View Less
Response to 1 star reviews. Mercy vet is the best!.
Without Dr. Obando at Mercy Vet, my dog would be dead. I'm not exaggerating. She was literally starving to death from a rare auto-immune disease that destroyed her pancreas. I received a diagnosis
from another holistic vet, but Dr. Obando was the vet who got Tasha stable. Over 5 years later, and you'd never tell my dog had an issue. I thank my lucky stars regularly for the person who stopped me at Greenlake (to ask why my dog was so skinny) and recommended Dr. Obando to me.
I do understand the two 1 star reviews, but they didn't give the clinic enough of a chance. Dr. Briennen is scared of dogs--no doubt about it. She is a good vet for those with cats and smaller dogs. She is frightened of larger dogs, which is truly unfortunate. I don’t take my dog to her unless no one else is available. Drs Norbrega and Obando have been great with my scary-looking 100 pound German Shepherd, and even Dr. Briennen is better with her now. My dog actually LIKES this vet clinic, which is saying a lot.
The desk staff can at times be overwhelmed and you do need to make yourself known to them. But it's so worth it to get a good vet who cares and is willing to look at options outside the norm. Also, the clinic is great about checking e-mail and has responded to multiple e-mail requests from me without making me schedule an appointment. My dog has multiple genetic issues, so I belong to several e-mail lists on dog health. Every time someone describes their vet experiences I am SO VERY GRATEFUL that found these guys. I went through a half dozen vets before I did.
I have also found them to be reasonably priced and willing to work with me on finding cheaper alternatives for medication when what they would sell me is expensive. I’ve spent significantly more money to get much less lower quality care. In over 20 years of pet ownership, I cannot recommend a vet more highly. In fact, I often do recommend them to my closest of friends.
So although I do understand the concerns of prior reviewers, please notice that both of them only mention a single visit. I have been to Mercy Vet dozens of times (as I said, my dog has delicate health) and the vets are truly wonderful.…
These guys are the best!. This is the best vet clinic I've ever been to. Everyone I dealth with here was very friendly and professional. They also try not to go overboard with the vaccines which I really appreciate and so does my pup! The doctor I saw was really sweet to my dog and helped me to figure out a more holistic approach to treating my dog's skin problems. I felt like we were both in very good hands. I will never take my dog anywhere else!…
a terrible experience.
i took one of my dogs here for a general checkup and also cause he had been slightly limping for a few weeks. we were shopping around for a new vet and had heard good things about the naturopathic
approach this clinic has to health care for animals. they got me in quickly when someone cancelled, which was great, and the person i spoke to on the phone was very nice and helpful.
i arrived on time for our visit, and had the new client info printed out and filled out ahead of time. we sat there for nearly 10 minutes with barely a nod from the busy staff behind the desk.
my pup and i were taken to the room in the next building, which was disorienting since no one told us where we were going except out the front door. we saw dr lisa brienen who was very pleasant at first. i explained the problem and after getting down on the floor with us, she immediately started feeling around for injury to his shoulder and leg. he got a bit growly and she got super anxious. she tried again and then said something like, 'this isn't going to work' and left the room in a huff without telling me where she was going. she came back with a muzzle and told me she needed to put this on cause (and i paraphrase) 'i am sure he's never bitten anyone, but i can't do my job this way' she didn't even ask me if i thought it was okay or if i had any other ideas. i asked her if other dogs ever did this and she said no, emphatically, making me feel as if my dog was terrible and a risk to society. my dog is not aggressive and has never hurt anyone, although he is nervous around new people since he was rescued in a not so great situation. i was shocked as was my dog, i think. she proceeded to try to muzzle him as i held him down and i felt horrible and shocked and like a horrible pet owner. finally she felt what she needed and we released him. then she talked to me a few minutes about what to do and then left for at least 5-10 min to fill the prescription for arnica.
at the end of the visit she said to me and my dog, (paraphrase again) gosh, i didn't even give you a treat or spend time with you before i did that. that probably would have helped it go smoother. duh! i think she was seeing that indeed he was a very friendly and calm dog and that she had overreacted. i wish she would have had better therapeutic skills that could have saved us from the trauma.
at the end of visit she told me, since the visit lasted 30 minutes (at least 15 min of that i was waiting to see someone or for her to come back), that she would only bill me for 15 minutes today. i think this was linked to feeling like she had overreacted. i did not know how long the visit was supposed to be, but was expecting a 30 min visit since when i spoke to the woman who scheduled me i told her i had 30 min available.
when i got to the front desk to check out, the receptionists gave me the bill and had charged me for 30 minutes. this is not a cheap clinic either! it was over a hundred dollars. i told them that the doc had said 15 min but they pushed back at me and said that my visit had been for 30 minutes. no communication between the doc and front desk. they made me feel like i was being unreasonable and pushy, and didn't believe me. it was really terrible! and no doctor in sight to back me up. i refused to pay for 15 minutes and they gave me a firm talking to as if i was a child. 'well, just so you know, our services are this much, and i will let it go just this once, but...'
i still get angry thinking about the whole day and will never go back there. yuck!…
Sad Situation for my Pet. I wish I had something nice to say but unfortunately I had a very bad experience at Mercy Vet. I entered the door and sat in a chair for 5 minutes before anyone acknowledged me. The girls were very busy and seemingly very disorganized at the front desk. I had 2 very nervous cats with me and once I was noticed I was finally moved into the "cat" room (away from the cute but very curious dogs). Dr. Nobraga could not have been nicer, we scheduled an appointment and I was relieved. As I was trying to pay for my consultation visit and make an appt for a teeth cleaning for my cat, the girls at the front were on 2 phones, computer, trying to talk to someone in the back about an appointment etc., etc. After I made my appt I immediately decided to change the date to 1 week later, the receptionist, told me she would remember and write it in the book. I took a day off from work to take care of my cat because I knew she would be very scared after being sedated and left alone at the vet. I arrived early in the morning and was told that I did not have an appt but could leave my cat for 3 hours and the Dr. would come in. My cat was trembling and I would never leave her alone for 3 hours in an unfamiliar place trembling. I left and was very upset and so was my cat. It took over a week for her to stop hissing, crying and growling at my other cat and all for nothing. I asked for my money back for the consultation since I obviously was not going back to such a disorganized and very small place. Dr. Obando, the owner declined to give me my money back stating that I could have left my cat there (who would leave an animal trembling in an unfamilar place for 3 hours, not me). I was also told that that Dr. Obando had offered to do the cleaning but what she doesn't know is that I was referred to Dr. Nobraga and adivised not to see Dr. Obando.…
