Sage Centers for Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Care

I came to Sage with a special needs foster, Max who has epilepsy. His previous owner provided his veterinary history, but there was never an evaluation and blood work hadn’t been done since his fist seizure.
The clinic is clean and comfortable. The front staff is friendly, but most importantly efficient and organized. The Dr. was on right on time.
My appt. was with the neurologist Dr. Schwartz, DVM. Dr Swartz was thorough, direct and answered all my questions. Max was then taken in for an evaluation and blood draw. Because Max has cluster seizures Dr Schwartz added a new medication (which doesn’t affect the liver like the others can) to be given every eight hours after his first seizure for two days. Max had a seizure, thankfully the new medication stopped him from having cluster seizures.
I received a complete evaluation, what to look for when a dog is seizing, along with a care guide and full blood workup. Jose was very helpful and answered questions I had regarding medication refills and blood tests. Our appt. was expensive, but animals can be expensive and people who adopt/​purchase animals must be prepared for the financial responsibilities of a pet.
I would highly recommend Sage’s specialists. We are lucky to have specialist in our area to treat our pets.

If you are looking for an emergency vet hospital which treats dogs and cats with respect and dignity, as sentient beings deserving of Love and Life, Do Not take your fur companion to this place. My experience was that they had a Speciest approach of thinking and dealing with, when. It came to treating and caring for my fur companion. Now, I understand that many of you are used to this type of treatment considering the fact that the Veterinary industry has conditioned and manipulated you into believing that animals are secondary to humans and so is their welfare. I brought my dog in for he had accidentally ate kitty litter. I was given the option of taking him home with fluids and pain relief or leaving him there overnight. But to my disappointment the vet tells me that if I leave him overnight, that first he will be put in a crate (even though my dog was not able to even lay down because his stomach was bloated and he was in excruciating pain) and I am A) Not Allowed to check on him at all no exceptions and B) I am not even allowed to SIT IN THE WAITING ROOM because apparently there is no longer a receptionist on duty. I was treated like a meaningless person and my dog was devalued and treated like an object. These RULES sounded very shady to me. I don’t know any mother who would leave her baby in a hospital if that hospital did not allow her to sit in the waiting room to ease her worries (which is a reasonable request). The problem is that this hospital has been getting away with their SPECIEST APPROACH and the devaluation and disrespect of animals simply because you are allowing them to get away with their behavior. As companion animal so called owners, we do not «like «to see suffering, so we have no problem closing our eyes any dumping our innocent companions into the hands of strangers aka qualified professionals. Therefore we are at their mercy, doing everything and anything they tell us. Vet students while in school are taught to devalue and treat animals as subjects, laboratory equipment, and at some point even if you go into it having a heart, you become desenthsized. Please do your own research, educate yourself on animal nutrition and health go above and beyond, don’t let the pet food corporations and drug corporations (both in bed with the veterinary industry) TELL YOU what you should be feeding and pushing un necessary drugs into their systems. Animals are more sensitive than humans to toxins. call around first do your research. My regular vet is a holistic vet who has cured my dog of his seizures, his arthritis and other ailments, simply with changing his diet to whole foods mostly Raw and therapy. I also called around and the emergency hospital in berkeley let’s you wait in the waiting room as long as you like, AND check on your fur baby at every 15 mînute intervals while he is in the back. So, there are other care centers which have respect for animals and treat them as sentient beings deserving of value and RESPECT. My poor guy was up all night couldn’t even lay down because the wrong pain medication was given to him, it did nothing for his bloating. My over all impression was that animals are not treated with the same dignity and respect as humans. And I was not either. Not even my request was honored. If we continue letting the vet industry get away with their Speciest money centered approach to treating companion animals, the manipulation will continue.

