VCA Holly Street Animal Hospital

4.3 (121)
501 Laurel St, San Carlos, CA 94070, USA

Hours:

Monday: 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Tuesday: 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Wednesday: 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Thursday: 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Friday: 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Saturday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Sunday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

How to Save Money at VCA Holly Street Animal Hospital

Schedule Regular Vet Visits

One of the best ways to save on vet bills is to prevent expensive health issues before they develop. By scheduling regular wellness checkups, your vet can detect health issues early, helping you to avoid costly treatments and surgeries down the road.

Price Shop for Pet Prescriptions

Oftentimes our fur babies are prescribed human drugs off-label. Your vet is apt to charge more for these medications than you would pay at your local pharmacy. In fact, big-box or chain pharmacies can offer steep discounts. So it’s best to price shop.

Pet Insurance

Most pet insurance providers will pay between 80% and 90% of the vet bill. You can even get coverage for routine care and things like vaccinations and dental cleanings. If you do the math, you’ll most likely find that pet insurance makes financial sense in the long run as well as gives you peace of mind.

How Do You Choose the Right Pet Insurance Provider?

Pet Insurance Review makes it incredibly easy for pet parents to select an insurance provider they feel good about. You can use our handy comparison tool to get the gist of what a company offers. We’ve also collected over 150,000 reviews of insurance companies from real pet parents like you to rank the top providers in the market. Here is the current ranking of each:

Top Pet Insurance Providers of 2024
Rating Provider Total Review
4.4 AKC 889
4.7 ASPCA 11,392
4.9 Embrace 14,179
4.9 Fetch 1,995
4.4 Figo 2,561
4.7 Hartville 164
4.9 Healthy Paws 7,475
4.9 Lemonade 781
3.2 ManyPets 2,145
4.6 MetLife 487
4.8 Nationwide 21,391
4.3 Pet Assure 12
4.7 PetPartners 110
4.5 Pets Best 7,194
4.3 Pumpkin 1,131
4.7 Spot 5,194
4.9 Trupanion 60,280
4.8 Prudent Pet 124

Or, you can simply get a fast quote from multiple providers and go from there.

Thinking of insuring your pet?

Get Quotes & Compare

Getting to Know Your New Vet: Essential Questions to Ask

Choosing a new veterinarian is an important decision for any pet owner. You want to find someone who is competent, compassionate, and a good fit for you and your fur baby. To help you get the most out of your first appointment, here's a list of essential questions to ask your new vet:

Tell me about your experience with [pet type].

Different vets have different areas of specialization. Some are experts with cats, some dogs, some pocket pets, and some horses. Knowing that your vet has vast experience treating your specific type of pet can bring you peace of mind.

How do you handle emergencies?

You must know what to do in case of a pet medical emergency. Inquire what after-hours policy the clinic has, whether they have on-site emergency care available, and if they have a relationship with any nearby emergency animal hospitals.

How do you communicate with pet owners?

Good communication is key to building a trusting relationship with your vet. Ask how they prefer to communicate (phone calls, emails, online portal) and how often you can expect to hear from them.

Are there any breed-specific health concerns I should be aware of?

Some breeds are predisposed to certain health conditions. Knowing what to watch out for can help you catch problems early and get your pet the treatment they need.

Do you have any questions for me about my pet?

This is a great question to ask because the answer will show that the vet is interested in getting to know your pet as an individual and is willing to listen to your concerns.

Bonus question: Can I take a tour of your facility?

Getting a feel for the clinic's environment can help you and your pet feel more comfortable during your visits. Remember, you’re not just looking for a veterinarian, you’re looking for a partnership. Do not be afraid to ask these questions and any others you can think of. Any vet worth their salt will be happy to answer them. Because the more informed you are, the better equipped you'll be to make decisions about your pet's care! And that should be every vet’s top priority.

Reviews from Google

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Suzannah Iris Rochelle

Edit: A visiting vet did spend time going over our file in detail and gave us a call to go over everything. I’m updating the rating from one star to three stars for this care and time spent. The reason it’s still only three stars is because the vet who called let us know that there was a false diagnosis propagated up the charts. There were no test results to support the diagnosis of feline chlamydia but it kept being reported in the chart, which caused a lot of confusion to us and the vets on staff. The actual diagnosis was feline herpes, which is also a respiratory virus for cats; verified by the test results. The original guess by a vet there when we went in was that it was chlamydia but it was never confirmed by data and so the wrong diagnosis kept getting put into the chart from the original vet’s guess even after the test results confirmed otherwise. It was only the keen eye of a visiting vet who went through all of the test results and the charting that caught and corrected this error. We are thankful for her! VCA Holly, please be more careful and thorough especially when it comes to medical records lining up with test result data! Original post: Since 2021, we’ve been bringing our cats to VCA Holly. We have two cats and both have respiratory issues due to an infection when they were kittens. We brought our cats in today because they’re experiencing issues again, making this the third time we’ve brought them in for the same issue. But this time, we were told it’s something they’ll live with forever and we shouldn’t be worried about flair ups and were given a two home remedies to make them more comfortable (humidifiers, adding amino acids to their food). I’m leaving this negative review because we should have been told this information the first or second time we brought them in because we had a biopsy done so the VCA vets knew exactly what the issue was and we were not told flair ups would be normal during the other visits. Why would they not give us this information until the third visit?! Because time with the doctor is SO RUSHED and very expensive considering the limited information you walk away with from each session. I’d like a copy of our cats medical records printed or emailed to me after each visit, so we can do more research and call in with our questions if we have them so we don’t end up needing to reschedule another visit just to get a little more information. They’re quick to send an invoice but not great with providing a summary.

posted: 05/15/2023

Tania Farjat

I am beyond disappointed in Holly VCA. The services provided have been terrible and the staff can be very unprofessional especially their front desk. During our last visit when we were seeking neutering services. The office kept changing our neutering appointment, and they seemed to lack communication within as we received various versions of information each time they called us to inform us of the date, time, pre-op medication instructions for our dog. When it came time for my dogs neutering they did not know if he had stitches that would come off (dissolve) or if he needed to come back in to get them removed and kept asking us if we knew (FYI WE DIDN'T PERFORM THE PROCEDURE HELLOOO). Anyhow, if I were you I would seek elsewhere for care. It’s so sad to see and experience how terrible they are to the community puppies/dogs.

posted: 03/10/2023

Alicia Glazer

I had an issue with one of the vets on staff (visit seemed rushed, my questions were brushed aside, and the vet was 15 min late with no notice). I wrote in with my concerns, and they immediately rescheduled me at no cost with the another vet of my choosing. I was very appreciative of the time that they took, as well as the care that they demonstrated for me and my pet at our second visit with Dr. Walker.

posted: 12/20/2018

Kelley Hunter

I was so impressed with the entire process. It was our first visit. The staff were genuinely concerned about COVID. They wanted to keep everyone safe including my pet. I waited patiently outside to be called in when the room was ready for us. We only had to wait a couple of minutes for the vet to come in. He did his best to build a report with me as a new customer. He treated my cat well. He listened and made recommendations based upon my lifestyle and what would work for my situation. I highly recommend them and we will come back if we need vet services.

posted: 05/19/2022

Julia Fedorova

OMG!!! This place is great. The vets love animals and make visits stress-free events. Our last visit was for a scratched eye on our boy cat. They did a thorough exam, confirmed a scratch and made a serum out of our cat's own blood to promote healing!!! That's some sci-fi stuff right there! Staff is patient and just a pleasure to interact with. 😻😻😻

posted: 07/29/2019