Tacoma Cat Hospital

Not sure what is the incentive program for five star reviews at this place but bravo for fooling us. My wife and I are both physicians and chose this place based on these misleading reviews. The staff might as well work in a mechanic shop with the way they handle cats. As someone in healthcare field, rapport building is crucial as much as providing patient education and evidence-based diagnosis.

Here is what Dr. Smith provided: Our cat had a rash and when we asked for diagnosis, he explained with his belittling undertone that it may be diet. For general information, "superficial erythema" is not a diagnosis but a characteristic/symptom. Spending time explaining was peri-auricular means is not helping us take action towards preventing more rash. Remarks that show outdated and racist undertones are not what I expected from a "respected" doctor in the community.

The staff were stunned by my foreign name and had difficulty with basic communication including answering a phone call. I did not appreciate the sign that indicated restraining of cats may occur, maybe if they could shell out some money for churros or toys there wouldn't be need for restraining cats. What's next? sedating them with antipsychotics?

No wonder cats were screaming in the waiting room. Perhaps the high volume of cats have made the staff immune to cats' meows but anyone with any heart would jump at helping screaming cats. Maybe they have lost the gentle touch after handling so many cats and should be working for Tiger King. The vet tech assured me that the vaccine will make my cat docile as he is energetic. "He has a lot of energy so it's probably good that he won't have as much energy for the next few days." That is not seen as a benefit in any medical community.

Why would I celebrate this as a positive thing? She did not even provide the side effect information of the shot. I guess being docile was one but she saw it as a benefit. As a cat owner I want my cat to be himself and not a docile stuffed animal as these people like them to be. My cat has been in airplanes, has gone on multiple car rides, even 6 vaccine shots in one day and he has never been as traumatized as he was during this experience.

He had two vaccine shot and now has been limping and in pain. I cannot recommend Dr. Smith or this so called "hospital." This place is like going to a county hospital and getting an out of touch doctor and staff that are there just for the paycheck and most likely burnt out. I normally do not write reviews even for retailers or restaurants, but I consider my cat as part of my family and if you feel the same way, take it from an actual doctor. your cat deserves so much better than this place.

Love this place and how quick they can usually get you in, the vet is very knowledgeable about cats and the prices aren't cut throat like most places my only complaint is I usually have to call multiple times to get anyone to answer. Some days no one answers at all.

I love this clinic! Wonderful caring staff and collars and toys to spoils my cats after their appts. I will never take my cats elsewhere.

Wonderful, caring and competent staff. Thank you for taking such great care of Mooch!

We are extremely grateful to TCH accepting our little purr baby! He was just shy of 8 weeks when we got him. Looking for a good vet became stressful. No one was taking new clients. Well we hit the JACKPOT here. The staff are super friendly and knowledgeable. Doctor Smith is amazing. He is very calm and good natured with a great sense of humor. The care is affordable. That's a huge plus these days. I completely recommend Tacoma Cat Hospital!

We found out last week that our cat Wally had a very aggressive cancer. The staff at Tacoma Cat Hospital were extraordinary. They got us in quickly, contacted the ER hospital for notes and test results, had everything reviewed in advance of our appointment, and met with my husband to discuss options in an incredibly caring way. We made the difficult decision to euthanize to avoid putting Wally through more pain, and they supported us through that process as well.

I particularly appreciate that they allowed my husband to come inside with our pet rather that wait in the parking lot - that meant a lot. We will be forever grateful for their compassion and professionalism.

The entire staff at the hospital has proven kind, generous, and knowledgeable. Our cat is, let us say, reserved, but allowed herself to be handled by Dr. Smith and his crew; a cat senses when hands are loving and not threatening. I would recommend this hospital for your cat without any reservations or caveats. A fine and reassuring place for difficult patients.

Dr. Smith and the rest of the team at Tacoma Cat Hospital are wonderful! I have an elderly Ragdoll (20 years old) who started having mouth pain this summer. He was previously a patient of Dr. Smith's when my kitty lived closer to Tacoma (with my parents) but since he moved up to Seattle with me, I thought I should take him to a vet closer to where we live.

A thought I no longer have, after a month long struggle where the hero of the story is the Tacoma Cat Hospital. After several week wait times, 4 different vet visits including 1 emergency clinic visit (after my furball went 24 hours without eating), receiving conflicting medical advice and dealing with a couple of these clinics not being willing to treat my kitty (understandable - he's an elderly boy with renal failure and a heart condition, and I do get why putting him under anesthesia seemed like a bad idea) I eventually just brought my buddy back to TCH, where Dr. Smith put him under for a dental cleaning, gave him an injection to help his mouth and even trimmed his toenails while he was under (I appreciated that as it's not something I can even attempt at this point).

