Irvine Pet Complex

Dr Rellinger took such good care of our dog. It’s been a few weeks now since Fred’s passing and it has been very comforting knowing how much he was loved by all of the staff. They sent our family a very lovely card filled with personal comments. I really appreciate their kindness at a difficult time and recommend irvine pet complex highly.

The most caring group of people any where. Can’t imagine taking my beloved pets anywhere else.

Best Vet I’ve been to EVER! I have a 9-​year-​old miniature pinscher that has been having severe neck and back spasms. I took her to another vet on Friday who spent all of 5 minutes with her and prescribed her muscle relaxer. When my dog’s symptoms got even worse over the weekend I took her to see Dr. Rellinger at Irvine Pet Complex the following Tuesday.
I immediately felt a sense of relief when Dr. Rellinger warmly greeted us and felt like she was handling my dog as if it was her own. She looked over my dog’s records, took ample time and was very thorough in her examination, and then clearly explained what she felt was best and more importantly — WHY.
In my 9 years of owning my dog, I have never received such incredible attention and kindness from a vet. When we left my dog was already feeling better and the spasm was 100% under control when we got home. The treatment plan Dr. Rellinger provided was extremely effective and it made me so happy to see my dog happy and comfortable again.
I feel like I have a true partner now in regards to veterinary care for my «baby»… which it very important to me as my dog is getting older.
Thanks a million to Dr. Rellinger, the incredibly kind vet tech, and the rest of the staff at Irvine Pet Complex!

I’ve been taking my furry family members to IPC for over a decade (both a cat and a dog). Their staff (especially Dr. Roellinger!) are ALL tremendously loving toward their patients, get them in for appts ASAP, take their time to consider all potential issues /​advise on course (s) of action, and follow-​up with their patients.
Whether routine or emergency, I’m thankful to have them right around the corner, and know that I can count on them to take excellent care of our pets. After a recent scare, Dr. Roellinger kept an eye on our beloved Buddy all day, then referred him to a specialist (and followed up with calls to me — 9pm at night! — and to the specialist (on her day OFF) to ensure that Buddy was in the best of care, and nothing fell through the cracks.
The front office staff are caring and friendly, and graciously submit my invoices directly to our insurance provider, so that I don’t have to. I highly recommend them!

I’ll make this short and simple.
Best Vet in Orange County for Ear Cropping.
Beautiful shape, clean work.
If you want quality, expect to pay for it.
I only use this vet for ear cropping, not other services… so my review is based on that alone.
After-​care /​posting gets pricey, I know how to do it myself so it wasn’t an added expense.

Friend recommended this place. They are so nice and accommodating.
I brought Uni, small Maltese here and I’m sure he loves it.
The first time I came here was without my dog, just to bring some paperwork on my way home from school. I could not find the place and the receptionist spent the next 5 mins or so directing me.
Pricing is pretty fair. $ 20 for a bath.

Tip of the day they will price match your pets medication just bring them your quotes… The staff here is great been bring my labradors here for over 3+ yrs!

These kind and skilled folks cared for out chihuahua Buster for about 7 years. They are well-​organized and courteous and professional. They provided check-​ups, vaccinations, urgent care and prescriptions and we never had any issues. They worked us in quickly for several acute problems and we were very grateful. The fees are reasonable for the level of service and the state-​of-​the-​art, clean and comfortable office. We worked with several of the Vets and they were all great.
Sadly, Buster recently went into advanced heart failure and we needed to have him euthanized. We called on a Saturday morning when he because very short of breath, and they told us to bring him right in. They quickly put us in a quiet, private room and sensitively put Buster down with us by his side. Having gone through this twice, it is an awful and emotional experience, but we would never let our baby suffer. They gave us time alone with him before and after and never rushed us.
A week later we received his ashes in a beautiful wooden box with a brass ket, engraved heart tag with his name on it and a totally unexpected plaster cast of his foot. It was so touching, my wife and I cried again. As if this was not enough, two days later we received a sympathy card in the mail with hand written notes from all of the staff sharing beautiful thoughts about Buster.
They the best and incredibly kind, caring for him in life and death. Thank you all.
Bob & Susan

