Arbutus West Animal Clinic

I’ve rarely had good experiences at vet clinics but Dr. Mussi was amazing. He went through a thorough head-to-toe assessment with me for my cat, Miles, and went through all the lab results and imaging as well. He explained everything so thoroughly and was very clear in the course of treatment. Unfortunately, my elderly cat couldn’t bounce back from his lung infection and passed away a few weeks later, but I am confident he got the best care possible.

Dr. Burstyn saved our pet’s life this week! He got very sick over the weekend with a respiratory infection and we were preparing ourselves for the worst but Dr. Burstyn was able to see us for an emergency drop off appointment first thing on Monday morning and give our fur baby the care he needed to get him through the worst of the illness and start to heal. We are so happy to have our little guy steadily improving every day and I am so grateful to him and AWAC for their quick care.

We've spent $4,502 in 9 visits over 2 years here, and I think we're planning on switching vets. This is not a knee-jerk review, I believe we gave you a fair shot. There are several key moments recently where you started losing us. 1. When you handed my rabbit back to me with diarrhea all over his fur and inside his carrier. It's not that he had diarrhea, it's that you didn’t take a quick look, notice, or inform me first. 2. When you called us with a treatment plan, having completely missed the primary reason we presented him to you, leading to a change in the treatment plan. 3. Needing to regularly chase you up for results and other follow-up, particularly when were promised otherwise. Except for Callum, who was very good at listening and taking the time to explain things, everyone else here seems to be running around like a chicken with their head cut off. The other male vet, I assume the primary, has a bit of an attitude problem. He was always very short with us and speaks in way too much medical terminology - in a condescending and "I don't have time for you" kind of way. Overall, I'm not going to say it's a completely bad vet clinic. But after having visited another clinic when they were closed, our eyes were opened to what veterinary can and should look like. I'm done taking our pets to a place where you drop them off in the lobby, everything is done by phone and you never make eye contact with anyone but a receptionist or vet assistant, who may or may not relay the correct information. It makes the whole experience feel like just another cash counter. At the other vet we recently visited, we went into an actual exam room, got to interact directly with the attending veterinarian, and were a part of the whole process, which was both comforting and very helpful in relaying pertinent information as the vet ran through his exam. I think this business owner's responses to negative reviews sums it up. They read like they have nothing to learn from anyone, and no mistakes have ever been made here. Surely, it has to be the vet I'm referring to with the attitude problem. And if it's someone else, then there's a pattern of bad attitudes here, which is worse. Sorry guys, you don't have our confidence anymore, and that's on you.

AWAC has become my official second vet! My vet is fantastic and rabbit savvy, but they almost never have appointments available for when I actually need them, it's like next week. My angel fell to GI stasis, which I was already informed and educated about, but have never needed the assistance of scrips and actual critical care force feeding. My little Loki is my child and I wanted a professional opinion before I moved to force feeds and I could tell he was in pain. This vet was flexible and got Loki in same day! The vet assistant was educated and friendly and the front line staff called twice to check in on his recovery. The Dr. Was frank with me and didn't push me for unnecessary tests, but offered them if I wanted them. We discussed it and we were in agreement with his care plan and everything worked out well. It was four days of hell, but my baby is 100%, healthy and happy. Thanks everyone. I highly recommend this vet!

Wonderful vet, they really care about their patients!

Our Spruce always comes out looking wonderful, thanks to everyone there who works so hard to keep our fur babies happy and cared for

No. The new vet they have is rude, doesn't listen and just wants you to keep coming back rather than heal your pet. For the money, I suspect.
Left me sitting in the parking lot for 3.5 hours with no word. The appointment was only to be for an hour. When I called after an hour and a half reception was rude and dismissive.
I would never entrust my loved one to them again. The entire experience was horrible.
I did call the manager when they returned and apprised them of the situation. They said they would get back to me with the answers to my questions the vet neglected to answer.
Never did.
Please, I beg you. Find somewhere else to take your babies.

I have been taking my cat there for years and always friendly staff and very caring veterinarians.

