Little Paws Animal Clinic By Telus Health

Stay away from this money sucking vet or you will regret!!! All Dr. Martinez cares is how to scam your money. He doesn’t care about your family member. He is after your wallet. No compassion for animals what so ever. All about expensive unnecessary treatments. Read the one star reviews and not the made up reviews by the clinic! Stay away!!!!! When your family member has no more life to suck money out of you. He shows his real face as he doesn’t see dollar signs since your pet is dead. Horrific vet!! Don’t go here! Go elsewhere!!! When your pet was alive he is a lying salesman to grab your money! Run!!! One of the worst vet of all time!!! Read Less

Dr.Martinez and his staff are always amazing and very helpful. My bunny boarded there and was super happy! They took care of him everyday as if he was their own pet. I had no worries at all knowing Little Paws staff were there to take care of my bunny. I brought my dog in as well after a horrific incident at a boarding facility, the staff were so concerned and they all listened to Dr.Martinez giving insight/tips and explained things so they know exactly what happened and how to treat the wounds. Dr.Martinez and his staff are so caring and I feel very welcome and at ease every time I visit. Thank you for all that you do for your clients, their fur babies, and all the rabbits in Richmond!! Read Less

With symptoms of disease and old age, I came to Little Paws to have my beloved cat sent off to the wild blue yonder.   She has been with me for 19 yrs.       When I made the appointment to bring her in, I was told Dr. Martinez could be a few minutes late, so I asked for a later time, to insure he would be there. I arrived on time, and was shown into the operating room. After about 10 minutes alone with my cat, I waved to the attendant in the other room .  He came in and said the doctor was stuck in traffic, but would arrive soon. A few minutes later Dr. Martinez arrived. He explained the ‘2 shot’ system that he would administer for the euthanasia, and then gave her the first needle. He left the room, saying he'd be back in a few minutes. After waiting another 5-10 minutes , I called to the attendant, to find out how much longer this would be . He said Dr. Martinez was busy with another client. He finally returned, and asked if I was ready.  I had been ready for some time. He gave her the second shot, and he quickly left again. Even though he mentioned the stages of death, I was not sure of how long it would take, or what exactly would happen. No one was there to reassure me.  I really wish the doctor or one of the 4 staff members there, would have stayed in the room.  After what seemed like forever,  Dr. Martinez came back, checked her pulse, and assured me she was gone.  As I was anxious, and had heard her gasp in the minutes alone with her, I asked if he was certain.  He then said he could give her another shot, ‘’for you”,(my piece of mind?) and before I knew it, he did.   He then left to see another patient.   I was left in the room with my dead cat, until I finally opened the door. No one came to get me, or her.  The assistants were huddled around the computer screen.  I had to announce that I wanted to pay..”oh ok”, said one…”sorry for your loss…would you like a paw print?” The experience of death can be difficult, even in the best of situations. But If you love animals, and you want to be a vet for the right reasons, please, look around, and be aware of your patients, and their needs. Even if it’s just to say a few kind words. Stay with them.   Much more important than the business side of things, is reassurance, and kindness.  It means so much.  Especially in the last moments of a pets life.   I’m sure the appointment could have taken much less time, if he had not been late, and then had to juggle two patients at once.  At a cost of $200, for 2 needles, I would have appreciated his undivided attention and presence.  This was my first and only visit to this clinic, and I am writing in hopes that no one else goes through such an unpleasant experience.   Compassion and peace to all beings. Read Less

Dr. Martinez is an amazing Vet! The vet assistants are also super nice and helped me through my hamster who needed surgery. It's been super stressful but I appreciate the care they gave me through this tough time. They take the time to make sure you know everything throughout the process, I am so thankful that they gave my hamster a chance to live again. Read Less

Dr. Martinez and staff have been absolutely wonderful with my little rat girls. The front desk staff/technicians are super helpful and friendly, and have always managed to fit me in quickly. Dr Martinez is a wealth of information on rats, and is so helpful and gentle with my ratties. He gives multiple treatment options and is careful to explain all of them thoroughly. You can tell he really loves animals! He has also been generous enough to find a way to give us a discount on some of our visits, which is absolutely above and beyond. If you happen to be a pocket pet or bunny parent, this is the place to go for veterinary care. Read Less

