Canyon Country Animal Hospital

Anyone reading the negative postings should beware of "DOGS". They do not have their facts straight, probably have never even bought a pet into CCAH and have nothing better to do. If they list a name, check and you will see they do not list other businesses that they have visited and/or put comments. I know for a fact that CCAH gives a lot of time and heart felt attention to the animals and doesn't charge for this. They still do a lot with the Animal Shelter and other Pet Stores in the Santa Clarita Valley. It is too bad that there are very unhappy and ruthless people in the world, but Dr. Bonavera is not one of they. Check with a friend that has animals and has taken them to CCAH - see what they say.

As an animal transport company we have worked with veterinarians all over the United States and most certainly throughout all of Southern California. As a Canyon Country based company we have been working with Dr. Bonavera and the Canyon Country Animal Hospital since they opened and we've never been happier.

Dr. B is a very well educated, thorough and very thoughtful veterinarian and we've worked with him on a very wide variety of animals for our business and he's also our primary vet for our own K-9 kids. Three of our kids are rescues that were badly abused by their previous owners and even the shelters that took them in from the streets did little to help them except to make plans to put them down. Were it not for the dedication and skill of Dr. B, they may have perished long ago but are instead vibrant and healthy and enjoying their lives.

Obviously, we know veterinarians throughout Santa Clarita and beyond and we could take our animals anywhere for care. However, we wouldn't and couldn't bring them to anyone but Dr. Bonavera and the Canyon Country Animal Hospital.

I had never before met nor did I know of Dr. J.J. Bonavera when I rushed my Yorkie into the after-hours vet clinic where he worked 7 years ago. New to Santa Clarita and without a local vet, I became frantic when my tiny dog Max had his throat torn open by a 100+ pound Akita. I consider myself extremely blessed to have found Dr. B that night, as he not only saved Max's life, but has in the years since provided all of my pets with exceptional healthcare. When I learned Dr. B had opened Canyon Country Animal Hospital, my animals and I were proudly amongst his first patients.

Having had many pets all of my life as well as a 15 year-long career in the retail pet industry, I have used several veterinarians. I take great offense to the insinuation that Dr. B is "all about the money" suggesting he puts profits ahead of pets. This is simply NOT the case when it comes to Dr. B & CCAH, and I have personal experience to buttress this bogus accusation:

1) When I have been in dire straits financially, Dr. B has either discounted his services, let me post date a check, sent me a bill or let me make monthly payments. As a lifelong pet owner, I have never had a vet such as this, who puts his patients' care ahead of money. Frankly, it is unheard of for a vet to render services *before* collecting payment.

2) Dr. B has not only *always* returned phone calls I've made to him, but has also several times called on his own to find out how my animals were feeling following a visit. Plus, he often answers my questions over the phone, which saves me an otherwise unneccesary vet visit and exam fee.

3) As others have attested to, Dr. Bonavera is stellar at becoming personally aquainted with his pet and people patients. He never fails to recall the names of my dogs and cats, and he will come into the exam room and sit on the floor with my dogs, stroking them and making them feel comfortable.

4) Not only has Dr. Bonavera stayed past closing to care for my animals, but in two emergency instances he went above and beyond any other vet I've ever known. In both cases CCAH was *closed*, but Dr. B volunteered to come into the clinic to administer care to my dogs. I did not have to go to an unknown vet at a random ER and pay an exorbitant fee.

From vaccinations and spaying to a dislodged eyeball and tumor removal, my pets have been to CCAH for many different types of care. Without exception, they (and I) have been treated compassionately and with the highest of medical standards by Dr. Bonavera.

I've never written an online "review" such as this before, but knowing how important and how difficult it is to find a competent vet, I felt compelled to do so. As an animal lover, I would never recommend a veterinarian to others whom I myself did not trust 100%. Plain and simple, Dr. Bonavera is dedicated, loyal and has successfully kept my dogs and cats happy and healthy!

