Precious Paws Animal Hospital — A Family Tradition Of Veterinary Excellence! 

The friendly staff at Precious Paws Animal Hospital on W. Bearss Ave. (l.-r., Brenda Maniatty, Nicole Bradford, Amanda Donatello & Dr. Fantasia Maniatty) is happily accepting new pet patients. (All photos by Charmaine George)

Are you looking for a full-service veterinarian’s office that is accepting new cats and dogs and offering same day appointments? Come visit veterinarian Fantasia Maniatty, D.V.M., at Precious Paws Animal Hospital, located on W. Bearss Ave. (a little west of I-275) in North Tampa, where she has brought her love of pets — and a long-time family business — to our area. 

Dr. Maniatty officially began her veterinarian career in 2018 when she received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from St. George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine in Grenada, West Indies, where she graduated as her class salutatorian. Prior to that, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Biology from Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, in 2014. 

Dr. Fantasia Maniatty is continuing the family tradition started 20 years ago by her father, Dr. John Maniatty (at left in photo). (Photo from PreciousPawsTampa. com)

But, veterinary medicine runs deep in the Maniatty family, as Dr. Maniatty has been unofficially caring for pets since her childhood. Her father, John, has been a veterinarian for 26 years, and Dr. Maniatty still remembers tagging along with him as he started his own practice. 

“When my father graduated (from vet school) in 1997, I was 4 years old,” Dr. Maniatty says. “I can remember being in scrubs since the days when the tops were more like dresses on me. I would follow him around the office [as he worked] when we lived in Pennsylvania.” 

The Maniatty family later moved to Maryland. Dr. Maniatty’s father took over an existing practice that eventually became the first Precious Paws Animal Hospital in Ocean City, MD, in October 2003, exactly 20 years ago. It was there that a young Dr. Maniatty worked her way up the ranks. 

“He started me as a ‘kennel girl’ when I was in middle school,” she says. “Then, I became a receptionist, and then I was allowed to be a [veterinary] technician. He wanted me to go through every step so I understood how everything works.” 

Dr. Maniatty and, later, her brother Justin, both followed in their dad’s footsteps and became veterinarians themselves. The three of them first worked together as vets at the Ocean City practice as well as at a second location in Ocean View, DE, just 15 miles up the coast. 

So, what made Dr. Maniatty decide to trade Ocean City for Tampa and open the third Precious Paws office in North Tampa? 

“Ocean City is a lovely area, but there’s not as much city life,” she says. “Tampa, I feel, has the perfect mix of city and [suburban lifestyles] while still being close to the beach.” 

Despite the distance, the three Drs. Maniatty still talk regularly about the ups and downs of their work and consult with each other for help when necessary. 

“Nowadays, many veterinary offices are being run by large companies,” says Dr. Maniatty. “But, Precious Paws has always been family owned and operated and, for us, pets are truly part of the family.” 

Services At Precious Paws 

Dr. Maniatty and her team welcome you to bring in your cats and dogs for a variety of services. These include everything from routine wellness check-ups, dental exams, vaccinations, microchipping and parasite prevention to more specialized needs such as soft tissue surgeries, laser therapy, emergency care and even end-of-life care. Savannah, the receptionist, and Nicole, the office manager, will help with scheduling appointments and checking in your pets. Then, veterinary techs Amanda and Ashton will assist Dr. Maniatty during appointments. 

Two areas of expertise are dental services and soft tissue surgeries. 

“We are very comfortable with providing dental services to pets, such as cleanings, X-rays and extractions if needed,” says Dr. Maniatty. “Also, if your pets need to be spayed or neutered or even need other surgeries, like intestinal surgeries or mass removals, we can do those as well.” 

Laser therapy is a great option for directly targeting a pet’s pain and inflammation with or without medications. Dr. Maniatty explains that laser therapy applies a red laser directly to affected areas to help pets with arthritis, back pain, gastrointestinal (GI) disease and more. 

Pet owners also can bring in their pets during emergencies — with no appointment necessary. “Emergency care for pets can be very expensive at other facilities, but pet owners can bring their pets here and get that same care at a more reasonable cost,” says Dr. Maniatty. 

