Downtown Veterinary Associates

I have taken my dogs to Downtown Veterinary Associates for care for illnesses as well as routine appointments for years. Have had consistently positive experiences with short wait times, and the prices remain reasonable by comparison with other vet offices to which I’ve taken my dogs. Would recommend DVA if your pet needs to see a vet in Jersey City.

Went in today for a kitty with UTI symptoms. The vet tech, Joe, was really great with her, held her and pet her and kept her occupied while I was talking to Dr. Snarski. The vet also seemed really good and thorough and gave me all of the diagnostic options and had me choose what I was comfortable with doing. The total was a little more than I’m used to paying, but only because of the urinalysis. All of the other charges are comparable to what I’ve paid in the past.
Overall, happy customer/​patient.

Very happy with this office. All vets are professional, pleasant and competent. They provide detailed office visit notes and they charge reasonable fees (and give you an estimate up front so there is no sticker shock). My dog Jack actually enjoys going there. No trembling and drooling like he did at previous vet offices. First rate animal care.

I cannot express to you my deep-​down hatred for this place. It’s an abomination. I first started going to Dr. Tuder’s office in Hoboken over 10 years ago for my cat. The service back then was fine and basic. Since then, Dr. Tuder’s office has grown and his staff expanded and consists of mostly young, text-​book vets who can’t think outside the box.
I brought in my 6 year old terrier mix for a teeth cleaning. After blood tests were drawn, I was told that she had protein in her urine and that basically, she is dying of kidney failure. She was prescribed a cocktail of prescriptions and gave her a very bleak survival outlook. My family and I were devastated and my 9 year old son was uncontrollably depressed for a couple of days. She went downhill fast; she stopped eating, vomiting, diarrhea, fevers, lethargy — all the symptoms of kidney failure. Mind you, she showed no signs of kidney failure when I first took her to DVA for a check-​up for teeth cleaning. However, the vets informed me that these symptoms were due to the kidney failing. After 3 weeks on the medications, she was almost on death’s door. She had acquired ascites and her abdomen had swollen so big that it became hard for her to breathe. Finally, I had DVA drain her so she could be comfortable. I also informed them that I would be taking her completely off the meds as I would rather have her quality of life improve even if she is going to die soon. They strongly were against that and the vet I saw that day sarcastically stated, «You know, she will bloat up again.» I told her, I will take that chance.
My little dog bounced back, had energy, an appetite and was also running around a few days later. She was almost her true self but she did start to retain fluid again in her abdomen. Because of the fluid build up, I took her to a specialist in NYC, Blue Pearl. The vet confirmed kidney issues, but a kidney infection that may have been caused by Lyme. She prescribed a med cocktail for my dog and said if the bloating doesn’t subside, then she will have to get a biopsy (total cost around $ 3500). After 2 weeks on the medicines, she bloated to a size that made her very uncomfortable and it was hard for her to breathe. I had had enough! I took her off all medications and had Dr. Lisa Bongiovanni at Bayonne Veterinary Medical drain her and prescribe her on Chinese herbs. She drained more than a quart of fluid from her abdomen! For a 10 pound dog, that is a lot! After my dog was drained and put on herbs, she became her old self within a week! She was very underweight as she had not eaten much while on the meds, but her appetite quickly returned and so did her energy. It has been 4 months since she has barked, ran in the field and chased squirrels. These were 4 months of hell. I can’t thank Dr. Lisa enough for saving my poor dog. She even gave her a free acupuncture session.
After $ 7000 combined at DVA and Blue Pearl, my dog might’ve died because of these high-​end, city vets. My dog did not have the same vet ONCE at DVA. The vets there go through a revolving door. They sell only what they learned from textbooks. They overlooked the fact that there was a healthy dog in their office and then made her deathly sick, but blamed it on a «kidney disease» based on a blood test.
The Blue Pearl in Manhattan, which was referred to us by DVA, charges $ 56 for checking my dog’s blood pressure! At a follow up appointment, all the same charges again, including the $ 56 book pressure check. Each visit cost over $ 400.
Bayonne Veterinary Medical is not fancy, but offers alternatives to textbook care. Dr. Lisa was amazing. She followed up each week to see how my dog was and instead of shoving medical «you-​must-​do-​this-​or-​you-​will-​harm-​your-​dog-​because-​you-​are-​not-​a-​vet», she tells you black and white how things are and gives you options.
My dog is alive, well and back to her young, vibrant self without medications and only an herbal supplement twice daily.
DVA is good if your pet needs his shots or yearly check up, but other than that, I do not recommend them for properly diagnosing your pet for more difficult cases. Or in my case, mis-​diagnosing a healthy dog and then almost killing her!
I regret taking my dog there. I truly believe that she would’ve been fine without the medications. She is not dying of kidney disease or infection. She just had her tests drawn and they are all normal. Basically, there was nothing wrong with her in the first place.

