Evergreen Avian & Exotic Animal Hospital

Good news for pet rats who live near Kirkland WA. Dr. Carter is now working alongside Dr. Boutette who just took care of my Pepe who had a cyst. He is from New Jersey and has been practicing for, I think he said, 13 years. He knows a lot. He’s also very considerate, and in my opinion, has exceeded my expectations. Of course I continue to consider Dr. Carter as an awesome doctor as well. Thanks from Winny

Dr. Carter is the BEST. I’ve got a couple of ferrets, and have been here a few times. On every occasion I’ve been here I’ve had really good service from Dr. Carter and the staff. Even when I’ve had really sick critters, and it’s obviously a stressful time for both the pet and the pet parent, she’s has been really understanding, listens to my questions/​concerns and was really gentle with my fuzzins. She did a full exam on them (including checking their organs) and made every effort to assess their overall wellbeing, but was also aware of their comfort level.
We had to do an ultrasound on one of my ferrets, and putting a load of ultrasound gel on a squirming ferret and getting her to sit still for 5 minutes is no easy feat, but Dr. Carter also showed me on the ultrasound what the issues were – it was some pretty serious stuff but she was calm and walked me through it. My ferret also has issues with 4 different organs, and Dr. Carter also knew how to handle her medication so that the side effects of one med could be counteracted with other supplements and whatever, so overall she would be better off instead of just focusing on one issue.
I often book appointments over the phone, and I’ve not really had any problems with that, although if you have a question for the vets it can sometimes be a while before they get back to you. It also does get pretty busy sometimes, especially since there aren’t a lot of vets that specialize in parrots and reptiles and ferrets and rodents and whatnot, so there is sometimes a bit of a wait. The nice thing though is that you can wait in the exam room, so your pet can use the potty (in the Designated Potty Area)! Dr. Carter also checks their leavings if necessary too, which is a bonus.
There’s plenty of parking out the front. Even if I didn’t live in the area I would definitely make the trip over to see her. She’s probably the best vet I’ve ever come across.

Dr Carter called me personally and apologized, fixed the mistake her staff made by seeing my cat right away. Will definitely go back again

My experience with this clinic is pretty mixed. Dr. Carter is definitely nice, gentle, and patient with questions. I have no bad things to say about her. However, I’m not too sure about the staff. My bunny had a blood test and I was waiting for results. Since I didn’t received any calls I assumed everything was ok which was my mistake. I felt unease and called to double check 3 – 4 weeks (results were supposed to be available a week after blood work) after they took the blood work and I was told my bunny has E. Cuniculi and should be treated promptly. They apologized for their mistake. Once I got to the clinic (Dr. Carter was possibly away on vacation) for treatment, they weighed my bunny. I was curious if my bunny had lost significant amount of weight so I asked what was the initial weight from the first visit? They said for some reason it wasn’t recorded. STRIKE TWO! During a separate occasion, I was told to come back for medication when needed and the girl told me I can just stop by. So when the time came, I figured I called ahead just in case and staff that answered the phone said that Dr. Carter is not in office and she can’t dispense the medication without dosing instruction. Well, why didn’t you say so to begin with?!? STRIKE 3! The staff could be better trained. I’ll be finding another clinic.

