Burlingame Veterinary Clinic

Bring plenty of cash, if you are planning to make a habit of going here. The prior Vet, Dr. Kellogg– was fair, conscientious, and scrupulous. He was sensitive and caring, a wonderful vet, and his staff reflected those same values. Our pet was always treated well and we enjoyed the thorough explanations. The new successors to his practice have raised fees dramatically, practice a vanilla flavor of vetinerary medicine, and established an interesting array of services to keep your wallet well challenged. Be sure to compare other practices, if you are newly considering this version of veterinary care. Burlingame has lost its prior soul.

This is a GREAT family run practice. Super friendly nice pet-​people and reasonable prices.

The doctors and staff at Burlingame Vet are AMAZING. We’ve been seen by them since 2013 and have 3 pups with multiple chronic health issues under their care. The veterinarians are friendly and thorough. They take their time during appointments and follow up after with a phone call if we change a medication or a dose. Getting an appointment is easy and they understand the cost of caring for pets so always offer options that are budget friendly while also explaining what they think needs to be done and when. I never feel pressured and I always feel confident they have a plan to provide my pets with excellent care. I’m excited to keep taking our fur kids to BVC and working with the new veterinarians that have recently come on board!

The care for my dog has been great, and they treat him as though they care about him as much as I do. We went through a scare several months ago, and I know they cared about our pup. It’s nice to see that out of a business. Our dog did have dental surgery there as well, and while I didn’t need to see bloody photos of the procedure, it was nice that they’d taken them so we’d have the option. I’ve been comfortable and happy with every vet tech and veterinarian that we’ve worked with there.

Bad, bad, bad. We adopted a kitten from a friend and in good faith took it to Burlingame to get a check up/​shots. The desk girl was nice enough, however the vet assistant and vet were extremely rude and condescending. The assistant appeared to be in a foul mood from the moment she entered the room and was overly aggressive about why we had not got the cat neutered yet (Uh that’s why we came to your office, all in due time), seemingly threatening to detain the cat if we did not pay up that very moment and continued to be combative even after we explained we would take care of this clearly important operation as soon as our next paychecks cleared (their prices were very high). I have never had to explain my financial situation to a vet assistant, let alone ever expected to be basically accused of improperly taking care of an animal that they themselves described as being in fine health. The vet wasn’t much better, even going as far as to correct us on minutia such as our description of the breed («it’s actually a flame point siamese, not a red point siamese» Wow, really? We always thought they were interchangeable terms but in any case why get on a soapbox and talk down to us like idiots when we’re just trying to do right by taking our pet to your clinic?). I have been to many vets and clinics in the past and have never experienced the belittling treatment this business has shown towards it’s customers. We will not be returning to the Burlingame Vet Clinic.

It’s sad to have to write this review, because I’ve been to this clinic previously, and really liked them. So when it was time to take my dog back for a routine exam, I went back.
Dr. Kellogg wasn’t in that day, so my dog was seen by another veterinarian. The vet gave her a good exam, checked her teeth, etc. and we agreed to book a teeth cleaning. 36 hours later, my dog came down with a nasty case of kennel cough. I live alone and we’ve not had contact with any other dogs for the past week and a half. I brought her in first thing yesterday, was prescribed antibiotics/​anti-​tussant, and paid $ 160 for it. Today, my dog is worse and it’s hard to watch, particularly since she’s never been sick before. I called the clinic to explain the situation, and asked if they would be willing to give me some sort of credit on the teeth cleaning, I was told that that wasn’t a fair request, that they aren’t responsible for my dog getting sick, but was offered additional cough meds at no cost.
That’s unfortunate, as I think they had an opportunity to recover my business if they’d been willing to work with me. While I do like Dr. Kellogg, and think he’s a good vet, I’ll be taking my dog’s care elsewhere as a result.

