Katrina Dickson
Horse Owner
Dr. Amanda Cerniglia has been my horse’s primary veterinarian from the point at which he joined our family. She was originally recommended to me by our barn manager (several vets offer care at our barn) because she could do on-site radiographs (x-rays). But it was my interactions with her as a novice horse owner that clinched her as the choice to take care of our family horse and I have never regretted it. The key point at which I knew Dr. Cerniglia (who is always referred to as Dr. Amanda at our barn) was someone with whom we wanted to work was when I asked her about dental care for horses. At that point, I had been around many horses, but wasn’t aware of what you had to do to care for teeth (Do you have to brush them like cats and dogs? Get them scaled like cats? What happens if there are cavities?). Dr. Amanda’s response that she had done extra training so that she could do dental care including putting in a filling if necessary rather than pulling a tooth and her explanation of how it was no big deal and much kinder to the horse, well that cinched it. I wanted someone who was kind. Over the years Dr. Amanda has never treated my questions as dumb ones and has been more than willing to discuss things at a very deep level of detail. She and her husband called everywhere in the state to find a veterinary oncologist to partner with so that my aging gray gelding could be eligible to experimentally receive a canine oral melanoma vaccine to treat his multiple melanomas. She has performed emergency weekend surgery and removed more melanomas than I can count. She and her staff let me send updates with pictures to them for ongoing advice on wound care between visits. Dr. Amanda gave my daughter extensive interviews for a journalism class about preparing for fireworks and taking care of scared animals of all types. One of the best things about East West Veterinary Care (aside from its people who are superb in their knowledge and kindness) is that Dr. Amanda believes in having and using the best practices from both Eastern and Western medicine. East West Veterinary Care and Dr. Amanda Cerniglia believe in utilizing the best treatments for our horse and many other horses at our barn based on what the horses need and they use those treatments to complement each other. If you have ever been sick and used ginger ale to take your medicine, you have done the same. My only regret is that I don’t have doctors that treat humans for my family that are as brilliant, kind, resourceful, accessible, and knowledgeable as Dr. Amanda and her colleagues at East West Veterinary Care. They really are the best.
