On a balmy Friday night three years ago, Dr. Cindy Bressler rushed back to the city from East Hampton on urgent business: treating the Prince of Morocco’s papillon.
Bressler had been out on Long Island when the Ritz-Carlton’s concierge called demanding her services immediately: The prince’s puppy was having a coughing fit.
She caught the first seaplane out and hurried to His Highness’ Midtown suite, where she quickly examined and diagnosed the dog.
“I told them it was kennel cough and gave him the proper antibiotics,’’ says Bressler, who has an Upper East Side apartment and a home in Amagansett. But that wasn’t enough for her ritzy client.
“The prince’s assistant said, ‘His Highness insists that you come back to check on him every day,’ ” she recalls. “Fortunately, he didn’t stay in New York that long.’’
When the French bulldogs of the fabulous overheat at the beach or the Siberian kittens of the superrich fall ill in the middle of the night, they call Dr. Bressler — known as the “Hamptons house-call vet.” The 42-year-old spends her days and nights — she’s on-call 24/7 — driving around in her Audi convertible, treating animals. Current and past clients include Donna Karan, Bruce Weber, Demi Moore, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kate Hudson and Mariah Carey — whom Bressler sued in 2010, alleging the pop diva owed her $30,000 in vet fees for around-the-clock care of her Jack Russell terrier puppy Dolomite, as reported in The Post. (Bressler can’t comment on the case for legal reasons.)
It was 13 years ago, while vacationing in the Hamptons, that she saw the need for an on-call veterinarian there.
This summer, she’s even opening a pop-up practice within the Dog Store, a boutique in Wainscott, where she’ll offer vet services by appointment on the weekends. And although many of her
clients are wealthy, she also takes on some cases gratis.
Summer is high season for pet health problems in the Hamptons, thanks to ticks, swimming pools, heat and other potential menaces. (Bressler also arranges nutritional counseling, acupuncture and physical therapy.)
When Donna Karan’s Lab Steph ripped her ear running in the woods four years ago, Bressler found herself stitching it up at the designer’s East Hampton home. “I kept thinking she was going to criticize my sewing technique,’’ she recalls with a chuckle.
For the most part, she’s not star-struck when dealing with famous owners, but she couldn’t help but get excited when she gave a lecture about health concerns at a pet boutique several years ago.
“I was discussing overheating in short-nosed dogs and I looked up to see Howard Stern and Billy Joel taking notes. Howard had a bulldog and Billy had a pug,” she recalls. “I grew up being part of their audiences and it was quite a feeling to have them as part of mine!’