Central Orange County Emergency Animal Hospital

This facility prioritizes profit over pain and pocketbooks over pets. Do not bring your family member here in an emergency.
When my pet was in a critical, life-threatening situation, the staff at this clinic showed zero urgency or compassion. Their sole focus was collecting money. Even after making a massive initial deposit just to get a diagnosis, all medical progress ground to a halt. The clinic flatly refused to proceed with treatments or even provide a timeline for next steps until I handed over another significant payment. Holding a dying animal’s care hostage for financial leverage is morally bankrupt.
The facility itself is a run-down, neglected mess. They literally have towels shoved at the base of the exterior doors to keep the weather and water out. Overall, it feels dirty. Worse yet, while you are sitting in the waiting area terrified for your pet's life, you can clearly hear the doctors and veterinary techs laughing, joking, and socializing in the back. The complete lack of professionalism and empathy is staggering.
In a true emergency, every second counts. Do not risk your pet’s life at this place. There are many other high-quality, compassionate emergency options in the area that actually care about saving animals.

This is the face of a champion. At 18 years old, he is still going strong after an intensive surgery that removed his spleen, gallbladder, and part of his liver.

Dr. Kim, Alex the Manager, and their incredible team of veterinary technicians once again showed the boundless depth of their skill and compassion. A heartfelt shoutout to Ernesto, Chelsea, Omar for their support throughout the surgery. They cared for my boy with such steadfast dedication and also managed to somehow find time to comfort his very anxious hooman mom. If they had not acted as quickly as they did to move forward with surgery, my pup could have suffered a rupture that would have taken him from me.

They have given me something truly priceless. They have granted me more time with the dog who has been by my side for 17 years. I will treasure every moment of it, and I will forever be indebted to this incredible team. Thank you for returning my boy back to me.

Excellent! Came here at 3am because my dog had two seizures out of the blue. Also had to come the subsequent night as they continued. The doctors & staff were extremely accommodating, friendly, knowledgeable, and did what they said they would do. Extremely fair pricing for a 24 hour facility. I'm very grateful for their excellent care of my pup, and while these emergency experiences are never fun, they made it as good as it could be. Honestly, cannot recommend them enough.

They sedate for a small shaving which you can do! You should read the rest of things they will find to charge you, apart from $125 exam which btw you do not see it happening! Long story chatgpt first!

We were recommended by another vet to take my cat here to treat her lethargy. Before coming, I called to ask if we needed any appointment or reservations, they said no just walk in. After driving an hour there, no one was at the front desk. We called the number on the door and they said to check in online, which their online check in system was down. We called and asked again, they said the vets are busy for the next 3 hours and just wait in the parking lot (during the summer heat with no shade and a sick cat). After a while we tried going in again and saw 2 people at front desk and explained that the online check in is not available and showed it to them. They said they didn't know anything about that. No explanation of any kind. We asked if we can just sign in manually on the paper form they had on the counter. The front desk said I could but it would not put us in the queue online. What queue??? There was no online system working. They didn't offer any solution or anything. They didn't care!!! What's the point of working at an animal hospital if you don't care or have customer service skill or even common sense. We were so frustrated we had to another ER since they didn't even offer a way to use their service.

Highly recommend this location for your pet emergency. Last night we noticed a weird pump on our poor fur baby. After googling to figure out what it could be, turns out it was an anal gland abscess. We schedule an appointment with her primary care vet for the following day. However after we got back from a walk she scooted on our carpet and it ruptured. There was blood everywhere. We wanted her to be seen asap. So we went on yelp and called a couple locations closest to us and asked for wait times. The two closest emergency room to us told us 4-8 hour wait. And that would have been hard for us with a new baby at home. We were about to just settle and make the wait and take turns. However on my way out of our home I made 1 last call. The receptionist who took my call was really sweet and informative. She said it could be about an hour wait due to them having patients already but she would try her best. Once I got there and completed the paperwork, we were roomed right away. And literally 10 mins later the doc walked in. We were then given a quote (which was extremely reasonable to our surprise) and told they would call us when she was ready for pick up. I arrive home and moments later called to let us know our fur baby was ready for pick up! I arrive there around 745pm and picked up our baby and started heading home around 920pm. We couldn't have asked for a better outcome. We know that this was not usually the normal wait time and we got so lucky. The staff and doctor were excellent. We felt very well taken care of. Thank you so much central Orange County emergency animal hospital. You guys made a tough situation for us so easy.

