My experience at Modern Animal was less than stellar. There were a few good things and some bad.
I have a rescue dog who is somewhere between 13 and 15 years old. I was taking her and my other senior dog, who has recently passed, to a vet I liked very much, but unfortunately I could never get either of them in for urgent or emergency visits in a timely manner. Because of this, I discovered Urgent Pet in El Cerrito. They are wonderful, so I have been going there when any problems arose. But they don't give vaccines.
My old girl needed her yearly Leptosporosis vaccine. I was searching for a vaccine clinic and found an offer from Modern Animal for a free exam fee, or almost free, it was $70 off the $80 fee. I thought this would be a great opportunity to try another vet clinic and get her vaccine. I also wanted to discuss the fact that Molly was having Sundowner's Syndrome, pacing and barking and being anxious at night. This is common in older dogs.
I made the appointment online. I had to put in my credit card to hold the appointment. They sent me plenty of texts reminding me of the appointment.
We ended up being 15 minutes early for a 1 pm appointment. I was worried about parking in Berkeley but we were able to find a spot in the parking lot behind the clinic. No one was in the clinic when we arrived. The person at the desk told me it was lunch break, they closed for an hour. So we were the first appt. after lunch.
We were waiting in the exam room and the vet finally came in about 12 minutes after 1. I wouldn't even mention this normally, but I've read several reviews here where people were turned away and had their appts. canceled because they were ten minutes late. If clients are going to be held to such strict standards, it seems the vet should also adhere to those rules. Especially since we were the first appt. after lunch.
The vet was nice enough, but her exam was cursory. All she did was listen to her heart and lungs. I explained her night time anxiety, and she recommended Gabopentin.
I told the vet Molly had had elevated liver enzymes on a prior blood test so she recommended a senior blood panel. I said I thought about that but questioned what good it would do since there was not much to be done even if they were high. She said she might have a thyroid problem. So I agreed. I told the vet Molly has pet insurance so they would cover the cost of the blood test anyway.
I asked if her nails could be trimmed. The vet said that was not something they normally do there. I've never heard of a vet clinic that can't do a nail trim. The tech said she could do it though. The tech was excellent. Very friendly and helpful. She brought Molly back to me and she did get her nails trimmed.
The next day, I was expecting to get the results of the blood work emailed to me. Nothing showed up so I looked for their phone number online. That's when I discovered there is no phone number for the Berkeley office, or I assume any of their other offices. Everything has to be done by the app. I called the only number I could find, and was told you can not speak to anyone at the office because they are all helping pets that are in the office. You have to download the app and the results will be there. So I downloaded the app and it says the results will be available in 3-5 days. I wondered if they were sending the blood out of the country because I've always had blood work results by the next day at any clinic I have taken a pet too. And I've had pets for over 50 years.
5 days later the results were in the app, interpreted by another vet, not the one we had seen. This vet recommended I bring in a urine sample to help interpret the reason her liver enzyme was high. Why would I continue to do follow up tests when you have no access to discuss anything with the vet by phone or email? What if your pet is really sick? It's all too remote for me.
My insurance company decided to deny the claim due to the fact that the only diagnosis on the care summary was anxiety. The insurance doesn't cover behavioral issues. They had never denied a claim before for any blood panels.
So now I had to call the only number there is, explain what happened, ask them to ask the vet to add the fact we discussed her prior elevated liver enzyme and the question about whether she had a thyroid problem as reasons for the blood test. They asked me to send them the denial from the insurance company. Then I got an email saying they would work on this, it would take 7-10 days.
At some point I got an email saying the vet we saw was an on call vet, and wouldn't be back in the office for weeks. They did send a document after 7 days, outlining the need for the test, from Modern Animal Team.
This place was anything but modern to me. It's like they are trying to reinvent the wheel. No ability to speak to a live person at the office, once you leave the building, is reason enough to never return.
The only reason they get 2 stars is because of the tech. read more