Surfside Animal Hospital, Oceanside CA

Dr. King and the staff at Surfside are awesome! We had an emergency with our precious Faith and they were able to see her and diagnose her. The communication and care are top notch. Thank you.

They use to be a good vet, but they have gone down hill. Now they will lie to you and then ignore your requests. They lied to us several times about our pet. Will never use again. It’s a shame because they use to be a good vet.

Extremely poor customer service. Unresponsive, callous, and unapologetic. Vet did poor job stitching my 1.5 year old female chihuahua during spay (internal stitches sticking out of abdomen for over a month, required antibiotics and follow up). Would not recommend! Clearly a reason they are the lowest rated in the area. Note to owner: In additional to better vets who take their time and do a quality job, try hiring front of office/receptionists that actually care about pets and the customer experience. Embarrassed for you!

Dr. King is the best veterinarian. She is so knowledgeable and takes such great care of my special breed cats. She also cares about cost and won’t charge you for anything that is unnecessary. This is the best Vet in California and I have been to a lot. Recommend 100%

I was in search of a new vet that was more compassionate & more options for the well being of my dog. After looking on Google I found about 5 vets to call including Surfside. After looking over their website and reading the services they offered and great reviews I was excited, thinking I found my new vet. When I called I explained I was calling around in search for a new vet so I had a few questions. Before I could ask 5he girl saidan annual examine was $69 & next available was. (gave me a date & time a week away). 1st off I wasn't calling for an appt, & I hadn't asked any of my questions yet. When I asked if any of the vets had their own dogs & what kind, I could hear in the tone of her voice she didn't care for that question & wasn't sure why I would ask. I believe she answered yes but not sure on what kind. Then I asked for a price on neutering an 80lbs dog & if they did gastroplexy at same time. I was floored by her answer. " I don't know, I'm just the receptionist" I then asked what the appt she gave me was for, "the neutering" oh the vet doesn't need to do an exam beforehand? "Yes they'll do it the same day before the surgery and the vet will go over the prices & any questions you have then.
I said well im just calling around now in search of a vet that fits my needs so I'll have to call back.
I was very disappointed how good they looked from the website, but because of her attitude I would not want to take my business there. Basically I could set an appt (@ least $69) for neutering, get there to find they don't do gastroplexy & or they charge 3x the amount as the place I called prior, but im still billed the $69. And when I get there the person im greeted by seems to know nothing of the business nor is she very friendly or willing to help customers. For every other place I called was very willing to answer my questions, give me prices (if they didn't know they asked) all in a very happy helpful tone, as it should be when that's the person people have contact w/1st representing your business. It was like she didn't think there was any other option other than she didn't know, she didn't think she could ask or there's a place she could look like a price list, we'll that's bad service in my book so I won't be taking my baby there.

Extremely helpful and accommodating when other vets were too busy to fit in my emergency. Even though they were busy, they got me in and helped my dog. I'm very thankful for Surfside.

I had to take my dog in for an emergency appointment. The staff were so helpful, kind, efficient, and compassionate. I am so thankful that they were able to sneak me in and have my dog looked at. Luckily, it's nothing serious. I will only be using this vet from now on. I can't say enough nice things about the staff. They went out of their way to make sure my dog felt safe and not overwhelmed with others in the office.

Great care for our pets and the military discount is very appreciated.

It is sometimes hard to get someone on the phone/or on hold for a bit.

Poor communication. No answer of the phone during regular business hours? Do they not know how to set up a voice mail at the very least?

We have been going here for years with three dogs and two cats. We hadn't had issues until the past year or so. It has been increasly difficult to get appointments. The staff has changed and are really rude. Appointments are no longer available and urgent care services are not. Most recently, I called and asked to make an appointment for my cat who I believe has ringworm. I was told there was nothing available for weeks, if at all. I explained I believed my cat had ringworm and thought there may be urgent care since they advertise urgent care avaialable. Her response was to keep the cat in a bathroom and don't handle them. I said " for a month? " And She really rudely said "just call another hospital".
I normally do not write bad reviews or complain about businesses, but the tone was over the top and the comments were ridiculous- just leave the cat in a bathroom?
If they do not want people calling, they need to put on the website that they have no availability and do not have urgent care or any other services available.

I have no idea how Surfside Animal Hospital has 4.3 stars.
The waiting room is packed with expensive dogs that are not very well-behaved because they stack their appointments to tight with what I saw to be 1 veterinarian shuffling from room to room. He had no bedside manner and went to other rooms in the middle of my appointment and didn't wear a mask. I was there for 2 hours for what I consider to be a routine visit. It took me a week to get an appointment in the first place. They like to upsell too.
If you check the Nextdoor app you will see what locals really have to say about this place.
It's obvious that they are soliciting fake reviews.
If anyone knows of a good vet in O'side your comments are greatly appreciated.

Awful. Always busy and long waits, even if you already have appointments. Reciently, I tried to call in to set up an appointment for one pet and to confirm an appointment for another pet. Some one picked up and put me on hold, then hung up on me, twice! I tried calling back and they hung up on my call. I wasted 30 minutes out of my work schedule for nothing.

Surfside Animal Hospital staff was absolutely incredible and I highly recommend them. We had a non life threatening emergency (still an emergency) so most clinics wouldn’t give us the time of day, however Surfside was so welcoming and friendly, they were able to squeeze us in and help us that day (Easter Sunday). I believe there was only one doctor working that day so I know he was super busy, as was the rest of his staff, but Dr. Hilke was really great and made us feel at ease. He performed a small surgery on our dog and we only had to wait a couple of hours. Our dog is now back home, stitched up, and resting. I highly recommend this place and recommend Dr. Hilke! They even trimmed his nails for us at no cost because they noticed they were getting long. Seriously such an amazing staff.

I can’t even describe how grateful I am for Dr. Hilke and staff at Surfside. My shih tzu girl had been throwing up in the mornings and was seen by another vet who did blood tests and everything came back normal. After a few days she got so much worse. I called over 30 vet offices and not a single one could squeeze me in until I called surfside. They listened to the situation and Dr. Hilke was able to squeeze us in. The front desk staff and techs were all so kind and patient with us. Dr. Hilke was thorough and went through possible scenarios and gave us options. She ended up needing surgery the next day.turns out she swallowed one of my socks. Thank you thank you thank you for taking care of my dog even when you were busy. Truly so beyond thankful. I live farther away from this office but would 1000% bring my dog here again. 10/10 recommend.

Save time and money and find another location in the area. Horrible experience. Unprofessional staff during our last visit.

Started off with them taking the longest time to answer their phone. When finally greeted, I immediately got put on hold for over 10 minutes. Only to be assumed as another customer, then put on hold again, for over 15 minutes.

After scheduling my puppy’s appointment for his 2nd shot I arrived on a slow Sunday and after 30 minutes of waiting vet comes out to tell me my puppy was to early to get his 2nd shot? Do they not pull up my dogs profile before scheduling? Worst vet I’ve ever been too. I do not recommend this place.

They were really patient with me and thourough with explaining all of kitty's spay aftercare. They even checked her incision site immediately when I thought something was up. The price foe a spay was better than what had been quoted to me around town. They are also open 24hours and took my calls at random and off hours due to my schedule. I plan on going there here on out.

Okay, I’m not even going to go here to find out, but I got this from my neighborhood app, sounds horrible! Hopefully it helps others who are thinking of going there

My cat was being extremely lethargic and wasn't eating, the team here was extremely helpful and friendly in an extremely stressful time for me and my gf. Great clinic!