Now my old guy is eating again, and back to his old self. Living with a 20 year old little love means that I know the heartfelt goodbye is not far off. Tacoma Cat Hospital has afforded me more time with my best bud, while giving me the tools and knowledge to help keep him comfortable during the rest of his time. I spent a solid month on the phone, trying to get my guy into clinics that could help his mouth, being told so many are not taking new patients, being told of horrendous wait times (3-4 months!) for getting into dental specialists, being told my cat was beyond help because of his health issues.

I thought it was the end, but Dr. Smith and his team swooped in, took care of his mouth, helped me understand what was going on with my little buddy, and ultimately saved the day! It's worth the 45 minute drive, to have dependable, knowledgeable, compassionate, expert kitty care! I am never taking a feline to any other vet clinic. Thank you, Tacoma Cat Hospital!

All of the staff were extremely helpful and sweet. My newly adopted cat turbo had broken off half of his nail and needed his 1 year rabies booster shot. The process was quick and I was informed about the possible reactions he could have after his shots. The hospital was also located near me, almost 5 mins away so if something happened or I had a problem I love that this place exists so close to me. ALSO it was really affordable I came in expecting to put down $$$ I didn't care about the cost to take care of my fur baby but everything totaled out to be $30. So yay! I love this place so much and I can't wait to come back.

Wonderful place! Wonderful people and cat lovers who truly are knowledgeable and care about my cats. Expert help and care. They go above and beyond. Thank you!

Our 6 kittens 1st car ride & visit to Vet Office went very well. Kittens were the stars of the observation room. Vet & help excellent.

Called to try to get my cat into here for an emergency visit yesterday. I believed she had hypothermia and her usual vet had a 4 hour wait. I had the unfortunate experience of speaking with Laurel on the phone who was nothing but unhelpful and rude. When I said that I believed my cat had hypothermia she answer "umm how?" in the rudest way possible almost questioning it to even be possible for a cat to get hypothermia.

I ended up taking my cat to Summit Pet hospital where her temperature was down to 92 degrees. I'm glad I didn't end up here where they aren't even sure that a cat could have hypothermia. Maybe front desk should have more training on pets or even on how to be polite to a concerted pet owner

Best place I've taken my cat! The vet is very knowledgeable and has always offered solutions that I haven't heard from other vets. Very cost effective, friendly staff and clean rooms!

Sometimes five stars just is not enough! We need a sixth star available. I recommend this place to anyone who wants the best care for their beloved furball. We first contacted TCH about spaying a young feral cat who had moved into our yard. Our situation was more complex as we were not looking to just spay her as a feral and dump her back in the wild.

We wanted her to receive the same care and treatment as any other cat would. Our goal was to work with her and help her become an indoor only cat The staff was very patient answering our questions and offering advice. Her appointment went off without issue. I believe she received compassionate care at TCH and recovered well from the spay surgery. Six months later, our young cat is now a very spoiled member of our family. She is now an indoor only cat who has bonded with our other cats. From this point on all of our cats will be going to this vet for their care.

Always kind and everytime I had to bring my kitty in they took such good care of him. The best vet for my cats. They are very informative too, very helpful.

I just adopted my first kitten and didn't even know how to find a good vet. Humane society helped me find this vet and even gave me a first free health check up exam. It was easy to make appointments here and the staff was very kind, tried their best to keep appointment times, and very helpful. I'm glad my kitten has such a great vet taking care of him. The prices are also very fair.

I chose Tacoma Pet Hospital because I had heard great things about them. I'm sure glad that I followed up and made an appointment. If you are looking for an honest, straight forward, no nonsense veterinarian, then Dr. Smith is your guy. He is friendly and down to earth and he loves cats! No surprise there! I was so pleased with this vet experience, that I will be glad to take my two cats back next year for a checkup, as much as I resist the idea of getting the cats in their crates and taking them anywhere. With the pleasurable experience that I had at The Tacoma Cat Hospital, I will look forward to going back on a regular basis. Highly recommended.

What a wonderful place to take your cat. This veterinarian is very knowledgeable and caring and reasonably priced. I wouldn't hesitate to go there. They answered all my questions and concerns. It's where I'll go from now on.

First visit; the vet was very patient with all my questions and very knowledgeable. Fellow Customers told me while I m were waiting they'd gone there for years and wouldn't go anywhere else. I love this vet and will def be back! Thank you

THIS is where I should have been bringing my cat to begin with. Was recommend by my neighbor and SO glad I did. Dr. Craig is honest, straight forward yet funny and understanding. He is very knowledgeable and will let you know his exact thoughts. I appreciate that. He won't waste your time or money pushing things you don't need or that will yield little results. I'm so thankful to him and his staff.

To make it more clear, I spent thousands at another clinic that was more dog oriented and had little results. What Dr. Craig did was simple and revealed what we needed to know without endless tests and fluff. He truly is a specialist. Honestly, I feel terrible that my baby has suffered for so long when we could've been bringing him here. He has IBD and bouts of chronic diarrhea for 2 years and was seriously dehydrated when I brought him in.

