Dr. Barrett is the best vet ever. My mom has been taking her pets to him since before I was born. Almost 40 years later, he is as awesome as ever. We have two cats and one dog. Dr. Barrett and his staff are so kind, loving, and caring to all 3 of our fur babies. He takes good care of the pets, and makes sure the pet parents feel cared for also. Highly recommended. Read Less

This is the BEST vet in Castro Valley I am sure! I went to Grove Way where our dog was neutered. Ever since he had skin issues, allergies. They always charged for the follow up visits and would guess his condition. I got tired of paying for meds and visits without resolution so I decided to get another opinion. This vet automatically knew what type of allergy our dog had. Gave meds that worked in matter of hours and this is the ONLY vet I will take our dog to! Read Less

I have been going here with my pets for almost 30 years and I wouldn't think of going anywhere else. Donna and Mary are the kindest, most knowledgeable and the absolute best in every way!!!! Dr. B is the most down to earth and thorough vet I have ever had the experience of dealing with. His bedside manner is above reproach. He listens to you and takes into consideration your situation and feelings as well as what is best for your pet and then is able to work with you to provide the best appropriate treatment for your pet. He always takes time to talk and does not make you feel rushed. I have greatly appreciated their understanding during the tough times (when I had to say goodbye to my babies) so that I could say goodbye in a way that I felt comfortable with. They are truly the BEST!!! Read Less

Going to a new vet, you hope that they don't rip you off. Hopefully I can help you avoid that experience. Our pet's two night stay at Canyon cost us almost $1,000.What really inflated the bill was the pain medication. 10 doses at $34 a dose. The same medication on petmeds.com is $30, with 10 doses to a bottle. That's a 1000% markup.The staff and Dr. Barrett are really nice people, very friendly. The way they inflated the bill with that markup and multiple check-ups per day at $35-$45 a pop though - I feel ripped off. I'll never get over it. Read Less

Love love love Dr B!! We've been taking our miniature poodle, D.O.G there since he was just 6 weeks old, almost 13 years now! He's saved us boatloads of money thru the years and is always so kind and friendly with D.O.G!! Oh, and Donna and Mary are the absolute best! Donna is always on top of things up front and Mary is so gentle and sweet with the animals! Love to see Allie (Dr B's pooch) there when we come in for our visits! Read Less

Dr. B is awesome, kind, funny and very experienced. We have seen Dr. B many time for issues with our cats. He pays attention when we talk and is always patient at explaining and answering questions. He has a conservative approach to diagnosing. He's not quick to send you off to see a specialist, which could get expensive. He's methodical at trying different tests and treatments, and doesn't recommend things when it's unnecessary. Sometimes he consult with his specialist friends for more complicated issues.  Donna and Mary are the two ladies who work in the office and they are the sweetest people, always friendly and caring. They would tell you if you can get certain medicine cheaper online. They are also experienced with animals and we have learned many tips from them.We just love the whole team here, very professional and loving, and responsible with our money. We can't ask for anything more. Read Less

We've been taking our pugs to Dr. Barrett since they were pups.  As a dog owner/parent you are immediately at ease with Dr. Barrett and his wonderful staff.  Their compassion and love for pets is something you feel right away and it puts you at ease and gives you the comfort and reassurance you need when your loved ones are not well or are in need of assistance.  I highly recommend CVH. Read Less

Dr. Barrett or Dr. B and his staff are excellent in all ways possible.  Dr. Barrett loves his work and it shows. He has compassion, cares for his patients and owner, knows veterinary medicine inside and out, and is a great person to talk to.  I have been taking my dogs for about 20 years to Dr. Barrett.  He has never disappointed me and has cared for my dogs with the utmost concern for their welfare!!  He knows is business very well and has many years of experience, so his knowledge base is much larger than most vets I have seen.  I trust Dr. Barrett and his staff, which says a lot. I have taken my dogs to Dr. Barrett for any number of reasons from routine checks, minor surgeries, to more major events. He has been able to treat them in almost every occasion or referred me to UC Davis or the emergency clinic for those times when he wasn't available or a higher level of care was needed. I can't say enough about Dr. Barrett as others have said he takes the time to know you and your pet. He explains things in details and will spend the extra time to explain things. I never feel rushed or that I am just another pet owner.  I really appreciate that!Overall, I hope to keep taking my pets to Dr. Barrett and his staff. They are all great and I trust them to give the best care to my family's pets. Read Less