I am so grateful for Dr. Kellogg. He has been very available to my family, helped us make some hard decisions over the years and given my beloved pets the best of care. What could be better than hearing, «Why don’t you bring him in right now and I’ll take a look?» Thank you Dr. Kellogg and your wonderful staff.

i had inquired by phone about clinic cost before the visit. The estimate seemed doable. The actual price was $ 350. I live on Social Security Disablity due to crippling arthritis which I explained to the Dr. so this was way beyond what I budgeted for. My dog had an infected tooth. Cost of treatment would be $ 380. These price are substantially higher than what I have paid before both for routine visits, meds, and teeth scaling at other vets. The clinic had no combination heart worm and flea product so one has to buy 2 products increasing the bill. This clinic requires lab before teeth cleaning increasing the bill. Last cleaning at another vet lab not required. Lab is expensive. I have just had 4 surgeries and no labs were necessary. I told the staff and Dr. that I had an infected surgical chest wound and that I could not pick up my dog because her weight exceeds my Dr. precautions. Even so, I was left to lift her off of the high table.
The staff is friendly. and knowledgeable. The clinic was not busy but there is still a wait time. I was told my dog will lose her tooth because I cannot afford $ 380. I will find a caring affordable clinic to treat for her tooth.
I am a retired MD. If I had a patient with an infection my office set up a payment plans. Not so here. I now understand why so many animals in Portland are not vaccinated and have chronic health problems. The crisis of lack of affordable vet care in Portland is discussed all over the net.
Overall, your pet will receive adequate care in a friendly environment when the staff has time. Be prepared to do the lifting. The vet was well trained but did not do the heart worm test so my dog had to go back in the room. I received some instruction about care so that was good.

I am not one to write much, but I feel Dr. Kellogg deserves a review as he was a great vet with my Lady. Every time he saw her he was so nice and sweet, with whatever was ailing her. I wish I didn’t live so far away now. And actually Lady does miss seeing Dr. Kellogg, go figure, a dog missing going to the vet. Ha ha. Thanks for treating us right.

Update ²⁄₆:
Decided to take my pup in for her spay at Burlingame and the staff was amazing. It was apparent that she got a ton of personal attention, and the vet even made a point to tell me what a good girl she was during her spay visit :) Dropped her off before 9 am and picked her up at 4:30, my dog was under 60 pounds so she qualified for the «discount» spay (the spay ended up costing me around $ 160 total). The vet used internal dissolvable sutures which meant no itching and no cone required, my pup was back to her old self the next day.
Her spay visit couldn’t have gone better.
Bumping Burlingame Vet up to 5 stars from 4, still wish they would have offered alternative/​natural flea solutions, naturopathic pet care etc, but the care she received was top notch and I doubt I could have gotten better care from any other vet clinic in town. I’d recommend this vet clinic in a heartbeat to anyone looking for a quality spay or routine care from a professional staff.

I still drive way across town to take all of my animals here because of the high caliber of care and honesty I have always received. I really appreciate that I never feel sold on services that my dog or cat might not really need. I will always recommend this place to anyone who asks for a good vet.

Short and sweet: This clinic is the wonderful! If you want a smaller clinic with personal service, where people remember you and your pets, and if you want honest assessments of your pet’s condition and what needs to be done for your dog or cat, and you want it done right… Dr. Kellogg’s practice is for you. He is experienced, an excellent surgeon, very pragmatic and always does what is right for the animals as long as the «owners» are willing.
This veterinarian takes the time to explain what is going on and what is recommended. When it’s bad news, he is honest and goes above and beyond to help. I have trusted him with our three cats and two dogs over the years and will continue to do so.

