Modern Animal is a veterinary practice with locations throughout California, Texas, and coming soon to Arizona & Colorado. What makes Modern Animal unique is that you pay an annual fee that covers unlimited in-office exam fees, as well as virtual visits and 24/7 advice through their in-app chat and phone lines.
We have been members of Modern Animal with our two Ragdoll cats, Moomin and Miffy, since December 2021 and our now going on to our third year of membership. When we signed up, there were only two locations, West Hollywood and Playa Vista, but they have since expanded to 13 Los Angeles locations, as well as several new and coming soon locations in Orange County, Northern California, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, & Denver. Membership includes visits at any of their locations in case you are traveling or if you happen to move!
If you would like to sign up, feel free to use this Link & Code REFER50-KNMW3 for $50 off your first year! (I receive credit towards future visits but this review is not sponsored in any way).
Cost
Current pricing is $199 per year, per pet. Since we were early members, we have a rate of $129 per pet locked in until next December, at which point we will be charged the current rate.
Upsides
We have really enjoyed being members of Modern Animal, in large part due to the convenience and peace of mind. I love not having to weigh whether it’s worthwhile to pay to take one of our cats in for an issue. When in doubt, we are always able to bring them in for a check-up at no extra cost.
Chat Function, Video Calls & Easy Scheduling:
We have used the chat function many times, such as when we were brought the cats to visit family for the holidays and one of them put a scratch in the other’s nose on Christmas Day. The nurse we chatted with was immediately able to put our minds at ease based on photos, telling us that it was nothing to worry about and would heal by itself.
We have even used the chat feature to determine the urgency of things as little as a bout of sneezing, it’s truly like having a Veterinarian in your pocket! When one of our cats had a tail injury, we were able to quickly send photos and they were able to fit us in for an urgent care appointment the next morning (again, included in the annual fee).
Staff & Medical Professionals:
Every employee at Modern Animal has been compassionate, professional, and often spoils our kitties with affection. Their Veterinarians and nurse staff all seem to be knowledgeable and have stellar credentials. Moomin had to undergo a teeth cleaning under general anesthetic this year and I felt confident that she would be treated with the utmost care. The vet that performed the procedure even put in extra effort when our pet insurance denied our claim by writing a letter to the insurance company explaining why it should have been covered. It worked!
Ease of Appointments:
We have never had an issue making an appointment at our desired locations either. The offices are modern and welcoming and they offer a nice selection of beverages in the waiting rooms. We live equidistant to 3 locations, so have been
I feel that the company is very responsive to feedback and have made changes to their operations in the past based on feedback from members.
Extra Perks:
When the Manhattan Beach location opened this year, they hosted a great event that we went to with tasty coffee and professional pet photography. It seems like they love to make the overall experience of being a member enjoyable with fun events like that. We always grab either a La Columba or La Croix from their lobby mini-fridge.
Downsides
There are not many true downsides to a Modern Animal membership, but most of them come down to financial considerations.
Annual Fee:
Obviously, the annual fee is a major consideration when deciding whether to sign up with Modern Animal. From some cursory Googling, it looks like the average vet visit in the LA area costs around $75. For the annual fee to be worth it, you would need to visit at least twice and make use of the virtual care/chat options to make up the extra cost as well. Of course, there is no way to know if your pet might have an unexpected illness or injury so if peace of mind is important to you, or if you would rather not have to dip into savings, then a membership could be worthwhile. It is also more reasonable if you only have one pet- multiple pets start becoming very expensive.
Cost of Care & Medicine:
The care itself seems more highly-priced than other vet practices. Vaccines have been priced higher and the teeth-cleaning Moomin received was more expensive than it would have been somewhere else. For this reason, we use the annual membership in conjunction with pet insurance from Embrace, which costs about $25 per month per pet and covers 90% of accident and illness-related costs after a $200 deductible. Modern Animal is working on their own pet insurance line, we will have to see how it stacks up!
Alternative Diets:
The last thing to consider if you’re a cat owner is that Modern Animal is not a cat-specific vet. In fact, just anecdotally, it seems like dogs are the majority of the practice. This has not been a huge issue for us, but did come up one time when a vet strongly advised against the cats’ raw food diet due to concerns about a condition that pretty much only affects dogs. We got this sorted out by speaking to the lead veteranarian, who cleared things up and encouraged us to keep them on the raw diet as long as it was working for them. The practice also strongly advises getting all vaccines, even for indoor-only cats like ours, which may be another consideration to keep in mind for cat owners. That being said, they are very low pressure if you choose not to follow a certain recommendation.
Final Thoughts
We think our membership to Modern Animal has been 100% worth it so far. We have made great use of the office visits and the 24/7 online chat has been a godsend for late night/out of town concerns we have had. With the cost of membership increasing for us to $199 per pet next December, we may reconsider the value but I think that we will most likely continue to be members. We just love the convenience and peace of mind with knowing that, if something unexpected were to happen, we can get our cats in to a vet quickly, with no exam fees.
If you would like to sign up, feel free to use this Link & Code REFER50-KNMW3 for $50 off your first year! (I receive credit towards future visits but this review is not sponsored in any way, shape, or form). Comment with any questions or your own experiences!
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