I really wanted to give this place more stars, but sadly the stars are only for the FOH staff, and the nurse Nicole who was working.
First of all, I brought my 15 month old black lab in for troubled breathing, and extreme pain in the back. We arrived and the staff was amazing. Very courteous, fast, basically very welcoming. They brought the pup straight back and began to check on her.
After the initial exam, the doctor came out and said he doesn’t see anything wrong. This caught me off because my dog was hunched over, whimpering, and sensitive to touch. I requested X-​Rays to confirm. Low and behold she apparently had pneumonia. I received medication and they let me go. 380 dollars late mind you.
Next day… My dog is unable to move, won’t eat, no movements… Just nothing. I bring her to my normal vet. Not only did the doctor get the anatomy wrong apparently, not my words, but she is doing a full blood panel. Which sage did not. The doctor is concerned because she also has a fever, which was present at Sage, and my dogs pain is unbearable. Now my bill is climbing, and I’m really sad that the medical staff didn’t really care for the animal at sage.
I left sage happy because I thought I had the best treatment done for my lab, and sadly it wasn’t. Now I wait at my normal vet, to find out what’s really wrong.

I took Kobi, my almost 19-​year-​old cat, in at 3 a.m. because she was having trouble breathing. Her regular vet had treated her for pleural effusion by draining 8 vials of fluid less than 2 days prior, and I was very concerned that the fluid was coming back so rapidly. Granted, there are no positive outcomes from pleural effusion… my options were either cancer or heart disease. The doctor asked me what my goal was, and I said to bring her home. They drained almost 300 ml of fluid from her and told me she had signs of fleas. Seriously? My cat is dying, but you’re worried about that? I told the doctor I had been brushing her every day with a flea comb, but I hadn’t wanted to treat her with any topical medicine because she was so frail. She said the only treatment options they had at the facility were Capstar or Revolution; Capstar was an oral medication that would only kill any live fleas, but the Revolution was a topical that would take care of eggs as well. I hesitated because again, this seemed like the least of my kitty’s problems and I didn’t want to poison her needlessly, but I said to administer the Revolution. When I got home and looked over my monstrous vet bill, I saw that she had charged me for BOTH! Plus, I don’t even know if they administered it because her neck was completely dry and there was no noticeable odor. The next day, when I took her to my regular vet, he seemed very surprised that fleas were what the doctor at Sage was worried about, seconding my concerns that Kobi was «so frail.» Strike #1.
They released Kobi immediately after draining the fluid from her chest cavity that night. I have since done some research and see that it’s common to put the animal on oxygen for awhile after such a procedure is done. This was not the case. When I brought her home, she was struggling to breathe to the point where I called Sage back to ask them… was she breathing okay when you released her to go home? Their answer was… well, not really, but better than she was when she came in. Wow, thanks. The vet tech said all I could do would be to bring her back and have them perform another office visit. Strike #2.
Less than 2 days later, Kobi let me know that it was time to say goodbye. Another 3 a.m. visit to Sage, this time accompanied by my dad and best friend. It goes without saying that I was absolutely out of my mind and body with grief. The same vet tech placed us in a very peaceful room with nice furniture and dim lighting. I was sitting on the couch, holding Kobi close to me, all wrapped up in a blanket. Someone that I only remember as «Dr. Jason» came in and said they would be taking Kobi into the back to place a catheter and that sometimes, that procedure alone is enough to kill the animal. He said if she made it through that, he would come get me, and said, «You want to be with her, right?» I was a wreck by now and managed to say, «Yes. If I could, I’d have you do it right here so she’d never leave my arms.» Completely cold, with no bedside manner or compassion, he said, «Yeah well, that’s not going to happen» and walked out of the room. Strike #3.
I was NOT going to have this be my last memory of Kobi.
I asked my friend to call Iron Horse Vet on Amador Valley Blvd. in Dublin. She dialed and put the phone up to my ear. I told the woman who answered that I had a 19-​year-​old cat that was at the end and asked if she had anyone on-​duty with any kind of compassion who could help me. She was absolute kindness on the other end of the phone and told me to come right away. Without a word, the three of us silently got up and walked out of Sage. Never even saw a person to tell we were leaving either.
It’s a shame that Sage left such a disgusting taste in my mouth. Between the animals that I have… and the animals that I «co-​parent,» I have 2 cats, 2 dogs, a llama, a donkey, and 7 goats. Just about everyone I know has pets, too. Many of them have used Sage. It’s been our «go-​to» emergency veterinarian over the years. After this? Never again. And I’ll discourage all of my friends from using them, as well.
Please don’t give Sage your business; other options exist. Iron Horse Vet in Dublin took great care of us. I asked the vet tech if I could get a paw print, and she ended up finding some clay, making me a heart with Kobi’s name in it, and pressing Kobi’s little jellybean paws into it after she was gone.

