The first time I walked into Cassandra Care Animal Hospital, I must say that I was impressed. Very impressed. Having had pets most of my life, and now, live with 3 dogs, 3 cats and a turtle in our Alabang home, I was pretty much used to the (lets be honest here), less-than-great vets and pet clinics in the area. Since the terrific Dr. Mike Velhagen went on a sabbatical a couple of years ago, we've had no choice but to take our menagerie to the closest clinic - a smelly, cramped affair, where the personal service was close to nil.
But then, on Good Friday, we had no choice but to try out Cassandra, which seemed to be the only vet clinic opened during the holiday weekend. Our beloved elderly basset was suffering from heat stroke and not only did they take her in for the night and make her well, but they very kindly released her without payment even if they had no idea who we were (we were at the beach and weren't home until Monday). The vet also called continuously for a few days to ask how she was and to give our maid instructions. Something that rarely happened at the other clinic.
I finally visited the place some days later to settle the bill and bring my dog for a check-up. My driver wasn't kidding when he said "Mam, and ganda! Parang hospital ng tao". It was modern, spacious, immaculately clean, tastefully decorated, fully air-conditioned and best of all, smelled pretty good. The same vet was there (hooray!), and with another junior vet as well as an assistant, they took us to a consultation room, which was really not dissimilar to what you'd see at Asian hospital. No kidding. She needed an x-ray, so while waiting for my dog to get back, I was served a cold drink in a tray. Can you believe it? For someone used to sitting in a hot, crowded, stinky waiting room for ages with "wowowee" blasting from a small tv, this was fantastic. I peeked around the place a bit, and saw some comfy looking kennels, a large play room with toys and a snazzy grooming area encased in glass where a shitzu was being pampered. Wow.
As I settled the bill (and it was way less that what I would normally pay), I saw a list of their great services which had things like hydromassage, an incubator, a fully-equipped ambulance and so on....but their "vision" was even better:
CassandraCare will be known for its heart of compassion as well as its abilities and skills. No pet needing urgent attention will be turned away without due cause.
How lovely is that? Yesterday I sent my persian cat to try the grooming service and he came home looking fab with a nifty chart on what was done, so that I can properly keep track. Oh, and a mini calendar with the cutest photo of his face on it, free of charge.
Cassandra Care is located at 209 Aguirre Ave. BF Homes. Telephone: 568 0347
