Vet Recommendation in Los Angeles
I tried reading through some earlier vet threads to see if anyone had recommendations for Los Angeles specifically (rather than Orange County) but my google powers failed me.
Anyway, I'm asking on behalf of a friend who has had some bad experiences with several vets and is now pretty down on them all. He currently thinks that vets generally have minimal medical knowledge and are dismissive and avaricious on the whole. Background context is that his dog has a weird condition pop up recently, though one that does not seem to affect his dog's health. He took his dog to two different vets and after thousands of dollars in lab work they both told him that they have no idea what is the cause of the condition and they think there is likely nothing wrong with his dog and that he is just being neurotic. There was no explanation of the types of tests they were running, or even explaining to him what they thought the cause(s) might be and what they were trying to rule out with the tests. He ended up googling a number of things and feeling like there were possibilities for this new condition that were never discussed with him (and may have been in fact a side effect of one of the medications that his dog was given by the vet). When he has called to try to follow up, they apparently just dismissed his concerns as him being an overly worried dog parent. Having seen his documentation, I do think that the condition is pretty unusual and shouldn't be dismissed just because it doesn't seem to be affecting his health, as it does seem to diminish his quality of life.
So if anyone has any recommendations for vets that they have had good firsthand experience with in Los Angeles (he's around the Sherman Oaks area), I would really appreciate hearing them. I'd like my friend not to have a life long distrust of vets (for he and his dog's sake) so I'm hoping to be able to refer him to a vet that will make him trust vets a little more. For reference, I have already checked the holistic vets list since holistic vets on the whole anecdotally seem to be more openminded and helpful. Unfortunately one of the vets he went to was on that list. That's why I'm looking for recommendatioms from people with firsthand experiences. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway, I'm asking on behalf of a friend who has had some bad experiences with several vets and is now pretty down on them all. He currently thinks that vets generally have minimal medical knowledge and are dismissive and avaricious on the whole. Background context is that his dog has a weird condition pop up recently, though one that does not seem to affect his dog's health. He took his dog to two different vets and after thousands of dollars in lab work they both told him that they have no idea what is the cause of the condition and they think there is likely nothing wrong with his dog and that he is just being neurotic. There was no explanation of the types of tests they were running, or even explaining to him what they thought the cause(s) might be and what they were trying to rule out with the tests. He ended up googling a number of things and feeling like there were possibilities for this new condition that were never discussed with him (and may have been in fact a side effect of one of the medications that his dog was given by the vet). When he has called to try to follow up, they apparently just dismissed his concerns as him being an overly worried dog parent. Having seen his documentation, I do think that the condition is pretty unusual and shouldn't be dismissed just because it doesn't seem to be affecting his health, as it does seem to diminish his quality of life.
So if anyone has any recommendations for vets that they have had good firsthand experience with in Los Angeles (he's around the Sherman Oaks area), I would really appreciate hearing them. I'd like my friend not to have a life long distrust of vets (for he and his dog's sake) so I'm hoping to be able to refer him to a vet that will make him trust vets a little more. For reference, I have already checked the holistic vets list since holistic vets on the whole anecdotally seem to be more openminded and helpful. Unfortunately one of the vets he went to was on that list. That's why I'm looking for recommendatioms from people with firsthand experiences. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Comments
I would *steer clear* of anything VCA or Banfield. And I would only go to an AAHA accredited vet. That should narrow the list down quite a bit, and you can search AAHA's website for such vets by distance:
https://www.aaha.org/pet_owner/about_aaha/hospital_search/hospital_search_results.aspx?postalCode=91403&radius=15
(List of AAHA vets within 15 miles of 91403 [Sherman Oaks] and a map.)