Dr. Barrett is absolutely the best.The staff is friendly and helpful, you won't wait forever on hold when you call and you will get great input and care when you take your pet in.Dr. Barrett is by his own description, and old-fashioned country doctor. He was able to diagnose that my cat has been bitten by another cat just by my description of my cat's behavior over the previous 24 hours. Unfortunately, I had gone to the Emergency Veterinary Hospital the day before when my cat was lethargic and not eating. They took blood and x-rays and sent us home telling me to keep an eye on him that everything seemed fine. Everything was not fine and my cat got much worse very quickly. I took him to Dr. Barrett and after explaining my cat's behavior he said it sounds like a clear case of a cat bite, gave us antibiotics, and long story short, my cat was perfectly fine about 30 hours later. His philosophy in veterinary medicine is Occam's Razor, the idea that the most likely explanation is probably the correct one. There is no sense getting lots of tests done when the apparent diagnosis is staring you in the face.Highest recommendation for. Dr. Barrett. Read Less

This was an awesome visit. My cat has Pancreatitis, I took her in for a check up, get a prescription, and get some advice. The doctor was great, and very affordable. You can tell they really care about the animals and want to do whats best for them. I have been searching for a vet for a while, and I think I have found it. Read Less

Well, I just became a proud owner of a Husky/GSD puppy (Raven) and was looking for a vet to establish care. I looked through Yelp to pick the perfect vet and I chose to come here. I called a couple days ago and was able to make an appointment with ease. The lady that answered my phone call was extremely friendly and helpful. I came in this morning at 9:00am for my 9:15am appointment and was greeted by a staff member with great warmth. She helped me get checked in quickly and was eager to answer all of my questions. I have had 2 previous dogs, but this was my first puppy so I wanted to know as much as possible. After I had filled out a form for Raven, we were brought into the exam room. I only waited a few minutes before Dr. Barrett came in full of energy. He seemed genuinely excited to see Raven and treated my puppy as if it were his own. He performed a full exam and seemed extremely competent. He asked if I had any questions and was patient when explaining everything to me.  As someone who is about to attend medical school this fall, I give him full marks on his "bedside manners", excitement, passion, and patience. He was extremely clear in his instructions and left no stones unturned. Following the exam, I was checked out by the same staff worker and she followed up with the same instructions given to me by Dr. Barrett. I was extremely pleased with my visit this morning and will continue to come to this location as long as the service remains stellar. Read Less

Dr. Barrett is a very caring, knowledgeable vet.  We switched to Dr. Barret back in 2010 from VCA because we had a bad experience with VCA.  He has cared for our domestic indoor cats, our feral outdoor cat, and our large dog.  His staff, Donna and Mary are very professional and caring.  Our dog has had two aural hematoma's and Dr. Barrett performed both surgeries (years apart) and her ears healed wonderfully.  All of our pets are comfortable with the doctor and his staff.  I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them for any veterinary need, and their prices are reasonable.  Thank you for all of your care over the years!  Harriet, Riley, Penelope and TiTi Read Less

Dr. B and his staff are all wonderful!  I am a first time pet owner and they have been very thorough and loving in their care for my sweet German Shepherd puppy, Layla.  They genuinely care and give every visit a personal touch. Read Less

So grateful for this kind and caring vet. Dr. B. had to break the news to me today that my cat has cancer and needs surgery. He took the time to sit with me for twenty minutes, and to discuss everything with me clearly and thoroughly. He let me know exactly what my options were in a clear and concise way without pressure. My past experiences with veterinarians have been very rushed and I have often left feeling confused and not knowing what to do. This was not the case with Dr B. He even gave me a hug on the way out, as I was feeling emotional.5 stars for compassion and kindness. Thank you. Read Less

We have 4 buddies, 3 dogs and a kitty. We take all of them to Dr.Barrett. He has a vast amount of intelligence from years of experience which he aproaches every matter with. He actually makes you feel good about spending your money there because you know your pet is getting the best possible care. His staff is awsome too. Very responsive and knowledgeable as well. Thanks Dr. B. Read Less

