I really wanted to like this vet. I truly think Dr. Goldsmith cares about his patients, and I especially appreciate his practice of follow up calls to check in on them. However, I do want to leave a word of caution for cat-owners: I don't think this place is ideal for cats.
Everyone thinks their animal is sweet and perfect in every scenario, and we all know that isn't always true, especially at the vet. However, I've had my cat for almost ten years. He's seen many vets in his life, has undergone a variety of procedures. He loves people and is easily charmed by being given some pets. At the vet, I know him to be scared but docile, resistant but never aggressive.
He's had blood draws and ultrasounds before and has never once had to be sedated for those procedures--except at the Central Jersey Vet Clinic. The first time he was sedated was for an echocardiogram--again, a procedure he's had before and undergone just fine without sedation. I wasn't asked permission to sedate, but was given a phone call informing me that it happened. When I picked him up later, he was super out of it. He had a rough 48 hour recovery where he vomited constantly and just generally was having a bad time. But so it goes, right?
A year later, I bring him in again. He's been losing weight for months and I don't know why. The doctor weighs him: he's lost 30% of his body weight. He suggests doing blood work, which I very much agree with. This cat has had his blood drawn many times before, no problem. A few minutes later, I get a call. They're having trouble handling my cat. Can they give him some sedation? I'm uneasy about this and I say so. I mention that the last time it really didn't agree with him. I ask if I can come in to help hold him instead. They say that really doesn't help, and I reluctantly agree to the sedation.
Again, 48 hours of vomiting. An extremely rough recovery. After the 48 hours, he does have one day of seemingly normal eating. The blood work comes back over the weekend: turns out my cat's liver enzymes are elevated. At the same time, my cat starts to rapidly decline. He doesn't eat for two days. He turns jaundiced and yellow. I rush him to the emergency vet.
After the emergency vet and weeks of treatment and taking him to a new vet and getting a recheck done, it seems my cat is in the midst of liver failure, and is probably headed to the end of his life fairly soon.
I can't say for certain that the sedation set off a chain reaction in my cat that led to where we are now, but it seems more likely than not to me that that is in fact what happened, based on the timing of everything.
Dr. Goldsmith didn't know, couldn't have known at the time, that my cat's liver was in such a precarious state and that 48 hours of going without food would be all it took to tip him. But I do think that the liberal attitude in this clinic with regard to sedating cats for routine procedures is a problem. Every vet I've told this to has been surprised he was sedated for something as routine as a blood draw. And again, my cat isn't a fighter, a scratcher, a biter. I couldn't be in the exam room with him due to continuing COVID restrictions here, but if he was displaying any aggressive behavior that warranted sedation, that is 100% on the clinic. No vet before or since has ever had that problem with him.
Cat-friendly clinics can be hard to find, but I've learned a painful lesson about their value. I don't know if they're not handling the cats correctly, or if it really is just an issue of over-medicating, but I regret not standing up more for my pet, and I'd rather go a half hour out of my way to somewhere I feel like he'll be properly and kindly cared for than take him back here.
I do appreciate Dr. Goldsmith's demonstrated concern for my animal, but I'm not comfortable with the practices going on at this clinic. I hope they might be able to evaluate their treatment of cats and implement some changes in the future.
Dr Goldsmith passed away in 2024, the clinic is closed! A new doctor tried to took over/reopen once but she is gone. Only answering machine left with the old Dr Goldsmith message but nobody answer/return calls anymore