I’ve been taking my dog to Downtown for 7+ yrs and I have to say their care and concern has been consistently going down since. I took my dog to get her nails trimmed last week and came home to find they cut almost 10 of her digits down to the red part of her flesh! She had yellow gel on 2 of them to stop bleeding. She was licking obsessively over the weekend so took a closer look and noticed that two of the nail (the last toe) were not properly trimmed; they had jagged nail edges that have been cutting into the side of her other toe causing a cut that was raw, swollen and looked like it had pus. It started bleeding when she walks. Today too her back to the vet explained what happened to the doctor with pictures never got an apology; he basically trimmed her hair around the cuts then used his finger to rub back and forth over her cut a couple of times and told me to put a cream on it. Could not even be bothered to put the medication on her himself! The lady at the reception was very nice and apologetic but I was told to pay $ 28 for the medication cream «but they told me my evaluation was «free». That’s it no apology, no remorse!

We love this place! I’m hesitant to write a great review because this place is already super popular, however they deserve it.
They accept walk-​ins which is really convenient, assuming you’re ok to come at an off time, or be patient on a Saturday morning.
There are a variety of doctors on staff, some with more experience than others. In general we found them to be very friendly and nice with reasonably priced services. We highly recommend them!

We loved Dr Lentis! She was thorough and explained our options… and suggested that we take a conservative approach before the more expensive testing. She gave a great referral to an ophthalmologist. We will be back for sure!

This review is for Dr. Irene Lentis. I’ve been to nearly every vet in this practice in the few years since moving to Jersey City. I have to whole heartedly disagree with the previous Unilocaler who characterized Dr. Lentis in an unfavorable light. In my opinion, Dr. Lentis is by far the most knowledgeable, considerate, and respectful vet I’ve ever brought my dog Poco to. She spent an extensive amount of time listening to my description of his symptoms and creating a care plan for his GI issues that was aimed to maximize his comfort and minimize expenses to me. When she called to follow up a few days later, she was every bit as patient, engaged, and informed as she was in person. Thank you Dr. Lenis – you have gained the trust of this lifelong pet parent!

I used to bring my puppy here for routine check ups.
Apparently it was good until yesterday, when I took my puppy to the clinic, as she had diarrhea for the past 2 days.
Dr. Irene Lentis was taking care of us.
She checked the body temperature, looked at undertail area, at skin and eyes and palpatated the abdomen.
I was expecting to be asked to drop off the fecals for analysis or be scheduled for a blood test or anything that might explain the diarrhea. She never proposed any ideas of what could cause the problem, instead I was takling, making assumptions of what it could be.
All we got is the antibotics and diet advise, which is fiber diet and plain one.
Fiber food for a 5 months puppy? Be serious. This is not a grown up dog, its a growing puppy!
Plain diet is chicken and rise. I was gibing rice for the past few days to my dog and when I asked how to cook chiken, Dr. said its already cooked and I can buy it at the facility. She never told me what is the advantage of that special chicken and rice food of theirs.
All she cared about is how to sell the food.
My dog is my family. I want to see care for her from the vet we trust our baby with.
I am sorry Irene Lentis, but I will not recommend my friends to bring their pets to you.
Now the clinic gets 1 star.

We took our dog Buster here today for a
Checkup and were very pleased. The process was quick and simple to check in and it’s great that you don’t need an appointment! The tech and vet were both so fantastic. They really took their time making Buster feel comfortable and Dr Oratio was very informative and thorough, answering all my questions and never making us feel rushed despite the fact that she spent so much time examining Buster. We were never pressured to buy anything, and the prices were totally reasonable. To people who think they aren’t, it’s 2015: healthcare is expensive, but it’s an investment that you owe your pet. Buster loved it there so much that he didn’t want to leave, even though he got two needle biopsies, blood work, and vaccines… he whined when we left! Haha. Overall, this is a great place, especially for all my fellow MetroVet refugees.