Having owned several rabbits on the east coast over the past number of years, I know how important it is to find a good vet especially when you’re frantic that your bunny has an emergency situation. Being a recent transplant to the Seattle area, I relied on Unilocal to guide me in the right direction.
My little lionhead lop started acting lethargic, unwilling to eat or drink at around midnight, a sign of possible GI statis. Though there are several 24hr animal hospitals, there aren’t many rabbit vets on call for such a situation. We powered through ’til the night and I started calling several clinics as they opened up for the day. Several advertised exotic hospitals only have one experienced rabbit veterinarian– if they aren’t in, there’s no point in going to them. Evergreen is different. There is only one veterinarian, Dr. Carter, and she’s knowledgeable in all the animals they advertise in specializing.
On this particular day, Dr. Carter had to stay at home with her kids. By the time I had called their clinic, I was frantic, because all of the other places often had direct-​to-​voicemail machines instead of a receptionist, so who knows when they’d hear my message and call me back. The veterinarian assistant who answered the phone explained that Dr. Carter was unavailable. As I explained how I couldn’t get ahold of anyone else who could see me for the day, the assistant told me she’d call me back. Minutes later, it was Dr. Carter who personally called me and listened as I explained the symptoms and advised me on what I should do.
That day, I took my bunny to the Bird and Exotic Clinic of Seattle to see Dr. Dan as a drop-​off since their appointments were booked. Needless to say, I didn’t get a good feeling from them. You can read my review on them for more information.
Furthermore, after the visit with that vet, my rabbit’s condition declined the rest of the evening and early morning, it looked like he was nearing his end. The next day, I again called Evergreen and explained it had been almost 36 hours since my rabbit went into GI stasis and that I hoped to have a second opinion. I was told they were fully booked– even during lunch, but they called Dr. Carter and she remembered me from the day before and let me know that she could see me right when she got in for the day. Here’s how the visit went:
tl;dr
Dr. Carter is one of the best veterinarians for rabbits I have yet to meet. She’s understanding of an owner’s distress and incredibly gentle with rabbits. She conducted a thorough examination of my bunny, feeling his tummy, checking his ears, teeth and even feeling out that he had longer molar roots on one side of his cheeks to eliminate any other potential issues for his abnormal behavior. She didn’t rely on x-​rays but just did it the old school way, which showed me she really knew her rabbit anatomy and symptoms. Dr. Carter was very thorough with her questions to me about my rabbit’s diet, exercise, habitat– giving me suggestions on what things to tweak, vegetables to focus on and wrote it all out on a detailed note that included the medications I needed to administer. During the visit, the assistant also fed my rabbit critical care, subcutaneous fluids, and a first dosage of a prescription for gut motility, showing me exactly how to do it at home. I’ve never been happier to pay a vet bill. The charges were fair– I didn’t get charged for the critical care or the medication given during the visit and I left feeling relieved. That’s the thing about a good vet. They make you go home feeling like your pet will be ok because you know exactly what to do. It’s now been 48 hours since my little bunny first started acting funny, but he’s now eating vegetables and making up for 2 missed days of incessant grooming. Whew.

I recently adopted my first rats, and had to find a vet because they were both sneezing. Dr. Holly Carter was recommended so we made an appointment to get them both checked out. This was my first time taking them to the vet and I was nervous she might judge me for not doing everything right. But she took plenty of time to answer all of my rat questions and was not the slightest bit condescending.
She handled them really well and was very gentle. You can tell she really cares about them.
She gave me some antibiotics for the sneezing fits and plenty of tips on how to give them their medicine. I’m happy to say it worked and they are doing great. Also, they were overweight and have since lost weight since I start following her advice on giving treats.
I would highly recommend her to anyone with an ‘exotic’ pet.

Dr. Holly Carter and her staff are absolutely PHENOMENAL!!! We have 4 rabbits, a couple of whom have had some serious health issues, and Dr. Carter has been amazing in every step of the process — from diagnosis, to procedure, to follow up. Besides being incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable, she is extremely thorough and gentle, and cares for every animal as if it were her own.
I cannot say enough wonderful things about Dr. Carter, her staff, and her animal hospital. We feel so fortunate to have Evergreen Avian & Exotic care for our beloved little critters!

I brought my 1^st rat here (In 2010) for a mammary tumor. They vets were wonderful. They were patient, kind, and informative. At the time, Dr. Cathy was out so we have Dr Elizabeth Graves. She was very kind and helpful. Then my 2^nd rat got sick and we brought her in, this time we got to see Dr Cathy. That woman really knows what she’s doing. the only reason I’m not giving this place 5 stars is because the vet assistant there is HORRIBLE. I dont know her name, she has blond curly hair. She was the rudest person I had ever interacted with in a medical setting. I dreaded interacting with her. Everything else is great about this place.