Despite Precious Paws Animal Hospital opening its doors in Tampa just a few months ago (in July), Dr. Maniatty and her team have already won over many fur babies and their parents/owners, with a perfect five-out-of-five-star rating and 40 glowing reviews on Google. The office also is very active on social media, with timely tips for the 4th of July, hurricane preparedness for your pets and more. The office is quick to respond to reviews and questions and loves to build relationships with pets and pet owners on a first-name basis. 

“We’ve tried many vet clinics, but we never got great results,” says a pet owner named Vioma in her five-star review. “After just the first appointment with Dr. Maniatty, it finally seemed like Daisy could have a normal life. The doctor and staff were very patient and kind to us and I highly recommend them.” 

Outside of work, you may see Dr. Maniatty with her boyfriend AJ and their two rescue dogs, pit bulls named Maya and Chanel, at the beach or at outdoor events like The Market Elaine at The Grove in Wesley Chapel and the Bexley Market on the Lawn in Land O’ Lakes. 

“We love meeting pets and their owners in person,” Dr. Maniatty says. “A lot of times we run into people who are new to the area like us and are having trouble finding a vet who is accepting new pets, so we are happy to help with that.” 

In honor of her father’s original Precious Paws office’s 20-year anniversary, Dr. Maniatty is offering free wellness exams for   first-time pet patients at the Tampa office — with no limitations on the number of pets per household. Also, if you mention the Neighborhood News, you can receive free flea, tick and heartworm prevention medications. 

Precious Paws Animal Hospital is located at 326 W. Bearss Ave. The office is open Monday– Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with same day appointments and walk-in emergency care available. Call (813) 755-3855 or visit PreciousPaws Tampa.com 24/7 to book your pet’s appointment today, with free first exams for a limited time. Follow “Precious Pets Animal Hospital–Tampa” on Facebook and @preciouspawstampa on Instagram for great tips about pet care and special offers. 

Clark Elementary Hosts A Successful Multicultural Fair! 

At the Clark Elementary Multicultural Fair on Sept. 27, many of the 35 languages spoken by the school’s students and their parents were well-represented. (All photos by Charmaine George)

While organizing a Multicultural Fair at the school with her staff and PTA members, Clark Elementary (located in West Meadows) principal Dr. Delilah Rabeiro says they soon realized that 35 different languages were being spoken at the school. 

PTA secretary Meghan Shirey, who helped organize the fair on Sept. 27, says that the goal was to have as many of the different cultures at the school as possible represented at the event. 

At least nine different countries — including China, Brazil, The Philippines, Italy, Vietnam. Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Puerto Rico and a large contingent from India provided authentic food from their countries. There also were performances by some of the students, including traditional dances and songs. 

After the performances, all of the students lined up to walk the stage for a fashion show that showed off traditional outfits from their culture. All of the kids and parents seemed really excited to show off their food and clothing to each other and many asked questions about the other attendees’ food and cultural traditions. 

New Challenges Don’t Usually Faze Me, But This One Took A Toll 

Over the past nearly 30 years, the Neighborhood News has faced more challenges than I even care to remember — including new competition, the growth of online communities, paper shortages, Covid-19 and many more. 

When you’ve been doing what I have done for as long as I have, there also are likely to be at least a few health-related issues, but I’m appreciative I’ve been fortunate enough to not have to deal with any long-term complications. 

A few weeks before the Covid pandemic shut everything down, I had the second of two cataract surgeries at the St. Luke’s Eye Center in Tarpon Springs. On my follow-up appointment with my optometrist, David Scamard , O.D., of Excellence in Eye Care, a few months later, Dr. Dave asked me if I was having any “floaters” in either of my surgically-repaired eyes and I emphatically and happily told him “No.” 

That response continued to be true until less than four weeks before this issue was supposed to go to press, when I finally understood what he meant by “floaters.” I visited Dr. Dave at the Costco south of S.R. 56, where he took digital photos of my eyes and said he saw the likely source of my floaters. He told me to come back a few days later for a full eye exam. 

