Cats Only Veterinary Clinic

When my aging cat became ill a year and a half ago, I came to this place based on reviews here.
I am glad I did.
My main vet was Dr. Janet Maclean. She is a very kind, soft spoken person who explains everything you need her to. She is very compassionate and I trusted her with my cat’s life.
He lived over a year longer than I/​we had thought. Thanks to this place, I had my little best buddy a while longer.
After he passed away the staff sent me a card with personal notes and signed it, including Dr. MacLean’s.
I highly recommend this facility. All you dogs-​only owners are missing out.
Now you see me.
Meow you don’t.

Until difficult times, I thought Cats Only was an ok vet clinic, as there are so many in Vancouver. But I had 2 elderly cats and we have made more visits to the vet than we would have wanted recently and yes, there are a lot of tests and it is certainly not cheap, but the technicians and vets are very nice, compassionate and real cat lovers. Recently one of my cats was very sick and it turned out she had terminal cancer. The staff was genuinely caring and had tears in their eyes when they found out, which was very touching. Dr Ko is absolutely amazing and loves cats, this is pretty obvious. When our cat died and we were at the clinic, they gave us all the time we needed and they were excellent in explaining how the cremation worked, were very sad for our loss, and it felt very genuine, even though they probably deal with illnesses and dead cats every day. For that reason, I really feel comfortable going back and recommending Cats Only if you genuinely care about your furry friend (s).

Dr. Ko and Cats Only take good care of Zulu, I appreciate them and feel comfortable taking my Zulu there.

Yesterday our cat Theo got stung in the mouth by a bee. We called the Clinic and they said we should monitor him for swelling and any other concerns. After he started vomiting, we called back and they said to bring him in straight away. When we arrived they greeted us and took us right into the back with Dr. McLean. She and her assistant was very nice, gentle and reassuring with Theo. Dr. McLean checked him out, took his temperature, asked if they could clip his nails and her assistant did so. They asked us questions about his food to make sure their chart was up to date and took his weight etc. They then advised their recommendation was to give him a antihistamine, anti-​inflammatory, and fluids (due to the heat and his persistent vomiting) and suggested we could leave him there for the afternoon to monitor him.
When we left, Theo was cuddled in the assistants arms and we felt safe and reassured leaving him in their care.
I was a bit concerned about what the bill might be as my friends were suggesting it could be high — however, it was very reasonable and I was pleased overall with his care and the results.
Theo recovered nicely and got his appetite back around dinner time.
I would recommend Cats Only Clinic any day as they are friendly, knowlegeable, confident, well-​priced and the Clinic is clean and welcoming.

Some of the reviews here must be from people who have zero idea what vet costs and the cost of pets are. Sure there are cut rate vets in Vancouver, but you get what you pay for. Vets with out of north America training, lack of compassion and follow up.
Okay with that rant over, on with the review. My cat Chub Chub acquired a flea circus and guess what she is very, very, allergic to fleas. So her skin looked like a before photo from ProActiv. They have the best exam rooms and let Chubs run loose to relax which was great. They also phoned twice after to follow up and check on her progress. These are great vets and staff who actually care about your pet and you. If you prefer a cut rate vet who could give a damn then go there.

