If you’re new to Los Gatos, you may be looking for a new veterinary practice to care for your pets. I’d like to recommend to you our family vet practice, the Los Gatos Dog & Cat Hospital.
We’ve experienced wonderful care for our very old black lab, Bella, at the Los Gatos Dog & Cat Hospital, for a few years now. This is a large practice of extremely well educated veterinarians (degrees are posted in the lobby) who are also very kind, caring, and have good “bedside manners” with people and pets both. The staff is also wonderful.
A bit on our dog and her needs:
Bella is a rescue dog whom we’ve had for 13.5 years, and when we got her, other vets estimated that she was between 2 and 4 years old. So today, in September of 2015, she is approximately 15.5 to 17.5 years old. Most labs live to be 12 or 13, so this is pretty amazing!
At her advanced age, which is probably something like 100 for a human, Bella has her share of troubles: thyroid issues, arthritis (see photo at left and notice her enlarged paw), some inflammation in her lower spine that’s causing trouble, vision loss, loss of hearing, loss of appetite / weight loss, and doggie dementia. Yes, she has some confusion and has managed to forget a few rules, now often “snubs” her meals (until we improve what’s offered) and too frequently needs a lot of trips outside (as opposed to fewer numbers when she was young and spry). But her disposition is as sweet as ever and most of the time she seems to be comfortable and content, so we try to keep her in that zone. The good people at Los Gatos Dog & Cat Hospital have been partners in that effort – and together we are pretty successful.
We’d been with a different practice for a few years but never felt like the care was all that great. In fact, a number of times we came away from the prior place feeling like the folks there were simply not on the ball.
Finding this special practice
I have a cousin who’s a fantastic vet, Colleen Brady DVM, but she doesn’t live too close by so I asked her for a suggestion on a great doctor for Bella here in Los Gatos or nearby when we came to the conclusion that we really needed to part ways with the other vet’s office. She suggested Gabrielle Ravina, DVM, with whom we’ve been exceedingly happy. This is a sharp doctor who knows her stuff, is incredibly good with animals and people, and is able to pull together a lot of info and synthisize it to make the whole picture more clear for us. Bella had some special issues and she recommended acupuncture with anther DVM at the same clinic, which was administered by Haleh Siahpolo, DVM, MPVM, CVA, another wonderful soul who cares deeply for her patients. Unfortunately we didn’t see the hoped for results but we would not hesitate to recommend her to families who feel that their dog or cat might benefit from this treatment. An added bonus for us has been that when we take Bella in on a day when Gabby cannot she her, often Haleh is there. For an old dog with memory issues, it’s helpful to have more familiarity (though this pooch does tend to love everyone).
Our pets really are family members, and we want them to be happy and healthy. It’s quite a big boon to find a veterinary practice which is full of techs, staff, and DVMs who are so very knowlegeable and caring, and who communicate easily with pets and people both. On a scale of 1 to 10, they’d be an 11 or 12 or more. Got a pet? I have the place for you!
(408) 354-6474
17480 Shelburne Way (between University and Winchester)
Los Gatos, California, 95030