We’ve had some hit or misses with the doctors here over the years, but the two times it really matters they came through for us — Dr. McGuire saved our dog’s life two months ago by sending us to emergency surgery at Blue Pearl in Manhattan right away, and Dr. Katz made sure that our goodbyes today were very peaceful and that our puppy didn’t suffer. Also the front staff was very kind and caring.

I called to inquire about a service for my cat and to schedule an appointment and the ‘lady’ on the phone was so condescending and rude that I would NEVER step foot in this place. Absolutely unprofessional. Zero stars.

I couldn’t be happier with my experience here. The vet tecs and the vet were extremely good to my cat, it actually warmed my heart Dr. Ng was very thorough and gave us (first time pet owners) really good tips. She showed us how to clip her nails and was very patient. Out cat (usually very fidgity anywhere that isnt out apartment) was very calm in their care. All around great experience, especially for the low price we paid for a routine check up.

Everyone was really nice and seemed to care, but I feel like the expense is too much.
First, I paid my bill and was looking at the invoice and noticed a $ 21 charge for a food item I didn’t say I wanted, nor had the tech brought out with the medication. They removed it but I felt like it was shady to put that on there without telling me and that if I hadn’t looked at my bill closely, I would have just paid $ 21 for nothing.
Also, my cat is 5 years old, yet he received a «geriatric» blood panel. When I asked about this, they told me that this is just what the panel is called and it was not based on his age. If this is the standard panel they give all patients, why? This was not explained to me at all. I left feeling like the main goal was to charge as much as possible, not treat my pet.

I was happy with the care my cats receive here. Routine visits cost a reasonable fee, although when one of our cats needed some surgery, it was pricier than we had expected. That said, the care was excellent and our cat recovered very well, which is, of course, the most important thing.
The only real complaints I’d have is that the place can be crowded on weekends, so don’t plan on a quick visit. Also, I wish the staff treated people as well as they treat the animals – it is not the friendliest vet clinic I’ve ever visited.
But the bottom line is that so long as our pets get great care, that’s all that matters, and we have been happy with the Downtown Veterinary Associates on that score.

We recently moved to the area and were told that downtown vet is a good place. My dog needed a bandage change and it turned into a $ 515 visit because allegedly the splint was broken in half. The splint was quoted at about $ 385 which is simply ridiculous compared to our vet in DC. My husband later called another vet in the area and was quoted at $ 150-​$ 250 for the splint.
I was planning to bring her back for X-​ray but after hearing it’s about $ 250 I decided not to…

I also had a very good experience today. My dog was seen by Dr. Ng and she examined my dog very thoroughly as if she was her own dog and gave us recommendations/​tips that we never considered for the best care of our dog. Goes to show that she’s very knowledgeable in her field. In short, I am very happy with Dr. Ng and Downtown Vet in general.
I’ve actually been coming here not only for my dogs, but for my cats as well. The other Vets are great as well, although I feel sometimes they’re not as detailed (maybe because I usually come on a Saturday which is probably their busiest time).

I had to be suspicious about how this office went from a 2 star average to a 4.5 average, so I made the mistake of checking it out again. The waiting area was still as dingy as ever. The vet we saw was gruff with my pup and made jokes about her «v*lva»…how professional! Before She even asked, this woman was shoving cotton balls down my pup’s ears that were just cleaned (and of course a charge was added to our bill.) Then, when I posted an update attempting to review my latest visit it was promptly reported and removed because I also mentioned additional circumstances. Odd. Beware!

We had an excellent experience this morning. The staff was very pleasant and friendly. It was a busy Saturday morning but we got in quickly. Dr. Oratio was so sweet and very knowledgeable. We really like it here and will be back. I have a 95 pound Presa Canario both the clients and staff were welcoming and nice. We bought treats as well for a good price.

If you haven’t decided on a place to take your pet for a checkup or for any incidentals that may occur, look into Downtown Veterinary Associates (DVA).
We started taking our Enzo there after he had an accident with his leg. When the accident happened, we called DVA and Doctor Ng told us to bring him right in. Doctor Ng was very accommodating with us and the service was great. The staff was very pleasant, helpful and attentive.