I’ve never been able to personally visit the clinic, but I have used Dr. Burstyn for consults twice in the last year. Both experiences have been nothing short of incredible! I appreciated his insight into some difficult to manage diseases my cat is faced with. He demonstrated a deep knowledge of feline care and gave excellent advice. His follow up after the consult was unexpected and much appreciated. You can tell he cares deeply for the well being of all animals. Thank you Dr. Burstyn for all of your help and guidance!

The entire team at Arbitus, lead by Dr. Uri Burstyn, are compassionate, dedicated, hardworking and experienced. We as Canadians are very lucky to have a specialized veterinary practice of this calibre. Your pet is in very good hands at this clinic.

Thank you so much Dr. Uri! You are so informative and share so much wonderful knowledge with our community. Thank you for making it less scary to be a pet owner and for all of the amazing tips and tricks you've shown us which will make my fur babies lives so much richer!

Cutting-edge technology along with expert care and thorough but easy-to-understand advice - what's not to love?

Okay, pricey, but pets are expensive.
$600 to hear my lizard is fat, and sad and mopey because of being fat. No summer beach bod for the lizard - time for a diet.
Receptionists are kind and gentle. Doctor B is great with beardies and honest about what needs to get fixed for a happy reptile. My lizard should be fine with some more appropriate TLC (even if he's sad about less bugs).

If I could give less than one star, I absolutely would. This vet clinic has some of the best reviews for reptile care in Vancouver, which is why we decided to register our Bearded Dragon under their care. It came to our attention that our animal had parasites and a very mild case of mites (which he was infected with before we adopted him), and so we brought him to Dr Uri. The initial service was friendly, and Dr Uri spoke to us like he is very knowledgeable about reptile care. He prescribed our dragon "Ivermectin", which we later discovered can be lethal to Bearded Dragons (and many other reptiles). When our dragon was acting lethargic, refused to eat and was severely dehydrated, we tried bringing him in for a check up but Dr Uri was unavailable. We ended up taking him to a different vet for emergency care and this vet explained that Ivermectin is toxic for reptiles. This of course spooked us, but in the following days Dr Uri spoke to us, practically bad talking the other vet, and assured us that Ivermectin is a safe treatment. After his assurance, we agreed to allow the second dose of Ivermectin to be administered, only to have our dragon become very ill afterwards. We contacted him again because of our concern and he laughed at our reaction and spoke to us in a very condescending tone, as if we were overreacting. Days later, our dragon is still lethargic, hardly eating, and dehydrated. He is dark in colour and spends his days sleeping flat on his enclosure floor, when normally he was young, strong and very active. Our dragon used to walk around his enclosure and watch us. He was very curious, perky and friendly, but now he just sleeps and we can't get him to eat or drink enough. We're afraid we may lose our pet.
Aside from Dr Uri, the staff were also very scattered. We saw them multiple times in one month and were asked to explain our situation multiple times- every single visit, AND every time over the phone. I'm sure their clinic is fine for dogs and cats, but if you have a reptile I would highly recommend looking elsewhere for vet care.

Kind staff.
Helpful and empathetic.
Don’t get much face time with doctors or staff.
Wish we could go inside, maybe soon!

Dr Uri is an amazing cat vet. My cat loves him and is the calmest as soon as she is in the door.

I had to take 2 stars off because of the receptionists. While they are friendly, I am extremely disappointed as when I made my appt I specifically asked multiple times (to the girl with a heavy scottish/irish accent) if it was with Dr Uri and was assured it was. However I took a 4hr round trip on transit for her to see a different vet I never even met or could speak to (due to Covid) and was told Dr Uri doesn't even work Mondays. I could of went to my local clinic and saved myself 3hrs if I wanted just any vet.

Make sure when you book your appt it is with the right vet, and hopefully they won't lie next time.

My baby girl, Pinky, is an almost 3 year old albino Dumbo eared fancy rat. She had surgery here end of last year and then again yesterday, both were a success. The team here is kind and helpful. The vet does top notch work, and was excellent at explaining things and making sure I understood how much it would cost beforehand.
I'm so grateful for the service they provide here!

