Faithful Friends Animal Hospital

The minute I walked into the examination room, I was greeted with, «Don’t be offended but.,» I was thinking how rude she was, considering I was bringing my tortoise, which I had for fifteen years for vet care. She made me feel horrible. I had to stop her relentless negativity by saying, «Please stop, I’m here for a solution.» I had to stay focus to make sure my tortoise was being cared for properly. Thank goodness, I knew what my pet needed, because she was trying to add on so many unnecessary procedures to pad the bill. I would never go back there again.

Brought my (terrified of vets) Boston terrier there after a terrible experience with another vet in the neighborhood. The office was clean, the receptionist was friendly and the wait was minimal. More importantly, the doctor really took her time to explain everything to us and answer all questions. We did not feel rushed at all, and both the doctor and her assistant were very good with my dog, who was very scared during the exam. No one tried to sell us anything beyond what we came in for. Very happy with the whole experience and finally found a good vet!

I came here for an emergency visit because my vet of 15 years no longer worked with the practice I had been going to.
If you are looking to bring your pet rabbit here like I did, please make sure it’s basic care. A lot of vets do not specialize in rabbit care — only basic procedures such as check ups, spay/​neuter.
I am writing this review because the vet here and the employees were very sensitive to what my family and I were going through. My rabbit needed to be put to sleep because of a medical issue. I was reading some other Unilocal reviews, and felt that it was not fair to have a reputation to be insensitive, and uncaring. Vet was very professional.
Nonetheless, this was my first and only visit. They were referred to me from a veterinarian that my grandmother uses (that does not see or treat rabbits).

I just brought my pitbull mix here and I had an amazing experience I felt inclined to write a review. First off, I am a registered nurse so I am familiar with medical terminology and issues. So I usually have an idea if the vet is bull$hitting me for more money. I went too two different vets 1 of them being pet haven and I was not happy at all. I did not feel like they cared about my dog they were doing things on auto.
However, this vet is amazing. She’s a pretty, intelligent and extremely knowledgeable doctor. She was so sweet with my dog and took the time to explain things to me. NEVER pushy (which is a big deal to me I hate when doctors try to push things down your throat)
I definitely will go again when needed. I highly highly highly recommend this place!

I have been bringing my cat here for several years and have had nothing but good experiences. The staff is extremely friendly and it’s always been easy for me to get an appointment quickly. I don’t know what the «going rate» for vets is in NYC (this is the only vet I’ve ever used in the city), but I’ve always felt that the prices were extremely reasonable, more so than I had been expecting when I first went. Most importantly, Dr Caruso is great and seems to genuinely care about the animals. I’m not sure about the comments here about her being «rude»… I’d say that she IS really honest and can have a somewhat «blunt» delivery (like many other people in this city), so perhaps that comes across as «rude» to certain people. But I think she’s great! I sometimes even joke to my friends that I’m jealous of my cat, because I wish Dr Caruso could be MY doctor!
I took my new kitten here a few years back when I first adopted her. (Sean Casey Animal Rescue recommended Dr Caruso.) Our kitty had a number of health issues, including a respiratory illness, eye issues, and ringworm. Dr Caruso helped get her fixed up in no time, was very helpful in explaining the treatments to us, and answered all of our questions. She’s also clearly very experienced with handling skittish animals– our cat barely even winces when she gets vaccines from Dr Caruso. All of the vet techs (I think that’s what they’re called? not sure the terminology) are super nice and friendly as well, and always do a great job calming down our cat when she’s anxious.
Last time I took my cat here for her annual checkup, I saw something that really showed me how much Dr Caruso cares about animals. A woman came into the clinic with a severely injured kitten in a box– she’d found it lying in the street, and it had apparently been hit by a car. Dr Caruso took in the kitten and said she was going to try her best to save it. This was late in the day, when I imagine she was eager to go home, and I doubt that she ever received payment for this, since it was a stray cat brought in by a bystander. This gave me a really positive impression of Dr Caruso because I could tell that she still does this out of love for animals, not as «just a job» or for the money.
I look forward to taking my cat back for her next checkup, and I recommend Dr Caruso highly whenever anyone asks me for a vet recommendation.