Dr. Bonavera is a wonderful, intelligent and compassionate man who truly loves animals. He saved my dog's life even before his office opened. One of my dogs was violently ill...i was desperately looking for an emergency vet when i came across Canyon Country Animal Hospital and called. Dr. B. answered and informed me that the offices were not opened yet....he stayed on the phone with me, calmed me down, diagnosed my dog and then drove to my house in Castaic, across town, and treated her...he was there for about 2 hrs. and didn't charge me for half of what he could have....Dr. B. has never shown anything other than true love and caring for all of my dogs....when we go to the office he always spends time with each of my dogs, giving them attention and love...this is only one of the many wonderful experiences i've had with Dr. B. and my precious babies!!!! i can't say enough...

We strongly recommend to use Canyon Country Animal hospital for what it has been offering:- staff courteous and professional services,- good honest advises from Dr. Bonavera (which work!),- clean and pleasant environment,- fear prices (for services, medicine, pet food, etc.).We started to use Canyon Country Animal hospital services two years ago when we moved to Santa Clarita from Glendale, CA in March 2006. At that time our four-year old Cockier Spaniel, Max, has had an on-going skin condition and ear infection problem. Before turning for help to Dr. Bonavera, we unsuccessfully tried to resolve Max' skin condition in other animal hosptials in Glendale and Burbank at a cost of thousands of dollars for diverse lab tests and medicine. Thanks to Dr. Bonavera's practical advises (related to type of food and flea control medicine), Max' skin condition was almost instantly resolved. Doctor's advises also have helped us to keep Max' ear infection problem under control. In summary, during the last two years we have been receiving wonderful services from Dr. Bonavera and his staff at fair prices. :) On Max' behalf, we encourage you to:- use Canyon Country Animal hospital services and- be sceptical about anoniumus negative reviews.All the best to you and your pets!

As I read some of the other reviews of Canyon Country Animal Hospital, I am compelled to write my own. I have been a client of the Animal Hospital since it opened in April 2002 and have always received compassionate and honest service from the doctors and staff. My three dogs and three cats have had numerous visits, from typical vaccinations to late night emergencies and leg fractures. Pricing has been extremely competitive(if not lower) than other vets in the area (and I've checked many.) And, I've never experienced a time that I felt the hospital was unclean. In fact, usually someone is cleaning all around you throughout your visit. The floors are spotless for the animal traffic that goes through there.Dr. Bonavera may be difficult to understand at times, but since when did an accent make someone any less capable and knowledgeable? I have never met a more compassionate and dedicated animal lover whom I completely trust with my animals' well being.I encourage you to form your own opinions and not be swayed by vindictive and mean spirited reviewers who thrive on failure.

I brought my lab here for a cough, because my regular vet's teenage receptionist told me he was not available and I was worried. The "doctors" at Canyon Country Animal Hospital told me it was rat poisoning (!) and insisted she be put on an IV right away, she spent the night. They told me to call the police and report it. I freaked out trying to imagine where she could've gotten rat poison! The next day they said it must have been an amphetamine instead (I guess because she's hyper) and they gave her anti-seizure medication! They charged me $700. for all of this and never addressed the cough at all.
When I took her to my regular vet then (Adobe) Dr. Mushkot had no idea what they were thinking. If it had been rat poison, she would not be coughing, and if it was just a cough, there would be no worry of seizures...
So I was screwed badly by this place and they took advantage of my situation. Not recommended.

We bring our guinea pigs to Dr. Bonavera, and are very happy with him. He successfully performed a highly risky operation on one of our guinea pigs. He appears quite knowledgable, and I would recommend him for small animal care. Prices are very good here as well. When you call with an emergency, Dr. B will often come into the office on his day off. It's nice to have such a caring vet.