Dr. Martinez at Little Paws the only vet I will take my two rabbits to - in fact, we drive 45 minutes from our home to see him! He is knowledgeable, thorough, compassionate and honest. His staff are caring and diligent. I would recommend this clinic to anybody seeking experienced care for their exotic pet (i.e rabbits, rats, guinea pigs).Read Less

I was given the name of this veterinary clinic by the no kill shelter. So I was confident that my little girl would be treated respectfully. Tess is a bichon and lived a happy life with us for 12 1/2yrs. The choice to euthanize her was a difficult one. She could no longer walk without aid and had stopped eating without me coaxing her. We made the appt and the girl at the desk was so supportive again helping my decision. We wanted to stay through the whole experience to show our love and then transport her to UWMA for her cremation. Our appt was at two and he was 20mins late without popping in to apologize for the delay. All we could hear was loud talking and laughing. My poor little girl was getting more anxious. The vet came in explained the procedure said the anesthesia wouldn't hurt. She cried... She has never cried at the vets ever. She went limp immediately ... He came back ten mins later we asked for five more mins with her. Again all we hear is loud talking. I asked him to come back and he continued his conversation for another five mins. He attitide was condescending and cold ... He made her bleed and didn't care as he couldn't find a vein. Then started trying to throw her about. I wished I would've told him off. I will never ever go back to this clinic and I will tell as many people as I know about my experience. The only person that was compassionate and helpful was the young man at the front desk ... I got the feeling he doesn't enjoy working with the vet either. Read Less

This is the ONLY vet I will take my rabbits to. This doctor is the only one I trust, he's knowledgeable and caring and he's of course a rabbit specialist. I drive quite a ways way just to get here but it's worth it! Read Less

I live in Burnaby and gladly drive almost a hour to see Dr. Martinez. He is a rabbit expert and very knowledgeable about them. He examines them in great detail unlike previous vets I went to. He grows his own grass for the bunnies who come to see him, and my bunnies absolutely love it! I recommend Dr. Martinez if you are a rabbit owner. His staff are also very friendly as well. It is hard to find a vet that treats rabbits this well. Read Less

The vet was extremely rude and condescending and seemed to take pleasure in speaking down to me. That in itself is bad enough but the fact that he misdiagnosed 2 different issues in the same consultation (I went to 2 different vets after leaving his offices to make sure of the diagnosis and both of their diagnosis matched each other's and were no where near what Martinez claimed the problems were). He wanted me to get my senior dog into surgery right away (tried to push me to book the surgery there and then) for one of the things he had misdiagnosed (turns out that it didn't need surgery at all). Anesthetic can be more dangerous for senior dogs so the fact that he wanted to do a potentially dangerous surgery that wasn't even necessary paired with how awful his bedside manner was will guarantee that I never go anywhere near him again and encourage others to save your money and go somewhere else Read Less

The vet was extremely rude and condescending and seemed to take pleasure in speaking down to me. That in itself is bad enough but the fact that he misdiagnosed 2 different issues in the same consultation (I went to 2 different vets after leaving his offices to make sure of the diagnosis and both of their diagnosis matched each other's and were no where near what Martinez claimed the problems were). He wanted me to get my senior dog into surgery right away (tried to push me to book the surgery there and then) for one of the things he had misdiagnosed (turns out that it didn't need surgery at all). Anesthetic can be more dangerous for senior dogs so the fact that he wanted to do a potentially dangerous surgery that wasn't even necessary paired with how awful his bedside manner was will guarantee that I never go anywhere near him again and encourage others to save your money and go somewhere else. Read Less

Awesome place. Pretty much the only place I would trust to take care of my babies. No kennels, dogs get their own little room looking out on to the play area. They're out during the day, either inside or outside to socialize and play with each other. Small and large dogs are kept apart. They post pictures on their facebook page every day to show you that your babies are happy and safe. Definitely will recommend, and will continue to. Certainly not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for, and I'm willing to pay more to know my dogs are happy, comfortable, and socializing :) Read Less