I brought my ferret Josie to Dr. Carter when she started having digestive issues and throwing up. Dr. Carter did an x-​ray and was pretty sure she had swallowed an object. She went in for surgery and sure enough she had swallowed something… it was about the size of a dime and looked like a stopper that came off of a cabinet. No wonder she was sick! Once Josie had surgery and healed I thought she would be back to normal, but for some reason she continued to have problems. I’m sure the object she swallowed had to of caused some damage. It was about a 4 month struggle of trying to get her back to good health. Scary, at times I thought I might even loose her. I am thankful for Dr. Carter… She spent many hours on the phone with me, took Josie home with her so she could observe what was going on with her. And even stayed after hours a couple times so Josie could be seen. Dr. Carter is very dedicated and passionate about what she does! The staff is also very caring and dedicated as well. Josie is now back to good health, happy and as playful as can be! I’m so happy to have my fuzzy baby! A big thank you to Dr. Carter and the staff from Felicia and Josie!

I am thrilled to have found Dr. Carter and her practice. We have a 2 year old cockatiel and she had her first appointment at Avian and Exotic. Dr. Carter is knowledgeable, professional, caring and thorough. Her assistant was professional, courteous and nice. I was surprised to see how calm and at ease my bird was there. She really made a point to take the time to form a bond with our bird so that she could do a check up without it being a panicked or chaotic. She explained the priorities in her recommendations in care and I did not feel like I was being pressured or forced to do anything unnecessary. She is so thorough I was amazed at all the information she requested at our first appointment. Nutrition, light exposure, many details of care, etc. She pays attention to details, takes down notes and the I feel that the health of her clients is obviously extremely important to her. I had our first appointment today and have already recommended her to two friends.

My boyfriend’s 30 plus year old turtle’s behavior changed & we were in search of an experienced exotic vet as his previous vetting was lacking in substance. I found Dr. Carter via google & Unilocal & decided to call and see what their experience with elderly turtles was. Assured via phone we wouldn’t have a similar experience to last time, we made an appointment and took our guy in. Both the vet tech & Dr. Carter were great with him. Dr Carter checked his shell & drew blood for starters and then we followed up with an xray. A family emergency called us out of town suddenly & we were relieved to hear that the clinic does boarding as we did not want to leave our guy home alone w/​his autofeeder & an occasional look-​see by a friend while he wasn’t 100% himself. Boarding prices were surprisingly & refreshingly EXTREMELY reasonable. We *almost* didn’t worry about him while we were away & came home to find that he was doing quite well & seemed to have gained fans among the staff for his feisty attitude. We’re so happy to have found Dr. Carter & hope to be seeing her for years to come now that we have finally found someone familiar with turtles. I have even recommended her to my vet friend for exotic referrals. Highly highly recommended!

Staff is friendly and knowledgeable. I always feel like my rabbit is in excellent hands and highly trust the information they give me.

Dr. Holly Carter is amazing! She took over this vet practice about 3 – 4 months ago and I adore her! We have ferrets and sugar gliders. Dr. Carter is very gentle and caring when handling our little guys and is truly interested in hearing about them (as opposed to trying to hurry us out like other vets do). She takes the time to check our guys out very carefully and answer all our questions. Scheduling is easy and her staff is very friendly and helpful. Dr. Carter always gives me clear instructions on what to do for our animals. Prices are reasonable and they have lots of exotic animal products needed to care for our guys on hand for sale. Our fuzzy family loves her!

I would like to point out that pretty much all of these reviews are out of date. As of October 2013, this veterinary hospital has a new owner/​veterinarian, Dr. Holly Carter. I brought my rabbit, Ripley, back here in January 2014 after the change in ownership and had a great experience. Being a lop rabbit, she has started experiencing some ear problems. Dr. Carter is extremely knowledgeable and quickly drew up a good plan of action. She also is very up to date on nutrition guidelines. Her bedside manner is also excellent, which is greatly appreciated. She is super friendly and treated me as an essential player in Ripley’s health. Dr. Carter was very gentle when it came to handling her. Ripley will definitely be visiting Dr. Carter for the rest of her life.