We called around to different vets trying to find an exotic vet for our reptiles. We chose to come here because the people we spoke to on the phone were so nice and were able to answer our questions and advise us. We were able to bring our ball python here and the staff was so compassionate, knowledgeable, flexible and patient. They took the time to explain and demonstrate the procedure for the prescribed treatment so that we could treat him at home. The doctor explained everything to us, was very thorough and went above and beyond. They did not do any unnecessary treatments and advised us based on the best option for the health of our animal and not solely to make money. The nurse was extremely friendly and answered all of our questions without hesitation. I would feel very comfortable to bring any one of our reptiles here, and any other of my animals for these reasons. I would gladly recommend this veterinary clinic and would give them 10 stars if I could.

Thorough exam of my 15 week old puppy. Very patient knowledgeable staff. The vet spent a long time explaining what all the procedures were that needed to be done.

I took my ball python and the attention was amazing! They even provided more medications than needed in case I had some problems with the aftercare for my Monty, amazing experience! Very recommended for those with pets that require special attention!

A great Veterinary Clinic, with excellent, supportive and compassionate staff. We've had great experiences there. Also very responsible protocols during COVID-19.

I love this place! I was met with excellent customer service, I handed my baby to a very empathetic tech and spoke at length with the vet.
I am totally satisfied! The cost was more than reasonable! This is my Theodore in his electric blankie. Lol

It was a hard 3 to give. I've been going to these guys for a while and they have been somewhat reasonable. Last week we brought the dog after he fell of the bad and injured himself. I assumed it wasn't serious as he started to put a little bit more weight on it. But, we decided to earn on the side of caution. The ankle wasn't fractured and the dog just sprained a Muscle.
Just for that, they put him under and did 6 xrays on one ankle. He was super miserable and confused the whole day after. Later they did a bunch of examinations and treated two things: bacteria under his chin and similar allergy related problem on his ear. Prescribed some ointment and medicines.
Of course they explained very well why they needed to do everything. Yet, I have my doubts about it.

The cost of all this was over $1400.

I do think they provided a good care for his issues. But I think the cost of this all was unreasonable and unjustified.
I don't recommend.

Dr. Korthauer gave full explanations of my cats' health and even considered their social wellbeing for deciding on a treatment plan

Really friendly and professional place! My friend recommended this place to me, although it’s a 40 minutes drive from our house, it’s worth it!

This clinic was professional, kind and very responsive to my family and I when my pet was dying. The staff here was kind, loving and very professional. I feel they all went out of my way to make us all comfortable and were very thoughtful to us all. I would recommend this clinic to anyone! Thank you to all the staff who work here.

Very happy to have found this vet. We came here when we got rats, as we needed a specialty small animal vet. All of the staff are super friendly and helpful, they've taken care of our 2 rats, our newly adopted dog and soon will see our cat.

The vet are very thorough, the desk staff are very responsive and the vet techs are super friendly and caring! They even filled out a form for me to get reimbursed through my pet insurance for procedures!

I have not been here, but i do watch Dr. Uri's youtube channel.and he seems to really care about animals.if i lived in the area i would definitely bring my cats here. He seems really passionate towards helping animals and i would trust him over anyone else with my cats.

Started taking my boy there when he was 3-4 months old and will not trust another vet as much as I trust Dr. Burstyn. Compassionate, reliable, friendly, and gentle animal care here.

I think it is possible that Dr Burstyn doesn't realize the way he condescends to others. A person can be intelligent, but I have witnessed that truly wise individuals are aware of the destructiveness of their Ego; it is something we all share as a challenge to overcome in the personal and collective journey of our lives.

I wish Dr Burstyn peace.