I’m surprised to see all of the negative reviews.
I did not feel like the vet (Jay) was trying to get any more money than was necessary out of me. When I first got there, the vet was hesitant to do an X-​ray because it was a little pricey, but I told him that I have insurance so it wasn’t a big deal. It turned out that my cat had bladder stones and would possibly need to have surgery. So they sent him to Canada West to be monitored overnight (now THAT was a terrible experience… see horrible review given on their page). The vet at Cat’s Only explained the situation in detail, showed me my cat’s X-​rays and double checked to make sure the receptionist gave me directions to Canada West.
The vet at Canada West recommended that my cat undergo the surgery at Cats Only the next day. So I took him back there the following day.
When I arrived in the morning to drop him off, the receptionist informed me that she made a mistake on my quote and had to add some things. She said that I could pay the lower price since it was her mistake, so I said that I would rather do that as at this point my insurance was running out. She seemed frusterated, I guess because she would have to admit her mistake to her boss. And asked me to sign the higher price quote. So I said, ’ I guess I’m paying this price then’. She sighed and gave me the lower quote to sign. I’m not normally a cheap person but, considering at that point I had already paid $ 2400, I wasn’t going to settle for the higher price if I had a «choice». That was my only complaint, but she called me about 15 mins later to apoligize for her being frusterated with me. Which I thought was nice.
I’ve been receiving regular updates throughout the day on my cat’s status, and the vet has been extremely pleasant. The vet actually suggested that we flush his bladder rather than do the surgery, which would be less invasive. This was a huge relief as I really didn’t want my cat to have to go through surgery, and the flush is significantly cheaper.
I will definitely be going back to Cat’s Only (but hopefully not too soon).

First an important point when deciphering the conflicting review: Cats Only was founded by an amazing feline vet, Dr. Margie Scherk. The care she and her team delivered was second to none, every vet knew your kitty’s file backwards and forwards before stepping into the examining room, and they didn’t prioritize profit over care.
A few years back Dr. Scherk, spending more and more time as president of the feline vetrinary organization, and in demand all over the place, decided to sell Cats Only to Dr. Michael Bratt, who already owned the Granville Island vet clinic on west 4^th. Dr. Bratt, while I’m sure a nice person, is more of a business person than a care person. In fact, I never saw him actually treat any patients, relying first on a revolving string of temporary and locum vets, and then on a small team that I suspect have been hampered from giving the best care in favour of the most profitable care.
I’m sure everyone there is well meaning, but a good heart doesn’t substitute for competence. In the last few years it seemed the medical staff couldn’t diagnose anything complicated, even with the $ 400 x-​rays, the $ 250 blood tests and the $ 850 (!) ultrasounds. (You can get an ultrasound at West Coast, a very pricy emergency vet hospital, for $ 350.) I’ve sat in an exam room with a vet making notes and comparisons on my cat, and when I mention the comments don’t seem right to me, have her check and realize she’s working from another cat’s file.
My poor cat, experiencing sudden renal failure, is peeing blood, and not only can they not understand why, they have no suggestions for figuring it out. After finally bringing is a specialist (at less cost than an x-​ray) she starts antibiotics, and the cat is responding, when the staff go and basically kick her off the cliff by overdosing her on potassium. When I took the cat to the emergency clinic across the street, and they ran test, they said she had been given a level of potassium that was not compatible with life. She died the next day. In her last four months, the billed us over $ 6000 for tests and treatments, and neglected to submit the insurance paperwork for $ 1000 of it.
In summary, they were a great place once, but now it’s turned into a very high-​priced and pushy practice. On paper the vets there are good, but in practice, I just don’t know what happened to them.
I just adopted two kittens from Vokra and you can bet they will not be visiting the team at Cats Only.