We recently adopted a new kitten from a shelter. Animals from a shelter often has cold and so did she. After a week we noticed her right eye was red and brought her here. Doctor prescribed eye ointment and suggested to rub her eyelids to spread the medication and also suggested to try different antibiotic for her cold.
After few days her eyes looked worse so we took her back and different doctor suggested to test if she has a scratch on her eyeball. She didn’t have any scratch but she gave her drop and told us to not to rub here eyes and put a cone on her so she won’t rub her eyes.
We had to board her few days after and they suggested to test her for parasites. The doctor said that she will check her but not going to charge. We paid for the test in advance and left. When we came back not only we were charged for the «free» check up but they charged for the test we already paid for.
When we picked our kitty up we were told that the test came back negative. Different office worker called later and left the message and left the same message. They also called my husband at work but this person said the test was positive. We called them to find out which is true and they said that there were mix up and the test result was positive… At this point I lost confidence for this place and checked « Unilocal» I think I am going to take other people’s advice and find her a new vet.

We had a HORRIBLE experience here. My girlfriend dropped off our dog for a grooming at 8AM. There were no calls or texts to update how our dog was doing. Six hours later I get a call saying he is ready to be picked up.
A check-​up exam was supposed to be completed by the time I arrived. It WASN’T. The receptionist was totally DISORGANIZED and couldn’t even find the medical file. She asked if I wanted the vet to check him at that point (since they didn’t earlier) and I said okay.
It took the vet about five-​ten minutes to do the exam, which I found to be incredibly fast. How do you thoroughly check a dog in that amount of time and still hold a DVM license? That is unbelievable to me. On top of that, when I asked to speak with the vet about lumps on my dog’s skin, she was unavailable, because she was with another patient. Really? This is how you treat first time customers?
When they brought him out he seemed FRIGHTENED & TIMID. He wasn’t his usual self, wagging his tail, and happy to see me. He Unilocaled a few times when I was holding him on the leash, like his neck was HURTING.
When we entered the apartment, he went directly under the bed, and he was SHAKING, WHILE FACING THE WALL. He still won’t come out. He seems like he is in PAIN and I will take him to another vet, if he isn’t feeling better soon.
After he went under the bed, I called the complex and amazingly their only manager is out of the office, and the only one to speak to is another receptionist.
Please take your pets somewhere else to be groomed and receive medical attention. I’d hate for others to have the same experiences we did with this place.

**Update**
I changed my rating to 4 stars because the owner personally called me to apologize for what happened and to refund the difference. I made it 4 stars because of the fact that I still had to go through what I posted below. I’ll probably come back to give them another chance.
**this is the original review**
I really, truly regret coming to this place to get my dog spayed. I called around all the local vets to find the most reasonable price I could find on the procedure, and I got quoted the price $ 180 plus medications, which totals out to be $ 230. That was the best price I could find, and I had booked an appointment with them.
Well I brought my dog in for her appointment, and the woman at the front desk told me the price would be $ 290 for the day. Okay, fine. $ 60 isn’t that big of a deal, right? So I drop her off, and about an hour and a half later, I get a phone call from the Vet saying that the price is actually $ 380. I tell him that I was told something way lower, and he tells me he will talk to the front staff to figure things out. Another hour goes by, and the front staff calls me to tell me that they quoted their old prices, and that they changed. Not only that, but it cost even more! 440 freaking dollars!
By this point, I’m too far away for work that I’m not even able to come get her, so I tell her it’s fine. But I feel cheated. I could have gone to a few other places for a cheaper price, and probably would have treated me kinder.
The front staff made me feel like something was wrong with me because I mixed up some of the instructions for aftercare when I repeated it back to her. She just seemed annoyed and told me she’d just highlight it instead. In the end they gave me a complimentary cone collar to save me $ 20, coming out to $ 418. It’s a shame that they couldn’t honor the original price that I had been told, and I highly discourage anyone from coming here again.

