I wasn't at all thrilled with my experience at this place for my cat. I wish I hadn't gone.

The "specialist" who saw my baby girl said a whole lotta nothing. "It could be this.." "It may be that.." "Yea, we can't rule that out". Why would I come to a SPECIALIST if you're going to give me google mayo clinic answers?! The fear mongering tactics were also very obvious and tasteless. The "specialist" suggested an allergy test for no freaking reason and judged me when I asked if it was really necessary. All these tests were expensive too and she just kept suggesting more and more. Any ways, almost $1000 later, I got a voice message saying, "the results came back fine! So I can't really tell you why your puppy's eye was bloodshot. But there's another test we can run to see if it's genetics." NO THANKS. My puppy's eye later healed after a day without any treatment. These people call themselves specialists...HA! read more

Our first ever visit today and we were very impressed by staff's kindness and hospitality. Dr Gaarder is an amazing doctor and a very nice and caring person . So glad we decided to take Sparky there ! read more

This practice and the doctors and nurses are exceptional !!! Dr. Schmidt saved my dog's vision. She was honest, upfront, and most importantly, compassionate. read more

Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls, NJ, saved my dog's vision back in the Spring of '17. And since then, I've put them on a pedestal- every time. That 2 &1/2 hour trek each way from White Plains to there, wasn't totally impossible- but it took a toll on time and my personal plans. Few good vet hospitals- but not many eye specialists around. So searched high and low and fortunately, VETERINARY EYE SPECIALISTS, came through in my Westchester Yelp listing. Be mindful- VETERINARY gets extra booked and you may not get an appointment "for tomorrow". Originally made an appointment for my dog more than a month ago, and they were able to fit her in (at their earliest convenience) for 5pm. Process for making an appointment and confirming it close to the date, is simple. First, you'll be asked general questions: reason for visiting, pet's vision, surgeries (if any), etc. Then before visiting, you receive a reminder phone call. On top of that, you'll receive a reminder- via email which includes location and a printable application which should preferably be filled out detailing any medications and primary Vet's name prior to visiting. Arrival was ultra swift and friendly. Front desk immediately knew my dog by name and instantly made me and my dog Fudge, feel real comfortable. VETERINARY is spic and span, spacious and bright. Waiting was a quick 5-10 minutes and Raisa (assistant) did basic routine work. I think I'm lucky because VETERINARY is so close to home. Time is of the essence and even though my dog's vision has been stabilized thus far, there's still maintenance and work that needs to still be done. I had no qualms with Dr. Jane Cho's medical expertise. Right then and there, I felt her dedication. As Fudge's mom, she guided me every step of the way and performed extensive eye exams. Based on her findings, she explained her observations and results in a thorough manner. Keeper location! read more

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My little 11pound dog was having eye problems so I brought her here. Everyone was wonderful! She needs a muzzle but won't walk with it on so our nurse carried her in! We had to come back for further testing. It was not good news. But both times Dr Schmidt was terrific explaining the problem and what we needed to do. Lots of helpful hints. We are sad about the diagnosis but grateful for the professionalism and courtesy we received. read more

Dr Gaarder was kind, understanding and knowledge. He guided me through a precise eye surgery he performed meticulously on my dog with brilliant results. I highly recommend him and his staff for their caring and gentle ways. read more

Dr.Gaarder performed a miracle my12year old Whoodle Yogi had a massive lump on his eyelid blocking his vision all other vets told me they could remove it but couldn't guarantee the lid would function he not only did an excellent surgery 1 year later You cannot even tell he had an operation his eye is perfect thank you Thornwood eye specialists your the best read more

I can't say enough about the two doctors I've worked with here for my cat's eye conditions. I brought him 3 years ago after a lifetime of suffering from viral eye infection that defied medications. Dr. Gaarder prescribed a treatment regime that cleared the infection and kept the virus at bay. When it looked like my cat was free and clear of problems, he developed cancer in his 3rd eyelid. Fortunately we were already under care here and his condition was tracked. Dr. Gaarder was out of town but had me texting pics of the eye daily and he determined that immediate surgery was needed. Dr. Cho successfully removed the cancerous 3rd eyelid and my cat has been healthy and happy ever since. I'm very grateful to the doctors and staff at Veterinary Eye Specialists for their skill and caring. read more

Veterinary Eye Specialists, PLLC, 620 Commerce St, Thornwood, NY 10594 Kimberly P My normal $70 visit veterinarian said that my dog's blockage of the tear duct was caused by some sort of blockage and recommended that the could detect what was the cause of the 6-7 extra droplets of tears that were now on my dog's face. My normal vet said that the eye specialist could try a simple antibiotic to clear up any infection if one was suspected. The nearly $300 office visit by the "eye specialist" simply agreed with my original vet regarding the few extra tears daily, were from a blocked duct. He said that it could be due to an infection, and of course this could be treated with an antibiotic or antibiotic eye drop, but if I wanted the antibiotics, he suggested I get those for the eye from my normal veterinarian! The 'specialist' then stated that my dog's nose was very long compared to most dogs and it would be a waste of time to try an inexpensive saline flush into the duct...so instead he recommended performing a $5000+ exploratory surgery so he could investigate if potentially she had cancer!?! Dr James Gaardner was rude, unhelpful and was only interested in making tons of money off an unnecessary surgery for some extra drops of tears and not attempting to help the dog with any inexpensive or non-invasive potential options. read more