I am absolutely disgusted with this place.
We brought in our 13 yr old cat back in February after I noticed a lump on her belly. We had a great vet about an hour outside the city but since our cat hates the car and gets super stressed, we decided to try a clinic nearby. I made an appointment for an evening when both my husband and I could attend. The vet (Dr. MacLean) we met was very nice except that when we showed up for our first appointment she was all «well, I don’t have anyone to hold her so you’ll have to come back to have the lump aspirated.» Why didn’t they let us know this when I called? It’s not like I didn’t say on the phone why we were coming. To be fair, the vet did say that she would be sure to get us a discount when we came back due to the inconvenience which was nice but I would have preferred to not have to come back a second time. Strike one.
We made another appointment on a Friday afternoon (I had to take time off work this time so was not impressed) and went back. Three slightly clueless assistants helped to cat wrangle and they did some labs and aspirated the lump. This is when I should have asked why they were bothering to test the lump since it seemed to make sense to me to just take it out. The vet said they would have the results by Tuesday. When we went to pay, I asked about the discount and the girl at the desk didn’t seem to know anything about it. I asked her to go ask the vet and she came back and said the vet was on the phone and charged us the full amount. I was less than impressed. I received an email on the Sunday (two days later) from a different vet saying the labs were fine and that the clinic somehow didn’t have my number. I thought that was a bit weird since I made a point of giving it to them again after the first screw up when the vet said someone should have called us to rebook but apparently they didn’t have my phone number. No calls about the cytology results for over a week. I called twice to ask what was up and was told «Oh, someone will get back to you right away.» But no one did. Strike two.
The following weekend I get a call at the very end of the day on a Saturday while out of town at a friend’s and it was the first vet (Dr. MacLean) leaving a message to say that our cat probably has cancer and by the way, the office is closed for the next two days due to the long weekend. How unprofessional to leave this in a voicemail and not provide an opportunity for me to ask questions! I didn’t listen to the message until I got home on Monday and back in cell range but I was furious. Who leaves a message with bad news right before the clinic closes for two days?! Terrible customer service and no mention of a plan for the cat. Strike three.
We spoke with yet another vet on Tuesday after the long weekend and this vet says the results were «inconclusive» but they want to take out the lump. Well we thought that was the plan all along since the lump had doubled in size over the three weeks it took for them to stop screwing around and make a plan. Then the vet tells us that it will be $ 1400.00 for the surgery AND the next available appointment was in a week. We had already paid just under $ 400 for the labs and exam to find out nothing. By this point I was furious as all this crap has taken so long and we still had no diagnosis and no assurance it was actually cancer. Meanwhile the cat is happy and appears to be comfortable but obviously I didn’t want to wait until that isn’t the case or the lump spread if it is cancer. I also had to ask (again) about the discount we had been promised and had to make a special trip out to the clinic to have yet another useless desk clerk refund the money to my visa. No apology and no explanation why they could not have done the refund over the phone to prevent wasting my time yet again. Strike four. One strike is too many when dealing with one’s much loved geriatric cat. For a clinic that claims to know all about cats, they don’t seem to know much more than how to waste one’s time and money without any regard for the cat. I asked for a copy of the labs and the test results and it took several phone calls and a lot of prodding, but they finally sent them to us.
We ended up calling our old vet who expressed his concern and immediately agreed to do the surgery the very next day. Our cat had the surgery and the total cost was just under $ 500. Plus they extracted a rotten tooth that the first vet had missed (she said our cat had «perfect» teeth) and the vet assistant there just rolled her eyes when we told her about the «plan» at the other clinic.
After it was done, the clinic called us multiple times to ask when we wanted to book the surgery and the owner of the clinic called me THREE MONTHS after the initial appointment to ask why we didn’t book the surgery at their clinic. Unbelievable.
This clinic put us through so much stress and multiple delays due to their incompetence. Do not waste your time or money here.

By the way, we ended up going to another vet. The new vet was very nice, and most of all didn’t have that «lets spend a whole lot of money and then we can talk» attitude. We got new x rays, and the new vet immediately saw that it was actually a very large tumor in her lungs! It was quite an aggressive cancer and Katie died a few weeks after that.

Dr. Arman is absolutely wonderful! My kitty who is usually scared of everyone took right to her immediately. I had prior experience with the clinic and really felt anxious until I met with Dr. Arman. Most vets I find are so sweet yet they have a hard time getting medical and technical with you as the parent. Ie: «You cat has a sore tummy» Are you serious? Dr. Arman is brilliant yet explains things including medications, treatment options, and what if scenarios in an intelligent way I can relate to so I’m sure I’m providing the best care for my cats while not breaking the bank. Although I have invested a lot of money in my animals welfare she made me feel confident it was well spent and I know it is. Thank you Dr. Arman 5 star doctor!

