Gemelle F.'s Profile

Out of all the Dim Sum places in OC, China Garden's food is amazing.  Yes the line is long, but that's a sign of a good restaurant.  If the line was short, I would think twice.

I go to China Garden on a regular basis on the weekend for their dim sum.  Many people who's used to being catered to their every whim won't be used to the flag-down-a-cart for your food style of service.  But that's what dim sum is and I personally find it fun.  I enjoy being able to see the freshness of the food before pointing at it and ordering it.  Sometimes it's annoying when the carts run out of my favorite food, but that only happens when I arrive late to dim sum.

I've been to China Garden at night and that's where the service is amazing!  I get waited on and serviced BEFORE I even realize I need service.  I love to eat their clams in black bean sauce at China Garden.  Unfortunately with clams, there's lots of clam shells everywhere.  But my plates are changed constantly so that I don't run of space to work on my food.  I also enjoy the free dessert I receive at the end of my meal.

I also enjoy my teapot always being refilled without having to ask for a refill.  Of course, this only happens at night because there's less people.

I've had to visit the critical care twice.  The first time was when my turtle fell off our 2nd story balcony and ended up in ICU.  The 2nd time was when my brother's dog was attacked my dogs at the Bark Park in Costa Mesa.

In both incidences the staff at the critical care center were professional and knowledgeable.  Considering that both instances were emergencies, the prices were very reasonable.

My turtle was watched over closely by the staff for 24 hours to make sure she was in stable condition.  They even called in one of their reptile specialist to examine my turtle.  Later that night, my turtle got a sponge bath, was hand fed, got special oxygen, and was in a very comfortable climate control ICU unit layered with many towels.  I also got phone calls updating me as to my turtle's health status.

I couldn't have expected better attention and care for my turtle!

The staff was also the same when it came to my brother's dog.  She was covered in blood when I rushed her in.  There was a long line of people waiting (it was during the pet food scare) and the critical care was overwhelmed with patients.  But everyone there (including the parents who were waiting outside) saw how my dog was covered in blood and were very considerate.  The staff quickly asked for one of their vet techs from the back room and they rushed out to take my dog to be examined.

To make a long story short, every one of my pets had a happy ending after being treated by the Advanced Critical Care.  Both the turtle and dog have healed nicely and are back to their usual happy and hyper-active selves.

I don't remember which vet took care of my water turtle, but he was really good at what he did.  

One day my turtle fell from our 2nd story balcony (totally my husband's fault), I rushed her to the Advanced Critical Care for pets.  After she spent 24 hours in ICU, we took her to Tustana for a more detailed exam.

The vet immediately took control of the situation and explained everything that we needed to do to make sure there was no internal damage.  He took x-rays and took blood samples.  He then told us our turtle was lacking something in her diet and told us in detail what we had to do to make her better.  He was just so incredibly knowledgeable in our yellow-bellied slider.

Within a week, my yellow-bellied slider was back to her usual hyper self and she remembered to never fall off that balcony again.  She was also MUCH healthier than she was before the incident.

The vets are terrific at Irvine Pet Complex and the office staff is very friendly.  The only drawback is the price.  If I could afford to bring my dog to Irvine Pet Complex, I would visit them more often.

I only go to Irvine Pet Complex when my usual vet office is closed.

The Irvine Pet Complex opens really early (around 7am) and closes really late (around 6pm or 7pm).  This makes it much more convenient for me with my work hours.

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I would also bring my dog to the Irvine Pet Complex for bathing, but again its the prices that holds me back.  I costs over $50 each time for a bath for my dog.  And anal gland expressing isn't even part of the package.

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I would totally trust Irvine Pet Complex to kennel my dog while I'm away.  I was planning to go out of the country for 2 months.  So I researched many facilities (including the ritzy ones in Newport Beach) and I found the Irvine Pet Complex to offer the best services.  I would have paid around $50 a day, but if my dog gets:

* 2 good LONG walks a day
* constant potty breaks
* 24 hour vet tech to check on his health
* stays in an all indoor temperature-controlled housing for the summer

I'm all for it.

The only reason I didn't go with them was at the last minute a good friend offered to look after my dog.  If she didn't offer, my dog would have stayed at the Irvine Pet Complex.

My dog, my brother's dog, and my friends' dogs/cats are all seeing Dr. McDonald at Stonecreek Animal Hospital.

I went to Stonecreek because it was the closest to my house.  I didn't know at the time that it was one of the best in Orange County.  Within a year, I've spread the word to my friends and family and they travel from all over OC just to have Dr. McDonald as a vet.  There are other vets at the office but they've never once said hello or greeted me.  So I stick with Dr. McDonald.

My dog is very fluffy and therefore its hard to find his veins for blood tests.  But at Stonecreek, he isn't traumatized after any test they give him.  

The only negative side I can think of is the bathing.  My dog gets a bath at Stonecreek every month.  The prices are great and my dog comes back very dry (despite all that fluffy chow fur).  But sometimes they would forget to provide ALL the bath services.  

Part of the bath fee is suppose to be:
1) ear cleaning
2) nail clipping
3) anal gland expressing
4) the bath itself

But my dog didn't get anal gland expressed for many months and there's no way I would know unless something happened.  So when I returned from work one day, I saw huge bumps/rashes on his rear end and rushed him to a vet that was still opened after 5PM.  The vet at Irvine Animal Pet Complex examined my dog and told me that my dog hasn't been "expressed" for a long time.  He said my dog has been licking all day to get his anal glands to express because they were too full.  He recommended that my dog gets expressed at least once every 3 to 4 months.

So this incident told me that Stonecreek wasn't doing everything that was part of their bath package.  Now I have to remind the person who is to bathe my dog to express his anal glands so I don't end up with a $100 vet bill again.

==========  To Summarize ==========

Pros: good vet, various types of treatment, good vet technicians, good location

Cons: baths are inconsistent, prices for vaccines are expensive, 8 to 5 office hours only