West Coast Equine

It has been 1 year since my  daughters horse was euthanized. I will never take another one of my horses to any vet here again. I will travel to Alamo Pintado for emergencies. Dr. Kemper has the worst bed side manner and she is a liar. Upon arriving at the hospital I brought my gelding here with a very high fever. He had colic several times before and this was nothing that I had ever seen to do with a colic.  He had a temp of 106 and would not eat at all. He had not been rolling or acting like a typical colic at all.  I had told Kemper that the horse had been sick before and my insurance had run out with colic and I thought it would be appropriate to put this horse down for the sake of everything he had been through in the time we had him. He was only 13. She downright refused, making me feel like I was doing something wrong and how could I ever think of putting an animal down. When her husband Sullivan told me to put him down a year earlier because he was so sick, but we fought for our precious gelding. I called my normal vet that I use regularly and asked him his opinion, he was on vacation and thankfully answered his phone for me. He told me that it was perfectly acceptable to put this horse down with all that this horse  had been through. Kemper told me this was NOT colic and my insurance WOULD PAY FOR IT. So considering she was the vet I said ok lets try for the 4th time in 3 years to keep this horse alive and well. She put him on fluids and kept him overnight with antibiotics. I went the next day to visit him and asked questions and she had no interest in speaking to me at all. I told them I would take him home and administer the antibiotics myself to save me $$ and she wouldn't even come and talk to me when the horse was being discharged, I asked 4 different times and the intern went in to get her and said she would not come out. On my discharge papers she wrote COLIC. I had the intern go back in the office to tell Kemper she said it WAS NOT COLIC and I wanted it written that this was not colic, because that is what Kemper told me. I would have a better chance of my insurance paying the bill. I believed her. She said this wasn't colic and my insurance would never pay for it. So she wrote it a different way which lead the insurance company to believe it was colic anyhow. She would not change it.  However she got her money and she was paid in full by me. The horse wasn't even there 24 hours but she milked another $1200.00 out of me. I took him home and called another vet out the very next morning because nothing was working getting his fever down and the horse was just plain sick. I called the other vet and she was lovely. We got him on a different antibiotic routine that actually helped him and he started to come around after a couple of days. That same morning Kemper had a barn call to our barn, saw me there and didn't even ask how the horse was, she had no care in the World about the well being of the horse she let suffer. About 1 week later my horse who had suffered enough got laminitis so badly he could not move, not even 1 step it was horrible to watch and heartbreaking . I called the vet that took over his care after we had seen Kemper and we put him down. We put him down out of caring for an animal that suffered from colic for the past 3 years on and off. We put him down because no matter how you spin it this horse was just a sick horse and we tried all we could to help him.  He would not have suffered more then he had to if Kemper would have euthanized him when I asked. My poor horse suffered a great deal because of a money hungry vet who in my opinion cared more about making $$ then the actual well being of my precious gelding. He deserved more then that from Kemper. My daughter deserved more then that from Kemper. My Horse died Aug 8, 2016 and it has taken me this long to write a review on West Coast Equine.It is August 10, 2017 and I still cannot believe what that vet did to our horse and my family. All the interns at this hospital were wonderful and caring. Its too bad that Kemper is not like them. But all the caring interns will never makeup for what Kemper is like.  I will never take another animal to this hospital as long as I continue to own horses. I care too much for my horses well being to put their welfare at risk. Read Less

I have been taking my mule to West coast equine for a few years now. I LOVE THIS PLACE! Every time I Cal the office staff is great and know who I am, ( or more like know my mule, Pearl). They have saved my mule several times and are always great with their communication with me. I cannot say enough about how trefoil the staff and Doctor Kemper is! Read Less

Thank you to all the Doctors and Staff at West Coast Equine. My horse Rocky was there for 8 days suffering from enteritis. They were all very helpful and friendly during a stressful time. He's happy to be back home now. Read Less