The positives first: great staff. Great Dr.
The not so positives: pushing everything on me. Extra here, an extra there, it all adds up. I just felt like I was emptying my pockets afterwards and it didn’t feel nice. The follow up phone calls after happened 2 times, even though I said I’d call them. I really don’t like the pushiness, it makes me an avoider.
I just can’t justify coming back here. I will take her back to my other vet who I had no problems with. I just thought a Cats Only would be better, but it was just more expensive.

We were really happy to find a cats-​only veterinary clinic, thinking that they would be real pros and understand what cats need and how to help them. It seems more like an endless sales pitch, instead.
The first thing you notice when you enter the building is that it’s all very very clean and very pricey looking. A large part of the waiting room is taken up by huge displays for Royal Canin, a very expensive line of dog and cat food. Yes, they have private rooms for your cat to wander around in before the appointment, but so do other cat vets.
Our cat had a cough and wasn’t meowing anymore. The vet we saw examined our cat perfunctorily and then announced that he needed x-​rays, lab work, and tons of other things. After getting the x-​rays done they proceeded to tell my girlfriend that he might have cancer, he might have very bad food allergies, and he might have a lot of other things wrong too. But there’s no way of knowing, so we’ll just have to do more tests… the eventual bill was something like $ 800, and he came home with gel for his chin because he scratches his chin sometimes, some samples of some very expensive (like $ 40 – 50 a bag!) prescription cat food that they sell, and nothing else — nothing for his cough. They called eventually to tell us the lab work was fine.
I took him back a week later to try and get some straight answers about his cough, which was worrying us, and the first thing they wanted to do was do yet another $ 350 chest x-​ray. When I pressed them for justification I was told «well, it doesn’t cost me anything, so I just like to be sure…» Mostly I felt like I was getting sold more of their very expensive food.
I’m pretty sure the vet that saw our cat was new, or at least had very little experience with cats.
After making an appointment at the Vancouver Feline Hospital, I found out after 10 minutes that our cat has a dental abscess which is causing his laryngitis and cough. Case closed. And he doesn’t have a food allergy — we went back to his old food weeks ago and he’s happy and loves it just like always.
Long story short: Don’t go to Cats Only. Save hundreds of dollars and get the right diagnosis: go to VFH instead.

I was delighted to find this veterinary office for my two cats. Everyone there has been kind, patient, and professional. The review complaining of rudeness is a big surprise, because this is the polar opposite of our experience at Cats Only. All of the people involved in our cats’ care have spent a lot of time evaluating the cats and talking with the humans about treatment options. Vet services are expensive everywhere; at least at Cats Only the animals get specialized care in an environment that’s likely less stressful than an office that also treats dogs and other critters.

I didn’t even know that taking your cat to the Vet could *be* a pleasant experience before finding this place.
Our older cat Darwin is not a fan of the carrier, cars, and especially vets. I expected our first visit to be the same as every vet before — sad cat, sweaty paw cat, crying cat, cat who would rather hide in his carrier and refuse to come out.
Only — the setup of this place is fantastic. Instead of those awful metal tables you are put in your own room with things to scratch on and more importantly freedom for your cat to explore his surroundings.
I was still skeptical that he would even come out of his carrier — but he did! The vet came in and sat on the floor with him, letting him come to her. It was honestly a pleasant experience.
We’ve now been through shots and some teeth cleaning and minor surgery on subsequent appointments, and the staff have been phenomenal, the vets knowledgeable and truly caring (even making sure to call the minute Darwin was done surgery so we didn’t worry for the afternoon), the space great, and our cat as stress-​free as possible.
I wouldn’t go anywhere else!

