If you live in the Paradise NEWS readership area and you have a pet you love, you would be well served to introduce your furry friend to Bay Moorings Animal Hospital.
While we have a number of excellent vet offices in Paradise, Dr. Scot Trefz is truly at the top of his class. He has perhaps the best surgical talents you will find in West Central Florida. It is rare to find a doctor who has talents in surgery, a pleasant, caring manner and management skills, but testimonials about Dr. Trefz, his practice and his abilities prove he is doing all that. There is a portrait, for example, of a yellow lab named Maddie May that was sent in thanks for Scot’s diagnosis and surgery for an aggressive case of colarectal cancer.
The Gwynn family from Winter Park was referred and traveled halfway cross the state to give their beloved companion her best chance. “Words cannot express our gratitude. Without your persistence and exceptional care, she probably would not be with us on the boat today. It is really a miracle, a few days after we picked her up, she is like a puppy again.”
Scot was raised in south St. Pete. He knew he wanted to be a veterinarian in the third grade. As a junior at Canterbury High, he spent two weeks at Skyway Animal Hospital, where he met and forged a great and long-lasting relationship with Dr. Bill Goldston, a board-certified internal medicine specialist. That has had a huge influence on him. After he graduated in 1985 with honors and the Surgical Excellence Award of his class, Dr. Trefz bought, ran and grew a Clearwater practice, Gulf Bay Animal Hospital for almost 20 years. He sold it in 2008 to VCA, a California corporation after it grew 700%. In May 2013 Dr. Trefz decided corporate medicine was not for him, so he bought Bay Moorings Animal Hospital, (BMAH) which had closed due to overcharging and mismanagement. BMAH’s mission became, “To provide the absolute best veterinary care with compassion and at the best value for furry family members while emphasizing the importance of client education and enhancing the client experience.”
Dr. Trefz says, “Having reinvested extensively into the facility, its grounds, medical equipment, technology and into our team members 5 years already, BMAH has evolved into a state-of-the-art, full-service veterinary hospital offering ON SITE ultrasound with doppler, the highest resolution digital radiology, dentistry, routine and non-routine soft tissue surgery(s) and orthopedic surgery(s).”
Dr. Trefz personally performs all orthopedic procedures (patella luxation, anterior cruciate, fracture repairs, amputations, etc.) and a majority of the non-routine soft tissue surgeries (abdominal exploratories, liver resections, gall bladder and gall stone removals, gastro-intestinal and kidney procedures, etc.).
Dr. Trefz is grateful of the neighbors who entrust the well-being of their valued furry family members to him and his team of professionals.
“It’s also been humbling and amazing how many clients have followed he and his team to BMAH from Clearwater, making the hour-long pilgrimage and contributing significantly to BMAH’s success,” says Karen Nash, Scot’s CFO and Practice manager.
She sings praises about the associate vets, Dr. Jennifer DeStefano, who has 20 years of experience, and lives in Northeast St. Pete with her 3 beautiful children and their prized canine Roscoe. Dr. Austin Plummer (Tammy Plummer’s son) “is like a clone of Dr. Trefz, a native of St. Petersburg who graduated top of his class, a proficient veterinary ultrasonographer.” He lives with his wife Samantha, a practicing attorney, on an acre in St. Pete with their menagerie: 3 dogs, 2 Nubian goats, a rabbit and 6 chickens. Karen says they emphasize wellness practices, including periodic dental cleaning, as dental issues can cause problems throughout the body.
“Domestic cats and dogs are great at hiding pain and masking illness, so a thorough checkup is a first step. Dogs and cats get 7 to 10 years older for each of our years, so regular visits to the vet are important to catch issues before they become major. If something serious does happen, you will want Dr.Trefz in your corner. There’s a state-of-the-art surgery center and animal hospital in the neighborhood, with an expert surgeon on staff, that honors all pet insurances, accepts care credit and credit cards and feels the pet’s well being is more important than the bottom line.”
Dr. Trefz wants to be your vet, and plans to provide timely interesting pet care information in future issues of Paradise NEWS! Dr. Trefz and his team are proud of their new facility and welcome tours without prior notification to see their hospital, kennel and new pristine and expansive play yard.
Bay Moorings Animal Hospital is located at 3695 50th Ave S., St. Petersburg, 33711. Office hours: M-F 7:30am – 5:30pm, and Sat. 8-noon. Call (727) 867-0118 for an appt. or visit them online at www.baymooringsanimalhospital.com. Please let them know you read about them in Paradise NEWS.
Article by Peter A. Roos