Dr Caruso has NO BEDSIDE MANNER either for the pets or their parents. I was not impressed :(

I really don’t understand the negative reviews on here.
Dr. Caruso and her staff were nothing great! I came in so my kitty Kayla can have a check up and I walked out with another cat. A beautiful black kitten who is now named Ozzie. I think his name was Binx before?!
Her prices are very reasonable and she did not try to sell me anything unnecessary.
Thanks guys for everything. Kayla and Ozzie said hello!

It’s one of the wonders of modern life that the onus for brain activity has now been placed squarely on «informed consumers». This means so-​called experts in a variety of fields are today allowed to be increasingly less effective and intellectually invested in their jobs.
The second wonder is the smugness with which these experts function. Presumably the time a thoughtful person would spend on feeling ashamed at his shortcomings is taken up with inventing creative new buck-​passing techniques, and maybe a hopeful hour or two swiping right on Tinder.
At Faithful Friends I found the vet so deeply embedded in her own ass that it’s a wonder she was able to see the animals. It might explain how little she seemed to want to do for them: first of all, it’s daaaaaaaark where her head is — too dark, apparently, to read medical texts. I was told among other things that a vet’s job is «to assume that people are giving the full course of medicines I prescribe,» when even an undergraduate public health minor knows that the first rule, especially when dealing with something highly transferable, is «assume non-​compliance.» That’s why, for example, the WHO has directly observed treatment protocols for humans treating themselves for deadly infections, let alone animals potentially owned by flakes, morons, or knuckleheads. Having her head up there clearly leaves so little space to give a shit.
Second, she demonstrated how easily she could blame her staff, other pet owners, and of course her clients for her own apparent lack of interest. It’s not her fault, of course –asking people to do their jobs, unfair!
Remember that line in High Fidelity, when Barry asks, «How can someone with no interest in music own a record store?» I think a similar question can be applied here: «How does someone who shows no enthusiasm for helping animals be healthy become a vet?»
The question’s rhetorical of course. The only important thing to know is that this is not a vet I would recommend even to an enemy, because what did my enemy’s poor dog ever do to me?

I was apprehensive after reading all these negative Unilocal reviews, but I was proven wrong. Today I took my dog Lupe here for follow up on UTI infection, everyone from the reception, vet techs and doctor were fantastic. They recognized my dog, were so compassionate, answered all my questions. The place was clean and the service was through, Dr. Jill followed up on all my concerns and explained everything. If I didn’t live so far away I would definitely come back, or maybe I will start traveling here just for there service. The prices are also reasonable. Thank you Dr. Jill and staff.

The staff is great. Too bad the dr is rude and unprofessional. She was so busy scolding me about how I apparently have done everything wrong for my bearded dragon over the last 10 yrs that she failed to diagnose his tail rot. Thanks for nothing but taking my money and giving me depression. You need to redirect your anger to people who deserve it not people trying to bring their pets to you for help.

This vet should only be used as a last resort. My dog had an undiagnosed yeast infection for 3 years. This vet never caught it. Another vet diagnosed it on day one. Prescribed meds and problem solved.
This wasn’t the first health issue with a pet they missed.
Again, use them only as a last resort.

Took my dog here for surgery, everything seemed fine. The next day all the stitches came out and my dogs intestines were hanging out. I had to bring my dog to a pet emergency room for them to do the job right.

This is by far the best vet I’ve ever been to. Jill and her team are professional and efficient and you can tell they really care about all of the animals they see in their office.
I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for an affordable and reliable place to take their pets!

Dr. Caruso is great. We used her as vet at a previous location. She is on point in her observations and doesn’t recommend unnecessary procedures. I would definitely recommend her as a vet as i had no issues bringing my 3 cats to her. She is approachable and seems to genuinely care about your pets.

