Rothman Animal Hospital

I have taken my pets there for many years and have never been disappointed. Unfortunately some people want someone other than themselves to blame and feel the need to discredit them in order to validate their inability to properly take care of their pet.

I have used this office for all my pets over the last 20 years and the staff is as caring as the Dr's - I highly recommend

We found a puppy in the city next to a dumpster. He was only a few days old, but we instantly fell in love with him. I came home for lunch, from work everyday to feed him with a bottle. He was so small, I thought he was a hamster when I first laid eyes on him. He was so fun loving, and generally happy go lucky, until about 7 months of age. He would not eat, he would not drink and he eventually did not want to play anymore. We knew something was wrong. We took him to another vetnarian hospital less than 1 mile from Rothman, where he remained for 1 week - as an inpatient. Needless to say, it was costing us dearly for every IV, x-ray, medication, ultrasound etc. He seemed to be getting worse. My husband was so upset because my 6 year old daughter was upset, so we grabbed a blanket, went into the animal hospital, paid the bill, and removed our dog. We went less than 1 mile away and ended up at the old Rothman Animal Hospital. He was examined, placed on the "appropriate" medication, and 3 days later he was back to his old self. To this day, we have a healthy 14 year old yellow lab mix, who is plagued by arthritis in his hips, but happy none the less. We owe it all to Rothman. Dr. Rest or (Opalski), Dr. Rothman and Dr. Esser, you are all the BEST. I thank you, and so does Buddy!!!!!!

We took our greyhound to Rothman Animal hospital today and had the first truly bad experience in the 3 years we've been taking our dog there. DO NOT ALLOW YOUR DOG TO BE SEEN BY DR. ESSER. Everyone else we have dealt with (especially the vet tech staff and front desk) have been nothing but pleasant.



The lovely vet tech (who seems to check us in every time and really loves our dog!) first said that we should ask for a distemper (titer) test from Dr. Esser. The implication was that he would not even offer the test, only give the vaccination. Then Dr. Esser came in. After some blatant misstatements about greyhounds (weight, heart rate, etc... the red flag went up that he didn't understand the breed) he then explained a NEW lymes disease vaccine. He said that they were recommending it. I listened to his speech about the vaccine and had already made up my mind that we did not want it. With greyhounds being so sensitive to things like flea and tick prevention and anesthesia, I knew a only a year of testing was not enough for me. He never asked if we wanted it, so I was never given the chance to refuse. He implied that she would be given a test for Lymes disease and then I assumed we would be offered the vaccine (at which time I would refuse). The exam began and our dog was very scared, so we focused on calming her down. Then two shots came. I assumed they were the distemper shots. I had to assume, because he didn't say what they were before or during the shots! HE DID NOT TELL US WHAT HE WAS INJECTING INTO OUR DOG! I realized we should have asked, but with a scared dog on the table, we were a bit distracted. Of course he gave her both the distemper and the Lymes vaccine. He came in and told us she had to come back for her second vaccine. I was angry and told him plainly that with greyhounds, things like this could cause more problems. I asked what sort of reactions we should be looking for, and he said there would be no reactions! All vaccines have the potential for a reaction! He was completely unapologetic. The only apology we got was from the front desk staff. This doctor was unprofessional and unclear. I personally believe that this vaccine (unless you have a hairy dog living deep in the woods in PA) is a racket if you use flea and tick preventative (like we do) and regularly check your dog for ticks (like we do).



To be clear, I'll continue to use Rothman Animal Hospital, as our overall experience has been good. But I will always in the future request that we NOT BE SEEN BY DR. ESSER.