Chico Hospital for Cats

I previously had a 5-star review. Sadly, things went downhill rapidly when the original owner passed away. Each time I'd bring my cat in for an appointment, I'd have a new doctor. There was no continuity of care while I was trying to find out why my cat was suffering for months. Each doctor would only have a superficial awareness of what the last doctor had begun investigating.

I took my cat to another doctor, who found small cell lymphoma and asthma, both of which should have been treated sooner. The new vet began treatment immediately, and her symptoms rapidly improved under new care.

Chico Hospital for Cats also switched to a new mail-order provider for prescription foods. They canceled my cat's food subscription through the old provider without telling me. If I hadn't called the provider to inquire about the first missing shipment, I could have run out of the only food that my cat can still eat.

Kindness costs nothing.

Nobody books an urgent care appointment ($160) unless they're worried for their pet.

Our cat has been struggling with illness for a couple of weeks, getting better, then worse, with significant weight loss and a bit of recovery, only to decline again. By Friday, his condition had become alarming.

When Forest Animal Hospital closed, I couldn't book an appointment at any local vets for less than 3 weeks out, and even the mobile vet did not call me back.

Yesterday, I finally got an urgent care appointment at Chico Hospital for Cats (CHC) for this morning at 10:30 AM. Rachelle, who scheduled the appointment, was kind and understanding on the phone.

This morning, while getting ready for the appointment, I accidentally left my phone on top of the car, and it fell off and was destroyed (I later confirmed). I didn't go back to find it right away because I was too worried about missing the appointment. Arriving at CHC, there was confusion--Rachelle was out sick, and they said I was supposed to have confirmed the appointment (which was bewildering to me, as I'd just set the appointment over the phone yesterday).

With my phone lost, all my cat's medical records and documentation from the past two weeks (symptoms, weights, etc.) were inaccessible via Google docs. I scrambled to log into my Google account to retrieve the information using my smartwatch, feeling increasingly stressed.

After a 30-minute wait, they informed me they couldn't see my cat (there were four people ahead of us, I hadn't 'confirmed' the appointment, etc.). The manager treated me as though I was trying to get away with something. I explained that Rachelle had told me that typically you have to call in the same day to get an urgent care appointment, but she booked mine for 10:30 and I didn't remember any mention of having to call again to confirm (and in fact, it didn't even make sense). The manager seemed indignant, and said, "I was standing right next to Rachelle when she was on the phone with you, and I know she told you you'd need to confirm the appointment." I said maybe I misunderstood. I left feeling overwhelmed and unwelcome. The friend that had met me there noted how unnecessarily harsh and rude the manager had been.

This afternoon a friend told me, "That's why we left - their attitude has declined."

I didn't catch the manager's name, but she was a middle-aged woman who wore her hair in a huge bun right on top of her head. I recommend steering clear of her.