Ensuring peace of mind with a safe, caring, and medically-supervised stay for your companion.
Leaving town should not mean losing sleep over the pet you are leaving behind. Whether it is a weekend trip to the Keys or a longer visit back up north to see family, the question pet parents ask is always the same. Who is going to take care of my pet the way I would? For families in Oakland Park, that answer has stayed the same for almost four decades.
At Oakland Park Animal Hospital, boarding is not handed off to a separate kennel service with no medical background. Dr. Spencer Ratnoff has led this practice as owner and Medical Director since 1987, and the same familiar team that has cared for this community’s pets for well over 40 years is who greets your dog or cat at drop off. Our full range of veterinary services reflects that same standard of hands-on, personal care, whether your pet is here for a wellness exam or a few nights while you are away.
Separate housing areas for dogs and cats to keep the environment calm.
Regular walks and supervised play time throughout the day.
Daily medication administration on your pet's normal schedule.
Veterinary supervision from a team that already knows your pet's history.
If your pet is due for other care while boarding, our team can often combine it with the stay. Many families schedule a wellness exam or vaccination, a dental cleaning, or a grooming appointment for the same visit, saving an extra trip later.
Boarding a pet at a facility with no veterinary oversight means hoping nothing goes wrong while you are unreachable. Boarding with us means your pet stays somewhere that already knows their history, their temperament, and any conditions that need watching. If your dog has a sensitive stomach or your cat gets anxious around new animals, our team already knows that, because we are the ones who have been examining them all along.
This matters more than most pet owners realize. According to Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, being away from home and adjusting to an unfamiliar environment can affect even the most easygoing pets, sometimes disrupting appetite, digestion, and behavior for the first day or so. Having a medical team on site who can recognize the difference between normal adjustment and something that needs attention can make a real difference in catching a problem early.
| What Matters During a Stay | Veterinary-Supervised Boarding | Traditional Kennel / Pet Hotel |
|---|---|---|
| Medical oversight | On-site veterinary team already familiar with your pet's history | No medical staff on site |
| Daily medication | Administered on schedule by trained veterinary staff | Often not offered, or handled by non-medical staff |
| Recognizing early illness | Trained to catch subtle changes in appetite, digestion, and behavior | May go unnoticed until symptoms are more advanced |
| Combining with other care | Wellness exams, vaccinations, dental cleanings, or grooming can be added to the same visit | Not available; requires a separate trip to a vet |
We know pets do better when their environment feels calm and predictable. Cats and dogs are housed separately, and our team keeps a close eye on feeding schedules, comfort, and behavior throughout each pet’s stay. If your pet has a favorite blanket or toy that smells like home, bring it along, since small, familiar comforts can go a long way toward easing the adjustment.
Dr. Ratnoff built this practice on the belief that your pet is our pet, and that shows up in how boarding is handled day to day. Long-time clients who have boarded multiple pets across generations of the same family are part of why the team treats every stay with the same level of attention, not a rotating cast of unfamiliar faces cycling through a corporate kennel chain.
A few things help a boarding stay go smoothly, and knowing them ahead of time can prevent last-minute stress.
Pricing is also something we believe you should understand up front rather than discover at pickup. If your pet needs additional services while boarding, our team walks you through what that adds to the total cost before you commit, so there are no surprises when you return.
Our practice has been part of this neighborhood since 1987, run by Dr. Ratnoff and a team that treats this work as more than a job. We are not a corporate chain cycling through unfamiliar faces. We are the same team your neighbors have relied on for years, in some cases across five generations of the same family’s dogs. That kind of trust is not built overnight.
If you are planning a trip and need a place where your pet will be genuinely cared for, we would love to help. Feel free to explore our full range of veterinary services or learn more about our team before your pet’s stay. When you are ready, reach out to schedule a boarding consultation and see why so many Oakland Park families trust us with the pets they love most.
Schedule a visit with our compassionate team and let’s partner in your pet’s lifelong well-being.
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