Eight service lines. Six of them are standard general-practice medicine — the things you would expect a four-doctor AAHA hospital to do well. Two of them (dentistry, soft-tissue surgery) are deeper than the standard general-practice baseline because we have doctors whose clinical focus is in those areas. Two of them (end-of-life care, urgent care) we handle differently than most clinics, in ways worth explaining.
The two most-trafficked detail pages are below — wellness care and dentistry — each with its own deep page. The rest are described here in short. Call (973) 762-9180 or use /new-clients to book any of them.
A wellness exam is the only time most pets see us in a calm year. We schedule thirty minutes for one — the doctor is not double-booked, and the visit isn't rushed. Most of what we find that matters, we find at wellness.
Annual exams from age one through seven, twice-yearly from age eight. Bloodwork recommended annually after age seven. Written visit summary emailed home the same day.
Read full wellness page →We protocol vaccines by lifestyle, not by checklist. Your indoor cat does not need the same vaccine schedule as your boarding-kennel-using Labrador. We sit with the chart, ask what your pet actually does, and recommend accordingly.
Core vaccines: distemper-parvo-adeno (dogs), rabies (both), FVRCP (cats). Lifestyle-elective: Bordetella, Leptospirosis, Lyme, canine influenza (dogs); FeLV (outdoor or multi-cat-household cats). We follow current AAHA/AAFP vaccine guidelines and re-evaluate the protocol every wellness visit. We refuse to over-vaccinate.
Discussed inside the wellness visit →Full dental cleanings under monitored general anesthesia with pre-anesthetic bloodwork, IV catheter, full-mouth digital dental x-rays, scaling above and below the gumline, polishing, and a treatment-planned approach to any extractions. Dr. Hannah Beckett's clinical focus area.
We do not perform "anesthesia-free cleanings." There is no way to clean below the gumline — which is where periodontal disease lives — on an awake animal. We say this directly because clients deserve a real answer.
Read full dentistry page →Soft-tissue surgical caseload led by Dr. Sarah Okonkwo, who completed a three-year fellowship in soft-tissue surgery at Tufts before joining us in 2018. Procedures performed in-house: TPLO cruciate-ligament repair, TECA (total ear canal ablation), abdominal procedures including splenectomy and gastrointestinal foreign-body removal, mass removals with planned-margin approach, gastropexy, urinary blockage relief, and most spay/neuter surgeries.
What we refer out: oncologic resections requiring wide margins, thoracic procedures, orthopedics beyond cruciate, and any case requiring overnight ICU monitoring. We refer to BluePearl Paramus, Red Bank Veterinary Hospital, or Cornell. We handle the referral letter, the records transfer, and the follow-up.
In-house lab capability: complete blood count, chemistry panel, T4 thyroid, electrolytes, urinalysis, fecal exam, and SDMA (kidney-marker). Most wellness panels are back within an hour. Digital x-ray and ultrasound for thoracic, abdominal, and orthopedic imaging.
What is not on-site: CT, MRI, echocardiography by a board-certified cardiologist. For CT and MRI we refer to BluePearl Paramus or the Animal Medical Center in Manhattan. For cardiology we coordinate with a mobile board-certified cardiologist who comes to our clinic monthly — ask if your pet would benefit.
Same-day appointments for sick pets during clinic hours. Reserve roughly 15% of our daily schedule for urgent visits — call by 9 AM and we can usually fit you in that day.
We are not a 24/7 emergency clinic. If your pet has a true emergency outside our clinic hours — collapse, severe trauma, suspected bloat, severe respiratory distress, prolonged seizure — call Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls at (732) 922-0011 or BluePearl Paramus at (201) 226-3535. Both are open 24/7 with board-certified emergency veterinarians on site.
For dogs over seven and cats over eight: twice-yearly wellness exams, twice-yearly senior bloodwork (CBC, chemistry, T4, urinalysis), annual chest radiographs, annual blood pressure measurement (cats especially — feline hypertension is underdiagnosed). Long appointments by default; we'll need them.
We talk frankly about quality-of-life and pain management for arthritic and chronic-disease patients. Most senior visits include a quality-of-life screening discussion — not because we are pushing anything, but because pet owners often appreciate someone else giving them permission to bring it up.
Of every service on this page, end-of-life is the one we have most carefully built and the one we are most often thanked for. We offer hospice consultations for terminal patients (a structured visit to plan comfort-care goals at home), in-clinic euthanasia in a private comfort room with a couch and time, and in-home euthanasia by one of our doctors for clients who prefer their pet's last moments to be on the family couch.
We do not charge a premium for in-home euthanasia compared to in-clinic; we charge a modest travel fee depending on distance from Maplewood. We send a handwritten condolence card to the family within a week. We make a paw-print in clay on request. We are not in a hurry. (A dedicated end-of-life page is in development — until then, please call to discuss.)
New clients can fill out the short form online. Existing clients can call the front desk or book through the client portal.