Always take such good care of my pets. Jennifer H and Amy really stood out to me. My dog Lyla has visited several times and seems to really enjoy Jennifer. Also when my cat was very sick Amy was very caring and comforted me when I was a mess. Thanks again guys! Never disappointed.

Jason is terrible … Even vetcare confirmed, NEVER work with him. This person came out after looking at my rabbit and says in a very clipped tone, «so yea it’s broken (referring to his leg) xrays are 200» which I consented despite being taken aback by the lack of empathy, but then said he was going to do a pain injection although my rabbit didn’t appear to be in pain, (he let me handle his leg and was running around and jumping only favoring the leg so hearing that it was broken was a shock) so I asked to wait until after the xrays to do that so he wasn’t pumped full of drugs unnecessarily, of course if they find it was broken or gave signs of distress they could administer the pain shot. Jason then gives me this hateful condescending look and curtly says «ok» and gets up quickly. His actions were very offensive and in my frustration I said, «please don’t make me feel like an a****le right now» (admittedly, my mistake) he came back and started telling me things like «i don’t need you to call my medical training/​knowledge into question «(i didn’t) and refused to treat my rabbit. EVEN AFTER I APOLOGIZED he refused and referred me to vetcare where they could not treat my rabbit. After I went to vetcare and explained what happened, they said this was not the first time they heard of complaints against this individual. My poor bunny must now wait an entire day to be treated and cared for. Unbelievable. UPDATE: So the next morning my husband calls them back to at least have xrays taken, explained everything that happened the night prior, and they still will not see us. So despite being told it was ME they would not with with, which I get, I was not able to keep my cool at 2 in the morning while freaking out over my poor bunny, I agree I could have handled that situation better, but now they are taking this out on my poor rabbit because they refuse to see him at all. We adopted our rabbit from the Rabbit Rescue and I will definitely let them know about our horrible experience with Sage. We expect to escalate this complaint: unacceptable patient care, bedside manner and all around human empathy.

Beautiful facility with excellent staff who are great with pets and helpful to owners waiting in the comfortable reception area.
Dr LeBlanc was kind, thorough and very informative. She took the time to answer all our questions and clearly explained our cat’s condition and treatment plan. She is very confident and knowledgeable.

I’ll make this review short and sweet. Our Lab, Conan, developed cancer at the age of 4. Dr. J worked with my daughter primarily, and me, and together we kept him alive for 7 years, until he passed away at the age of 11.
Dr Jakubiak was knowledgable, kind, and diligent and I consider him to be an extraordinary Vet.

