The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center

This is the only Place to go if in New York. The level of care here is beyond amazing. The specialist like Dr. West and Dr. Fox are exceptional. Primary Care here is also great like Dr. Chow that has a caring way and great heart. Emergency is the best you can get. They cost a little more but they are precise in what they do. In the end it will cost a little less.

I’m a human surgeon & graduated from Columbia Medical School and Harvard for my residency & Tolstoy is my 4th dog, so I believe this qualifies me as a reviewer somewhat more than a non-MD, in terms of rating this organization My dog had what I feared was a pathological fracture of his wrist, because he just slipped playing in the snow, so the trauma shouldn’t have caused a fracture. 99% of the time the cause is osteosarcoma, and I published a paper on Ewing’s sarcoma, so I came in with some idea of the diagnosis Intake was quick and efficient but the vet Dr Alicia Mastracco was brusque & should have at least pretended to care about our feelings when she agreed he might have cancer & she’d have to sedate him & X-ray him After waiting 1 hour she brought us into an exam room, pulled up his films because she knew I’m a surgeon, & said Tolstoy had a pathological fracture due to osteosarcoma and said we needed to decide on amputation or euthanasia. My wife started to cry is the only reason Dr Mastracco said she’d give us “a few minutes to decide”. She also yelled at me to move away from the monitor, when all I wanted to do was get close enough to see how displaced the fracture was When I questioned why she would recommend amputation followed by chemotherapy, when almost all dogs who go down that costly and miserable route wind up dying in 6-12 months anyway, she got defensive to the point of getting angry I decided against amputation and said I’d let my vet perform an in-home euthanasia, since Tolstoy wasn’t in severe pain, and we wanted to have time to properly spoil him with steak & say goodbye & allows many friends and followers to do the same (he had almost 3 million views one of his TikToks) She refused to even attempt to perform a closed reduction under sedation, & instead splinted him & submitted a charge of $600 for doing so, which was excessive & unnecessary since she was recommending immediate euthanasia anyway At Columbia medical school as 3rd year students we took a course on physician patient communication, including how to deliver bad news. I’m positive none of our fledging doctors could have had a worse, more uncaring bedside manner delivering a terminal diagnosis if they tried Perhaps vet schools don’t have similar courses because their patients can’t talk. But their clients can, so such courses should be mandatory The front desk staff was also incredibly callous and uncaring & said they didn’t even know the name of the vet we saw & took 15 minutes to provide it. I know they’re probably somewhat burnt out. But if they didn’t have a calling to work in a caring profession, they should just be receptionists in a lawyer’s office instead :( I’d give Dr Mastracco & AMC an A for a quick diagnosis But a D for transparent fair pricing And a F for empathy There were no tissues in the emergency room waiting area, even though many parents were crying There were no counselors available, although every day people are breaking down AMC must immediately address these unacceptable lapses by doing the following: 1. Requiring all staff to undergo sensitivity and patient communication training 2. Partnering with a graduate school of social work or counseling (my family donated $100,000 to Fordham’s MSW school, so I could easily & gladly help make the connection, if asked) so students could rotate through AMC’s ER to provide free grief counseling in exchange for invaluable clinical practice 3. Asking people to approve any charge over $200 or $300 (it’s ethical to ask for permission before not after doing any costly procedure) I hope this pushes AMC to improve 🙏

This is a review I never thought I'd have to make but a necessary one, especially to fellow exotic pet owners in NYC. My hamster of 2.5+ years was showing serious respiratory distress and we got referred to this animal hospital. My partner and I had to make the difficult decision to humanely put him to sleep. I was really nervous about bringing my beloved hamster anywhere for this, because I wasn't sure if small pets would be taken as seriously. However - Pinky was treated with so much respect and love and care by everyone at AMC and made a very sad day much more comfortable for both my hamster and us. Huge thank you to the staff at AMC for offering so much support to me. I wish I got the name of the individual who cared for Pinky in his final hour, but I was reasonably in distress. I now know I can have a place to go not too far for my hamsters if something like this or something less serious arises. RIP Pinky and thank you AMC for your compassion💜

I am still in disbelief and trying to cope with the loss of our Jorgie. We got to the hospital on Friday 11/15, and he was diagnosed with diabetes and pancreatitis. We told the doctors to give him the best care possible. We wanted him to rest Saturday and went to visit him on Sunday. Saturday, I received calls with updates about his health. Please keep in mind that each conversation started with we are at 8 thousand, 10 thousand and on. I lost it at that point but had to continue hearing it because my Jorgie was there. We went to see Jorgie on Sunday. He was brought out breathing very heavy, and I didn't know what was going on. I told the staff to take him back early so he could rest and we could come back tomorrow. Took us 30 minutes to get home, and I received a call from a young lady telling me my balance is over 17 thousand and she would like to collect the payment. I asked her to call me back in 10 minutes so I could address such a high balance. About 10 minutes went by, and I received a call from the doctor telling me they are doing CPR and Jorge can't be saved. I feel like I failed my pup. I feel like the care wasn't genuine. I feel like he wasn't cared for the way he should have been. I feel like they only care about one thing, and that is money.