If I had a dog, I feel like I'd be giving these guys a 5. But I have cats, and their regular kennel was full for the holidays, and this seemed like the best option - close to the airport, great hours, prices... well, holidays, so not such great prices. And the cats get private rooms, so I thought that seemed the best. I didn't realize how heavily geared this place is for dogs, though. Walking in, I was hit with the smell of dog. Multiple really cool dog play areas. Looks like the best place to send a social dog, ever! But the cats' room was right across from some huge barking dogs, and while their room was spacious compared to a usual kitty-kennel (about 4'x4', with a cat tree and a window), the window looked down on... all the dogs. Which some cats might be OK with, but mine were fairly traumatised. Most cats aren't really used to leaving their home, let alone being faced with the horrible existence of creatures that aren't them, so it's not the best environment for a sheltered house-cat. I'd say it's probably not the most ideal place to put cats, but they do get some personal space, their own tree to climb, and they post pictures daily on facebook, so you can see how they're doing. They send you a little report card at the end of the stay to let you know that they were recieving some personal attention. In my ideal world, they'd have a separate area for cats where they don't hear/smell the dogs, but at the end of the day, my cats were fed and cared for while I was away. If I had a dog, yeah, I'd bring them here in a heartbeat. Really friendly staff, and when I returned to pick up my cats late at night, the dog smell was replaced with lots of cleaning product smell, so I feel like they have a good handle on the sanitation aspect. Read Less

I had to bring my dog Joey here for three nights. I was really worried about him because he gets so sad when he's away from the family. But when I watched him online he was having so much fun with your employee, Ben! Joey really liked him and Ben took such great care of him! Joey will be back to visit again when we go away on our next trip! Thank you so so much Ben for all of your great customer service and for taking such good care of my little puppy. Read Less

One of rescue dogs needed overnight boarding until his foster was available, so I checked Luke into Jet Pet, keeping my fingers crossed for him.  Coming from long term boarding in SoCal, I was worried that a 100 lb American bulldog and pittie cross would be too much for the staff.  He is a power chewer, sight impaired, thinks he's a lapdog, and terrible on the leash.  They LOVED him!  He either pulled the greatest con ever, or they took this slobbery blob of muscle and saw what I saw, a loving lug who just wants to play and get scratchies. He was treated so well!  For a kid that came from the streets of San Bernardino, he hit the hotel jackpot.  Thank you Jet Pet, thank you for making  a rescue dog feel like king of the world. Read Less

Best vet and support staff. Our new pup saw 5 vets before Dr. Martinez. Immediately on our first visit Dr. Martinez found our 1 year old dog had a heart murmur but said it was most likely just a functional heart murmur -- nothing to worry about. Despite the reassurance I decided to see the cardiologist and have ultrasound and other tests done. After consulting with the cardiologist following the tests, we discovered that Dr. Martinez diagnosis was totally correct. For me it's always worth knowing if your dog has a potential disease or not. All 5 other vets had done a full checkup on our pup and didn't find the murmur -- including our primary (previous) vet that gave a clean bill of health the day we got him. Read Less

I met Dr. Martinez as I was out walking my two dogs in Steveston Village. He had noticed that my older dog was limping and came over to ask me what was going on. After some discussion, he invited me to come to his clinic to discuss my options for care for my dog (since my current vet at that time had given me the option of expensive surgery or painkillers) so I did.I wasn't sure what to expect but I was willing to try because I love my dog and it broke my heart when my previous vet vetoed my idea of getting him a wheelchair or having him try hydrotherapy to strengthen his leg. And while the painkillers she had him on seemed to help with the pain, they also seemed to sedate him, and she warned me that they could be bad for the liver and kidneys. (Having a cat die from kidney failure previously, I was devastated to hear that) So Dr. Martinez had me put my dog on Sasha's Blend (even providing me with a cheaper alternative if I wanted), Flexadin, omega fatty acids, and Cartrophen (which he suggested I inject myself to save money, and patiently taught me how), and he put me in touch with someone who could help me find my dog a wheelchair at, hopefully, a lower cost.I only had my dog on these supplements for a couple of days and I don't know if it's due to them or not, but for the first time in months, he ran up the stairs on his own and had energy to spare to chase our new puppy around for a minute. I cried with so much joy and called my whole family to tell them.I have since changed vets to Little Paws and am looking forward to a bright future for my dog with Dr. Martinez looking out for him. Read Less

