Boston Road Animal Clinic

02/16/2024

Currently having internet issues and phone issues.
If you need to reach us, please leave a voicemail or an email and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Please be patient as we work through this.
Thank you!

02/15/2024

I promised a client last week that I’d post this nice article from ASPCA poison control about ice melts in pets. The summary is that one or two licks of the paws very rarely causes problems, but eating straight from the salt bag or the slushy snow at the edge of a treated driveway or road is more concerning, whether the product is labeled as ‘pet safe’ or not.

This falls under the broad umbrella of toxicities. For many of the most common toxicities (think chocolate, grapes/raisins), we’re happy to provide guidance by phone or email. In many cases, though, we’ll suggest calling ASPCA poison control as the first step. They are staffed by teams of well-trained specialists with access to tons of unpublished data that comes either straight from the product manufacturer (ie they know exactly how much xylazine is in each cube of gum) or from the thousands of cases they advise on annually. They may save you a trip to see us or the ER, and if your pet does need to be seen by a veterinarian after speaking with them, they provide us with diagnostic and treatment guidelines. It’s often money well spent spent.

I do differ from them on one issue: they’ll still sometimes recommend inducing vomiting with hydrogen peroxide. While we did this for years, I’ve moved away from peroxide due to studies showing that if causes stomach ulceration.

Hope that’s of help to someone. Stay safe and warm.

-Andrew

As temperatures drop and snow begins to fall in many parts of the country, you may be taking precautions to prevent slips and falls in the snow and ice. While products like ice melts can be helpful, they can be dangerous if ingested by your pets. Learn all you need to know to keep your pets safe thi...

01/25/2024

A gift and a wish:

The gift - We’re doing some shuffling of things at the office and no longer have a need for this desk. It’s free to a good home. It’s 59.5 x 29.5 inches. It’s originally from Amazon or similar and is a compressed wood core (aka not solid wood; less expensive build). It’s in good but not perfect condition. Please comment below if interested. In the spirit of fairness: if there are multiple interested people we’ll take all of the names that comment within 48 hours, put the names in a a hat, and select a name.

The request - our linen collection is getting a bit thin and ragged. If you have bath towels, beach towels, hand towels, or blankets that you no longer need, we’d love to have them. We don’t have a need for sheets. Feel free to drop them by anytime. And thank you.

Stay warm!

-the team at BRAC

01/08/2024

Touchy internet today - off and on. Currently on. We’re working through the voicemails of the most recent outage now.

11/24/2023

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. We’re so thankful for you and your support.

This weekend is classically fairly busy at the veterinary ERs. We’ll be open 8:30- at least 4 tomorrow (Friday). We’ll stay until 5 if needed, but if it’s quiet we may start to send the team home at 4 for a little extra (well-deserved) time with family.

We’ve reserved a number of day-of appointments, but it could get busy - please call as early as possible if you need help before the weekend.

Thanks to you,
Andrew Gestrich and all of us at BRAC

10/11/2023

Next up for bios is Dr. Bradley Fowler. Dr. Fowler is thorough, kind, and even-keeled. He’s been a great addition to the team.



Dr. Bradley Fowler is a graduate of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. He is the most recent addition to the Boston Road Animal Clinic veterinarian team and looks forward to getting to know the many clients and patients at the clinic. Dr. Fowler has particular interests in animal nutrition and reproduction, but also enjoys the variety of surgical cases that come into the hospital.

Dr. Fowler grew up on Cape Cod and started his undergraduate career at Moorpark College in Moorpark, California. While in California, he worked with and cared for large exotic animals such as lions, tigers, and bears (oh my) at a private facility. After 2 years, he moved back to Massachusetts to finish his undergraduate career at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, majoring in Pre-Veterinary Sciences. At UMass, he discovered his passion for animal reproduction by participating in equine reproduction research and co-authoring a study on IUDs in horses.

While at Tufts, Dr. Fowler completed an externship at Boston Road Animal Clinic. He enjoyed his externship so much that he applied for an associate veterinarian position once he graduated.

Apart from veterinary medicine, Dr. Fowler likes to spend time with his family and two dogs, Grunt and Chloe, on the Cape, and go on hikes locally with his fiancée and his cat Henri. His list of furry family members also includes two rabbits, Coraline and Vertigo, and a horse, Tequiza.

09/27/2023

Cheryl and Kate have been working hard over the past few months to scan the remaining paper records at BRAC. This past week they finished this monumental task, and we couldn’t be any more appreciative.

This work will allow us to update our medical records management system and to give our reception area a nice facelift. Thanks for your hard work!

09/15/2023

We’re adding staff bios and photos to the website over the next couple of weeks, and thought we’d share here as well.

With our expanded team in place, we’ve got availability for urgent care and work-in appointments nearly every day now. Please give us a call if we can help.

