Shark River Veterinary Hospital

My very weak and sick senior dog was seen by this facility. My review is aimed at the office help there. Upon entering the office, I was immediately shown papers about prior vet visits that were not even mine. These particular papers had someone else's name on them and not even my pet! Very frustrating and draining to say the least at this very emotional time. Then, upon my arrival at home, I was sent a "Happy Birthday type marketing greeting" with my dog's name on it...totally inappropriate under the circumstances -it was very hurtful to see it. My beloved pet was dying and I never gave them a birth date. The office workers there had very little, if any, compassion. High level of incompetence for sure.

Last month the Vet I saw here made me very concern that my 16 yro dog may have cancer and told me to come back for another xray in April to see if the spots noted in the xray grew. My dog already has a very enlarge heart so adding cancer on top of that scared the heck out of me. I came in for a follow-up appointment and was assigned a different vet that did not bother to look at the chart before examining my little guy...( did not know my dog had a previous xray or blood work within the last 2 months)..I had to explained all past details and concerns a few times. I went in thinking that maybe my dog was going to be put down ( he started to have seizures recently) and instead actually found out that maybe he does not have cancer...but only after I complained about the Dr.s lack of understanding about what I was here for. Then came the charges... and I questioned why the first time I was charged 90$ for an xray and now 5 weeks later being charged $180.. I think it was an office manager( god help them if true) that came out to insist I must pay the full amount because they took 2 imagines instead of one this time. I kept questioning why when this was only a follow-up visit. Short story I told her I am not paying 180 and will only pay 90, she threaten to call the police..I said go ahead and then the Vet came out and told the tech/manager to go ahead and remove the billing for the extra xray, she states to the VET "that is ridiculous" .!REALLY...can you imagine thinking your dog is dying-getting poor service and a lack of understanding only to be greeted with a tech that is taking a stand when even the VET states it is ok just charge her the lessor amount. I have heard bad things about this place from neighbors but decided to give them a try because it is good to have a VET near by when you have an older sick dogs. Save yourself a painful experience when your dog is approaching end of life and avoid this place at all cost..been to lots of of vets in my 60 yrs of life and this was by far the worst experience ever. Update-went to a cardiologist today, Dr. Ryan Keegan, for rocky, not good news but the vet was amazing, anyhow the records Shark River sent to this Dr., stated " O EXTREMELY AGRESSIVE AND REFUSED TO PAY FOR ADDITIONAL XRAY" yep in all caps. Pretty sure it does not get more unprofessional than this. Sorry Dr. Batich, you asked me to reconsider my previous review, I cannot as this time the comments on the records sent really upset my wife. Maybe you should make some reconsiderations in your practice overall and who you hire to represent YOU.

Dr was very kind and informative with a kitten we found in the street.

Dr Batich is awesome. So compassionate and caring. I felt as though he loved my dog as much as I do!! Your pet is in great hands. The office staff is so helpful and was able to get me right in.

Got my first puppy and brought her here for her first visit. We loved Dr. Batich! He was so kind and caring towards me, my husband and our pup. Our pup really liked him, which was very important to us. You can tell Dr. Batich loves animals and their well-being. He was very informative and was very patient with all of our questions. The only downside was that we had a long wait time but that could have been beyond the doctor's control. Aside from that, service was great and we are coming back for our visit very soon.