This is a long overdue review for Dr B and his staff Mary and Donna. We have used Dr B for over 25 years for all our cats and dogs. Right now we have two Boston Terriers and a Staffordshire Terrier we bring to him. My Bostons are always getting into trouble and have done silly things like get foxtails up their noses and eat nasty inedible, poisonous things like potpourri. Dr. B is very cautious and conservative. One time one of the dogs, who still a puppy,  was very sick and appeared to have an intestinal blockage and Dr. B recommended surgery. I left my puppy with him, me crying , all the way out, and about 30 minutes Dr. B  called me and said the pup had pooped and so he didn't need surgery after all! An unscrupulous Dr could have done the surgery anyways.. how would I have known, and made a bucket of $. But Dr. B doesn't work that way. He is honest and truly cares for the animals. A couple years ago I brought my sick 14 year old cat in. I knew she was ill but I had no idea how sick. Dr. B told me she was near death. I was shocked. He offered to treat her to prolong her life for a short time but when I said no, he helped my make the decision to put her down. He let me stay with her through the whole process and after she was gone he let me have as much time as I needed with her. On another occasion my female Boston ingested potpourri. It was a Sunday so I had to bring her to the emergency vet. They charged me $1000 and sent her home the next day still very sick. I brought her to Dr. B and he discovered the emergency vet had not flushed her tonsils and the potpourri was stuck there and caused a terrible infection! He was able to figure this out in about 2 minutes too..!Dr B answers all your questions and never makes you feel rushed. His staff are great too. They have both been with him for years and really love and care about the animals too. Canyon Veterinary is not the most inexpensive vet hospital around but in this case I think you get what you pay for. The level of care is worth every penny. Please don't retire any time soon Dr B!!Needless to say, I highly recommend Dr. B! Read Less

We take our cat here. Best vet we have ever known. He is authentic and genuine!Dr Barrett treats our cat who has a kidney problem and our feline friend is much healthier and better looking than when we brought him from our old vet. Our last vet in Fremont CVH did X-rays after X-rays, dumped medications that made our cat worse than ever and ignored the real problem. Central VH in Fremont is always over booked, never follows up or vets won't spend 45min to an hour with any of their patients like how Dr Barret does with his patients. Finally when we brought our cat in to Canyon Vet Hospital, Dr Barrett knew what the problem was looking from my cats previous chart/ file. However Dr Barret did few tests to be sure and from there he tackled a solution to the real problem. Our cat is no longer on a kidney medication. Dr Barrett really takes time and treats his patients with care and goes out of his way, is very honest, funny, and gets to the bottom of the problem. And he never overbooks appointments or rushes you out the door. Wish we had found Dr Barrett years ago. It's really hard to find a doctor these days who really cares about their practice and is not looting people for every single cent. We recommended one of our neighbors to take their limping cat to Dr Barrett. My neighbor was floored and informed us that her cat didn't need any X-rays done or any surgeries like the previous vets were suggesting. It was costing them hundreds of dollars before Dr B. However, Dr Barrett did a normal check up and told our neighbor that her cats paw will heal on its own.We see our neighbors cat running and walking around normal and happy now. The facility is clean and looks well-maintained. All the staffs are friendly, helpful, knowledgable and professional. We finally found a real old-fashioned doctor who genuinely cares. Read Less

An old-fashioned doctor in the best sense of the word. He always takes time to talk with us, only prescribes what's necessary, and reduced the number of office visits for our old grumpy cat to a minimum. For example, the previous vet required us to bring in our cat to take a urine sample. Dr Barret explained how to collect it at home - less stress for our cat, and us. We were at a larger animal hospital in Fremont before, and appreciate the personal connection with Dr. Barret. And most importantly, our cat is doing much better after getting proper treatment for a kidney infection that was not properly treated at the previous place. The office is quiet and peaceful without long waits (important if you have an old grumpy cat), and Donna and Mary are always attentive and knowledgeable. We just hope that Dr. Barret does not retire any time soon - we don't want to look for another vet. Read Less

