Animal Hospital Monterey

Look up an animal hospital near Monterey and the map keeps pulling you to California. The one you actually want is much closer: Monterey, NSW, the slice of foreshore beside Ramsgate in Sydney’s St George area, sharing an animal hospital with Ramsgate Beach next door, and that building is a short drive inland. That is Rockdale Veterinary Hospital, running our animal hospital at 335 Forest Rd in Bexley, where the surgery, the scans and the recovery all happen in the one building rather than at a referral across the city. And close enough that a worried trip up from the bay is a quick one.

Surgery, Scans and Answers in One Building

A consulting room can examine your pet and pass you on. We would rather work out what is wrong and treat it on the spot. At 335 Forest Rd we run digital X-ray, ultrasound and heart scanning, in-clinic pathology, vet dentistry near Monterey and desexing, and surgery from routine procedures through to orthopaedic work, including TPLO repair for a torn cruciate ligament. Owner and head vet Dr Robert Kay carries out that surgical work himself. When a case genuinely needs a board-certified specialist we organise the referral, but most of what your pet needs is already here.

Mix of animals at our clinic in North Ryde

Rockdale Veterinary Hospital, a Short Drive Up From the Foreshore

We are a family-owned practice, here since 2022, and we sit at 4.9 stars across 230 reviews. Dr Robert Kay is a Royal Veterinary College graduate, and every vet on the team is Fear Free qualified. That shapes the whole visit rather than the consult alone: we never scruff cats or muzzle dogs, dogs and cats have their own separate consulting rooms, and a standard appointment runs a full 30 minutes so a nervous animal has room to settle before anyone examines it.

When We’re Open, Getting Here, and After Hours

We open seven days, with long weekday hours: Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 3pm, closed public holidays. From Monterey it is a straight run inland to 335 Forest Rd in Bexley, one of the areas we care for, with parking on site. If something is wrong with your pet during those hours, ring us first on 02 9123 6888 and we will fit an urgent case in. We are honest that we are not a 24-hour emergency hospital. Once we close, after-hours emergencies are looked after by Veterinary Specialists of Sydney at 106 Parraweena Road, Miranda, who run around the clock on 02 8376 8767. It is worth saving that number before the night you might need it.

Health Checks & Consultations

We practice ‘fear free’ consultations and have dedicated dog and cat consult rooms to help your fur child relax into the visit. Each consult or vaccination includes a head-to-tail examination and we can focus in on any area of concern.

Our standard consult times are extended to between 20-40 minutes depending on what you pet’s health issue may be. This gives us plenty of time to understand your concerns, your pet’s health issue, as well as explain any testing or treatment options available to you.

Desexing Procedures

Whilst desexing is a routinely performed surgery, we ensure that our focus is on quality and comfort for your pet. The procedure is known as a ‘castrate’ in male pets and as a ‘spey’ in females.

We practice the highest standards of care throughout the surgery, with all patients receiving a pre-anaesthetic blood test, then a closely monitored anaesthetic including ECG, blood pressure and oxygen levels.

Included in the cost of the procedure, all patients receive IV fluids, plenty of pain relief to keep them comfortable at home and an elizabethan collar to stop them from chewing at their incision.

Dentistry

We now know that 75% of pets over 3 years of age suffer from dental disease – so let’s do something about that together!

We offer FREE dental health checks with one of our vets, so they can assess your pets oral hygiene, explain how we can help and give you an estimate for dental work to get you pet smiling again!

Our dental treatments are performed under general anaesthetic and include digital dental x-rays. Our vetsare experienced in performing minimally invasive techniques to treat broken, infected teeth and painful gum disease.

In Clinic Diagnostics

We strive for the highest quality of care for your pets and that means having a complete range of diagnostic tests available at our fingertips.

This large range of tests can be performed at the time of consultation with immediate results, including an array of blood tests, urine tests, microscopic tests, blood pressure readings, ECG and blood oxygen saturation monitors, digital x-rays and ultrasound.

We then have the backup support of a pet specific laboratory, Idexx laboratory, where we can send off any more complex tests and we typically can expect results back within 48 hours. The pathology specialists at Idexx and then also available to help guide any other necessary tests.

X-rays & Ultrasound

We are proud to have the latest and highest quality in digital x-ray technology and ultrasound at our fingertips.

Our digital xray machine give us immediate x-ray images when we take x-rays. This means less stress for your pet when we’re getting images of their affected body part and means we can institute treatment quicker and more reliably.

Our ultrasound allows us to get live images either in consult or in hospital to help work towards a diagnosis for your pet.

We also have specialist radiographers at our fingertips to help us support your pet in the more complex cases.

General & Orthopaedic Surgery

Our expert team is dedicated to providing your pet with the best possible surgical outcomes.

Our vets perform routine desexing procedures daily. These include cat, dog and rabbit castrates and speys. All of the patients undergoing our routine procedures are monitored with the use of the latest anaesthetic equipment and receive IV fluids, in hospital and take home pain relief an E collar.

Our team can also perform or arrange advanced soft tissue and orthopaedic procedures. This allows us to offer more advanced surgeries like dog and cat fracture repairs, patella surgery and cruciate repair surgery including the lateral suture technique and TTAs (Tibial Tuberosity Advancement).

Booking a Visit From Monterey

Booking takes a moment. Call 02 9123 6888, email team@rockdalevets.com.au, or book online any time. If your pet needs more than the routine general vet care in Monterey of a check-up, tell us what is going on when you book so the right people and equipment are ready the moment you arrive.

What Monterey Pet Owners Ask Us

What will it cost, and can I spread it?

That depends on what your pet turns out to need, so you get a clear estimate before anything goes ahead, never a surprise afterwards. If your pet is insured, we bill most insurers directly, so for treatment and surgery you pay only the gap rather than the full amount up front. Everyday pricing is kept accessible on purpose.

Are you open 24 hours?

No, and we will not pretend to be. We are open seven days with long weekday hours, and once we close, after-hours emergencies go to Veterinary Specialists of Sydney in Miranda on 02 8376 8767, who operate around the clock.

Is the hospital really close to Monterey, or is that just the California one?

It is genuinely close. The Monterey on the Botany Bay foreshore, beside Ramsgate, is a short drive from us at 335 Forest Rd in Bexley, so the surgery or scan your pet might one day need is on your side of the world and barely up the road, whatever the map tries to tell you.