Grand Avenue News | Coconut Grove's Local News » Taking care of Coconut Grove’s pets for 45 years

Taking care of Coconut Grove’s pets for 45 years

BY TAYLOR GRENDA

Ryann LaBreche was playing in the front yard with Summer, his long-hair Golden Retriever, when their tennis ball bounced into the street. Out bounded Summer – and a car hit the dog.

But luck was with both master and beloved pet: The Coconut Grove Animal Clinic was nearby. From broken bones to the dog flu, the Coconut Grove Animal Clinic has become known as a haven for animals needing medical treatment.

As it turned out, Summer did not need surgery – only a cast-like bandage to help heal a snapped bone. Within the next two months, Summer was running normally again.

The long-time animal clinic has treated thousands of pets since it was started 45 years ago by Dr. Michael Marmesh Sr., and his wife, Sarah, who served as the office manager.

Today, a new generation of Marmeshes run the clinic. Dr. Michael Marmesh Jr. leads the staff. He joined the practice in 1978 after graduating from Ohio State University and had been working as the sole practitioner since 2000, when his father died. Now it is Dr. Marmesh’s wife, Nancy, who serves as business manager.

Five years ago, in keeping with the family tradition, Dr. Marmesh’s daughter, Dr. Kate Marmesh, a 2005 graduate of St. George’s University, joined them in the clinic. The office staff also includes four receptionists and two veterinary assistants.

The clinic is open for walk-in patients, mainly dogs and cats, although the staff has seen its fair share of exotic animals – including a clam, naked rats, iguanas, parrots, snakes, ferrets, sugar gliders and hedgehogs.

And there is the occasional headline-grabbing patient. The clinic once treated a dog that had traveled from another country with a maggot in its tail – one that would have turned into a fly in less than 12 hours. Those flies are the kind that attack livestock — something that is not wanted in the United States. The story made national news.

The clinic has a large waiting room, a small reception area, two exam rooms with laboratory equipment and a surgery room. The kennel area holds about 15 animals, so it can offer boarding, and there’s a divided yard where the staff can put the dogs out to run. In 2008, the website Ezine Articles ranked the Coconut Grove Animal Clinic fifth on the top 10 list of animal hospitals in Miami.

Kate Marmesh remembers when the clinic’s setting on busy Grand Avenue was quieter than it is today.

“The Grove has changed a lot! It used to be a town of hippies,” she said. “There are still remnants of that, but it’s not what it was.”

The clinic, however, is still serving many of the same clients from when Kate Marmesh’s grandparents first opened shop. It also treats the pets of those client’s children and grandchildren. The clinic is a small town business that is thriving in what has become a big town atmosphere.

“Pretty amazing really,” Kate Marmesh said. “A lot of things have changed around us, but the heart of our business has remained the same.”

As a vet in the Grove for 32 years Dr. Michael Marmesh has developed a list of loyal clients. One of them is Debbie Fields, who takes her chocolate lab, Hunter, to the clinic any time he has an emergency.

“I love my vet, he is the most caring person in the world,” Fields said recently, as she waited for Dr. Marmesh to treat Hunter for dog flu. “He has been taking care of us, always.”