Decided on coming here for my cat after watching videos from Dr. Burstyn. We did not end up seeing Dr. Burstyn, but Dr. Stephan Knappstein. He was great and helped answer any questions we had with our cat and spent quite a long time talking with us. We didn't feel pressured into getting any additional treatments and prices were very reasonable. We have gone to other vets before and they have always wanted us to do a blood test/xray. Dr Knappstein never mentioned on having to do either of those. We ended up doing a wellness exam, fecal exam and 3 vaccinations for FVRCP, rabies and for feline leukemia for $195 after tax. Receptionist was also very friendly and accommodating, would definitely come back.

Dr Burstyn seemed knowledgeable enough but I felt he had a patronizing and defensive attitude towards us. Both of my dogs are rescues, and one of them has an anxiety-reactive issue that I'm working on. I understand he's a difficult dog and by NO means try to deny it, however the way the Dr was "educating" us was done in a way like we barely knew how to take care of a dog. I appreciate and seek advice, however not in this (perhaps unknowingly) condescending way.maybe he was just having a bad day. Proper treatment and care for my pets is #1 when I'm at a vet clinic, and Dr Burstyn was fine at that. However client conduct is also extremely important to me, and for this reason I'll probably be visiting another vet.

Highly recommended!

I live in the United States, and had only seen Dr Burstyn online through his YouTube channel. I am moving across the country with my cat who does not travel well. Nothing I have tried or suggested by my local vet has helped, so I sent an email to Dr Burstyn as a desperation move.

Within 12 hours, I had a reply with suggestions on further steps to take with my local vet, ideas for the actual drive, and reassurance that my kitty will be ok.

Even though I am 4,000 KM from Dr Burstyn, his knowledge and caring has been immensely helpful. I only wish I was closer, so I could take my kitty directly to him for our every day needs.

Also, check out Dr Burstyn's YouTube channel, Helpful Vancouver Vet, for tons of amazing tips for both cats and dogs. Squish that cat!

Dr. Burstyn is the most caring, passionate and knowledgeable vet I've ever met. This is the only place we'll take our cat from now on.
About 2 months ago my kitty, Tai, started biting at the tip of his tail until it bled. We took him to a vet in Coquitlam where they suggested he may have OCD, and that we should amputate enough of the tail that it won't catch his attention from his peripheral vision, and tempt him to bite it. We weren't totally convinced so we had the tail bandaged and took him home to think it over. Unfortunately, a few weeks later while waiting for the initial tail injury to heal, despite wearing a cone and bandage he chewed through to his tail and did a lot of damage and amputation was necessary. We had half the tail amputated and put him on prozac, but the biting continued.
Once his tail was fully healed I decided to go to Dr. Burstyn for a second opinion. Tai had been doing a bit better and I almost cancelled the appointment but I'm so glad I didn't.
Dr. Burstyn spent and hour and a half getting to know Tai, doing neurological tests and giving him a physical. He suspected an injury to Tai's leg and an xray done the same day confirmed there was shattered bone and debris in his leg where he had an injury as a kitten (before we got him.)
Dr. Burstyn did surgery to clean up the area and get samples for testing. Tai is recovering and on light pain medication and doing much better. Now that we have identified the biting is from referred pain and not OCD, he is on the right medication.
Thank you so much Dr. Burstyn! I wish I'd come here first.if he'd had such a thorough, yet basic assessment at the beginning we wouldn't have spent a thousand+ dollars on an amputation and put our cat through an unnecessary surgery.

I was not satisfied with the quality of care received. I ended up having to go to another clinic and I received much much better care for my hedgehog there. Perhaps they are alright with cats and dogs, but I won't be taking my exotic pets there again.

I wish I hadn't spent over $400 at this clinic to begin with, expensive lesson learned.

This clinic is still using film xrays, this should tell you all you need to know about their quality of care!

Edit: The response to this review from Dr. Burnsytn himself is laughable:

"As for hedgehogs specifically, Dr. Burstyn was a guest on the Global morning show today speaking about hedgehogs, which is likely what prompted this fake review. "

Trying to discredit a negative review and promote only positive is a sly business model. Feeling the need to push a tv appearance in the process just shows where priorities are.