Last week I had to bring my dog around 2am because he got injured from a fall. As soon as we got in, the receptionist had a slightly rude attitude and sent me to the triage room. In the triage room, the assistant was nice; listened to what I had to say and then took my dog to their treatment area. A good few moments later, the doctor finally came around and had us in a room to talk to us. She explained her concerns and then explained that she wanted to keep my dog in for 24 hours hospitalization to monitor him but we needed to put at least $6,000 down. And if he needed surgery, it would’ve been another $6,000… I was mostly upset that my dog was hurt but the way the doctor made me feel as if I was annoying her was what rubbed me wrong, not only that but to tell me to think of his quality of life which OF COURSE, is the first thing that runs through my mind and he could get Spinal necrosis if I had waited too long. If he would’ve stayed there, he still probably wouldn’t have been seen by a neurologist till after 10am. So they performed an exam but had no real answer, Oh and you have to pay for the exam right away. After reading other reviews, I can only imagine how much they would’ve charged me for an overnight stay. Thankfully, I took him to our regular DVM and was able to keep him there and got him to a specialty place in Long Island that then eventually performed a CT scan, told me exactly what was wrong. My dog is so much better but just needs PT. I just really couldn’t believe my experience there. It was so cold.

This is the only Place to go if in New York. The level of care here is beyond amazing. The specialist like Dr. West and Dr. Fox are exceptional. Primary Care here is also great like Dr. Choe that has a caring way and great heart. Emergency is the best you can get. They cost a little more but they are precise in what they do. In the end it will cost a little less.

Unfortunately, I agree with the other low ratings, especially when it comes to exotic pets. It’s so hard to find a vet for exotics, and AMC was so quick to triage and take my bunny in, that I really wanted to believe it was a great place to end up. I brought my bunny in as she had been favoring one leg and limping. The triage woman was rough with my bun, picking off her scabs to the point where the rabbit screamed multiple times before she put the bun back in her carrier. Someone came out shortly after to walk me through me all of the things that would take place over the next few hours, as I was encouraged to leave her overnight. They did not let me see her again (I can understand she was already distressed) and then basically said they may or may not need to amputate but that’s it, and TBD depending on what the specialist would say (who would arrive that night). I dropped her off around 3pm. By 7:30pm she had died “suddenly” while they were administering antibiotics. I haven’t been able to hear from anyone on what exactly happened so from reading the paperwork, she received: an x-ray, about 5 different pain killers, bloodwork, and antibiotics before undergoing any anesthesia or being seen by a specialist. I wish more than anything that I had been allowed to take her home between the x-ray and the specialist visit as she had been perfectly happy, eating and drinking and hopping around earlier. 4 hours alone in a new environment with a ton of procedures and no anesthesia is too long for a rabbit. When I went to view the body (and handle paperwork), I asked to speak with anyone about what exactly had perspired and what the results of her labs were. They gave me an email address for the ER coordinators. I will bet millions they never get back to me. Seeing as I spent $600 on the X-ray and bloodwork, I would like to at least know what they showed. Maybe they’re understaffed and overworked. Maybe there’s something else going on. If you absolutely MUST take your exotic pet to them, be sure you don’t leave them overnight. Offer to come back when the specialist arrives, and if anything goes wrong, refuse to leave until you have been able to speak with the doctor. Do not let the triage person make you feel like shit - or distress your pet further!!! Communication - F Bedside manner - D Exotics - F Follow up - Z Provider care - no idea I included a picture of her just that morning. Struggling a little, but doing okay.

My piggie was limping around 7pm and I took her here because ER exotic vets are hard to find in Queens. Vets x-rayed, her leg was “unfixable”. It was too much of a risk doing surgery. They gave us an estimate of $12k for surgery or just euthanasia being $2k alone. I would’ve taken a loan out if I had to. The nurse kept implying it’s too much for me to pay. My heart sank and I said nah to unaliving & took her home by 3:30am.It was traumatic taking her home not having the issue solved. I took her to an exotic vet who told me with some meds and solitary time she can miraculously healed! 3 months later she is literally fine. ER staff were very professional and patient. Use your emergency fund to go to an exotic vet instead.