Yes he is difficult to understand, but my dogs dont hear the accent, I have 3 American Staffordshire's and he has actually saved the life of 2 of them. The most recent being this weekend when my husband rolled his car severly injuring our "girl" of course it was at night so we had to rush her to the ER vet, who worked and worked on her but other than the obvious places could not find the source of her major bleeding. the next moring when I transfered her to Dr. B. he was with her for 2 minutes and diagnosed her massive internal bleeding, immediately opened her up and saved her life. He has been nothing but wonderful to us, he will take payments in these types of emergencies I have heard other poeple say it too. He is a top notch anilmal lover and doctor.Nor have I found that he is any more costly than the other GOOD VETS in the area, remember people you get what you pay for. I for one will be using Dr. B. and his staff for the duration of my dogs lives, and I will ALWAYS recommend him to those I know and those I dont.

I have a medium sized dog who I had stayed up with the whole night
because he was vomiting and had diarrhea. I took him the next day to Canyon Country Hospital. The office staff were very nice and got me in to see the doctor. After waiting for a half hour (which I understood, due to the fact I did not have and appointment) the Doctor came in. He never once felt my dog or took his vitals and just went over his symptoms. I thought this was odd because every other vet I had gone to normally makes some kind of physical evaluation but every doctor is different so I let that go. After going over his symptoms for 15 minutes the doctor left the room. Another hour goes by and his nurse walks in the room with a $1000.00 estimate. I asked to speak to the doctor to go over his estimate. He came in and after what seemed to me like a lot of double talk and scare tactics attempted to justify his price tag.It wasnt the money that concerned me it was more the way he chose to go with the most expensive tests to rule out big things rather than work from small tests then when those were ruled out work up to expensive diagnostic tests. I love my pet and would pay anything to fix him but this Doctor made me feel like he was trying to cash in on my affection and concern rather then fix my pet. I ended up walking out, taking him to another vet and now he is fine and it cost me a tenth of what they were trying to charge. Bottom line: I would not trust my pets welfare to this place.

I use Dr. B for both my personal pets as well as for our non-profit rescue. His diagnoses' have always been accurate. I left Dr. Grewal's practice in Valencia as I felt he was not compassionate, and his fees were outrageous. Dr. B is clearly an animal lover. True, the facility was a bit more modern, but my pets don't care about modern. I am there for great veterinary care at the best possible price. I've never been charged the fees I was at Dr. Grewal's office. Cyn Ctry Hospital has always been reasonable. The vet techs are awesome. Additionally, when I've had an emergency, they've taken us in quickly. Surgeries have gone off without a hitch.
I have recommended Dr. B to others and will continue to do so.

I have taken my dog to Canyon Country for the last six months. The staff is really nice, though the receptionists dont seem that knowledgeable of dog injuries. I've been disappointed at times by the lack of professionalism and bad communication (they tell me to come in but then when I get there, the doctor isnt there and I have to wait an hour with a bleeding dog), but my dog has always been treated well by Dr. Bonavera and treated accurately. In regard to the costs, I chose Canyon Country because it is the cheapest in the area and vet bills add up really quick, and I have had my share of them. I have found Canyon Country to be the most affordable in the area, and just want to remind people that animal bills are expensive because unlike you, they dont have insurance eating most of the costs, so it always seems ridiculously priced. I have signed my little dog up for insurance through ASPCA to help with these costs and it has been helpful so far to reduce costs. Dr. Bonavera is very difficult to understand, so you might have to keep asking questions. His techs are excellent and might be better to talk to. I feel reasonably confident that he knows what he is doing and is truly an animal lover. Everytime he comes in the room, he sits and holds my dog for several minutes just petting him and saying how cute he is. In my experience, this is unique in a vet. I recommend getting insurance for your pet if the cost is the problem. I have taken my dog to closer and more expensive clinics and been horrified at the lack of sanitation, poor service, and arrogant doctors. I'm not entirely thrilled with the sanitation at Canyon Country, but the staff is respectful toward you and your pet and will probably diagnose him right (I'd given them 90% accuracy) and it is the most affordable (I've researched lots of clinics). Not my favorite clinic in the world, but I've been to worse, and am grateful for Dr. B's help even if he is difficult to understand and the hosptial could do with some rennovations and upgrades.