Very happy with the advice, treatment and operation my 16-year-old dog received here. They made a super stressful situation much less stressful. read more

Although very nice and great with pets, Dr. Cho had us do a VERY expensive surgery, keep our little guy on very expensive medication, and had us come in for years with continuing eye problems even though he was blind. The obvious solution was to remove the eyes. As horrible as that sounds, we would have saved $7000 on the surgery and many thousands on daily medication and follow up visits. Most importantly, the dog has had to suffer every day with discomfort and pain to try to "preserve the eye". Why? He's blind! So we could keep coming back for more visits is my only idea. If your pet can't see and is continuing to be in pain, go to a regular vet and see what they have to say. Likely, it's very different than what Dr. Cho recommends. I understand it's her job to save the eyes, but sometimes that is not in the best interest of the animal. read more

I feel sad. I don't usually take the time to write reviews, and when I do, it's usually because I experienced something extraordinarily good. I'm so sorry to report that this is not the case here. I brought my dog in because he has an issue with his eye that is beyond what my long-term regular vet feels he can treat properly. The experience was fine. My husband took the dog and reported that everything went well and we were put on a course of treatment. Total bill - $478. $170 of this was for eye drops. Not much I can do about that. I rarely get out of the vet's office for under $200 so I just paid and started the protocol. 3 weeks have gone by and there has been some improvement but not as much as we had hoped for. My husband went back for the follow-up. The Dr. told him what we should do going forward and my husband went on his way with another $170 bottle of eye drops in his possession. Later that night, we discussed what the Dr. had said and what the ongoing treatment would be. I looked into the bag and saw the bottle of drops and thought that they had been given to us by mistake. The night before, he and I had discussed that we could probably use some more ointment but not more drops because we still had half a bottle. Well, clearly, there was a miscommunication at the vet's office. It's a classic case of he said/she said but the real travesty is that even though the package is still sealed (by the manufacturer) and it's still in the box (that I never opened), they are steadfastly refusing to issue any kind of credit whatsoever. When I discussed this with one of the vet tech's (whose name I will not use) she said that they cannot take it back because "it is illegal". She also went on to say that "if it was so important, you should have been here" (to make sure we didn't bring home something we didn't need). I'm not even going to get into how offensive, for so many reasons, that statement it. Let me just be clear here - it is NOT illegal to take back medication. It IS, however, illegal to restock and resell returned medication. This is about customer service. It's convenient to hide behind the "its illegal" argument but the fact remains that they can if they want to. The actual act of taking back medication is not in and of itself "illegal". They simply don't want to because they didn't want to refund my $170.00. As the vet tech pointed out "if we take it back, we will lose money". (no irony intended on her part). When I discussed this with the vet, his response was that I should take it up with the pharmaceutical industry, which misses the point entirely. If my beef was with the cost of the medicine I would have said so the first time we paid for it. After much back and forth, I asked if, given that they won't take it back, they would they be willing to at least issue a $50 credit towards my next visit. Answer: No. I asked the owner to call me but apparently she didn't feel the need. I recognize that being in retail is hard. I did it myself for 17 years and over those many years people tried all sorts of things and made all sorts of unreasonable requests. I don't think asking for some sort of gesture of goodwill was asking all that much considering I ate $170 for nothing. It probably sounds like nonsense but I really and truly am saddened by the whole thing. We're supposed to be on the same side trying to accomplish the same thing - returning my dog's eye to normal. I value the work Veterinarians do but I also value being treated fairly and to be completely shut down was really disheartening. I would run into a burning building for my dogs(and now my cat too). When reasonable people can't find a reasonable solution I believe both parties lose. This is a classic example of that. read more

I honestly want to give a better rating, but I can't. I've never even been to the facility, only my husband has, so I can't comment on that. Our 9 month old puppy went suddenly blind so we picked this practice because they could see us right away. The doctor determined that his eyes were healthy and that his problems were likely neurological. We got them under control with a trip to the neuro and steroids. Four months later our pup relapsed and, after losing feeling in one eye, developed an ulcer. My husband brought him back to Veterinary Eye Specialists and we were given 1 ointment to apply daily. No follow up appointment was scheduled, but we were given instructions for what to look out for. After several days we felt like his eye was getting worse so my husband called the dr and described his eye and she said that it sounded fine and he didn't need to come back in for a follow up. We were concerned but we trusted her. Another few days passed and our dog became extremely lethargic and seemed like he was in pain. We brought him to an emergency room that had an eye dr on staff who told us the ulcer was very badly infected and that our dog would likely never see from that eye again and he advised us to remove the eye. We asked if we could be given a few weeks to try very aggressive treatment and see if there was improvement and the eye doctor obliged and gave us eye drops, 3-4 ointments, pain medication, and more. We saw improvement in our dogs eye within a couple days from this treatment. His infection was gone within a week and 5 weeks later his ulcer was healed. I just wish we had been taken seriously from the beginning and could have avoided the pain for him and the heartache for us. He now has some scarring on the eye that blocks some vision, but is doing much better. The two stars are for the doctor who my husband felt was very professional and clearly an expert in her field. She was willing to see us right away in an emergency situation, but ultimately the lack of follow up caused further problems. read more

