Mar Vista Animal Medical Center

PART ONE- I never write a review but I feel the need to protect your animal before you consider bringing them here. I lost mine very unfairly a few months ago and it could have been prevented granted seeing a vet who cared. I'm still unable to talk about it or really dig into it because I am broken over it all. I first visited this location to bring my 10.5 overall healthy Labrador in for his Rabies vaccine in June 2025. I then brought him in several more times over the summer of 2025 to treat E-Coli that he had somehow caught. This was diagnosed in bloodwork and exams through VCA 2 weeks prior to visiting Mar Vista Animal Hospital. I was recommended this location and not a specific vet by a friend. I was open to trying out both Veterinarians because it was mentioned that his antibiotics should do the trick and I did not think it to be a deadly situation because his bloodwork and exams were all just done 2 weeks prior. My first visit was with Dr. Wendy Brooks. We had scheduled an appointment and upon arriving, waited over 1.5hrs to see her because we overheard that there was an onsite emergency. This is something that I was deeply understanding about and I was patient with the timing. I never complained and we waited patiently to see her. What wasn't right was that when going into the room with Dr. Wendy Brooks, she was short from the start, did not listen to our individual situation, and just put us back on an antibiotic without truly looking at my dog or what he was going through. I did not even get the chance to talk through his health history, diet, lifestyle, etc. She made comments about his ear being dirty. And that had nothing to do with the actual situation of why I brought him in. *Please note that I have two regular vets that I have for my dog out of state and I took him for annuals and bloodwork multiple times per year to stay on the preventative plan. Not once were his ears ever a problem or mentioned from a vet as a problem. I had them cleaned every visit and wiped them myself on a regular basis. The ear comment took me off guard and set a weird tone to the visit. Dr. Wendy Brooks was in the room with us for probably 10 minutes before it was over. I paid for the visit and left feeling awful and heartbroken. I called back the next morning to ask if I could come back in and been seen because I felt like my dog wasn't actually looked at and he still needed medical attention. I asked the Front Desk if they'd be willing to extend a discount for a revisit- they told me that they'd take $10 dollars off a second visit [meaning I paid in full and would have to pay in full again minus $10]. This too, did not feel right granted someone calling back in a day later left feeling that they weren't seen and did not get any answers. PART TWO CONTINUED IN SEPARATE COMMENT

posted: 01/15/2026

PART TWO- continued We went ahead and booked a revisit anyway, accepting the $10 discount that was offered. We came back in to see Dr. Wendy Brooks a few days later and had a set 9am appointment which was the first appointment of the day and confirmed on a call with the Front Desk. We arrived right before 9am, checked in at the Desk and waited. We waited 30 mins and observed the situation. The situation was that the Desk was waiting for the Veterinarian to arrive onsite, were trying to call her to let her know that I was there and waiting. 30 mins of waiting, the Front Desk let me know that the Vet didn't know about my appointment and wasn't going to arrive until an hour later meaning 2 hrs after my set appointment. This didn't work and I needed to reschedule yet again. Feeling awful, I rescheduled with the Front Desk for the next available appointment and was open to seeing both Vets as I felt that after now a full week of not being seen, this was becoming increasingly time sensitive. I then booked an appointment for 3 days later to see Dr. Woods. We went into the room on time this time, talked very briefly about my dog, explained the situation and she sent two Vet Techs in to shave my dogs fur off. Dr. Woods didn't listen to me or look at my dogs immediate situation, instead had a conversation with me about starting him on arthritis meds [injections for his elbow]. * This felt similar to the situation of the ear comment made by Dr. Brooks. Both of these might be situations to look into at another time but the immediate need was my dogs skin was raw, bleeding, he was having problems breathing and walking and obviously not in a good state. While the Techs were in the room and shaving my dog, Dr. Woods did not come into the room, look at his state of health. When checking out, it was noted by the staff that Dr. Woods had already left the building and went for her lunch break. She did not check in with me, she did not see what my dog even looked like after he was shaved and obviously left without giving me any direction. I paid again in full [about $480.00 for this third appointment and for the Vet Techs to shave my dog, give me a cleaning spray, and send us on our way again with no answers. Two days later, I took my dog to Access in Culver City who immediately saw his state, took him away and got him hooked up to a ton of fluids and meds. Unaware of what was going on and unprepared, I lost my baby and spent another $5,000 at Access to walk away with my dogs ashes. I am writing you to warn you that this place has me broken and I feel resentful towards them for treating me like I wasn't important. It wasn't my dog's time and I never got the attention that I was asking for and most certainly paid for. I am contacting both Mar Vista Animal Hospital and my bank to see if we can work something out because I spent well over $1,200 within these 4 visits to this location to get nothing from them except for the tangible cleaning product that they sold to me and resentful feelings for being treated like this. I've debated writing this for months because I am not that type of way. I want to see small businesses flourish and I'd like to believe that Veterinarians are good people who actually care. Dr. Brooks and Dr. Woods and their Front Desk team treated me like pure business and even more specifically, business that didn't matter to them. Shame on this location and its staff. I truly believe I would have still had my dog if on my three attempts with them to be seen and heard that we might have gotten more answers in a timely manner.

posted: 01/15/2026

They accepted my spay vouchers which was a huge plus. Helpful staff. Appointments were within a week (some places don't have available appointments for months). My 2 kittens were vaccinated and spayed and they even treated them for fleas! They healed up so nicely.

posted: 09/28/2023

I love this vet. They take such great care of my cats and me! Lol. I love how I can text them if I need anything and they’re always very kind and very helpful. Only place I trust with my cats. Thank you guys!

posted: 08/05/2022

so wonderful! the receptionists were all so sweet and helpful and the doctors took great care of my kitten! easy to get low income specific tests/vaccines without a full on exam fee, and lower costs on sundays! thank you everyone for helping !!

posted: 03/30/2025