Father-Son Veterinarian Practice Brings Twice The Expertise To Clients

By Nancy K. Crevier

When longtime clients at Plumtrees Animal Hospital on Newtown Road in Danbury ask for an appointment with Dr Baff now, they have to be a bit more specific. Since August of this year, Dr Frederic K. Baff of Newtown, who opened the animal hospital there in 1981, has been joined in practice by his son, Dr Wesley Baff.

“It’s nice to have him back,” said Dr Frederic Baff of his son. “He has been away at school and working since 1995, so I’m pleased to have him here.”

It was not always a given that Dr Wesley Baff would be affiliated with his father’s practice. As a matter of fact, said the younger Dr Baff, following his graduation from Newtown High School in 1995 and from Colby College in Maine in 1999, he began to apply to law schools.

“Then I came back here and worked at the hospital for the summer and I realized I really liked this. So I deferred the law school, applied to veterinary schools, and was accepted at the University of Pennsylvania,” he said.

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, his father’s alma mater, in May 2006 and then began a yearlong internship at the Animal Medical Center in Manhattan.

“I had kind of left things open,” said Dr Wesley Baff. “I knew I wanted to do private practice after I finished up at the Animal Medical Center. Joining my dad in practice was a good opportunity. I learn from my dad. He has a lot to teach.”

Having been in practice for more than 40 years, Dr Frederic Baff does have plenty to share with his son, he said, but the flip side of that is that there is also plenty that is new in the animal medical world that he can learn from his son.

“Wesley has built up so much confidence and I think he gained about five years worth of experience during the year at the Animal Medical Center,” said Dr Frederic Baff. “Technology and medicine is always changing. It can be hard to keep up, so I like having his input.”

“I’m happy to be here,” said Dr Wesley Baff. “A lot has changed in medicine since my father went to school, and I can bring new things to the table.”

“I appreciate that, too,” Dr Frederic Baff said. “There are so many advances in medicine, it’s good to share new knowledge.”

Plumtrees Animal Hospital specializes in the care of cats and dogs, as well as “pocket pets” like hamsters and gerbils, said Dr Wesley Baff. Birds and reptiles make up a smaller piece of their clientele. But that doesn’t mean they don’t handle more exotic cases.

“I think that treating an iguana lizard has probably been one of my stranger experiences so far,” said the younger of the two doctors. “And I had a little pot-bellied pig as a patient in Manhattan.”

His father has seen his share of unusual pets walk through the door as well, the most memorable of which was probably the Moray eel he once treated. “A Newtown dentist had a saltwater fish tank in his office, and in it he had this Moray eel,” he said. “The dentist went on vacation, and while he was away the girls in the office noticed the eel had a big swelling on its neck. So, after they finally wrestled it into a bucket of saltwater and brought it down here, I was able to pry open its mouth for a moment before it chomped down and crushed the speculum. Before it closed its jaws, though, I was able to see two little eyes peering at me from the eel’s throat. It had eaten one of the other fish,” Dr Frederic Baff recalled. “I told them I thought the swelling would go down on its own. That’s another patient I could do without, though,” he laughed.

The two doctors work well together, said Dr Frederic Baff. “My forte is surgery, and I think that Wesley is more of a diagnostician. He does surgeries, too, of course, and is on hand to assist me and learn as I do the more complicated surgeries,” he said. “We are sharing the responsibilities all around. We split up the administrative work.”

“My main interests are in internal medicine and oncology, and I do a lot of preventative medicine, as well,” said Dr Wesley Baff. “I get a different perspective working with my dad, especially in surgery.”

Three years ago, Dr Frederic Baff purchased the equipment that enables him to do laser surgery. His son had done some training on the equipment in school and in Manhattan, but having the technology on site is giving him more hands-on experience with laser surgery, said Dr Frederic Baff. In turn, he is very excited about other new equipment the practice is purchasing at his son’s suggestion.

“We recently acquired an ultrasound machine that allows us to look for soft tissue diseases and problems, and can be used to detect any pregnancy issues with dogs and cats,” said Dr Wesley Baff. Prior to this purchase, the hospital hired an outside ultrasound technician whenever the need arose. The hospital is also anticipating the arrival of a new blood pressure machine, said the veterinarians.

“It will be very useful. Animals get high blood pressure that affects their health. Animals can get nearly any health problem that humans can,” explained Dr Frederic Baff.

Along with the new technology, the doctors are looking forward to a facelift for their 65 Newtown Road office. With his son taking over some of the time-consuming responsibilities, such as scheduling, the elder Dr Baff hopes to have time to redesign the office.

“I’d like to put in an extra exam room and enhance the surgical suite. Just modernize the facility overall,” he said.

Although his son initially may have had some reservations about joining the Plumtrees practice, “We’re getting along pretty well,” Dr Frederic Baff said.

For the young Dr Baff, although he lives in South Norwalk, it is a pleasure to be working in the Newtown area in which he grew up. “It is kind of cool to see a lot of my friends around here and some of them are bringing their pets in now to see me.”

Working together, building upon experiences, and melding the old and the new can only mean even better care for the patients at Plumtrees Animal Hospital, and Dr Frederic Baff is pleased to have his son on board to help build the future of the business.

“It’s nice to see that something you’ve built up may be perpetuated,” Dr Frederic Baff said.