Dr. Greg Kidd is a native New Englander who grew up in Connecticut and lived in New Hampshire before attending Tufts veterinary school. Dr. Kidd came to veterinary medicine after completing two enlistments in the armed forces and starting a nonprofit dog rescue transport with his wife. At Boston Road Animal Clinic, he sees general appointments, does surgical procedures, and performs dental work. At home, Dr. Kidd has 4 dogs, Irving, Hamilton, Buddy, and Patrick, and 2 faithful cats, Marcus and Andy. When not at work, Dr. Kidd can be found creating stained glass and rugs or going for a bike ride.

We are a modern veterinary practice for cats and dogs, owned and managed by Dr. Andrew Gestrich.

07/03/2023

Happy Independence Day!
We are closed Tuesday, July 4th.
We are open the rest of the week and have saved a few additional urgent care spots Monday and Wednesday, anticipating above-average demand.
Please call first thing in the morning or email [email protected] if you have any urgent needs.

04/12/2023

Dr. Gestrich is out sick this afternoon. Afternoon appointments have been rescheduled.
The front desk team will be here until 4:30. Please call us if you need anything.
We plan to be here Thursday 9-6, Friday 8-5, and Saturday 9-1 should you need anything.
Sorry for the inconvenience.

03/14/2023

Boston Road Animal Clinic will be closed Tuesday, March 14th. We’ll re-open Wednesday at 9am.

03/04/2023

3/4/2023
We’ve got some more exciting news at BRAC:
Dr. Erica Long will be joining us for a couple of days per month, starting with two Saturdays:
March 11th, 9a-1p
March 25th, 9a-1p

Dr. Long is a compassionate and thorough clinician, and she is beloved by the team at BRAC and her clients. Dr. Long has a demanding full-time position at MIT advising the next generation of veterinarians and human medical professionals, and her willingness to make time to help us at BRAC as we grow is very exciting.

For now, we will be open only select Saturdays as we continue to expand the team. I hope to be open every Saturday in the near future and, as always, will work to keep you informed as things change.

I’m sure there will be more demand for Dr. Long’s Saturday appointments than we can meet right now. Please email [email protected] if you would like to get in with Dr. Long. If we can’t get you an appointment on one of these two Saturdays, we’ll get you on the list for when she adds more days to the schedule.

Thanks for the ongoing support,
Andrew Gestrich and the team at BRAC

02/28/2023

Happy snow day!

BRAC will be open 10:30a-6p tomorrow with reduced staffing. Please call or stop by if you have any urgent needs.

01/18/2023

Fios internet and phone is down at the practice. We’re in touch with Verizon and our IT team to try to get it fixed. Please stop by, or comment here if your need us to call you - we can call out on cell phones until it is fixed.
Thank you!

01/14/2023

We’ve got some exciting news to share:
As of this evening, Boston Road Animal Clinic is back under private ownership.

My wife, Tara, and I are thrilled to acquire the clinic. We look forward to providing compassionate, quality care.

We’ll have some more official communication in the days ahead, but we couldn’t wait to share the good news.

Lastly, we shouldn’t name anyone here without their permission, but some HUGE thanks are due to two employees at BRAC. We’ve got some good, kind people at the core of what we’re going to build here. And more great people joining the team over the next two weeks.

-Dr. Andrew Gestrich

12/31/2022

Happy New Year!

Hours for this week are:
Monday, January 2nd: closed
Tuesday, January 3rd: 9a-6p
Wednesday, January 4th: 9a-6p
Thursday, January 5th: 9a-6p
Friday, January 6th: 9a-5p

Please call back or stop by the clinic if you’re having trouble reaching us.

12/20/2022

To our valued Boston Road Animal Clinic clients:

Thank you for being patient as we grow our team and increase our availability.

We're excited to report that Dr. Andrew Gestrich, who many of you have already met, is joining the practice full-time. We're booking January appointments now.

Our hours from now until the end of the year are:

Monday, December 19th: 9a-6p
Tuesday, December 20th: closed
Wednesday, December 21st: 9a-6p
Thursday, December 22nd: 9a-6p
Friday, December 23rd: 9a-5p

Monday, December 26th: Closed
Tuesday, December 27th: 9a-6p
Wednesday, December 28th: 9a-5p for medication pick-up and scheduling only; no doctor coverage
Thursday, December 29th: 9a-6p
Friday, December 30th: 9a-5p

Please call (508) 865-5500 to make an appointment.

Thank you!

10/04/2022

To our valued clients and patients…

We sincerely apologize but we are going to have to be closed again today 10/4 due to no doctor on the schedule. We will be calling all clients previously scheduled for today to cancel. We truly apologize for this inconvenience.

Thanks again,

BRAC Staff

09/28/2022

To our valued clients and patients,

The clinic will be closing at 1pm today, Wednesday September 28th.

We will be reopen tomorrow at 8am for technician appointments already scheduled for that date. We will be referring all sick patients out due to low staff. We thank you for your continuous patience and respect.

Boston Road Animal Clinic Staff

09/13/2022

Good morning to all of our valued clients and patients! We wanted to update you on some changes to our clinic recently.

Effective immediately, our hospital hours have been changed. We will now be open Monday through Thursday 8am to 6pm, and Friday’s 8am to 5pm. We will no longer be open on Saturdays. We are also no longer accepting new clients at this time.