I’ve waited a bit to write this as I wanted to get to a point where I felt like Ellie was past any flare ups with her leg. Back in April we found a lump that was growing on Ellie’s leg so we took her in to her regular vet. She ended up requiring surgery to remove a cancerous growth. The surgery went well and the results came back positive. However, they had to remove so much tissue that the skin was pulled extremely tight across the elbow. When I took her in to her regular vet in a panic over the way it looked, the vet wasn’t really sure what to do except to send us home and tell us to put cream or vitamin e oil to keep it moisturized.
Fast forward a week and Elllie’s leg had completely spilt open and exposed the tendons.
I took her to Sage to see Dr. Sellmeyer who diagnosed her with a decubitus ulcer. He assured me they would do everything they could to get this to heal. So they wrapped her entire leg in a ‘cast’ down to the bottom of her paw. She couldn’t bend the leg at all. We had to go back in every other day to have the leg checked and re-​bandaged. Yes it was getting pretty expensive but we felt it was worth it as the Dr. always explained the progress and the surgery staff was always very kind. After a couple of weeks we were able to reduce the number of visits to once a week. Dr. Sellmeyer also recommended we get a pair of ‘Dogleggs’. These are custom made to fit each dog and go over the elbow to protect it from any hard surfaces during the healing process.
Finally five months and the sore on Ellie’s leg is almost completely healed. It will never be the same and we will always have to keep a close eye on it to make sure the ulcer doesn’t return. But without the care of Dr. Sellmeyer and all of the staff at Sage I don’t think Ellie would still have that leg. She has returned to full activity and full use of the leg. The muscle has come back completely after atrophying from wearing the bandages for so long.
I’ve read others complaints about being charged for too much money or for unnecessary stuff. I have to say that I feel like on several occasions that I could have been charged more but I was not. I was also able to bring Ellie in anytime I had any concerns about her recovery and the Dr. was always available to talk with me. I can’t say enough good things about Sage, the Surgery Staff, Dr. Sellmeyer, and everyone else including Stephanie and Alissa. Thank you for taking care of Ellie with such passion and love and treating me with compassion.

They told me my dog had 2 – 3 months to live if I didn’t do radiation and chemo. They gave me a price of $ 700 and I agreed. When I brought him back for his 2^nd treatment they asked me to make payment. I was confused since I already paid last time I brought him in. They told me that was only for the first treatment! Wait you mean you expect me to pay $ 700 times 8!!! I told them there was no way I was going to pay that and that this is not what we discussed.
2 years later my dog is as healthy as ever! This place is a bunch of crooks trying to get rich off other people’s love for their animals.

People complaining about the expense of Sage need to understand that you get what you pay for. My cat has been unwell recently and I’ve had to bring her in here a couple of times. It’s expensive each time, and that’s rough.
But in exchange for that, I get competent doctors and nurses that understand how much I love my cat and how important she is to me. I get compassion for my animal and for myself. I get access to specialists and technicians. I get phone calls from the doctor specifically telling me what’s going on. I get detailed explanations of what they’re going to do, what they’re looking at, what could be the problem, and what the plan is. There’s real concern and care here for the pet and the owner alike.
And for people complaining about the estimate? Seriously? How often do you even go to a vet’s office and get any idea whatsoever how much your visit is going to cost you? How often do you get that at your own hospital? At your own doctor’s office? I appreciate the estimate and it is just that — an estimate — that can vary depending on how things go. That they give you two estimates — a low one assuming things go well and a high one in case they don’t — is an act of consideration and compassion and not an opportunity to milk you for every penny you’re worth.
Yes, Sage is expensive. But I can tell where my money is going and I’m willing to spend it to get the best possible care I can for my cat.

My husband and I LOVE this place!!! We had the unfortunate «Sunday» experience of an emergency with our cat Merlin, so we couldn’t use our own vet clinic who is also beyond reproach. «Blue Cross vet clinic». They’re not open on the weekends.
Before we took him in, we did our research and found this place had high reviews. When we arrived we were met with caring smiles, The vet assistant we had was amazing, she had her own cat tattooed on her leg and I have to say it was beautiful. She handled Merlin like I do and he loved her! Which is odd for him! We went in expecting to pay a lot of money but to our surprise they were extremely reasonable and when our assistant told us she’d take care of us she meant it! Merlin is our baby and they took such good care of him, The Dr. was excellent! She cured our cat in one day, she’s our hero :) Take your pet here you’ll be glad you did!!!