About a year ago I reluctantly switched from my vet of 10 years to Cat’s Only. It wasn’t so much of a choice but a necessity as my cat, The Snug, seriously needed a geriatric blood panel done but the general appearance/​conduct of my previous clinic grew increasingly worse. Not to mention the veterinarian himself was a belligerent jerk on a power trip. I seriously think he hates animals and would punch The Snug in the face were I not in the room. Why I stayed there for so long is regretably only on account of my own stupidity and the convenience of its location.
Moving to Cat’s Only was totally worth the extra distance and the registration fee for these three main reasons, in addition to many others:
1. private waiting rooms for you and your cat friend. If your cat is anything like The Snug, he may become CATatonic around other animals, ESPECIALLY giant dogs. Not the case at Cat’s Only (hence the name). The rooms are also comfy, bright and stocked with cat health lit for your reading pleasure. My previous vet’s (Kerrisdale Veterinary Clinic) waiting room felt like waiting in a damp, lifeless, dungeon before your sending your pet down the green mile.
2. Super knowledgeable, nice women veterinarians who understand your pet-​loving behaviour/​nerosis. Vets are often likened (by me) to car mechanics. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up spending a tonne of money on stuff you don’t need because you are concerned about your car and don’t understand the inner workings of its health. Not the case at Cat’s Only. In addition to providing me with cost-​free solutions for The Snug’s issues, they also trimmed off some of his matted fur pro-​bono.
3. Skilled, fearless cat handlers. Every year I put The Snug under during his vaccines because my previous vet refused to deal with difficult cats if they weren’t put under. On one occasion, I went in hoping to just get the shot but was told to come back the next morning for the anesthetic. This 5 minute conversation (where the vet was incredibly rude) still cost me the $ 80 appointment fee. Last time they put The Snug under it took him 2 weeks to fully recover. At Cat’s Only, they did everything they needed to do (draw blood, cut hair, urine sample, teeth check) with just one very skilled handler holding him, saving me the cost of the anesthesia and the grief.
So — clearly I feel strongly about my cat (s) and their doctors. I’m very pleased to see that Cat’s Only is relocating right next to my apartment (prompting me to write this review). Two Paws Up!

This is where I take my two kitties. So far I have been nothing but pleased with the service I’ve received here. I don’t have a lot to compare them to, but the vet (a woman — I forget her name) has a great bedside manner and has always had time for me when I’ve asked her a thousand questions. I also like how they have nice cosy wooden-​floored rooms that you can close the door to and let your cat run free. And price-​wise I’ve always been pleased. The other day my visit only cost me $ 30 for both cats! So far I have no complaints so I’ll stick with them for now.

When I moved to Vancouver from Montréal, I knew that it would be hard to replace the excellent veterinarian care that my kitty received there. But the name «Cats Only» made me hopeful. However, I have to say that I wasn’t wild about my cat’s first check-​up there. One of the things that bothered me is that the examining rooms have no examination table. You, and your cat, and the vet sit on the floor or on some small stools during the check-​up. This wasn’t so bad until it came time for the vet to take my cat’s temperature — you know — from behind. And, my usually very sweet and docile kitty hissed and scratched. Yep, she wasn’t impressed by having to be held on my lap and impaled from behind. After the check-​up, the vet, who I should say was quite friendly and seemed to genuinely like his work, recommended that my cat’s teeth be cleaned, and they should be done now because of the special they were having on cleaning and blood work, and this all bothered me because I felt like the vet was really going in for the hard sell. Since every other vet has always said that my cat’s teeth were just fine, I’m not so sure that this was anything more than an opportunistic attempt to make a sale. So, would I recommend this place? With caution. Everyone was nice and friendly enough, but I just felt like they were trying hard to sell me more than I wanted and possibly more than I needed. (P.S. so far my cat’s teeth remain uncleaned and just fine, thank you.)

This was the best veterinarian we have been to, comparing this place to the others we have been to in the past 10 years living in a multitude of cities. Absolutely stellar service — they went above and beyond with one of our cats who came in with a weird ailment and had the best people look at x-​rays for us. They were very trustworthy when we took our cats there, a relief after the tragic service we received at Granville vet.