Critter Doctor Animal Hospital

We had to put our dog, Chunk, down and they were so kind and thoughtful. Had him cremated and his ashes came in a beautiful rosewood box, with a paw print clay disk, some fur, and a really sweet note.
The procedure was sad, but it was handled very nicely. Would highly recommend.

As a certified professional dog trainer I trust my own dog and puppies care to Critter Doctor Animal Hospital. Highly recommend them based off of their knowledge of animals and, very importantly to me, how they actually handle the dogs. The vet can be a stressful experience for dogs and in my professional opinion they do an excellent job understanding that and treating the dogs in their care with compassion and understanding.

Do NOT take your pet here! We took our dog for stomach issues and the Dr. recommended a whole set of exams, X-Rays and blood work without giving us any sort of treatment for symptoms. They always look to 'upsell' you into more services with little care or sympathy for the animals.

I took my dog in because he was limping, they checked him out and said nothing was wrong. Now he is limping really bad.

They miss things, and they won't let you go in with your animal.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR ANIMALS TO THIS VET

Melinda of, Critter Doctor Animal Hospital in Kirkland, Washington helped me at a very critical moment on a Friday afternoon. I realized that I was completely out of prescription cat food and it was on back order everywhere,
due to Covid! Melinda was kind enough to provide me with enough to hold my pet over until the cat food can be delivered!! When you think about what they did for me, stopping everything in the middle of a busy Friday afternoon to go gather up the items, make sure they had a new diet cat food prescription put on file, and when I arrived at the animal hospital, they brought the Prescription cat food right out to my car! Melinda did all this in a kindly and gracious manner, with a smile on her face, and would take no money for this wonderful service! All this at no charge, whatsoever!!! It doesn't get any better than this! Critter Doctor Animal Hospital of Kirkland is the most caring and loving animal care Hospital And veterinary clinic of all the animal hospitals and veterinary clinics I've ever frequented in over 45 years! They are such an asset, not just to the neighborhood, but to the entire community! If I could give Critter Doctor Animal Hospital of Kirkland more than five stars, I would!!!!! Thank you from all of us in the Community for providing our Pets with such wonderful care

New owner/management. Doc Wendy is gone and so is the personable, caring vibe. Not the friendliest people either, so we decided to look for a new vet. Asked for our records to be sent via email and the guy sent it over without a word of "thanks", "please reconsider", or "have a nice day", you know, customer service 101. We've since found Bothell Pet Hospital and a personal relationship has already been created and we feel "at home" there.

This place is amazing!! Friendly knowledge people and take great care about your pet with COVID-19 issues. Scrappy has a new veterinarian!

My puppy died during neutering surgery at Critter Doctor hospital on Nov 2nd. My puppy is a 7-month old Yorkie boy. He passed away during pre-medicine step, after took induction. He was completely healthy before surgery. No heart disease no any problem. He was already 5lbs and very strong. He is mommy & daddy's sweet heart. I gave myself several weeks to clam down to write this review.

I brought my puppy to critter doctor hospital at 08:00 am. On 09:46 am I received call from them that my puppy's heart stop beating. We went back to hospital and saw his body at:10:20am. Before we took the puppy home, we asked them to send a copy of operator logs to our email and they said they will do. However, we didn't received it until 4:40pm, so we checked with them. They said they will send it by the end of day. At 7:30pm I received the log (pic 1)

Then we found that the time for logging pre-medicine and induction was 10:40am. Next day we went back and asked them many questions. For this wrong time, they said they record the medicine and time on paper and logged into system later. They then showed me the paper (pic 2).

Starting from here is my guess and why I gave 1-star to this hospital. I am heartbroken, I may already mad and wrong:
1. I asked my friends who are doctors or working at shelters. They said it's likely the propofol which caused the incident. Propofol can cause significant decrease on heart rate. According to the paper log, they injected 1.25ml propofol for induction. 1.25ml is a small and safe volume even to a small size puppy. However, this is a paper log not from logging machine. I don't believe its authenticity.
2. I know every surgery has risk. But male dog neutering surgery is really a small surgery based on my knowledge, very unlikely to be an accident like this. The technician who did the induction was holding a license in PENDING status. It should be legal since the main veterinary has active license. However, I think the lack of experience might have increased the risky of the surgery.
3. I talked with them on the next day. The doctor kept saying that many potential diseases can be the reason of the death like heart disease. While my puppy is not a new patient to them, he did the well exam at this hospital and the report showed that he was a very health baby, no issue include heart murmur. Doctor then said he probably has some hidden diseases which cannot be found by physical test. And then the admin told us that they hold meeting discussed about how could avoid this accident, and the conclusion they got is that they have nothing to improve, they have done everything correctly.

Therefore, I didn't received any apologies and reflection from them. They said they also sad about puppy's death and they all cried, I believe it, I believe this is not what they wanted to see. However, I don't believe they have no responsibility on the accident. I was with my puppy all the time, he was an energetic and health boy. He was from an experienced AKC breeder, both his parents are healthy. At the time we adopted him, we signed the contract that we have to do neutering for him at 6-month. This policy wouldn't be there if there are any genetic problems in his family.

Like I said I am not a doctor, that's all my guess. I maybe wrong and I am not intend to wrong them. My puppy received a free nail cut from them before, he must be appreciate that. He is a sweet heart, he wouldn't happy if mommy wronged them. So if I am worry, I say sorry here to the doctors and technician for this negative review. Regardless, I still have to comment this down, this review is not for my puppy and even myself. It's a torture for me to think about that day and write this down. This is for other puppies, this is the request from all my friends who have furry babies.

That's all I have, I completely don't recommend this hospital based on my experience.

PS: I truly believed that neutering is a 100% right thing, it was totally good for him and it's a small/safe surgery. But is that too risky for a small breed like yorkie? Maybe I could wait for him to get older, maybe wait till 1-year-old? And there were more things I could do to avoid this accident, I could check with hospital what medicine to use, who going to perform the surgrey. Or maybe listen to what he really wants? He loves riding his unicorn. he will definitely say no to the the neutering if he can! It's me who made the wrong decision, I gave my puppy to the hospital and he passed away here. I sent him to death. I wish every owner could do fully consideration, preparation and investigation for every decision they made on their puppies. Not like me.

I wishes God could give me the second chance, I wish my puppy could back, as a real boy / girl. MomI wishes God could give me the second chance, I wish my puppy could back, as a real boy / girl. Mom and dad really hope to have more time with you, mom and dad will wait for your back.

Criter Docter us the best BEST care in all vets. I have loved them for years and know they can help my fur kids when they are ill. Never turned awy

My parents took their cockapoo to Critter Doctor for 6 years. After weeks of my parents spending thousands of dollars at this clinic treating his declining health with very few answers, their dog passed away at the age of 14 last week. We don't blame Critter Doctor, of course, but my parents left a voicemail after hours informing the clinic of his death. It's been over a week and no one has bothered to call them back. You'd think after years of treating him and them being faithful customers, they'd bother to call. Disappointing and hurtful. The dog food delivery service showed more sympathy than the vet that treated him for a large amount of his adult life.