**I want to preface this review by saying I am a nervous, obsessive dog owner that basically thinks no one can care for my dog-child like I can, and that I would 110% recommend Jet Pet for all other nervous dog mom or dads out there. My husband and I left our dog at Jet Pet Resort for a five-night stay last week. It was our first time leaving him for that long AND with "strangers" and we were beyond nervous to do so. Arnold is a 1.5 year old Chihuahua mix that is afraid of everything and has not been socialized as much as he should be with other dogs. The initial meeting at Jet Pet put us at ease right away. We opted to board him in a room with webcam access so we could check in on him whenever we felt the urge, which ended up being a great feature. The team at Jet Pet posted pictures of him playing in the dog lounge every day, and were quick to respond to our Facebook comments. They told us he had a nervous first day but from that point on bonded well with other small dogs in the small-dog only lounge (another HUGE plus for anyone owning a 5-pound dog.)When we picked Arnold up he was not as excited to see us as we had anticipated because he had so much fun with the humans and the dogs at Jet Pet. haha. We plan to continue to bring him to Jet Pet for their daycare service because the team is so loving and attentive, and we are SO relieved that we found them so we can start planning our next trip knowing we have a safe, reliable place to board Arnold while we're away! :) Read Less

We just picked up Brinkley from Jetpet after a twelve day stay. During his stay, we were able to watch him in his room on an app except for the last few days where he was upgraded to a luxury suite due to renovations. We could see how eager he was in the first few days to get out with the general population and then over the course of the week we saw how tired he was from playing with all his new buddies. They posted pictures of him on Facebook daily and we knew we left him in a good place when we saw his smiley mug every day. On the day we picked him up, we had them bathe and brush him before he came home. He smelled so good and was very fluffy...I imagine much better than he did after playing with all his new friends. We would definitely do the bath again! Four of the staff members came and gave him good bye hugs when we left and gave him a glowing report card. They told us he was often the "centre of attention"...Lol! I forgot to mention that Brinkley is a one year old intact golden retriever full of energy! When we pulled out of the parking lot, he looked back to the building with longing. I don't think he wanted to leave! Thank you to the staff at Jetpet for all the care and attention to our fur baby and making him feel at home. We will definitely be back again! Brinkley sends his hugs and kisses too! Read Less

My dog goes to daycare at Jet Pet almost every day and she usually races to the front door pawing to be let in. By the end of the day she's exhausted and sleeps during the car ride home. Both my dog AND cat have stayed overnight at some point. My dog stayed in a nice big executive suite while my cat stayed in the cat lounge. My cat LOVES this lounge! He struts in, sniffs his friends, then finds a good spot to watch tv. I can login to the web cam while on my trip and see him moving around. Love this place for my pets! Read Less

Dr. Martinez is the best !! When I first got my puppy I was recommended to a vet that was absolutely horrible and treated my 8 week puppy more like a object then a loving animal. I was recommended to him by a friend. Our first visit he checked everything weighed my puppy checked his heart teeth and even gave me very useful suggestions. When it was time for a the shot as a new mommy I was so nervous but my puppy loved the Dr.  the moment he saw him licked him all over (my puppy doesn't even lick me). The shot was fast n painless I don't even think my puppy noticed. Everything with the check up came up to around $200. He cares about all his animals you can just tell it's such a relieve to meet a doctor that really loves animals. We recently neutered him to and once again Dr. Martinez did an amazing job so informative clear careful and professional with a loving hand and heart !! Read Less

Dr. Martinez is a great vet. He is knowledgeable, compassionate, a real animal lover. He has saved the lives of many pets, including homeless, neglected and abandoned animals at no cost. Check his website and see his work and his dedication to pets. He was available to us, even after hours, and we were able to reach him at 2:00 am for an emergency case. He gives options to choose from based on your budget and he explains with accuracy pros and cons of each option. It is clear that he is not there for the money but for the well being of the animals.Read Less

Dr. Martinez is a great vet! My dog loves going there and has been going there for 2 years.  Returned my urgent call regarding to a dog I was babysitting for a friend and guided me what to do for the meantime.  The price there is also reasonable.  The place is very clean and the vet assistant is very efficient.  I would recommend Dr. Martinez to anyone I know who is looking for a vet. Good job, all I can say more! Read Less

