Clinic is all cats all the time

One summer evening in July, Dr. Kelly Wright, the self-proclaimed “queen of crazy cat ladies,” felt compelled to rescue a seemingly stranded kitty.

As the story goes, one of her clients had suddenly walked into the Cat Clinic of Orange County, fraught with desperation.

Angel was stuck underneath his house for the past 12 days, the man said. He was hoping someone at the clinic, headed by Wright, would know what to do.

Wright’s solution: inch through the dark and the dirt, “G.I. Joe” style, past the leaves and cobwebs beneath the man’s house to reach the cat.

When Wright crawled up to Angel — his eyes reflecting under the glow of her flashlight — she herded him to an opening, where his owner, unable to get under there himself, snatched Angel to safety.

Angel then rode over to the Cat Clinic at nearby 1680 Tustin Ave., in Costa Mesa’s Eastside. There, Angel was treated and diagnosed with a slight case of dehydration.

But, Wright recalled, “This cat didn’t look that bad off.”

Maybe Angel was catching something down there, she thought, and maybe he came and went as he pleased.

Still, what would compel a veterinarian to crawl underneath a house?

“I didn’t know if the cat was injured,” Wright said, “and if it was truly 12 days, the cat may be dying of starvation. I can’t stand to think of an animal suffering in that way.”

That’s how she rolls.

The Cat Clinic of Orange County was founded in 1988. Wright bought it in 2007, continuing its cat-centric focus and service.

The two-story, 5,500-square-foot veterinary hospital has a homey atmosphere, with cat memorabilia nearly everywhere, from the pillows in the airy lobby with a circular staircase to the light fixtures on the walls.

For cats that have passed away, there’s a “memorial wall” for owners to post their pictures.

Feliway is sprayed throughout. It’s a synthetic material that helps cats relax and de-stress.

There’s no dogs in sight, either. That’s better for the cats too.

And, aside from the saltwater fish tanks, felines have their run of the place. There’s even a bubble-like window, high above the lobby, that cats can peer out from.

“I don’t focus on anything but cats,” Wright said. “All of my medicine is geared toward that,” from the equipment to the anesthesia to the items for sale.

In addition to veterinary services, the Cat Clinic offers a cat spa and a 50-space boarding hotel, with two room options: standard stalls for $25 a night and larger “town homes” starting at $45.

The spa offers grooming, baths and nail trims.

Next to the hotel are some small, colorful rooms, where, on a recent afternoon, a volunteer played with some kittens. The rooms are used for boarded cats along with some that are there on a temporary basis while waiting for a forever home. The playing, Wright said, helps socialize the cats, normalize them to human contact and aid in their getting adopted.

Wright and the clinic’s staff are quick to note that the facility is not a shelter. Even though people do drop off cats — sometimes in bags left at the door — and they do their best to find them new feline homes, they can’t handle them all.

“For veterinary medicine and people who work in it, you can sometimes get compassionate burnout,” Wright said. “It’s a difficult job. Sometimes you have to take a step back and take a breather. You really can’t save the world but we do what we can.”

Even though the Cat Clinic of Orange County has been in Costa Mesa for nearly 25 years, it’s still somewhat of a mystery to many, Wright said.

The business is working to fix that by creating a new website and app.

Wright’s compassion is what drew at least one of the clinic’s 10 employees to work there, even if it meant a long commute.

Marissa Gibson-Rios, the practice manager, read about how Wright donated her kidney to a stranger. When a job at the clinic opened up, she applied — even though she lived in San Diego County and still does.

Wright “is not one of those veterinarians that puts the bottom line first all the time,” Gibson-Rios said, “and that makes a big difference to me … that was one of my main reasons for coming and it’s my main reason for staying.”