Sometimes, several people have to travel many miles to help one dog beat a dangerous disease.
My animals and I were looking forward to spending the summer in the mountains upstate. But when my dog Sam’s cancer returned, those plans changed. Instead, we’ve been driving to and from Westbury, N.Y., the location of the Center for Specialized Veterinary Care.
Truth be told: If your vacation spot has to be an animal hospital, it doesn’t get any nicer than this.
"Evidence shows that animals heal faster with family," says the center’s visionary founder, veterinarian Dr. Diane Levitan. So she created the Compassionate Care Center, the country’s first facility where owners stay overnight while their pets undergo treatment.
Cozy rooms have a platform bed for dogs and a recliner for humans, plus a TV, sink, desk, and Internet connection. A tour of this sunny place gives great peace of mind. I’ve never seen any hospital – human or animal – as clean and welcoming as this.
Staffed with vets as caring as they are highly skilled, including oncologist Dr. Gerald Post (who commutes from his Connecticut office), the center also boasts extremely high-tech equipment, including a linear accelerator – used to pinpoint radiation for cancer treatment – that occupies its own vault.
Other services offered include a car service to pick up clients from all five boroughs of New York and bereavement counseling. But with Dr. Levitan and her staff fighting hard for Sam’s life, I trust we won’t be needing the latter any time soon.
