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February 2024 by Michelle Muniz
PLEASE NOTE THIS REVIEW IS NOT OF THE HOSPITAL BUT A SPECIFIC DOCTOR: The stress, sadness, and inconvenience that Dr. Headrick put me, my husband and our 8-year-old dog go through today is unforgiveable. We arrived for surgery and immediately paid $5,000.00 in advance for the removal of several mast cell tumors and cysts. The nurse who met us was rude, emotionless and aloof. First she tried to weigh her, but our dog is very particular about sitting on the scale. Trying to save her from the hassle of trying to subdue a squirming 77-pound dog, I let her know she just had an annual and what her weight was. The nurse then informed me that they needed to weigh her prior to surgery regardless so my husband pushed her into a sit position, and I patted her head and gave her a kiss. Then the nurse handed me a sharpie pen and told me to circle the 5 areas for surgery which prompted my husband to become mildly concerned and to be honest confused as to why we had to mark her fur. I have had many surgeries with dogs, and I have never been asked this before. In a nutshell, the explanation was that they have been burned before regarding this, so I knelt down and tried to find all her bumps and lumps amongst her dark gray fur. Some are large and obvious; others are very small. I finally found all of them and circled them with the sharpie pen. Then the nurse asked if she was on medication, and I let her know she was recently diagnosed with Lyme disease antibodies and was on antibiotics. I forgot the name of the drug but told the nurse I would call our vet as soon as we left and let them know. This prompted me to ask why she needed to know because my fear was that somehow, I messed up and should have told them this in advance and I didn’t want anything to stand in the way of her surgery. Then we kissed our dog and waved goodbye and left. Approximately three hours later, Dr. Headrick called my cell phone while I was in my office at work. I answered very happy -- thinking he was calling to ease my worries about the upcoming surgery. For anyone who has dealt with Mast cell tumors, the surgeon needs to cut deep and wide. For the next 9 minutes, Dr. Headrick grilled me and berated me for questioning him and his staff. I was completely shocked and assured him that he was misunderstanding the situation and that we trust him and Newtown Vets. He persisted and was hell bent on making my husband and I seem like villains. Finally, I composed myself and told him that we needed to move on and to please call me when she was out of surgery. That is when he basically refused to operate on her, so I asked him to return my money and I sent my husband to pick up our dog. When my husband arrived at the office, the receptionist readily refunded our money and he asked to meet with the Directors, who were not in the office. A very nice woman, Melissa, who is the office manager spoke with my husband and said she “heard the phone call” and that your wife was trying to diffuse the situation and move on. DR. HEADRICK RECORDED OUR CONVERSATION!! After my initial shock of being recorded, I delighted in the fact that my behavior could be proven. I was not irate or rude. I was professional and clearly confused as to the motive behind the call. I apologized if he thought we were being rude and asked to move forward. After 8 years bringing 4 different animals to Newtown Vet to a tune of approximately $20k, I can say I will never go back if he is still employed there. No customer, let alone a long-standing, good customer deserves to be treated that way. My dogs are my babies. I should be able to ask any question I want before one of them undergoes an operation. The right thing would have been for Dr. Headrick to come out of his office and speak to us HIMSELF to assure us everything would be okay REGARDLESS OF OUR QUESTIONS. Now my dog has to wait to get an appointment with a different surgeon. Dr. Headrick put his fragile ego before the well-being of his patient. All I can say is that I hope nothing happens to her in the meantime.
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February 2024 by teresa massaro
The doctors and the staff are amazing. Can’t express how thankful to all of them. Their skill level and knowledge provide the best care.
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February 2024 by Thomas LaPorta
The staff and doctors are very concerned and educated in the care of our dog Drystan. This is the second time we used them in two years and highly recommend them .
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February 2024 by Rosanne Verlezza
Having them nearby gives me peace of mind. They’ve helped me with several pet emergencies over the years. I can count on them for compassionate and knowledgeable care.
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February 2024 by Joe B.
Jason Hendrick should have his license taken away .This is a horrible place to bring your pet.The only person that is kind and understanding is the manager the rest are terrible horrible people. PLEASE DONT BRING YOUR PET THERE. My dog tore his left acl and this moron convinced me to do both acl 10k later I have to pay a real surgen 2500 to fix his mistake look how th re y cover up posting things from 2 years. Hendrick should hav his license revoked.horriable place..
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February 2024 by John Judd
Just wanted to extend a huge thank you to Newtown Veterinary Specialists. We made the heartbreaking decision that it was the right time to say goodbye to our 17 1/2 year old pup Annaliesa, and NVS helped us through it. They really did take care of every detail and made that crushing event just a little less overwhelming.
