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The final touches are being made to the newly opened City By The Sea Veterinary located in the Shops At Sunset Point on Memorial Drive.

A longtime goal of West Long Branch native Thomas Caltabilota, the full service practice is a fear free certified facility specializing in wellness care and surgical needs.

“It’s always been a dream to open my own animal hospital,” he said. “With all the animals here, it needs a veterinarian.”  

It was a summer job during his teens at Monmouth Park racetrack that first sparked an interest in animal care, the 34-year-old said. There he was attuned to the ability of horses to read the emotions, body language and thoughts of those around them.

At Rutgers University, he not only met his wife and fellow veterinarian Avery Kasten, he worked with exercising horses on high-speed treadmills and studied high-performance drugs. After Rutgers, Caltabilota obtained a master’s degree in equine endocrinology from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge before attending Tuskegee University in Alabama for his veterinary training.

The couple moved back to Jersey Shore, settling in Asbury Park before a recent move to Ocean Township where they share a home with their 10 week old newborn and three dogs.

Caltabilota completed an internship at Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls before launching a house-call palliative care and relief service practice.  

City By The Sea Veterinary offers everything from vaccines and heartworm, flea and tick prevention to a lab that administers in house bloodwork, radiology, X rays – including dental, amputations, soft tissue and orthopedic surgeries.

Aside from cats and dogs, Caltabilota specializes in pocket pets, such as hamsters, gerbils, and mice, but says they will treat all pets who need attentions.

“If it needs to be done and we can do it, we are ready to do it,” he said. “We’ll see anything that walks in the door. Of course we want to be a business that survives and makes money but we want to service the community. We want to help the pets that are at yappy hour and the dog beach.”

The staff includes technicians Jackie Nielsen of Little Egg Harbor and Karen Nalio of West Allenhurst; assistant Michael Skarica of Wall; and client care representative Samantha LeDoux, of Howell.

The practice is outfitted with separate cat and dog waiting areas, four examining rooms, a surgery suite, oversized pet cages, and a euthanasia room complete with couch for final goodbyes a second exit will allow owners to exit without having to back through the waiting area Nalio said. Soon to come will be an underwater treadmill for hydrotherapy care.

Caltabilota said he will continue to make house calls, particularly for those requiring hospice care and at home euthanasia.

“A lot of these animals remember the fear of coming in and getting poked and prodded with needles and things so doing it at home where their family is there and they are surrounded by smells that they are familiar with is just a more peaceful transition,” he said. “We are hoping a lot more people begin doing that, so any time, day or night, we will come out.”  

One example of their fear free practices would be to offer an anxious dog a frozen chicken broth pop instead of using a muzzle to calm the nerves, Le Doux said.

City By The Sea Veterinary is the official partner of Catsbury Park on Cookman Avenue and will be working other rescues and those who trap and release, Caltabilota said.

“We want to be part of the community,” he said. “We’ve already seen three pets who have walked in the door.”

And, Caltabilota and his team have signed on to participate in the Fourth Annual Clean Ocean Action [COA] Sandy Paws fundraiser, being held Sept. 15 along the Asbury Park boardwalk.

The 9:30 am to 12:30 pm event asks pet lovers to participate in a dog walk/beach cleanup in support of creating  awareness and raising funds for COA’s work to improve water quality, reduce marine debris, and keeping beaches and ocean waters safe for pets and humans. There’s also an After PAWty planned at Wonder Bar, complete with prizes, and a costume contest.

City By the Sea Veterinary is located at 1309 Memorial Drive. The hours of operation are 2 to 8 pm Monday and Wednesday, with procedures being done in the morning hours; 10 am to 6 pm Tuesday and Thursday; 10 am to 5 pm Friday; and 10 am to 2 pm Saturday. Caltabilota said the office voice mailbox will be checked regularly outside of hours of operation.

For more information, call 848-217-5000, fax 848-217-5001, email citybytheseavet@gmail.com, or visit their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

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