Love my pet? I don’t think so! More like love my money! I brought my 4 lb puppy her yesterday because she had a laceration on her elbow from being groomed. The Dr. Quoted me $ 1,000 to put her under and stitch her up. They treated me great until I told them I couldn’t afford that much. I opted for staples. They did this to her! Looks like they pounded great Dane staples into her elbow with a baseball bat. They wouldn’t send her home w pain meds. She was up crying all night. When I called this morning they said I would be charged a whole emergency fee of over $ 100 to come in to even check on whether she needed pain meds. The nurse admitted that the staples could look barbaric since they can cause swelling and pain (then why no pain meds?). I was told to make (and pay for) an appointment with a different vet to assess whether the surgery needed to be redone. I asked why I should pay to fix a botched procedure and was told that’s the nature of emergency vets. The only thing they will do for free is take out the staples in 14 days. Obviously this place only cares about money$ !
I was also very upset because almost as soon as I walked in there they took her from me while I was finishing paperwork. I told them to wait because I only had my signature left. They quickly took her and said they were just going to prep her to see the doc and then I’d be in the exam room with her and the doc. Finally they called me in but where was my dog? In the back and they wouldn’t let me see her. I asked and they said the doc would bring her in to discuss his findings. Well he came in alright… without her! He made this big ordeal out of how bad she was and blah blah blah. I was honestly stunned as what detail he went into was obviously meant to scare me. I was like Of course, do what you are saying you need. Right when I said that he jumped up like a kid in a candy store and said he would be right back with the estimate. I guess I was still a little stunned that we were there in the first place and he was acting like she would never be able to use her leg again. Estimate? What kind if business are they? A mechanic? A plumber? Estimate for my dog? Well ok. So he will be right in with the estimate. Actually no, some young lady who looked like an intern came in matter of factly that this is what they were gonna do and could I sign it? Holy cow! $ 1,050 to stitch an elbow??? When I looked at her and said «you gotta be kidding! A grand? I was thinking more like $ 150!» She made a comment to the effect that that may be out of state prices. And her attitude changed right away when I said I couldn’t afford it. They still wouldn’t let me see my dog. I brought her in with her leg wrapped and I hadn’t seen the damage. I wanted to see how bad it was to determine if the thousand dollars was justified. Still couldn’t see her. she was being prepped. Prepped? I hadn’t even signed the estimate! I asked if they could lower it somehow. She came back in with a $ 300 price for the staples. Still couldn’t say goodbye to her. They said it would be thirty minutes. Over an hour later (no one else in the waiting room that whole time) she is done. Could I see her? Nooooo!!! Only after I paid the bill in full (they said they have payment plans but I just made a simply inquiry and was told that I had to pay it in full) that I was able to get my baby back. It was like they were holding her for random!
She had just been spayed a few weeks prior and had also had another surgery and stitches before all with flying colors! She is the sweetest thing in the world. But when they brought her out she actually growled at ME! She already seemed like she was in pain (I was told shed be ok). My guess is that they didn’t numb her and they said they did not give her pain meds. She was in awful shape. Because the staples are all crooked I believe it was because she was moving around because she wasn’t numbed! This is cruel! I know my dog, my baby, my world and her personality. I am quite certain they didn’t numb her or at least didn’t do it properly or effectively! She indicated as such the second I got her back!
This sweet little girl was up all night crying and whimpering. A few times when she did sleep she was obviously having a nightmare. I am sure NOT from the groomers as she really wasn’t upset about it. But from the traumatic stress she clearly endured under the outstretched hand of Sage!

I’ve had two very positive (pawsitive!) experiences here.
My young sheltie learned that unfortunately, bees are not so good to sniff after one went up her nose and stung her. The vets here were really helpful and kind… And so quick! They treated her very well and reassured us.
My cocker spaniel mix slipped a disc in his back while jumping up on the bed. We didn’t know what had happened and it was extremely scary. One vet in particular, I believe her name was Amanda, was particularly sweet and helpful. My dog felt better in no time.
I really appreciate this place being here when accidents happen, especially when they happen at night and we don’t have access to our regular vet.