I would never take my horse back to this place. The office staff was so rude. There is no communication on how your horse is doing. God forbid you miss the one call you will get from the vet, you won't hear back for another 18 hours despite the 6 messages left for them. You'll be sitting at your house worrying and when you do get a hold of someone you won't even get an apology. I would recommend spending/taking the extra driving time to take your horse to Alamo Pintada, where your horses care is there number one priority, communication is frequent and the bed side manner superb. Read Less

I am so impressed with Dr Kemper and the staff at West Coast Equine. I used them to breed my maiden mare Carolina. Their breeding package was VERY affordable and I had no worries as I knew she was in great hands. Dr Kemper would personally even call me back with any questions or concerns I had. And 17 days later I had a confirmed pregnancy on the first insemination! Now at 30 days, I was able to see the little baby foal heartbeat. Can't thank Dr Kemper and her staff enough for taking care of my Carolina. I highly recommend West Coast for breeding! They take all the guess work out of it and are very knowledgeable. Read Less

We can't speak highly enough of West Coast Equine. Their service went above and beyond. They were kind, communicative, resourceful and caring. What an amazing experience. We would gladly leave our animals in their care again. Read Less

Thank you to everyone at West Coast for helping Raul to become whole again! Drs. Kemper, Sullivan, Katie, and Glasberg are amazing, attentive, concerned and patient to help "my boy"! All of the vet techs are the best as are Lindsey and Mikey. Thank you all for everything! Read Less

My horses have been patients of Dr. Sullivan and Dr. Kemper for the past 10 years (since before West Coast Equine Hospital was built). I can't say enough wonderful things about both of them and their hospital.  They've saved my horses lives multiple times, both in the field and in the hospital. I've seen them perform complex surgeries and procedures as well as help elderly equine patients become ambulatory again.  They have incredible horse sense- one of the reasons I originally hired Dr. Sullivan was because I saw him handle a horse who was difficult for every other veterinarian. He was so calm and handled the horse so well that I was incredibly impressed- and the horse liked him!I have a horse who can be difficult to treat and he is so patient with him and understands him and has gained his trust.  In fact, all of the staff at West Coast Equine work this way!  I have always been treated with kindness and respect and my input on my horses' care has always been wanted.Another thing that impresses me is that every horse- from show horses to rescues- is treated like a champion! My horses have always been impeccably clean and tidy when they've stayed there and their every move monitored. Their facilities are top notch, clean, and organized. I'm always impressed by the level of professionalism and compassion shown by all of the staff. I trust Dr. Sullivan, Dr. Kemper, and their staff with my beloved horses' lives and I wouldn't trust anyone else!!! Read Less

Just got Biscuit home after surgery to remove a cantaloupe sized ovarian tumor. She is resting comfortably and doing well. Can't even begin to tell you how wonderful a clinic this is! Everyone there from the receptionists to the surgeon are exceptional people. The facility is beautiful and clean. If we need the services of an equine hospital this will be our first pick! We live in the Antelope Valley and don't have any equine facilities here, it was totally worth the drive. Read Less

After rescuing my 17.3 hh, 1,845 lbs Belgian Ricochet, what was supposedly a "scar" on his eye turned out to be cancer and I asked West Coast Equine for guidance immediately. After lasering off the cancer, two surgeries and two weeks in the hospital Ric is cured and happy as can be. My horse was treated like a family member - not just a patient and the staff patiently soothed every worry I had. Dr. Sullivan advised me on what was best for my horse the whole way through. I will forever be grateful to Dr. Sullivan and everyone at West Coast for helping us. Heck, they still look in on Ric when they make house calls at my barn just to see how he's doing (not because I called and asked them to). That speaks volumes about how much they care and the kind of clinic they are and what every equine hospital should be. - Allyson and Ricochet Read Less

This is not the sort of place you want to be the Dutchess of. However I appreciate the quality of service, quality of facilities, professionalism and caring offered by the staff here. Due to circumstances I was allowed to visit well after visiting hours to spend extra time with my gelding before I had to say goodbye to him. I'll be forever appreciative to the understanding they offered me. Read Less