I phoned there this afternoon because my 9 year old dog, Obie was limping and yelping. Dr. Martinez answered and had us come in at 4:15 p.m.  By the time I got to the office my dog had stopped limping but  since that had happened a number of times before I was very concerned.  So Dr. Martinez took us out to the back and had Obie perform some activities while he observed him.  Then we went to the examining room where he weighed Obie and examined him very carefully.  It was arthritis.  He showed us where the joint had been damaged and gave us advise.  I didn't want an x-ray unless Dr. Martinez felt it was imperative which he said was not necessary because he could feel the problem.  He then gave him his first of four shots for his arthritis and suggested that my husband or I could administer the medication ourselves  for a lot less - it was up to us.  He also recommended Sashas Flexi (a natural ingredient(s) for healthy joints.  His new assistant vet (a delightful young man) discussed the various kinds and had Obi try the one which was like a biscuit treat to be sure he would accept it.  After 45 minutes the session was over.  So we bought kibble,  4 months worth of  the special biscuits, the injection and a 45 minute exam and explanation and the bill came to under $200.  We all left there feeling very good about Obie's treatment.  I would highly recommend Little Paws Animal Clinic. Read Less

Dr. Martinez is the WORST vet I ever encountered. He gouged me over $3000 dollars for what he quoted to be $800.00My dog went in for a check up, he pulled my heart strings telling me that my dog needed all the expensive blood work, vaccinations, rabies shot, preventives, everything he can think on to gouge on my credit card since he found out that my dog is my baby. He quoted me $800 for teeth cleaning and then it came out to be $1600 He promised that he would give me a 20% off discount to help me out since I was out of a job and living on my credit card, but when the bill came, it was TOTALLY A DIFFERENT STORY. HE sad my dog had this and that and needed extra work which my dog was generally healthy, there was a bunch of medication he tried to gouge on including the Pet gel to soothe my dog's gum's which he gets the receptionist to squeeze tiny bit in a syringe and sell for $5 each which a whole tube at least 10 times as much costs only $11 which I order online directly. Even with shipping it is much cheaper.He doesn't take out your dog's teeth to allow you keep the teeth, to save himself time and rack up expenses, he uses a scary grinding tool to grind out all the teeth so they are shattered in tiny pieces.IMAGINE YOUR DENTIST DOING THAT TO YOU, MOST LIKELY MOST PEOPLE WILL RUN! SO yes he does that do you dog and worst is he takes out HEALTHY TEETH to just rack up the bill to GOUGE ON YOU!! Then, after knowing that I have a credit card that can pay  exactly $3360.00 with tax He got super greedy and told me stories how my other 6 year old dog is aging and would need blood tests, and all the expensive tests that I fell for for my first dog.At that moment I was already $3000.00 in credit debit with no job, this man is the WORST VET EVER, HE IS AFTER THE MONEY, NOT TRULY care what is absolute necessary for your dog.Once he knows you treat your beloved pet like a baby, he will pull every single heart string to make you feel your dog is in pain and possibly dying claiming your dog has cushioning s disease when your dog only has a simple bacterial infection!DO NOT GO HERE! DR. MARTINEZ SHOULD BE A SALES MAN, HE WAS POOR WHEN HE WAS A CHILD, NOW HE IS GETTING THE SOCIETY TO PAY HIM BACK OUT OF YOUR POCKET, YOUR CREDIT CARD, despite you have no job, no money but love your dog. He is gouging on customers to pay for his retirement, DO NOT GO HERE! HE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR DOG, ALL HE IS AFTER DESPITE ALL THE SWEET TALK AND MARKETING ABOUT HOLLISTIC, ITS ALL BS, the main goal is to gouge on your money!! Read Less