The other clinic didn't give him IV fluids or anything. Just expensive food and more tests. At least I know now what we are looking at and the possible outcome. And it didn't break the bank. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Tacoma Cat Hospital to anyone with cats. This is really a great place and thankful they're here. I moved to Tacoma so needed to find a new vet. I wish I had come here first.

Dr. Smith is awesome. His staff is equally amazing. There are only cats treated there, so a large part of the anxiety for our kitten was removed. Dr. Smith's assistants are all compassionate and knowledgeable. They never make me feel like I am bothering them. Our cat's spaying and shots and micro chip were reasonably priced and Dr. Smith agreed to chip her at the same time as her surgery. Convenient location. 10 stars from me if I could give them.

God bless this Cat Hospital! The best. Update: we boarded our two ragdolls for 6 nights at Tacoma Cat Hospital. They were well fed, melts very clean and thy were happy. The kennels are condo style so they had more than just a cage. Five stars for boarding your cats.

I really appreciate that it's a cat-only clinic. It's much less stressful for most cats if they can't hear any dog sounds (collars jingling, barking) while at the vet. We need more cat clinics in the area. Update: My cat Colby got an eye injury and I took him here, as I had been doing with all my cats. On the first visit I was offered eye drops or an eye flushing, which would require sedation.

I opted for eyedrops because they hate being left at the vet. I took him back for a checkup and he described the eye cleaning procedure again. I had him flush out Colby's eye and put in ointment. While Colby was sedated, his toenail somehow got stuck in a grate that was near the procedure surface and he broke it. I think even though he was under, his muscles could still react to someone messing with his eye.

The vet said the nail was so broken he had to remove it. He declawed one of Colby's toes. I wish I had skipped the eyedrops and gone straight to the flushing, or maybe Colby would've kicked in his sleep anyway. Procedure should be changed so that the cat cannot injure itself during the eye cleanings. The vet said it had happened 7 years prior, so they did have a chance to improve their procedural process. I hope they add a safeguard against this to their practice.

Since the mid '90's, Dr. Smith and his staff have seen me through everything from having to say goodbye to cherished friends to raising an abandoned day-old kitten who grew into an amazing cat devoted to my 90+ year old mother. Through good times and bad, TCH has seen me through with honesty, compassion, and affordability. They offer honest alternatives and don't try to pad the bill.

No offence to dogs, but I appreciate it being exclusively a cat clinic. Not having to sit next to a nervous dog with a nervous cat is a real plus. Over the years, I doubt there is little they've not seen. Once Dr. Smith came in to the exam room to find my huge black cat, Cosimo de 'Meowdici, literally sitting on my head. Nonplused, he said, "Well, I haven't seen that one in a while." Many years later, when I brought in a trio of classic tuxedo babies, the staff treated them like rock stars making sure everyone got to see them. (I kept the boy and a friend took the sisters.) Tacoma Cat Hospital works with the Tacoma Humane Society as well as other cat rescue and fostering groups.

They truly care about cats and "cat people" so please read negative comments with compassion. They were likely in emotional pain and distress when they wrote it. In closing, I mean it when I say, I wouldn't take Baron Maximillian von Schloss, Lady Fiona Andertail, and Lord Lawrence Longtail anywhere else.

I called in before going to see if i could take my new cat in for a worm treatment/ flea treatment or if i could just stop by and pick it up. I went to another place where they wouldnt give me a prescription for the medicine unless i brought the cat in. But this place let me pick it up. The lady at the desk was very helpful and friendly She explained how to apply everything and exactly how to measure a dose and what to do. It was around $45 for a topical worm and a topical flea prescription. Will be returning for all my cats future medical needs

I brought my cat here about two years ago and they were super polite and helpful and fast and answered the phone. But now, once we have a new kitten that needs to be spayed they WON'T ANSWER THE PHONE! I called three times today during their business hours, once at 10:00, once at 12:00, and once at 4:30 and no one answered each time. I did leave a voicemail but not one will call me back. This is so irritating. I just want my little kitty to not get pregnant lol!

The price for the exam, urine sample, IV fluids, and x-ray was extremely reasonable. It was about about $180 total for my bill, but prices often changes at many vet clinics as time progresses. If you need an x-ray for your cat, this is the place to go as it is well-priced and can be look at electronically. They were able to get me in the same day and I loved how understanding they were when I informed them about my difficulties catching my skittish cat.

The doctor doesn't push unnecessary tests and medications like some places and is careful to only recommend what is needed. I was afraid of an excessive bill like you would get at some vets where they added tests that are clearly not part of what they are looking for but ends up inflating the total bill. This is one of the few affordable places in Pierce County and I hope it stays that way.