I was very impressed by this place and will gladly bring my dog back here as needed. The facility is clean, the staff is friendly, it was easy to get an appointment, and they accept care credit. I’ve only been in the city for 6 years and would bring my dog to my vet back home (300 miles away) because the vets I tried down here were terrible (overpriced and pushy). Dr. Caruso was great and asked my permission before doing anything such as shaving my dog’s fur or taking blood, and conferred with me regarding the ability to administer treatments to my dog rather than telling me I had to do it. As an RN, I know how important it is to work with the patients and fit treatments into their lifestyle versus demanding something be done, and Dr. Caruso does this very well. I was very happy!

I’m shocked that no one has ever said anything about the rude front desk girl. I’ve been to Faithful Friends twice and unfortunately she was the person who was working both times. For some reason, she feels the need to respond to pet parents with a condescending and arrogant tone. Negativity just radiates off of her. She acts like you are an inconvenience. She’s done it to me and I’ve seen her do it to almost everyone who walks out of there. It doesn’t make me feel comfortable to leave my pet there after having to deal with her. I don’t feel the need to describe her because I’m sure they know who I am talking about.
It is a reflection of Dr. Caruso and the management of this facility.
After my two visits, I don’t feel that these people truly care about what they are doing. For example, upon picking up my kitten after being fixed, I had to ASK for a cone and pain medication. The doctor claimed that 90% of the time, cats will not lick their stitches. Really? Are you kidding me? Why would I even take the chance? Then once the vet tech, who was VERY rough, had FINISHED fitting my kitten with the cone they tell me it’s going to cost extra for both the pain meds and cone. I’m a very reasonable person and I don’t like having to do this, but I just felt it needed to be said. If you love your pet and you’re looking for a truly caring, animal loving and compassionate vet, please don’t go here.

Dr. Caruso and staff are so compassionate. They have treated my pets and the parade of foster pets so respectfully and with such care. They have also often allowed me to come in at the last minute with animals I found injured in my neighborhood. Can’t say enough good things!

Dr. Caruso was great with my rabbit today, Vaska. I went to get her spayed today and Dr. Caruso was very gentle with her. She made sure that my bunny felt comfortable and most importantly answered all of my questions that I had for her. The doctor is very nice and I would recommend this vet to anyone. My bunny is back home now and is doing well. I would definitely come back here for check ups and any other sort of things that would need to be done. I can’t thank you enough for making this experience as easy as possible for me and my baby girl Vaska.

We bought a kitten just few days ago and went to see Dr. Caruso the very next day to make sure the kitten was healthy. She was highly recommended as a great vet by our neighbor.
There was no wait and the office is brand new and very clean. Dr. Caruso might not be the most amicable person (no smiles or small jokes) but she gave us her full attention and answered every question we had. I liked that she did not push any commercial products and did not create any hype around buying extra vitamins and supplements for the kitten, etc. Instead, she focused her comments and advise on what really matters — should we or should we not feed the cat raw meat diet at a later point, when is the best time to get her neutered, what additional tests are really important considering we have a young child at home. We liked her matter of fact, down to earth approach.
The only disappointment was that she advised us to feed the kitten 2 cans of wet food a day instead of one in response to our comment that we felt that the kitten was asking for more and did not touch the dry food. Boy did we regret that advise the next day! The kitten ate double portion gladly and vomited all over our carpet in the bedroom! We switched to 1 can a day the next day and the issue went away. Not a huge deal but I wish Dr. Caruso was a little bit more careful or more specific with that advise considering we told her we were complete novices with kitten handling.

In the interest of full disclosure, I used to work for Dr. Caruso. I wanted to write this review not because I’m biased but because I’ve spent more time with her than most clients (fortunately!) will. Dr. Caruso really, truly, seriously cares about animals. It’s not an act. It is basically her duty in life to take care of all critters. Pets need a caring, gentle and knowledgeable doctor just like humans, and Dr. C is the one.