I can guarantee this is not a fake review, my $460 bill can confirm this, and I certainly did not see him on tv. Perhaps if he focused more on his customers he would be able to verify I am indeed a client and will not be returning. Save yourself a headache and take your hedgehog (and other exotics) elsewhere. I tried to reach out to the clinic regarding their response here but did not receive a reply, hence my edit.

After watching Dr. Burstyn's Youtube videos on cats, which I highly recommend to anyone who has cats, I decided to email the clinic to ask if he could help me with my cat's behavioral issues. I live way too far away to take my cat to see him in person, but he offered to see what he could do through a phone consultation. I am so glad I accepted! Dr. Burstyn spent almost an hour asking me probing questions to identify the problem and providing really great information and advice. I came away with peace of mind, reassured that I now have a solid plan of how to deal with the behavioral issues, how to find a local vet for my cat, how to handle his weight gain, and so much more! Dr. Burstyn really understands cats and is great at listening to understand what is really going on! The Arbutus West Animal Clinic staff took great care of me, emailing me and phoning me to answer all my questions with such a friendly and professional manner. I only wish I live closer so Dr. Burstyn and Arbutus West Animal Clinic could be my regular veterinary clinic. I could not give a higher recommendation!

Dr. Burstyn brought my dog back to life after a previous doctor nearly made him bleed to death. He is the only doctor I will trust going forward with my four legged babies. He's honest, great with animals and has your best interest at heart, not to mention extremely professional and highly knowledgable. If I could give him more than 5 stars I would!

Thank you so much Dr. Burstyn and Dr. Namazi and the entire team at Arbutus West and Acadia for your thorough time and care of my dearest cat, Jacques. I had researched and sought our Dr. Burstyn before we moved back to Vancouver, and I must say that he has exceeded my high expectations. My cat and I feel truly cared for by this team of professionals and I greatly recommend both Arbutus West Animal Clinic and their sister location, Acadia Veterinary Clinic.

Great clinic for exotic/small animals. Thank you Dr Christine Mysyk who helped us.
I took my 2-year old hamster to this clinic couple weeks ago; sadly he passed away after a week. With my many years of experience with hamsters, you cannot expect much from a Vet as they are small fragile animals. Bringing my hamster in is to see if there's anything to ease his discomfort, wasn't expecting to fully heal him nor I would let my hamster go through a surgery.
Dr Christine was very patient and detailed during my visit, called me twice to follow up and found out he passed away on the 2nd call. Bill was not cheap for the visit & diagnosis, but when was vet bill cheap anyway? I appreciate the Options Dr Christine provided, allowing me to Know and Choose how to proceed.
Thank you again Christine and your team

‘The whole team were beyond fantastic. We had 5 rats who needed a full checkup to get medical certificates for flying and had never been to a vet before or out of the house for that matter. From the first step of booking the appointment they were friendly, professional and so accommodating as I had to change times to suit the airlines requests. When we got there they greeted us and our rats and made us feel completely confident and calm.
When handling the rats they were brilliant. The rats can all be a little nervous sometimes but they were completely relaxed and happy around the whole team. I have only written about 4 reviews of any service I have had in my lifetime but felt it was a must to let everyone know how great this whole team is. For anyone who loves their pets, only a team like this can love them and look after them the way you would. Thank you all so much’

A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Uri Burstyn for helping our animals and for performing a complex surgery successfully on our favourite French Bulldog. We are deeply grateful and can't recommend his services enough!

This place is bad. I can only speak to my experience from the vet who served us when we went here and cannot speak to what the rest of the practice is like (never came back). That said, the vet who we spoke to was terrible - jumped to conclusions without any real consulting of the literature or any real thorough diagnosis of the condition. His biggest concern seemed to pusing routine vaccination and then upselling 'lifestyle' vaccinations (I'm not opposed to this, but to recommend this course on a puppy with an unknown condition, and moreover, one that is presenting with what a second vet quickly diagnosed as the early symptoms of juvenile cellulitis is insane).