UPDATE: These guys told me that they need to have my dog hospitalized for at least a few days and wanted additional $3300. Well, good news: my dog is back at home after the care of my primary doctor. How is it that my dog is at home sleeping in his own bed after a visit with my primary vet when these guys kept telling me and scaring me with "well you could take your pet home but we would be having him on IV and treating him throughout the day here" sales pitch? I don't like saying anything bad about a business but these guys should become car salesmen... they picked the wrong occupation if all they want to do is upsell the crap out of unnecessary services to rack up the bills. Removing one more star from my previous review. __________________________________________ Even though I could have gone to a closer ER, I decided to drive 25 min to this place because of the reviews. My dog was throwing up in the evening and night so I wanted to get him checked out ASAP. I absolutely loved the staff as they were very bright and accommodating. It's probably the only reason I am giving them two stars. As time on, I went from relieved to skeptical with this place. So when Monday came around, I picked up my dog and checked him in with my primary vet. Here were my major concerns and red flags for not keeping my pet at this place. First, I hated how they tried to upsell you on everything and anything possible they can tack on rather than giving you a streamlined solution based on your pet's condition. For example, they told me that it's best if my pet stays hospitalized for additional 2-3 days and wanted to charge me a total bill of $3000+ more on top of $2000+ I had already paid and potentially more charges to come if the vets think my pet should stay longer. When I told, my primary vet, he was shocked at why they would suggest hospitalization for that long. Second, there was lack of clarity as far as the results of the tests go. After talking to my vet, what they had explained to me were really just jist of things rather than the detailed analysis. In fact, according my primary vet, one of the tests they did, they didn't even send the work out to the lab to get a full analysis so why did I get charged the full amount? I have no clue. Lastly, there was simply lack of care for my dog. When I went to pick him up, his rear was covered in poop/diarrhea. The dog stayed in a care of multiple professionals for over 30 hours and he couldn't get anyone to give a little wipe... I had to spend about 10 minutes wiping his butt of crusty poop in the parking lot after I checked him out. I could probably go on with my disappointment but I'm going to just stop here because I am getting a bit heated as I think of how much of unnecessary "work" these guys decided to charge me for. Again, the only reason I'm giving two stars is that the nurses were super friendly and accommodating. Hope they change the way they carry their business. Be straightforward in helping people please!

I have used this emergency vet many times for my own cats so when a neighbor showed me her severely injured cat on a Friday night I knew exactly where to send them. You guys rocked!! You got Rambo in surgery and treated his infected areas. You saved his life and you didn't gouge price my neighbor! I love you guys for being a great resource for all of us. Can't recommend this place highly enough!!

I can't thank them enough for what they did for my dog Penny. The story is too long to tell here but they saved my dog's life. Everyone is kind, thoughtful and really cared in a very tough time. Thank you.

From the initial call whom I think was Emily to the vet tech Perla who was so kind and understanding about our cat and situation of being on vacation and having a sick kitty to Dr Cabrera and his assessment and treatment, I cannot thank them enough. 5 stars. They are fair in their pricing and honestly in retrospect I should have got the lab work done there rather than wait for my vet because it took an extra 48 hours between travel and the 24 hour processing. They are not gouging you, they are very realistic and offered what we need. I think the cerenia shot and sub q fluids was the best recipe. My vet changed to an ear appetite stimulant and giving sub q fluids and she had a tough few days where we thought she might not make it but she did!!! Mikki is doing well now, eating and drinking independently and has not vomited again. Suspected pancreatitis but labs were normal. I know it's scary when your pet is sick or needs help but I'm so grateful for this place and their care.