Dr. Adam Sniderman: A Lifelong Passion

By Joan Lawrence-Bauer | Catskill Mountain News

A bear of a man with a dog the size of a horse, Adam Sniderman could only be a vet. A child of the Catskills with a New Jersey hometown, Sniderman always knew he’d become a veterinarian. Today, from his home base in Oliverea, Dr. Sniderman provides state-of-the-art care for animals with such compassion and kindness that it also soothes the humans who love them. And noting that a lot of fear and angst surround the task of taking a pet to the vet, this vet makes house calls!

Though he’s been licensed and working in New Jersey since 1993, Sniderman is not new to the area. From his home in Oliverea, originally purchased by his parents when he was a small child, Sniderman has grown up with a love of these mountains as intense as his love of animals.

No Doubt About It
“When I was seven I knew I would be a veterinarian some day,” says Sniderman laughing. “I can even remember telling that to my friend Stephen when he said he wanted to be a doctor. I told him I’d much rather care for animals than people.”

Sniderman’s path was clear. A Cornell University under grad with honors in animal science, then on to the University of Pennsylvania to study veterinary medicine. He ran an emergency and wellness practice with 44 staffers in Colorado, worked in a specialty practice that did advanced imaging and cross-sectional imaging (think doggie CAT scans and MRIs), worked in general practice and surgical practice and worked with managing chronic illness like diabetes, Cushings, hypo- and hyper thyroid and dermatology as well as tic born diseases. Says Sniderman, “I don’t specialize in behavior, but I’ve certainly worked with aggressive animals and develop a proactive approach to working with them.”

As a vet, Dr. Sniderman’s philosophy is “Do what makes sense for the pet." "It sounds simple,” he adds, “but in practice, it takes a lot of thought and a willingness to put pets ahead of profits.”

For him, that means fully understanding that western medicine does not address all medical concerns and that collaboration with patients and with other vets and health care professionals usually gets the best results.

Different Solutions
“My practice, getting into the home where pets and their families actually live, let’s me create integrative solutions and utilize whatever it is that will make the pet better.”

Dr. Sniderman uses traditional approaches like antibiotics and steroids only where they will guarantee the best possible outcomes. He also uses herbal approaches and encourages techniques like acupuncture. He often helps other area vets by going into homes to draw blood for lab work and finds that home care for pets is especially appreciate when it involves palliative care, animal hospice and end of life services.

Starting house calls as an adjunct to his day job and a way to help out friends, Sniderman realized how much better the overall quality of care was when it was done in the home. “A cat that’s been crated and driven to my office typically arrives with a blood pressure of about 180 to 200. When I see cats at their homes, the typical blood pressure is about 120.”

About 85 percent of what pets need can be done right in the home, says Sniderman, who charges regular fees for service plus a mileage charge. “I can generally tell people ahead of time what the cost will be so they can compare the costs and benefits of in-home care for themselves.”

Other Services
Dr. Sniderman and his staff also offer pet sitting and pet grooming in the homes and are currently welcoming new patients. They generally travel "from Boiceville to Bovina", from their Oliverea base. In addition to seeing pets in their own homes, they encourage friends and neighbors to get together for “doggie happy hours” where several pets living near each other get together at one home for a group home visit so families can split the mileage charges.

To Make an Appointment With Adam’s Animal Care, Call 201-450-4291 or send an e-mail.