I’m sharing my experience specifically regarding the medical care, follow-up, and overall attention at Westwood Regional Veterinary Hospital.
I lost my dog on April 26—just two days after surgery—due to cardiac arrest. I had been told he was recovering, so this outcome was shocking and devastating to me and my family. He passed away in an oxygen cage at the hospital, without his family present.
What makes this even more difficult is everything that led up to it.
About six months earlier, he developed a dry cough and gagging that progressively worsened. In early 2026, I brought him in for evaluation and was primarily seen by Dr. Hartwick. After exams and bloodwork, I was told it was possibly a virus from daycare, and he was sent home with antibiotics and cough medication. His condition did not improve.
As his symptoms became more frequent and more concerning in March, I made multiple attempts to follow up and discuss next steps. I was unable to reach her and did not receive callbacks during that time despite my messages. Eventually, another doctor contacted me a few days later and advised continued monitoring.
From my perspective, there was a concerning lack of urgency, follow-through, and continuity of care during a period when his condition was clearly deteriorating.
By April 23, his breathing had worsened to the point where he could barely breathe, and he was admitted for surgery. He passed away two days later.
Given how his symptoms progressed and the difficulty I had getting timely responses, it’s hard not to question whether earlier intervention, more proactive care, or clearer guidance could have made a difference.
I felt a lack of compassion and awareness that I did not expect.
I would not feel comfortable relying on this hospital for situations that require attentive medical care, timely communication, and close follow-up.
Dr Cattiny did a nice job excising two mast cell tumors from Gavin's skinny hind right leg. He acted quickly to do an emergency surgery, of a complicated infection and a difficult skin graft. He was most compassionate sitting with me as we faced the future. The vet techs did beautiful jobs wrapping his leg for special needs, overnight surgery Care Tech sent me an adorable selfie next to morning showing Gavin awake in his arms.
And follow-ups, Dr Hartwick was forthcoming with information about options for cancer patients, she was patient, calm and informative, lovely lady.
There is an ample staff serving their clients. I usually go to Dr Cattiny's original Pompton Lakes Animal Hospital due to proximity. But his newer 24-hour Hospital in Westwood is state of the art for all aspects of care.
We also loved Dr Giammonco who was our regular vet at Pompton Lakes, so caring and kind and sensitive to my financial situation. The doctors care about the human owners as much as our pets, are aware of Gavin's work in the public, and sensitive to our financial situation.
Hopefully Gavin will recover and we will be granted the gift of more time living normal healthy lives. He also is missed in his vital role as a certified therapy dog who has served our community and Elsewhere for years, in a wide variety of events and locations , including our schools, organizations, municipality , senior housing since 2017. His friends are waiting for him and we hope to get back soon.
Please do not ever bring your pet here if they suffer from seizures. These doctors had no clue how to treat my pet, they misprescribed his medicine seizures were becoming so bad that we thought we were going to have to put him down.. Finally took him to a neurologist and they gave him four times the amount of medicine, if it was up to Westwood he would have been left for dead
