Dr Dolittle (TR) comes to Kusadasi!

KUSADASI’S pets have waited for a real life Dr Dolittle for a long time. Someone that wants to understand their needs and issues. Nine years ago I had the privilege of meeting the acquaintance of Veterinarian; Arif Sapmaz in Istanbul. He was brought to my villa one evening by a friends husband when my white German Shepherd, ‘Kurte’ needed to have his yearly inoculations. 

To give you the “heads ups,” Kurte had become quite aggressive in nature after a dog attack but he was my closest companion and very loyal. However there was not a single vet back in the big city that he warmed to. Believe me when I say that I had tried quite a few. This made things that much harder when I needed a vet. A trip to the vet’s clinic had become a dreaded nightmare! When Arif offered to come up to my villa back then I was extremely relieved but still pensive about his visit. On his first visit I saw a complete transformation in Kurte. He took his time in building up a trust with him and played with him before he did what he had really come for. Amazingly Kurte seemed to like him. After that, the rest was history and he is still my vet to this very day. (I actually told my dogs Ice and Echo to not even think about getting sick until he could move here!) Apart from their yearly inoculations. 

In my experience, Turkish vets, for the most part, view our pets as literally just, ‘animals’ despite what they may say. Arif is different. He talks to them and tries to understand them so he can gain their trust. The pet is more important for him than the owner. He loves what he does and therefore he is good at it. Unlike other vets if you have an emergency, he will actually answer the phone and come out to you even if it’s at a late hour. He puts your mind at rest. After Kurte had been suffering from a bone disease, Arif took him to the Istanbul Animal Faculty with me and the diagnosis wasn’t good. After weeks of trying to slow the disease down, Kurte had a bad attack one night and by the morning he was gone. Arif never left his side and he was deeply sad when we lost Kurte. He was a special dog for him too.

This is a vet with a truly kind and warm demeanour who puts your mind at rest. Not to mention the fact that both you and the other furrier members of the family feel like they are in trusted, professional and very experienced hands. He has been a Veterinarian for over 11 years; additionally he is a qualified Animal Life Insurance Expert, officially registered for the regions of Kusadasi and Aydin. He can understand most of what he is told in English and is still learning the language, much to my amusement but he has support for communicating in his clinic in English for his foreign clients.

Arif Sapmaz was due to move from Istanbul over two years ago. His friends beat him to it but he managed to eventually arrived here four months ago. Therefore his presence here has been long awaited. His new clinic will be just up from the Grand Bazaar near the Port side of the town; so it’s very well located and central. 

The Kusadasi Times is proud to report that we will be covering the official opening coming up in the next two weeks. So watch this space!

In the meantime he may be contacted on his mobile number of 0532 7039889 while he is setting up his new clinic.

Phone: 0256 6144407

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