Long Branch Animal Hospital of West Long Branch

Long Branch Animal Hospital of West Long Branch is a veterinarian in West Long Branch, New Jersey, serving Long Branch and the surrounding Monmouth County communities. The hospital treats dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, and other small mammals, and offers routine checkups, preventive and routine medical care, dentistry, ultrasound imaging, and soft tissue, orthopedic, ophthalmic, and emergency surgery. It holds a rating of 4.60 from 224 reviews.

The practice has been a member of the Monmouth County community for over 30 years and works closely with local rescues and Animal Control. Its veterinarians attend continuing education courses each year, and the hospital describes its approach as open dialogue with pet owners so that treatment plans fit each pet's needs. The surgical suite handles procedures including cystotomy, splenectomy, foreign body surgery, intestinal biopsies, cruciate repair using the lateral suture technique, medial patella luxation, enucleation, entropion surgery, eyelid mass removals, pyometra, and wound repair. Before surgery, each pet receives a pre-surgical examination and blood screen, and an individualized anesthesia protocol is built from the results along with the pet's anesthetic history, breed, pre-existing conditions, and age.

Dental care is a focus: the hospital notes that 70% to 85% of pets over the age of 2 have some form of dental disease, and its dental procedures include general anesthesia, periodontal probing, ultrasonic scaling above the gumline, curette cleaning below it, polishing, intraoral radiographs, and fluoride application. The hospital is not a 24-hour emergency facility but handles a wide range of sick and urgent care appointments and accepts same-day sick visits when possible.

Dr. Pla, a co-owner, earned his DVM from Cornell University in 1995 and an MBA from Rutgers University in 2018, with special interests in behavior, nutrition, and gastrointestinal diseases. Dr. Elaina Petrone joined in November 2020 and is a graduate of the Small Animal Veterinary Ultrasound Imaging Program at the Academy of Veterinary Imaging in Dallas, with interests in ultrasound, dentistry, dermatology, internal medicine, feline medicine, cardiology, and geriatric medicine. Dr. Lee is a Certified Cat Friendly Veterinarian through the American Association of Feline Practitioners, and Dr. Caroline Pawlowski, who joined in August 2023, focuses on preventative care, the human-animal bond, and quality of life for senior pets.

The hospital sits on 2nd Avenue, about a tenth of a mile from Ocean Boulevard and roughly a quarter mile from Monmouth Medical Center. Seashore School and the Long Branch train station are each within about a third to a half mile.

With more than three decades serving Monmouth County and a large base of customer reviews behind its 4.60 rating, Long Branch Animal Hospital of West Long Branch has built an established track record caring for the pets of Long Branch and its neighboring communities.