Vitale Carlo DVM

I had such high hopes to bring my dog here for a rash he’s been experiencing for 10 months. Nope. $ 70 for a consultation. $ 550 for neutering. What a joke.

I was sent to Dr Vitale (at SFVS) because of ongoing skin issues my Pomeranian was suffering with. Initially, I thought we were on the right track — he managed to diagnose one of the skin infections she had and find an anti-​biotic that worked on it.
HOWEVER, everything that happened after that was a waste of my time and money — as well as a physical strain on my dog — and ultimately I hold Dr Vitale responsible. Initially, I was discouraged because at no point during the months I was seeing him, did I believe he cared about my dog — it felt like he was treating her as merely a «project», or an experiment. His method of treatments seemed entirely random and haphazard.
But the reason I am driven to write this review now is because I have just found out — FROM A DOG GROOMER — that my dog has a skin complaint that is incredibly common in Pomeranians. Now I know what it’s called — Black Skin Disease — I am finding a TON of stuff about this online. It is NOT a rare condition. What kind of dog dermatologist doesn’t recognize a common skin complaint that specifically affects the breed of dog I have?
Instead of giving me the simple (and now, I realize, obvious) diagnosis, he put my dog on multiple medications, all harsh on her liver and (I now also realize) some ultimately made my dog’s condition worse by compromising her immune system.
In addition, he specifically told me that she didn’t have a food allergy… when months after that, I put her on a raw diet and found an immediate improvement in her skin. He also encouraged me to pay $ 400 for allergy testing, which I did out of desperation, only to have the results came back inconclusive… Probably because my dog had been on steroids long term (it took a vet tech to tell me that those tests aren’t effective for animals on steroids — why didn’t Dr Vitale know that?).
Maybe if Dr Vitale wasn’t spread so thin across multiple jobs in multiple places, he might have caught the common skin complaint my dog is suffering from. If he wasn’t so preoccupied with prescribing extremely expensive hardcore medications, maybe he could’ve pointed me in the direction of the $ 10 Dermagic lotion that is getting my dog off steroids finally.
I am utterly incensed that anyone considers this man a skin specialist.
I want my $ 2000 back.

Dr. Vitale is a caring specialist in dermatology, practicing at San Francisco Veterinary Specialists as well as two other locations in the bay area. He was trained by the famous Peter Ihrke at U.C. Davis and he brings energy and real intellect to his profession. We are so happy to have Dr. Vitale helping dogs and cats with their skin diseases.