We understand the inconveniences that these changes will make. As we continue to strive to give you and your pets the quality care that they deserve, we ask that you to continue to give the small number of staff the patience and respect that they need to help you and your pet.

Please understand that with these recent changes, our call volumes have been and will continue to be very high, so wait times will be long. We will get back to you!

Again, thank you for your patience and respect.

Sincerely,

Boston Road Animal Clinic Staff

06/30/2022

*****We have found someone, thank you!!****
We are looking for a local handy man to help us replace our front door stopper. Replacement parts are here and ready to be installed, just need someone to do the job! The bill for the job will need to be invoiced. We are hoping to fix this ASAP!

Please contact Stephen at 508-865-5500 or [email protected] if you or anyone else you know can help us out! Thank you in advance!

05/10/2022

We wanted to share this information sent to us from Tufts!
Dear Friends and Clients of the Foster Hospital,
We are writing to share two important pet safety updates. As always, please contact your primary care veterinarian with all your care questions and concerns.
Vaccinate against leptospirosis bacteria
2022 has already been a particularly warm and wet year, an ideal environment for leptospirosis (lepto) to thrive. The wet months in the spring and fall are normally the time when we see the highest occurrence of lepto in animals, many with kidney damage and possible multiple organ involvement requiring intensive care and treatment (e.g. dialysis).
What is leptospirosis?
Leptospirosis is a disease caused by a bacterium (genus Leptospira) that can adversely affect your dog and be transmitted to humans.
Wildlife, including raccoons, skunks, foxes, and rodents (mice, rats, moles), carry these bacteria that are shed in their urine.
Dogs can become infected by coming in contact with the urine from wildlife or contaminated water or soil.
The disease can rapidly become life-threatening to dogs, targeting kidneys, liver, blood vessels, but also lungs and heart.
How can you protect your dog?
Contact your primary care veterinarian to schedule a vaccination. Your veterinarian is also your resource for further recommendations and assistance.
All dogs are considered at risk in our area.
The leptospirosis vaccination can prevent disease and will protect your dog from severe illness.
Make sure your dog has a current leptospirosis vaccine (two initial doses 2 weeks apart, with a booster once a year thereafter).

NSAIDs intoxication alert
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine is seeing a continuous increase of toxic dose ingestion of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs. NSAIDs are among the most reported poisonings in pets associated with over-the-counter and prescription medications. The most common NSAIDs causing intoxication are Advil (ibuprofen), Aleve (naproxen) and Rimadyl (carprofen).
What is NSAID intoxication?
Dogs generally get exposed to toxic dose ingestion when destroying a bottle of medication or even when finding a single pill on the floor (for small dogs and cats).
Depending on the dose, ingestion can rapidly become life-threatening, targeting the gastrointestinal tract, the kidneys, and the brain.
No antidote exists.
The only way to remove the toxic dose from a pet’s system is to use a specific type of “dialysis” treatment that cleans the blood from the drug ingested, either through a filter or by removing the part of their blood containing the drug.
These types of treatment cost between $4000-5000 when no complication is encountered and significantly more if complications occur.
How can you protect your dog?
Always keep all your medications and your pet’s prescriptions out of reach.
The window to intervene is only a couple of hours: if you witnessed your pet getting into any medication, immediately call your primary care veterinarian or an emergency service and follow their direction.

05/06/2022

Please note our updated business hours:

Monday: 8am-8pm
Tuesday: 8am-6pm
Wednesday: 8am-6pm
Thursday: 8am-6pm
Friday: 8am-5pm
Saturday: 8am-1pm (CLOSED EVERY OTHER SATURDAY)

We will be back to our normal schedule for the summer months. Thank you for your patience and please see our website for additional information.

04/26/2022

Happy Veterinary Receptionists week to Kate, Stephen, and Brianna! Be sure to say a big “THANKS” when you call our clinic! They are the heart and soul of the clinic!

03/17/2022

Say hello to Shamrock!!! ☘️

How fitting that this Irish lad came to visit us on St. Patrick’s Day!

Technician Hayley made Shamrock feel extra special today! 💚☘️

03/14/2022

Keep an eye out for this sweet dog!!

03/01/2022

Biscuit and Piggy are littermates and really enjoyed their first appointments with us! Lots of loves, and lots of treats! We’re smitten 😍

02/24/2022

Due to the impending storm, we will be closed Friday 2/25/22. We will reopen our normal business hours on Saturday! Stay safe everyone!

02/11/2022

Meet these brothers from different mothers! Beau (golden retriever, 16 weeks old) and Henry (St. Bernard, 13 weeks old) are some of the cutest little squishes we have seen! They were so brave for their vaccinations today while being snuggled by technicians Alicia and Kaylee!

02/04/2022

Due to the icy conditions developing, we will be closing the hospital at noon today. If you have an afternoon appointment scheduled, we will be calling to reschedule. Thank you for understanding and we hope you all stay warm and dry today!