One of our cat’s unexpectedly passed a few weeks ago. She was 15, so we knew it would be soon, but we were not prepared when it happened. My sister and I put Cuddles (our kitty) in her crate and took her to Sage. There was a rude couple blocking the way to the receptionist and they weren’t paying attention, but the receptionist saw that my sister an I had been crying and I think she assumed what happened. She came around the desk and led us straight to a grieving room with a couch and some tissues. She explained different processes and options for us very nicely; it was business-​like but not over emotional, which I did not want right then, so it was perfect. We ultimately decided to do a private cremation and she explained everything that went a long with that. I wish I remembered her name because she made this process so much less stressful!

I was very please with the level of care. Dr Lucas was very knowledgeable and explained everything about what was causing problems for my dog. I will definitely bring my dog back here if he has other issues.

Really disappointed with this hospital. I brought my dog here to get her ear checked for a fox tail. They took her in the back room and an hour later there was no information. I asked for my dog back and was told that there was no nurse available to get her for me. Really? So I sat and waited for some information about my girl and there was nothing. I finally had to demand my dog back so that I could leave. Unfortunately my dog had to wait to see her regular vet the next day. My advise — don’t bring your pet here unless it’s a true emergency.

This is the second time our dog has had to have back surgery at Sage. His surgeon both times was Dr. Malte Schwartz (hope I spelled that right). I cannot say enough good things about Sage and the entire staff there. I don’t know their hiring process but, everyone is kind, compassionate and efficient. One of the techs named Jose‘ was just awesome. He was so personable and wanted to help us as much as he possibly could. So, Rocco is doing great. We are trying to keep this wild boy from acting too crazy! !
Yes, it is expensive BUT Rocco is family. We didn’t even discuss the cost on the second surgery. He is a family member, period.
Thank you Dr. Schwartz, Jose and all the staff at Sage.

Commentary: Properly cared for pets are expensive. Emergency veterinary care is expensive. Human health care is expensive (however, most of us have health insurance to offset the costs or seek subsidized healthcare.)
My review of SAGE: Unfortunately, one my beloved little dogs (Mojo) was attacked while out for a walk with my wife. A large dog got loose from a neighbor’s home and grabbed my mutt by the belly and proceeded to «rag doll» him. Not one to give up easily, my tough little guy managed to bite the larger dog a few times, break loose and run a quarter mile all the way home.
Bleeding from his wounds, my wife acted quickly and put Mojo in the car with my son and headed off to SAGE. Once there, my poor little guy was cleaned up and given a thorough exam. As it turned out, the bites were ugly and required surgery to check his internals.
I was really impressed at how articulate the doctors and staff were explaining everything from Mojo’s condition to care options and cost (Doctors Nohava & Lukas were exceptional).
SAGE is an extremely well-​run, first-​class, state-​of-​the-​art veterinary hospital. It’s medical facilities, excellent doctors and staff are worth the cost to care for your sick or injured pet.
My boy is coming home today and I am optimistic that he will make a full recovery thanks to the efforts of SAGE.
I have nothing but gratitude and appreciation to the team at SAGE — thank you for caring for my precious boy.
5 stars

A+
First of all it’s ridiculous that people are commenting on how much of a ‘rip off’ this place is (costly.) Can I please remind everyone that you are paying for knowledge, education, equipment/​test that will help assist in quick diagnosis, and compassion? This is a SPECIALTY hospital not Costco.
We took our Llasa Apso here on Thursday since he had probably over did it at the beach the day before and developed a limp and was shaking. This is not normal behavior for him. Our vet was closed, but it was better that we ended up here where a few of my patients and friend’s dogs have come… one even for back surgery on her bulldog. They loved the care that their beloved dogs received.
Dr. Robert Lukas was fantastic. He explained everything simply and completely and did not push extra costs on us. WE were the one’s that insisted on running other tests for complete peace of mind. The front office staff and assistant, Crystal were welcoming, warm, kind and professional.
Thank you for helping our beloved back on the road of recovery. Your team was excellent.