When I wrote my last review on May 6, 2011 I thought I had found a veterinary clinic to stay at for the rest of the time I would be a pet owner. My opinion changed dramatically this morning at 8:00 am when I brought my very ill dog in. She had become very ill the day before and due to recent events I could not afford to take her to a 24 hour ER. As they require payment up front and that wasn’t in the realm of possibility. When I arrived this morning the staff was great as always. When Dr. John Kellogg came in and did a cursory exam he asked when it started I explained the situation and why i was unable to address it the day before. His answer was to say in a very judgmental way that if it were his dog curly he would have… And then told me I was wasting time staying in a clinical setting. I went to remove my dog. He then said well go ahead leave and don’t let me give you my opinion. I said you told me I was wasting time and there was nothing you could do. He then made another snarky comment about me having «financial difficulties» and not being able to afford Dove Lewis. I was out the door and I will NEVER go back. His treatment has made an already difficult situation so much worse. Shame on him. The staff and Dr’s at BARBUR VETERINARY HOSPITAL however, have been both compassionate and understanding about my «financial difficulties» and the health and welfare of my companion. I would and have done anything in my power for the care of my pets and to make me feel like I was a neglectful dog owner is beyond unprofessional. I WILL NEVER GO BACK.

OK… I’m going to give a glowing review of the Burlingame Vet Clinic. We’ve been going for about 10 years, for our cat, dog, and guinea pig. As others have mentioned, Dr. Kellogg is awesome. He’s knowledgeable, detailed and knows exactly what he is doing. He literally saved the life of our dog yesterday and worked through a fully-​booked schedule to find time for her. Then, after a rough surgery, he took our dog home to HIS house so that he could monitor her recovery overnight. Also, he often calls to follow up personally (what vet does that these days?) to the point where he gave us his personal phone number to call if anything went wrong. Now THAT is a caring and dedicated doctor. The staff is just as dedicated and friendly, and the whole team gets a huge thank you from us.
I could go on and on about how great our experience has been. But truly, if you are looking for a vet for your furry loved one, look no further. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Dr Kellogg has always been so helpful in finding out exactly whats wrong with our animals, he has an amazing ability to always make the right calls, we always appreciate his willingness to talk to us whenever we have any issues and we can call him about anything. I don’t know many vets that will actually pick up the phone and call you back with research and facts and ideas for treating any illness reasonably.
Becky

This clinic is amazing. Both vet’s are practical and realize that vet care is spendy. I have a St Bernard with only three legs. He requires a lot of vet care and no matter what is going on with him, I know he will be well cared for.
The cost? One of the best, most affordable clinics in Portland.
We even had an ill stray we took in and Dr. Kellogg not only shaved him, but took him home OVERNIGHT to stay in his house to watch him overnight as he was severly dehydrated.
They go above and beyond here. Tell them Emmett the St Bernard sent you.

Our cat has been suffering what we presume is a chronic upper respiratory virus. After having gone to a separate vet, for a separate reason, and conferring with a new friend, who is a vet, about what might be ailing our cat we had a pretty good idea what might be wrong. I remembered our first visit here and thought we’d give them another try. I called and spoke with a very nice office manager and said that I had a long and involved cat story and could I email. Apparently they don’t have email, but I could fax something over. I wrote it out and faxed it. Not too much later the very nice lady called me back and said that she had given my fax to the doctor. However, she said the doctor didn’t look at it and just looked at the cat’s chart and said «We haven’t seen this cat for three years, I don’t know what’s wrong with the cat. They will have to come in.» The reason you haven’t seen the cat in three years is because of this attitude and inability to diagnose the problem the last time we brought her in. I have new information, that I wrote out and faxed but they ignored it. We will NOT be making an appointment and highly suggest you do not visit either.

Reasonable prices & no gouging or guilt trips to push product lines. Nice and professional employees. My dog is recovering very nicely and I’m glad we came to this clinic!

