CARLSBAD — San Diego native Brian Evans, DVM, recently opened his second Coastal Animal Hospital located at 2584 El Camino Real.
“Modern medicine. Classic service,” is the hospital’s tag line. Evans said it is important to teach pet owners about the “next generation of veterinary medicine” and cutting-edge care and wellness services.
“I educate clients to understand why we do what we do,” he said. “I explain the basics of treatments and difficult concepts for difficult illnesses. I’m the voice of interpretation — a medium between two parties, what owners see and what’s actually going on with their pets.”
The brand-new facility has a living-room style lounge with refreshments for those on two legs as well as those on four.
Exam rooms, described by Evans as the roadmaps to health, afford patients what he calls a “gold” standard of care beginning with a template for wellness, the “cornerstone of our philosophy.”
“Coastal Animal Hospital is built on a philosophy that enables us to stand out from the mainstream of veterinary care,” he said. “We develop relationships based on understanding the importance of a healthy pet which begins with wellness, routine care that acts as preventative medicine.”
Evans said it is important to spend as much time as necessary with patients and their caretakers to identify the genesis of medical issues, sidestepping the need to treat the same infection with “yet another dose of antibiotics.”
“Coastal Animal Hospital is not a low-cost, high-volume practice,” he said. “We spend time with patients and their owners to diagnose the root cause of every ailment. We don’t Band-Aid the issues. And always, before rushing to cut an animal open, we holistically approach a better way to treat what’s causing the problem.”
Evans champions replacing invasive procedures with modern, less invasive surgeries. He said traditional procedures are no longer used simply because “that’s what we were taught in veterinary school.”
“A LOVE Spay — a laparoscopic ovariectomy — is a perfect example of doing things away from how it’s always been done,” he said. “This alternative, minimally invasive spay for healthy dogs is significantly less painful, less traumatic, requires less anesthesia and has a faster recover rate. Activity restriction for a LOVE Spay ranges between two to three days versus seven to 14 days for a traditional spay.”
Coastal Animal Hospital offers a four-year vaccine protocol to minimize the number of vaccines administered over the course of a pet’s life. And full-mouth, before and after x-rays are included with teeth extractions to ensure that the entire tooth/teeth are removed.
“We’re not afraid to step out and do the right thing to provide the best care for every dog and cat,” said Evans.
Evans also noted that finances are clarified in detail.
“I must explain the reasons behind these out-of-pocket expenses,” he said. “We’re not a nebulous insurance company covering a medical expense. Owners need to know what they’re paying for.”
With a veterinary degree from the University of California Davis, Evans interned in New York City, “arguably the most intensive internship in the country,” working 18 hours a day, six days a week with the nation’s “top veterinarians” in emergency and critical care, internal medicine, surgery, ophthalmology, cardiology, neurology, pathology and radiology.
“Going broke,” he established a house-call practice for supplemental income and “travelled the New York subways with my little black bag.”
He continued making house calls in San Diego, which enabled him to open Coastal Animal Hospital in Leucadia. House calls are still offered for the cat terrified of the car ride or a senior pet that needs to be euthanized.
The team at both facilities showcase many charitable events and services, including the HANA (Help-A-Needy-Animal) Fund, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, that provides free and low-cost veterinary care to the homeless and families in financial need.
“Economic euthanasia — when the cost of treating a disease becomes insurmountable — is a sad reality,” he said. “HANA Funds provide life-saving surgeries and treatments for curable diseases for those with limited funds.”
Other events include Annual Cancer Screening Day, which offers chest x-rays and an abdominal ultrasound to evaluate internal organs for any abnormality at a decreased cost and Wellness Clinics, routine pet care for the homeless and financially disadvantaged.
“Offering the underserved population pet care provides relief and comfort while enhancing the human-animal bond,” he said. “We also host a biannual Wellness Clinic with Coastal Animal Hospital and Rancho Coastal Humane Society that offers physical exams, vaccines, heartworm testing, bloodwork, flea and heartworm medications, and other prescription medications, free of charge.”
Evans said how we view our pets is an evolution that connects us with “these soulful creatures who become family members.”
“The ole backyard dog has become the couch companions,” he said.
Passionate about his work as a “family practitioner,” Evans said he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
“Coastal Animal Hospital is not only a creative business endeavor, it’s a culture,” he said. “We provide quality care that interprets what the owner sees, what I see and what the science says. I dispel the myths — the bad internet information that confuses people. I educate without being pushy. Clients make their own informed decisions for the health and welfare of their pet.”
Evans lives in Leucadia with his family, two dogs and six “opinionated” chickens.
Photo Caption: KitKat Dash, a patient at the Coastal Animal Hospital in Carlsbad. Photo courtesy Dr. Brian Evans
