


Dogwood Veterinary Surgical Care
We're dedicated veterinary specialists, Charlotte locals, and small business owners bringing advanced care tailored to your pet from the comfort of your home veterinary hospital.
Our Unique Process

Find a Referring Vet
Use our locator tool to find a local partner hospital in your neighborhood.

Contact Your Vet to Set Up Surgery
Schedule a consultation or surgical visit for us to perform surgery.

We Travel to Your Vet to Complete Surgery
We meet your pet in the comfort of their home vet to complete the surgery.

The Road to Recovery
Follow our step by step instructions to ensure a successful recovery.
Partner Hospitals
Our goal is to provide specialty surgical treatment for your pet in the comfort of your local veterinary practice. This unique service promises high-quality care, familiarity, and excellent communication between your referring veterinarians and the surgery team.
Partner Hospitals
Our goal is to provide specialty surgical treatment for your pet in the comfort of your local veterinary practice in the Charlotte, NC area. This unique service promises high-quality care, familiarity, and excellent communication between Charlotte area referring veterinarians and the surgery team.
Services

Marian Benitez, DVM, MS
Diplomate, ACVS-SA
Leader in the Veterinary Field
Besides specialty training and experience, Dr. Benitez is a published researcher and author.
Specialty Training & Enhanced Care
Dedicated to providing the very best in surgical care and offer expertise that ensures the best possible outcome for each pet.

