Alta Vista Veterinary Clinic

As congenial or “thorough” as Dr.Budde may seem, I can only draw the conclusion that she has poor diagnostic skills. I brought in a 1-year old poodle for licking his paw raw and she emphatically decided it was a ligament tear after spinning his paw around. She has a very thorough check-in process and I had told her the dog had just relocated a week ago, and has no prior history of licking his paws like that, but she was absolutely adamant that it was a ligament tear and she wanted everything done. She literally rushed into the waiting me and rushed me into the back and urged me to take a look at his paw making a “clicking sound” as she spun it. I heard nothing, but again, I trusted her. Normally, I would have gone to get a second option from another vet but she was so emphatically certain so I signed off on further diagnostics. After all those tests, the conclusion was that he has a common, congenital nonissue on this paw. So, I went in for a scrape on the skin and walked out with a $2300 bill (x-ray, blood, etc etc) and they told me I should essentially be happy nothing came of it. Uh, not really. I just really believed the vet knew what she was doing and she seemed empathetic enough to not be trying to fleece her customers. Most vets would likely have first made the decision to observe before ordering for x-rays etc and I have no idea why she did not suggest it and only offered further diagnostics as the only option. On a side note, as other reviews point out, her front desk people are very unpleasant and vet techs look absolutely worn down

Dr. Buddie and her staff have been helping our family pets for over 10 years. She is very knowledgeable and cares about your pet. Some people may not like her upfront information. But she's saying it with concern for your family pet. She wont force you to do anything just give her opinion. Her staff make life easy for my dogs, when they see them they wiggle their tails. Thank you Alta Vista for taking care of all my dogs (current ones and ones who passed)

I adopted my first Pet (Harper the cat) since April 5 2023, from an overcrowded shelter (yes she almost got euthanized). After more than a year, I finally brought her to do some checkup and vaccinations, and my friend recommended Alta Vista Veterinary Clinic. My whole experience in this place has been great. They let me know in advance what need to be done, how much it cost, why it needs to be done, etc. After the treatment, my cat looks and acts even better than before, and it also gives me a great peace of mind that my pet's health is in good hands. I will come back again (at least once a year for a checkup, or anytime when my little Harper needs medical assistance). Overall, this is a 5/5 experience.

Dr. Buddy is probably the best out there she understands your situation and can find out the best way to help your pet! Louie has been a regular since he was born and will be bringing all my pets here!

The staff was wonderful...5 stars to them. Zero stars for this veterinarian. Why, you ask? I brought my 3-year-old dog here, about a year ago, for a bump that it appeared on her leg. I didn't know where it came from and thought maybe it was an infected nip from our other dog while playing. The bump started out very small and very quickly got very big and gross on our skinny little short-haired dog's leg. When we came in the staff was very nice and our dog was seen for an exam. The veterinarian's recommendation was a complete shock to me. I can only imagine she was operating from the assumption that it was a cancerous bump and her recommendation was either biopsy or amputation followed by biopsy. She strongly suggested going for amputation directly because it would be cheaper than doing two surgical procedures, one for the biopsy and another for amputation. I was in complete shock. I went for a second opinion and ended up doing a lumpectomy and biopsy, which came back negative for cancer. Fast forward lots of different specialist fees and tons of money for diagnosis... we learned that my dog had lymphoma. I won't go into all the details of her treatment at other places because the care she received at the other places was excellent, even though there was not a cure in her future. However, I would have been so horrified and guilty feeling, had I listened to this veterinarian's recommendation and amputated my poor dog's leg, only to find out later that would have been completely unnecessary and would have helped nothing whatsoever. I'm definitely glad I did not follow her recommendations and this veterinarian's "cut first ask questions later" mentality. If I had, my dog's quality of life would have been so horrible for her last year on this Earth. If any veterinarian recommends amputation first thing and you have any doubts whatsoever, please get a second opinion. I will never return to this vet or recommend anyone bring their beloved pet here.