I’ve been sitting on this review for a while. You see, I’ve eaten at least 3 meals a day (sometimes 5 or 6 — you’ve seen how big I am), and so I feel like I am well-​versed enough in the ways of food and drink to review a restaurant after a few visits. However when it comes to Vets, Doctors, Lawyers, or other professionals, our problems are generally so specialized, and we encounter them so infrequently, that it’s really hard to get a good read based on just a small handful of encounters. But after yesterday’s visit, I am finally ready to drop this write up.
We found Burlingame vet through the ASPCA program that offers coupons for discount spay and neuter services (if you don’t know, look into it… it can save you hundreds of dollars, and ALL pets should be spayed and neutered. There’s no excuse. If you need more than one, go adopt one of the thousands that die unadopted in shelters each year rather than letting yours reproduce). Back in 2008, we discovered 3 newborn kittens in a little hidden spot next to our garage. One of the neighborhood strays got herself all knocked up and we’re the lucky ones that got the result. Needing to get them spayed and neutered, we took them to Burlingame and our tribe got the knife, shots, and the whole shabang. They did a seemingly good job, and were both friendly and reasonably priced.
After two of the three were adopted out to a stable home, the little one we kept (Piper:
) got herself into something naughty, and developed a nice little fever and a tongue infection. Back across town to Burlingame Vet Clinic we went, and once again, they did a great job of quickly diagnosing the problem and linking us up with the tools to fix it. The overall cost for the visit was very reasonable (as far as I know — each time I even think about seeing a DR, my insurance gets billed at least $ 400). A little over $ 100 in and out with antibiotics is not too shabby.
Of course, owning tabby breed cats, especially those you’ve rescued as strays, has its benefits, one of which is that they are a resilient breed of cat. They rarely get sick (unlike purebred cats, which always have problems), so we have not had much occasion to bring our cats in. Until this week…
I returned home from traveling to find our older cat acting very strange, hiding under the bed, tweaking out, being friendly then not. And his breath was worse than if you took the bottom of a garbage can and coated it with rotten milk, burnt hair, and milk-​farts. So just slightly worse than your average cat breath. These kinds of things are never good. So into the cat box he went, and back across town I rolled to the vet. This cat is about 6 or 7, and was rescued from a dumpster. He’s had a hard life, and he HATES the vet. The folks at BVC were able to fit us in early (almost same day). The vet was super quick to diagnose the issue. He handled the cat VERY well, not too rough, but in control. Beyond diagnosing, he took the time to show me the books to back up both the diagnosis and the recommended prescription antibiotic remedy.
Overall, again, I was in and out on an expedited appointment with a steroid shot and a bottle of Clavamox for $ 126. I feel good about the time he spent with me, that he answered my questions, and was up front about everything. Add in that I was able to watch him deal with a cat with strong muscles and long claws that’s not a fan of the vet in a controlling but not brutal manner.
I am finally ready to recommend this vet to others. He’s done good by us, and I will continue to make the incredibly inconvenient drive from 82^nd to Terwilliger just to see these guys.

I have been going to the Burlingame Vet Clinic for many years, since 2000 maybe? We have had 3 dogs and a cat that have been patients at the clinic. I have always been very impressed by the compassion Dr. Kellogg shows for our pets, and also for the compassion he appears to show for our wallets. He always lays out the options that are available for our pets, from spendy to thrifty, and when we’ve had to choose thrifty, there is no judgment. No judgment, no «but doggie will die without it» guilt trip, just acceptance of our decision.
Dr. Kellogg was awesome with our chow, who despite his growly-​growl when at the vet was actually a nice dog. Dr. Kellogg quickly established alpha dog status and knew how to not be intimidated. That relaxed our dog, us, and made the whole experience less awful. Dr. Byers was really good with our cat. I have never seen Kitty so relaxed at the vet as when he was being handled by her (even with a finger in the rear!).
Today was the day Dr. Kellogg impressed me beyond belief. Our aforementioned 15 year old chow was in bad, bad shape. He wasn’t moving, wasn’t eating, drinking… We made the tough decision that the right thing to do was have the vet give him peace, and called the clinic at about 8:00 AM. Dr. Kellogg had a busy day, but delayed the start of a surgery to come to our house to help us and our sweet Chew. Chew is on the other side now, but thanks to the gentleness and compassion of Dr. Kellogg, did not have to suffer longer than necessary, and was sent to sleep gently.
Thank you Dr. Kellogg and Dr. Byers for everything!