What’s with me and all the 5-​star reviews lately? I’m just a little ray of sunshine! Actually, I’ve been meaning to write a review of the Irvine Pet Complex for quite some time. I have been bringing my pets to Dr. Harner and Dr. Gestine since we all looked like babies. It all started with Starski…
In 2007, my cat Starski became very ill. I was new to Orange County, and took him to a vet near my home in Costa Mesa (I won’t name the place, because they shut down). The vet there was not even articulate enough to tell me what was wrong with Starski, or that he was overweight («You cat fat» is what he said, if I recall correctly, with a pantomime of a fat person… charming). I’m a nurse, and I took one look at Starski’s urinalysis and knew we were in trouble. The charming mime-​veterinarian at *Banfield Cough Cough* told me that my cat was going to die if I left the clinic. «No,» I responded, «He’s going to die if I keep him here.» I brought Starski to Irvine Pet Complex, on the recommendation of a friend. This friend has a cat that is 20 pounds of pure hate, so I figured that if IPC could handle that monstrosity, they could handle my sweet Starski.
Enter, Dr. Harner. He evaluated Starski, and actually Starski ended up in kitty ICU for 5 days (!!!$$$$$). Dr. Harner kindly offered to help teach me how to care for Starski at home (catheter and all), to save me some of the expense. I opted to leave him in the hands of the professionals, and Starski’s life was saved as a result.
My husband and I now have a combined total of 4 cats (thanks to our most recent rescue kitten… she’s so cute), and we should pretty much have a wing named after us at IPC. I had our cat, Hutch (you know there was a Hutch… there had to be, right?), there recently for some skin issues and blood work. Dr. Harner called me from a conference, out of state, to go over Hutch’s test results. Both he and Dr. Gestine (who loves our kitties like they’re her own) have excellent bedside manner, and follow up on how their patients are doing.
We have also utilized the boarding and grooming services at IPC, both of which were wonderful. We will continue to bring our pets to IPC, because they truly provide the best veterinary care I have ever received for any of my pets anywhere. I love that they are open longer hours and on weekends. Their hours alone have saved us from emergency vet bills on numerous occasions, and their care has saved our pets from serious illnesses.

My husband & I just brought home another rescue cat (yes, we are suckers) and of course took our new addition to our vet. Not only did we not have an appt the staff was so excited to meet him.
About six months ago we unfortunately I had to put one of our rescues down (FIP) — I had never heard of this disease, but it’s extremely fatal. Dr. Harner was so nice and compassionate. Shortly thereafter the Irvine Pet Complex sent us a sympathy card. The staff is wonderful!!!

My family has been taking our dogs to the Irvine Pet Complex for the last 11 years, and I’ve been taking my own dog for the last 3 years. The staff are all really friendly and welcoming to me and my dog.
This review is for Dr. Reina, who I just met this week — she is so sweet and knowledgeable, and immediately put me at ease. I was worried that Oski was scooting across the carpet this last week, and she explained a couple options of what might be going on. She’s a great communicator throughout the process, and the office followed up quickly with Oski’s test results.
I took Oski in again for dental cleaning, and was really pleased with their service. Take advantage of the 40% off special they are running on dental cleanings this month.

Very caring and professional Dr. & staff. Good explanation of treatment options. Also great about follow-​up to see how the pup is doing.

This is a great place, the doctors are very knowledgeable. I brought my lap/​pit mix in for some vaccinations and the doctor was really nice and answered all the questions i had. I was apprehensive to bring my dog here because i did not know how he would fare with the doctors. As soon as the doctor came into the room he greeted my dog and slowly befriended him. IPC also offers boarding at a decent rate, I will be back again

We have been taking our kitty here for 11 ½ years. They were always willing to work with us on payment of large bills. More importantly, when it our boy became terminally last month the doctor took so much time to go over all of my questions and answered every call I made with more questions. They allowed us as much time as we wanted before we let him pass, and did an amazing thing when we collected his remains with a paw print in ceramic that we will hold closely forever.
The staff here care about animals and it shows. They helped make a sad experience as easy as possible and we will forever be grateful. Dr. Reina was so compassionate.

Review for veterinary services
It looks like a lot of the not-​so-​good reviews on here are for boarding and/​or for cats, so I wanted to leave a note about how pleased I have been with their veterinary services for dogs. We have seen Drs. Harner and Rellinger (sp?) and they have both been very friendly and helpful. Dr. Rellinger is very sweet and takes all the time in the world to answer your questions.
My dogs Oliver — chihuahua /​dachshund mix — and Charley — cocker spaniel /​dachshund total mutt — have been here numerous times. Oliver receives all his routine care here, as well as teeth cleaning under general anesthesia. Charley comes once in a while when I am in town and he needs to get something done.
Charley has had a couple of seizures in the past which we had been monitoring, but after he had 3 in one weekend, I decided to bring him in for further testing. Dr. Rellinger was able to see him without an appointment. After discussing our options, I decided to leave him there for a couple of hours for x-​rays to look for cancer, urinalysis, and blood work. Everything came back negative, and Dr. Rellinger gave me copies of all the results so I can follow up with my regular vet after the holidays. I definitely appreciated that and the fact that she didn’t insist we do every test under the sun, but recommended certain ones we should do right away and others that could wait.
For the workup plus some medication to take home, the bill came to $ 655. Yeowch! The most expensive parts of the exam were the x-​ray and blood work, which to be fair, are pretty expensive for humans, too, if you don’t have insurance. I haven’t had any of these things done at any other vet, so I can’t tell you if that is expensive or not. However, I do know that the cost of a regular office visit and teeth cleaning is about a third of what I used to pay at our vet in LA, so I feel I can trust their prices.
I definitely will continue to trust them with my pets’ care.