We're Looking Forward To Meeting You and Your Pet
Choosing Dogwood Veterinary Surgical Care eliminates the hassle of large referral hospitals and keeps your pet close to home.
Scott Miller2024-11-14Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dr. Benitez performed major orthopedic surgery on my 9 month old, 7.5lb Havapoo. We are two months post-op—with the exception of a small scar on her hip, you would not know that the head of her femur was removed. She is leading an incredibly happy life and all indicators are she will sustain s long, active life as a result. Thank you Dr. Benitez for saving my very young fur-baby. Mary Kate2024-10-25Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I highly recommend Dr. Benitez at Dogwood Veterinary. My dog was limping regularly after walks and we discovered he needed TPLO surgery and were told that he likely would need both knees repaired. We were apprehensive hearing this and worried about the recovery process with restricting activity because we have a very active pup. Dr. Benitez was kind and patient in answering all our questions and concerns, giving us detailed layout of the process and providing all the post surgery options for PT. The surgery went amazing and Dr. Benitez traveled to our home vet clinic so we could have the procedure done in our home hospital. Our dog had a 75% CCL tear in both knees. She called us as soon as our pup was out of surgery and by day 2 our pup was up and putting light touch down weight on the leg. The temporary restrictions and adaptations to routine during recovery stage are well worth the returned mobility we got for our dog and helping him have a better quality of life. He now is post op both legs (in the span of a year and a half-we spread out the surgeries) and doing great. Now he is running, swimming, playing and enjoying the activities he loves again without holding his leg up after activity. We are so thankful for Dr. Benitez and her team for the love and care of our dog and helping us through this process. Thank you Dr. Benitez and team! Lisa Laney2024-10-19Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dr. Benitez is AMAZING! She performed 2 TPLO surgeries on Bentley…now known as ‘Bionic Bentley’! He just had his 8 week post surgery X-rays yesterday and everything has healed up perfectly! Not only is Dr. Benitez a wonderful surgeon, she is also very accessible to answer questions throughout the recovery period and genuinely cares about her patients. I recommend her 100%! Brad Soutullo2024-10-09Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dr. Benitez is a master of her field. She performed two TPLO procedures on my yellow lab, one year apart, and one on my black lab. All three resulted in super strong legs. Given the opportunity, I would highly recommend her and for any other surgical needs, I will totally request her services. In addition, her pre-operation and post-operation communication showed how much she is invested in our four legged kiddos. Thank you so much! Devin Arnold2024-10-09Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dr. Benitez has performed surgery on my cat, Trixie, twice, once on each of her back knees. I'll go through the whole process below, but let me summarize here first: Dr. Benitez is an excellent surgeon and I would gladly recommend Dogwood Veterinary to any animal lover. During our initial consultation I was very impressed with Dr. Benitez 's ability to give a clear explanation of the problem, the solution, and the rehab process in terms that I could understand. I came away from the consultation feeling confident, both in Dr. Benitez and in the plan she had helped me develop. Both surgeries went quickly and without complications. Dr. Benitez took the time to personally call me before and after operating, which was greatly appreciated on an anxious day. In both cases, the sutures were very well done. They both made it to removal without a single stitch coming loose, and I never saw a drop of blood (except on the inside of the bandage when it came off the first day). Rehab from surgery is never a linear process. In both cases, my cat had ups and downs. When we hit downs I panicked, and Dr. Benitez was easy to get in touch with, and very graciously coached me through what I was dealing with. In both cases, Trixie got through those ups and downs, and by the time we got to the follow up x-ray she was moving better than she had been before the surgery. The second surgery was about 8 weeks ago now, and my cat is moving more comfortably than I've ever seen in her life. Ashley Evans2024-10-08Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I cannot recommend Dr Benitez and her team enough. I wish I could give a million stars. Dr Benitez was highly recommended and as someone who has been in the veterinary field for many many years, word of mouth is everything. I am so happy I was able to get a consultation with her to discuss my options. I have a 2yr old very active and driven Belgian Malinois who it turns out had a full CCL tear and not a partial(which we all thought it was given how active she was before surgery). Dr Benitez was very transparent with me and discussed all the pros/cons for this procedure, PT I can do at home, and laid out the recovery process so that I know what to expect. She knew how nervous I was, as how do you keep such a young, active dog calm for recovery. She put my mind at ease and assured me she would be here for me along the way, and she absolutely has. We are 5 days post op and Khaleesi is doing AMAZING. She had no swelling of her leg or bruising which can be common, but I followed the post op instructions very carefully with the icing and massaging. She was starting to use the leg on day 2 and now on day 5 she is walking outside for her 5 min walks very normally. My best advice for anyone considering this surgery is to follow those instructions like your life depends on it. I am so happy I chose to pursue this surgery and I can't wait to see my baby girl get back to all the things she loves. We are forever grateful for Dr Benitez and Grace, who treated Khaleesi like she was their own pet. David Harper2024-08-21Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Second time using Dr Benitez after a 100% successful surgery on our goldendoodle right leg. Her left leg as predicted needed the same TPLO. Had zero hesitation using her again. While this surgery seemed rougher on both the dog and us, she is as good as a puppy again. When she had a small setback due to a "zoomie" run, the dr sent helpful tips on the phone. As I'm a helicopter dad, I wanted her seen to be sure and she was more than willing to see her. We spent 45 minutes that day discussing physical therapy at home as she played with Piper. Now 16 weeks later she's playing with her ball again. Thank you for your skill and love of animals. Jessica Mungo2024-07-03Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. No words can express our gratitude to Dr. Benitez! To see our Reesie improve over the past few weeks has been extremely inspiring! Thank you again!! 💕 we are forever grateful! 🐶💕 Laurie Marecki2024-05-02Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Dr. Benitez is a kind, caring, intelligent surgeon, and so much more! My dog, Zombie, has neurological issues due to an accident as a puppy, and as she gets older, the issues are becoming more apparent. I was incredibly nervous to have her undergo a TPLO surgery, not knowing what it could potentially mean for her and if we would make her problems worse. Dr. Benitez met with us and examined Z thoroughly while considering all of the facts, and encouraged us to move forward with the procedure. She had a surgical plan that I felt was individualized to Z's specific needs. Z's incision looked amazing. Our local vet raved about how awesome Z was doing at 8 weeks post op, and how great her scar was looking. She has never been a very active dog, so I can't say much about her ability to run, but she trots around the house and yard and is playful again. I'm more than happy with our results. When I had questions prior to surgery and during recovery, Dr. Benitez responded promptly. She checked in on us several times to see how Z's recovery was going, which I really appreciated and found so thoughtful. You can tell she loves what she does and that she will take good care of your pet. Unfortunately, we will probably need her services again in the future, but I am so grateful that we found her and that she will be there when we need her! Dr. Benitez is simply the best!! Amy Stevens2024-01-05Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We are so thankful for Dr. Benitez for the TPLO surgeries she performed on both of our dog Penny’s knees last year. She’s a whole new dog, running like her puppy self and has loads of energy now, which we attribute to the wonderful personal care by Dr Benitez. Her quality of life has improved tremendously since her knees were fixed, and we are so grateful that she took such good care of her.