I love the staff at Canyon Vet and I'm always confident that they will take the best care of my girls. Dr. B has practiced Vet medicine for over 30 years and they've had the same staff for 10 + years. Donna is friendly and helpful and Mary puts so much care and love into her job as well. Thank you guys for always going above and beyond for my fur babies! Read Less

Oh my gosh where do I even begin. So I call and make an appointment to bring my kitty in to get sprayed. I come in and I talk to Mary LOL I find out I should have talked to her on the phone so that I would have known they wanted $170+ to spay my 2 year old cat (not $52 like I was thinking) and get her her vaccines. Shes an inside cat so no she doesn't have her shots. Whatever so I end up getting emotional being overwhelmed by this price. I am then told i can just to the spay and the medicine total $71 okay. I talk to the doctor who was a really cool guy would have loved for him to work on my pet. BUT HE DIDNT because of an emergency surgery that took my cats scheduled time. They call and tell me this and that they are going to do it tomorrow I can pick her up the following day. I have a life, I am not going to leave my cat at your vet for 3 days. Thats my fur baby so I say ok I will come pick her up since I am only in town till tomorrow(I live in redwood city). I was so mad when I got off the phone I cried and I had to wait a while before i could even leave and come get her.  She must have known I was upset because when I get there my cat is in her carrier behind the desk WAITING and when she turns around she hands her over like a mcdonalds bag and I $h!t you not my cat has never hissed at anyone but she hissed at Mary the crazy receptionist. This place looks like you just walked into 1985 or something it also smelled that way. Overall: Vet cool. Receptionist/ helpers: Tweedle dee and tweedle dumb. If you have the time to deal with these people and emergency surgeries come here. Read Less

Dr. Barrett has been our vet for about 14 years now. We always knew he was amazing but last year he went so above and beyond, that I hardly have words to describe. Our 2 year old golden/lab swallowed a stone. Dr. Barrett did surgery to remove the stone and resection his intestine. We brought our dog home & unfortunately he became septic very quickly, which is a risk with this type of surgery. They re-admitted him after hours (they were actually closed) and did emergency surgery. Unfortunately our beautiful boy did not survive. He passed away in the middle of the night after surgery. However, he wasn't alone! Mary, the vet tech stayed the whole night with him after surgery and was with him when he passed. Although our story doesn't have a happy ending, I feel at peace knowing that Dr. Barrett did everything in his considerable power to save our pup, AND he and his staff did this all with compassion and caring.  Sometimes the worst case scenario does happen. I wouldn't have  wanted my fur baby to be with anyone else when it did. Read Less

We take our two dogs and our tortoise to Dr. Barrett.  He is, quite honestly, the best vet I have ever known.  He is caring, kind, considerate, smart, down-to-earth and honest!  When our tortoise had an accident and needed his leg amputated, Dr. B. treated our pet and us as if our tortoise was our child.  I've known other vets who treat pets like a number.  Dr. B treats pets as if they are human.  I am a nervous wreck when it comes to all of my babies (animals) and Dr. B understands. He realizes that our pets are our family members.   I really like that he gives my doggies little treats for good behavior and lavishes all my pets with words of affirmation. In addition, his office is always clean and bright.  If you love your babies as much as we do, then do what is best for them and take them to see Dr. Barrett.  You'll be thankful you did! Read Less

very caring and helpful staff. Dr. Bartlet was not only good with my pets but he takes the time to make sure i understand and am comfortable with his assesment of the issues. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU GUYS!!!!! Read Less

I've been taking my dogs to Canyon Vet since moving to Castro Valley years ago and have always been satisfied. Over the years he's treated my pets for everything from minor ear infections to cancer and he's never been wrong with a diagnosis or treatment. More importantly, he takes the time to discuss the diagnosis and treatment as well as to answer your questions. He's caring and compassionate, and understands the needs of both the pet and the owner. The only way there could be a problem with his care for your pets is if you don't follow his instructions for care and medications - something no vet can overcome. Read Less

DO NOT USE!!!!!!! After spending $2,000 this doctor misdiagnosed my dog and he died due to lack of proper care. The emergency veterinary hospital was unable to save him because Dr. Barrett ""did not give them enough time to save him."" PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOUR FAMILY!!!!!! Read Less