tail amputation). I will always take my pet here as they have saved my dog from a potentially life threatening situation. Technicians and office staff are friendly. Only problem I have is that every visit they recommend my dog to be spayed/neutered.
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I just moved to Seattle in June 2007 and needed a new vet/clinic for my two pugs. I initially chose Queen Anne Animal Clinic due to close location of my home. Both my pugs had what was... More

I just moved to Seattle in June 2007 and needed a new vet/clinic for my two pugs. I initially chose Queen Anne Animal Clinic due to close location of my home. Both my pugs had what was diagnosed as “warts” on their legs from my previous vet in Florida. In making my first visit to Queen Anne Animal Clinic, Dr. Spencer noticed the “warts” and advised me that there was no real way to know for sure if the growths were warts or something else. He explained that I could have a simple test performed to confirm what the growths were. NO PRESSURE at all to have the test. He just made me aware of the test, which my previous vet had not done. I opted for the test and found out that both my pugs had Canine Mast Cell (cancer and if you are not educated about this, plenty is available on the internet). I was nervous and to some degree skeptical I now had two diagnoses (one from my prior vet in Florida and now something different from Dr. Spencer, which was much more serious). As I did not know anyone else in the Seattle area and this was a serious diagnosis, I decided to get a second opinion from another vet. I went to another vet in the Seattle area and it was confirmed with that second opinion that Mast Cell was the case in both my pugs. I returned to Queen Anne and scheduled the surgeries for both pugs with Dr. Spencer. Not only Dr. Spencer, but the entire Queen Anne staff as well as the Greenlake Animal Hospital staff (owned by the same team as Queen Anne Animal Clinic and the surgical hospital for Queen Anne patients) have been outstanding and amazing. The folks at both Queen Anne Animal Clinic and Greenlake Animal Hospital are not only knowledgeable, but also caring, passionate and professional with very fair/reasonable rates. As long as I live in Seattle I will ONLY go to Queen Anne Animal Clinic and would recommend this team to anyone.
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Wow! These people are amazing. We have three dogs and they have taken care of every one of them. One dog is very old and had to get his teeth out and they took very good care of him, even while I... More

Wow! These people are amazing. We have three dogs and they have taken care of every one of them. One dog is very old and had to get his teeth out and they took very good care of him, even while I was in tears and crazy. Services are reasonably priced and of course, the staff is very friendly. They do take care of you and your dogs.
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This small office is a great place to take your furry friend(s). The veterinary staff is great and really takes the time to talk to you about your pets and their health problems. They are good... More

This small office is a great place to take your furry friend(s). The veterinary staff is great and really takes the time to talk to you about your pets and their health problems. They are good about fitting you in at the last minute and are always up to date on the latest in the fields of veterinary medicine. I also like how they don't over-vaccinate my pets.
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We lost two cats and a dog in a single year, and for a variety of reasons were visiting several different vets. Queen Anne Animal Clinic stood out for not only the knowledgable care they gave... More

We lost two cats and a dog in a single year, and for a variety of reasons were visiting several different vets. Queen Anne Animal Clinic stood out for not only the knowledgable care they gave animals, but for their support of us as we said goodbye. When one of our cats required daily subcutaneous fluids, they taught us how to do it so she wouldn't be further traumatized by trips to the vet. I don't want to get too schmoopy here, but when I finally had to say goodbye to that cat, they offered very kind condolences. I really like these people.
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I have taken my cats to Queen Anne Animal Clinic since I moved to Seattle four years ago. The staff quickly knew me and my cats by name, even though we only come in a couple times per year. They are... More

I have taken my cats to Queen Anne Animal Clinic since I moved to Seattle four years ago. The staff quickly knew me and my cats by name, even though we only come in a couple times per year. They are friendly, attentive, and provide excellent medical care. They also offer multi-pet discounts and participate in the Seattle Animal Shelter adoption program - if you adopt an animal from the shelter, Queen Anne Animal Clinic is one of the places you can get the first exam for free. What a great service to provide! They have also worked with me on some weight issues with a couple of my cats and have suggested some great ways to adjust their food and get them to gain/lose the necessary weight.
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