Central Orange County Emergency Animal Hospital

This is the face of a champion. At 18 years old, he is still going strong after an intensive surgery that removed his spleen, gallbladder, and part of his liver. Dr. Kim, Alex the Manager, and their incredible team of veterinary technicians once again showed the boundless depth of their skill and compassion. A heartfelt shoutout to Ernesto, Chelsea, Omar for their support throughout the surgery. They cared for my boy with such steadfast dedication and also managed to somehow find time to comfort his very anxious hooman mom. If they had not acted as quickly as they did to move forward with surgery, my pup could have suffered a rupture that would have taken him from me. They have given me something truly priceless. They have granted me more time with the dog who has been by my side for 17 years. I will treasure every moment of it, and I will forever be indebted to this incredible team. Thank you for returning my boy back to me.

Dr. Choi is a gem! He provided great care when our 18-month old french bulldog, Phoebe, got very sick. He was patient with us and our puppy, was very clear in his treatment plan, and voluntarily provided updates every night on her status during her stay. Also, great transparency on Phoebe’s care — his explanations on the medical services to be provided, and why they were necessary, were truly appreciated. The staff was very kind, skilled, and patient, as well. Couldn’t ask for a better pet ER experience! Highly recommend to other pet owners in emergency situations.

Excellent! Came here at 3am because my dog had two seizures out of the blue. Also had to come the subsequent night as they continued. The doctors & staff were extremely accommodating, friendly, knowledgeable, and did what they said they would do. Extremely fair pricing for a 24 hour facility. I'm very grateful for their excellent care of my pup, and while these emergency experiences are never fun, they made it as good as it could be. Honestly, cannot recommend them enough.

I cannot say enough great things about Dr. Kim and Central OC. Our dog Appa needed life saving surgery in Oct 2021. His story went viral and received national attention before we found Dr. Kim. People from all over were reaching out to help. Dr. Kim and his team performed a partial lobectomy after Appa had suffered from a traumatic pneumothorax. We knew he was in great hands after receiving a referral and reading his reviews and background. The surgery couldn't be more perfect. Our local vet a year later had to do an Xray for a cough Appa had (unrelated)and said that he could see that Dr. Kim's surgery was done with perfection. All parts are working great and our Appa is thriving! We recently visited Dr. Kim and his staff (May 2023). They were so happy to see Appa. They took photos and gave big hugs. So grateful for this team! I would HIGHLY suggest taking your furry family members to Dr. Kim for your ER needs instead of any corporate company vets. They are truly top notch! Thank you Central OC!

I took my dog here after he got into some brownies at home. The staff was polite and helpful, and they made the whole situation much less stressful. The doctor was thorough and explained the treatment clearly, which I really appreciated. My dog got the care he needed, and everything was handled professionally. Overall a good experience

Five Star reviews for Kathryn M, the front desk/tech who was very kind, patient and caring. Because of her I added one star. One star review for Dr L who lacked bedside matter and compassion. She wanted to emergently remove my dog's spleen that night when she accurately noticed a large mass. She had no idea what it was, my dog was not internally bleeding and had normal labs. As a physician I knew this was an inappropriate course of action and consulted another veterinarian on the phone. He agreed. Dr L proceeded with a full court press and threats that the expenses would be much higher the next day if I waited and the spleen ruptured. I gladly agreed to leave against medical advice, given by the tech and not the doctor. As an ER physician myself, I would have first considered many other options before performing surgery for an unknown condition. if there was an "emergent" surgery to be performed, next I would have gone to tell the patient myself and explained all the risks and repercussions myself. It is inappropriate to have a tech do this but Dr L was too busy to review this "emergent" surgery refusal with me herself. Nor did she provide any alternative courses of an actions other than go home and wait for the spleen to rupture. We went, instead, to a specialty clinic 2 days later who confirmed that this was a widely metastatic cancer that Dr L had missed. Dr L did not see all the other masses in the liver and in the abdomen because she was only focused on bleeding and the spleen. I understand the limitations in the ER, but she should have recommended further evaluation before rushing to threaten surgery and horrible complications if I did not comply. An emergent splenectomy would have been catastrophic, unnecessary and expensive. The experts did not recommend surgery at all. Dr L only wanted to perform surgery without considering other possibilities. As a result she was willing to subject my pet to an unnecessary and painful surgery that would not have prolonged his life. She completely missed the diagnosis. The service was very fast and the staff was polite, But a huge unnecessary surgery recommendation is borderline malpractice. My pet is NOT an experiment animal for inexperienced young veterinarians. Be sure to get a second opinion if you go late at night.

I woke up the other morning to my little dog, Rocket, shivering and just not acting like himself. It's been warm out so I thought maybe he'd gotten a little too much heat the day before and decided to let him rest instead of taking him to the vet. Later that day, it became clear he was running a fever and was experiencing loose stools so I made him some bland food to eat to see if that would help. Shortly after our regular vets closing time, he went outside to poop and we found blood and then he started throwing up. We made a call to Central Orange County Emergency Animal Hospital and after a series of questions we were given some suggestions of things we could try if we wanted to keep an eye on him overnight or we could bring him in. We decided to take him in just to be sure. We arrived shortly after and was greeted by the person who had answered our call. She was extremely nice and helpful as she readied the room and got his vitals. The doctor we saw was AMAZING. She was nice, listened to us explain his symptoms and was extremely gentle with our little dude. Once she'd performed her exam, the assistant came back to outline the recommended treatment and associated costs and then stepped out to give us time to discuss. We went with the recommended treatment including an overnight stay. When I picked Rocket up the following morning, he was clearly feeling better. The costs came in as estimated. Emergency treatment isn't cheap but the care both he as well as my husband and I received made it well worth it. Rocket is at about 99% currently and I expect he'll be back at 100% in no time at all. Thank you for making my little guy feel better!