PRO: I've been to the clinic twice with my mini dachshund. He had blood in his eye. Dr. Gaarder was great and professional. He took the time to look at my baby thoroughly and took copious notes. I've since learned my doggie has degenerative optic nerves, possibly inherited, and had some sort of trauma which led to some bleeding. I was very impressed with his professionalism, willingness to talk about my dog's condition and the patience to answer all my questions. I later received a handwritten "welcome card" from the clinic, after my initial visit, which was a nice touch. CON: I didn't give 5 stars because, to me, the supporting staff could do a better job. The Receptionist scheduled my follow up appointment incorrectly and the Veterinary Assistant didn't know how to hold a Dachshund correctly. As Dachshund's have a long body, they absolutely need back support when they're picked up and placed back on the floor, something I felt she didn't do well. By no means was she dangling him, but it was enough for me to have cringed, thinking he may get IVDD. I don't doubt the staff care for the animals, but when you're the staff at a specialist clinic, I expected outstanding knowledge and professionalism from all. read more

I have taken two of my pets here - Baron, who had a large epithelial inclusion in his eye, and Biggie, who has glaucoma, cateracts, and luxated lenses - among other things. Dr. Gaarder is fantastic. He takes a lot of time to explain precisely what is going on and to lay out all of the options. He'll tell you what he thinks is best but he's not pushy in any way. He is also a caring and compassionate vet with a great touch for animal handling. I always feel like Dr. Gaarder has steered me in the right direction, and he is my go-to vet for any eye issues. read more

Very impressed with the team here! They were able to address an issue that my cat has been experiencing for most of his life. I wish I had known about them 10 years ago. They are up-to-date with all the advanced medical technologies and were very reasonable. Thank you Veterinary Eye Specialists for saving my cat's eyes! read more

Don't even think about not going here if you need to. Dr. Gaarder is an angel in disquise. I have been bringing my beautiful Shih Tzu here for 5 years because Blue Pearl Manhattan opthamologist (before it was Blue Pearl) planned surgery for my baby for extra eyelashes. I said if it was me, I'd get a second opinion. He has this magical energy that mesmerizes your pet, He is just the most wonderful and great veterinary eye specialists in New York. I spend 6 hours and take subways, Metro North, and cabs with my pooch to see him. He's unreal, just great. By the way, my little beauty never needed surgery and she's doing fine 5 years later. He knew right away that she was OK. He's just wonderful. I can't say anymore about him other then I recommend him to everyone. read more

We had two extremely serious eye problems with 2 cats over that past few years. Each problem was intensely critical and demanded the expertise of the most highly skilled. One involved blindness from cataracts as a result of radiation for nasal lymphoma. The other was a devastating eye infection due to a botched dental at our regular vet's office. In both cases, we sought the help of other local , qualified ophthalmologists , who frankly , were not astute enough to get us out of the terrible hell our cats were in. They did their best but it wasn't enough. Finally we jumped to Dr. Cho . The difference was as clear as night and day. She listened intensely, examined meticulously and then worked tirelessly to correct mistakes other vets made. As both cats fluctuated, sometimes rapidly and sometimes barely observable , Dr Cho immediately modified her prescriptions always keeping ahead of the approaching tsunami. While Dr Cho is both kind and thoughtful, it's her brilliance which sets her above other ophthalmologists. She connects the dots and can see the big picture while others are somewhat befuddled. Each case we unceremoniously dumped on her lap was met with an accurate diagnosis and battle plan. Her office is immaculate. Her staff is knowledgeable, personable and kind hearted. No one is there for anything other than a serious reason. Her staff is exemplary. Dr Cho is our ophthalmologists now. Period. End of discussion. read more

Dr. Gaarder was amazing with our puppy, Maximus. We took him to see Dr. Gaarder because he had bilateral cherry eye. We had had 1 unsuccessful surgery with our primary vet and was recommended because the gland had popped out again. Dr. Gaarder was amazing with Max. While the surgeries were very expensive, I do not regret a penny. Dr. Gaarder was very thorough in his exam and found that Max had a cartilage problem that was causing the cherry eyes. Our vet could had done the procedure 10 times and would never had had success. We are so happy with the results after Dr. Gaarder's treatment. read more

Dr.Gaarder is absolutely amazing. My dog had to have two tumors removed from her eyelid, and Dr. Gaarder was such a caring and compassionate animal lover. He understood immediately that my dog was not just a dog but that she is my baby, and he treated her as such. I highly recommend him and his staff who are excellent as well. read more