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February 2024 by Bernard Puc
Compassionate staff
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January 2024 by Kaitlin B.
We had a recent scare with our 8 month old puppy yesterday (a Sunday). He has allergies, but we are in the process of finding out what they are. In the morning, he woke up with a few hives, so I gave him Benadryl, per our vet's instructions. About 10 minutes later, the hives turned into giant welts and appeared all over his face and body. He was breathing fine, but this was definitely urgent. NVS is the closest emergency vet to my house, so I called them...I'll admit, I was scared, as I have never had a dog with allergies. They kindly said to bring him in and that he would be seen quickly. When we arrived, he was examined and given a steroid shot to quiet the hives within 15 minutes, as the Benadryl I had given him was keeping him stable in the meantime. After that, we were informed that we would see the vet within 45 minutes. It ended up being more like an hour and a half, but that can happen at any urgent care. The staff was knowledgeable, compassionate, and very helpful. The bill didn't even end up breaking the bank! I was happily surprised. I'm grateful to everyone who helped my baby boy, and I would recommend NVS to anyone!
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January 2024 by Blanche Reeves Tucker
I recently brought my American Bulldog from my veterinarian to Newtown veterinary medicine. My dog had to be sent due to a growth that required an ultrasound and immediate surgery the next day. When I arrived, I was quite nervous knowing the condition of my dogs health and going to a new Veterinary. The staff made me feel so welcome, and the doctor that greeted me had the best bedside manner. All of my fears other than my faith in God were dispelled after I met the staff. I would definitely recommend this veterinarian for my dog if I lived in the area.
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January 2024 by Yael Hoffman
They took care of our FIV positive cat whos eyes were very infected and they are very very good , knowledgeable, nice, informative and just the best place to bring any of your animals to them. We had a wonderful experience.
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January 2024 by John H.
I can't possibly post a dispassionate review of Newtown Veterinary Specialists. What I can do is give the facts... NVS is a very large facility staffed with a lot of technicians and veterinarians. They have a complete surgical suite, and modern testing and diagnosing equipment like a CT scan and blood analysis machines. The practice seems to cater primarily to dogs, although I did see a few cats in the cages in the back. I don't know what the percentage of cats to dogs is here, or in other vet offices nearby. I mentioned that they have a large staff. I visited the hospital over the course of four days and there were always two receptionists at the desk when I walked in. Additionally, there were a lot of technicians and I lost track of their names, there were so many. The staff of DVM's is close to 10 or maybe even 12. Over the course of the four days my cat was in hospital I never saw the same doctor twice. I think this lack of continuity in medical care can have dire consequences. Summing up, a large well-equipped hospital facility and a large staff of licensed DVM's and veterinary technicians is expensive to maintain. Don't go in there, or any other veterinary office without expecting to pay a lot of money. It's not like a hospital for humans that is obligated to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay. Veterinary hospitals and animal care clinics require payment for services. Some vets offer something called CareCredit applications. This is simply a credit card that can be used payment for animal care and in some cases, (dental), human care. But it's not cheap! Some people have told me that they think there's some sort of lost-interest credit available or that some vets will work out a payment plan with the clients. In some cases that may be true but the CareCredit card carries a 30% annual percentage rate and there are penalties for late payments and returned payments, (bad checks). I started this review by mentioning how well-equipped this animal hospital is and to that I should add that there is one very special room which they use for euthanizing animals. It's a lot like the other exam rooms that I waited in during the four days that my pet was fighting for his life but it had a few things the other exam rooms don't have. There are brochures advertising cremation urns and support groups for grieving pet owners. There are some fake flowers on the side tables. And there are some lockers. Since I had been waiting four over an hour in this room I looked in these lockers. There are sample urns for your pet's ashes. There are even informational sheet about alternative methods of interment. You can have your pet's ashes poured into concrete forms that then serve as artificial reefs. How thoughtful! The whole experience struck me as this place is no stranger to losing patients. It just all seemed like it was too well-rehearsed and they were ready to give up on my little fur buddy before HE was ready to give up. One more thing: Dr. Adam Porter is the chief veterinary medical officer at NVS. He may be very good at his job, may be, but he is not good with the humans. He talks very fast and he's not afraid to interrupt you if you are expressing an opinion about the care of your pet.
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January 2024 by Vanessa Soares
This hospital was a god send and finally gave us answers to our girl and why she was puking.
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January 2024 by Yams
They do not adhere nor accommodate clients under the American with Disabilities Act, they are ignorant about it.
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January 2024 by Jimmy
Extremely Pricey. Their "rules" are non flexible with the goal of charging you more and more money. The staff is kind though.
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January 2024 by David Fenton
There was a long wait but it seemed that it was because of how busy they were. Everyone was very nice and attentive.