We liked doctor Martinez and his staff for the first few visits, but now it is clear that if we had not switched clinics, our cat would have died due to their incompetency.Our senior cat had issues with teeth, kidneys, pancreatitis. The incompetencies of the clinic were as follows:* Lack of structure to track improvement. Our cat was put on a special diet for two months. There was no improvement in the condition over that time. This did not seem to concern dr Martinez.* Almost killed our cat by failing to recommend hospitalization. Our cat lost 20% of its weight over three of his last visits (this is a lot for a cat - he was on his way out, so to say). Dr Martinez was going to ask us to try different foods and diet. The *other* clinic we then went to (Oak Animal Hospital - go there, they're fantastic) recommended immediate hospitalization. That ended up saving our cat's life.* It is expensive!!! (our whole point of going there at first was to pay less for dental). Dental was quoted to be $700, we got it done later for $400. Ultrasound exam was quoted to be $700, we got it done later for $300. Also, at Little Paws the blood test results need to be sent to a lab, whereas some other clinics have the testing capabilities in-house, so the results are immediate.* Bad record keeping. Very little records are ever collected during a pet's visit. The inspection of a cat consists of looking at it and weighing it. No wonder it is hard to make good recommendations based on such little information.* Unclear communication of what matters. Our cat had to get a blood exam to make sure he is safe to operate on. Little Paws did not communicate to us (or maybe didn't know themselves) the key specifics, ie. where the cat's blood levels had to be for the dental procedure to be safe. Also, potential treatment options with quotes are not printed out there as you'd expect in a professional clinic. At best the instructions are given on a scribbled note.All in all, we liked the staff and the facility at Little Paws and wish we had had a better experience there. The bottom line is: If you have anything more complex that needs fixing with your pet, we recommend going elsewhere (like Oak Animal Hospital) Read Less

I took my cat here because it was close to home and came well recommended on Yelp. Unfortunately, after visiting a few times and switching vets, I'm not as much of a fan of this vet as I was at first. My cat is very nervous at the vet. He doesn't like strangers and he doesn't like new places. Dr Martinez suggested sedating my cat. I assume he meant some kind of kitty valium but I didn't take kindly to the suggestion that my cat was so difficult that he needed to be drugged. He's squirmy and prone to peeing in fright and he's fine as soon as he gets home and out of his carrier.Because my cat is squirmy, he can be hard to hold onto. I'm more than aware of this but I know how much he hates being scruffed. At the first sign of squirming, Dr Martinez grabbed my cat's scruff. I know it's a painless way to keep a cat from moving but our new vet hasn't had to do it and an emergency vet didn't either. Our first visit to Little Paws was wonderful but unfortunately our following visits weren't as nice. Read Less

I am SO glad, Dr. Martinez did not turn me & my bunny away.I've been turned away from a handful of vets since 'they do not have any small animals specialists'.I went to the animal emergency hospital once for my previous bunny, $400 later and they still were unable to tell me what was wrong with her.  Trying to milk more $ from me with an MRI after sitting there for 6 hours.Dr. Martinez was gentle, kind and informative.  Will be seeing him again for the next few weeks!  It was $200 for the first few things checked & treatments given, but it was worth it.  I booked an appointment, went in after signing some forms and I was given a diagnosis once a few tests were run.Thanks to him, my bunny will be feeling much better!Hooray! Read Less

My regular veterinarian no longer works in a clinic setting so when I had an animal emergency she recommended that I take my cat to Little Paws.  Even though I live in East Van I decided to trust her judgement.I was in fair state of upset when I arrived but Dr. Martinez was able to examine my cat right away.  I could tell by the way he handled her and his calm, confident manner that she was in good hands.He invited me to go back to the treatment area with her, which I feel is very important.  There is nothing worse than sitting in a waiting room while your sick critter is having things done to them in another room where you can't see.  Dr. Martinez fully explained the necessary treatment for my ailing cat and provided me with thorough details for the nursing care she would require.  He also recommended a herbal preparation to help her.We went home after paying our fairly reasonable bill and received a call from the Doctor the next day with her blood test results.  He took the time to ask me how she was doing and provide further advice over the phone.  A couple days later we went back for a follow up and I was again impressed by the Doctor's manner and generosity with his time.This is a quality veterinarian.My only other comment would be that they write out all their prescription labels as well as the invoice by hand, so expect to wait a bit while they prepare your medications a charges.  It's a very small clinic and there is often just one tech working, so sometimes these things take even longer if there are other clients being helped. Read Less

I wanted to add Little Paws to the list of reviews here because Dr. Martinez is excellent!  We have rabbits and rabbits have very special needs when they are ill. Dr. Martinez saw us right away after an emergency after our bunny stopped eating.  He took all of my frantic calls for days until she was better and was excellent all around.    I highly recommend him if you have a rabbit!!!! Read Less