We just got 2 guinea pigs for Christmas. As it turns out they both have URIs and now one has mites. I was able to get them both in same day at this clinic.
I was very impressed by Dr Carter. She was extremely gentle with the guinea pigs and she was thorough with her examination. I also felt like she was trying to be mindful of the cost of the visit and told us all of our options without pressure to do extra tests. We have another vet for our dogs and cats who often does that and it makes me feel like a horrible pet mom when I refuse their multitude of expensive add ons.
Dr. Carter gave very clear instructions on how to treat both piggies and listened intently to my concerns and addressed every single one.
I think I just found my new Guinea pig vet!

Dr. Johnson-​Delaney has been a great vet for my Russian Tortoise for the last five years. I’m always surprised at her depth of knowledge with the multitude of species they see. Thankfully we haven’t had anything too serious so far, but we’ve had annual exams, parasite checks, beak trim, bloodwork, and fluids injections. Their new location is great. Very reasonable prices. They really care and it shows.

Dr. Johnson Delaney takes wonderful care of my ferrets. They are always willing to try to work with my busy schedule and take time out of their day to really focus on the owners and their pets. I drive over and hour to take my ferrets here, every penny of gas is worth it for the excellent care they receive. Her prices are also very resonable.

My beau took his Chameleon, Waldo here when he was very sick. He was a first time lizard owner, so he was very concerned with the status of Waldo’s health.
Unfortunately, Waldo didn’t make it. However, the vet staff were very compassionate and explained the situation thoroughly. He was suffering and had to be let go. While my beau was sad about it, he felt that it was the best decision.

I brought my guinea pig in to treat an abscess under her chin. The vet (forgot her name) answered all my questions and was very friendly with myself and Nougat. During the lancing (I was able to remain in the room), the vet and her assistant were good about keeping Nougat comfortable.
I was given take-​home instructions on how to irrigate the pocket and left with antibiotic (Baytril), anti-​pain/​inflammation (Metacam), and antibacterial ointment (Nolvasan). Including the exam ($ 50), abscess lancing ($ 20), and tax, the total cost was $ 153. Though that also includes a $ 7 toe nail trim which wasn’t explained as an additional cost otherwise I would have declined it – though they did do a good job of it at least.
Since the initial appointment Nougat went in a week later for a follow-​up recheck which involved another exam and thorough cleaning/​flushing of the pocket ($ 42). Before and after that 2^nd exam, the vet has been good about answering my questions over the phone and has been calling once a week since then to check up. Nougat’s pocket has been slowly shrinking (healing) due to regular at-​home irrigation and hopefully will not need to return.

I brought my two lineolated parakeets there on Saturday and that’s when I realized that I have already seen Dr. Kamaka back when she was at the Seattle clinic when I had my quaker parrot Charlie (RIP).
Like how I remembered her, Dr. Kamaka treated me and my husband very well. The appointment was not rushed at all and she took her time answering our questions and we had a great time with her. Our two parakeets needed to get their annual blood work, fecal smears and a general checkup. She was gentle with them but could handle them perfectly. When she was done with the 2^nd bird, Catie, she actually flew up on her shoulder and did not bite her. That’s a lot to say about Dr. Kamaka because Catie is picky about who she is kind to (esp. after getting bloodwork done lol).
The vet tech and front desk guy were also nice and professional. Overall, the office is clean, inviting and situated for clients and their animals. Knowing rates for avian vets, her rates were competitve. Overall I chose the office because I am an Eastsider and needed a new doctor (Dr. Vogel went back to University after his business partner retired) and I am so glad and lucky that we have Dr. Kamaka practicing in our city.