I just recently started going to this place because I got a new puppy Dazy (toy shih-​tzu) and it is down the street from my house so it’s very convenient for me, anyways, my experience so far has been good, the two vets I have seen Dr. Harner and Dr. Maki are both really nice, caring and helpful. The front desk staff are also very nice and helpful. They happily answer all my questions (even tho they may be silly ?‘s because I’ve never had pets before) The facility itself is nice and is always clean, they have free pet treats and also they have given me free product samples for my little Dazy which is nice The prices are a bit high but it is Irvine and you do get what you pay for because they have good service, friendly staff and they seem to care about my puppy. Dazy will have her first grooming at this location during the week so i hope that experience will be just as great!

Where to begin. Worst two weeks ever.
We brought our dog in on a Thursday because he wasn’t eating, was vomiting and was extremely lethargic. We met with one of the doctors, who brought in two estimates of treatment. We chose the option to test him first with a blood test and go from there. We found out he had pancreatitis due to Raid ingestion. At that point, we were given to options, to hospitalize him or take him home for treatment. We chose to take him home, after getting fluids put in him, and give him the outpatient medication and special diet. The second estimate included hospitalization, but she never made it seem like that was necessary to choose. I even repeatedly asked if this would kill him and was told no.
We took him home. She told us to call saturday if he hasn’t eaten by then, and we would need to hospitalize him. Saturday came, and no eating. We called in, and they said to give it a few more days, and call Monday. We called Monday, at which point, again they said wait one more day. We called Tuesday, still not eating, and the phone was routed to a DIFFERENT OFFICE that informed us that they were closed for the day (didn’t they know this ahead of time? Why would they tell us to call tuesday if they were closed). Our dog had officially not eaten now for 6 days.
Finally, wednesday they were open, and told us to bring him in. We hospitalized him for 2 days, $ 1000.00 later, and he still was not eating. At that point on Friday evening, they suggested we take him home to try to get him to eat from us again. We took him home, and again, he wouldn’t eat and was lethargic, wouldn’t move etc.
I called another vet for a second opinion, who basically told me that this vet should have hospitalized him RIGHT AWAY when they found out he had pancreatitis. That with this disease, if you catch it right away, you can get a turn around in 24 – 48 hours. But because they told us to call back and then call back and call back, it created a downward spiral which we could not come back from.
So Monday came, and we had to put him down. After spending $ 1500 on treatment, with no improvement we knew we had no choice. We went in, and they were polite. However, they did not explain ANYTHING about the process. So of course, when we were in the room crying and devastated, as we put our loved dog to sleep, he made a screeching cry, as the medicine was injected. This was VERY TRAUMATIZING. After much research, I have learned what this was, and it was not pain. HOWEVER, no one said a single thing to us after. As we sat crying in the hallway, that doctor should have come out to explain what it was to us, so that we felt better. They should have explained to us first hand, that this could happen etc.
Bottom line: We spent a TON of money there, they didn’t know who we were when we called with questions about our dog who was in their hospital, they didn’t tell us to bring him on all the days that we called, and they didn’t explain anything about the process of putting our loved one to sleep, and then even after the experience, did not even come out to explain what happened to us. I can’t blame them solely for our dog needing to be put down, but after speaking to the other second opinion, I can certainly blame them for not stressing that we hospitalize from the beginning, and for day after day telling us to wait another day, which led to the downward spiral, that couldn’t be recovered from.
Side Note: Its pretty upsetting that after spending $ 1500 on treatment, they then charge you again for putting the dog down. Granted I understand there are costs involved, but perhaps they should do a case by case, and when someone has already give them so much money that week trying to save the dog, maybe work with them on the fee’s for putting the dog down.