It was at that appointment, at about 11 a.m., with my vision in my left eye suddenly blurry, that he determined that I had a detached retina. He immediately set up an appointment for 2-1/2 hours later with retinal specialist Alfred White, M.D., of Retina Vitreous Associates of Florida, which has an office on the north side of S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel. 

Dr. White, who combines a great bedside manner with being super matter-of-factly about what I was about to go through, confirmed the detached retina and scheduled me for emergency reattachment surgery the next day. I had two questions about this — could I hold off the surgery for a week or two so Jannah and I could go to North Carolina to visit her daughter and her family and see a concert we had been planning to attend for more than six months, and of course, how would I get the Oct 3 Wesley Chapel issue done if I had to keep my head in a face-down position in a massage chair donut hole for 45 minutes of every hour after surgery for at least the next 5-7 days? 

Dr. White told me that if I didn’t have the surgery, my detached retina could get worse and make the recovery from the surgery more difficult. And, whether I had it or not, the pressure in that eye could get so bad that the plane we planned to fly in to NC could have had to have made an emergency landing on my behalf. 

So of course, I had the surgery the next day. And, while keeping my head down for that many hours and that many days — and having to sleep face-down until my follow-up appointment a week later — was anything but easy, Jannah did everything for me to make sure I got through these difficulties by driving and doing most everything else for me during my recovery. 

For the few minutes each hour that I wasn’t looking down, I was at my computer working to finish that Oct 3 issue, which went to press just three days after our usual deadline — and arrived in mailboxes just two days after its planned Oct. 3 cover date. I was so thankful it wasn’t any more delayed than that. 

I also am sorry that we don’t have quite as many news stories in this New Tampa issue as we usually do. I was so far behind with the Wesley Chapel issue that I couldn’t get as many stories researched and done for this Oct. 17 issue. 

Even so, I appreciate the efforts of not only Drs. White and Scamard, but also of our editorial research specialist Joel Provenzano, who helped me get as much info as possible for the story on pages 12-14 of this issue about the two different approaches to determining the boundaries of Wesley Chapel; to our amazing primary graphic designer Valerie Wegeman, for getting the maps for that story and all of our ads done; and especially, to Jannah for doing pretty much everything else that I normally do to complete an issue and for making sure both editions are chock full of ads so I had less space to fill than usual. 

I also am equally appreciative for all of you — our amazing readers — who continue to give me a reason to do what I have done for nearly three decades. 

As to what caused my retinal detachment, Dr. White said that people who have been extremely nearsighted for most of their lives — as I was until I had my cataract surgeries in 2020 — are more prone to this problem because being nearsighted constantly stretches your retinas as you age. Other possible causes are actually having had cataract surgeries (but that would normally have happened sooner), being diabetic (which I’m not), injuries to the eye (which I haven’t had) and, as often as not, bad luck. 

So, while getting a detached retina may just have been bad luck, I am going to recover my eyesight, which actually makes me feel pretty lucky. 

Tell Us Your Favorite Bar In New Tampa or Wesley Chapel!

Enter Our 2023 Neighborhood News Dining Contest!

We are giving you another chance to win a FREE dining prize of $100, $60 or $35! One entry per person, per question. Please name your Favorite Bar in New Tampa OR Wesley Chapel! Mail your entry to “2023 Neighborhood News Dining Contest” at 2604 Cypress Ridge Blvd., Suite 102D, Wesley Chapel 33544. Or, enter by clicking HERE or email the entry form to Ads@NTNeighborhoodNews.com. Even if you already answered any previous questions, you can still enter again by clicking HERE!

We’re just looking for your favorite place to enjoy a few cocktails, beer or wine, whether your favorite Bar or Tavern also serves food or not. 

Each time you answer a different Dining Survey question, you’ll receive an additional chance to win one of our FREE dining prizes — to the restaurant of your choice located anywhere in the Tampa Bay area! You all love free dining, right? 

Note — Please don’t forget that we include restaurants (and bars) located in Lutz (either on Wesley Chapel Blvd., S.R. 56 or S.R. 54, within two miles of I-75) as Wesley Chapel eateries; and those located in the Palms Connection Plaza on E. Bearss Ave. and the Oak Ramble Plaza on BBD Blvd. (both are located in zip code 33613) as acceptable places to vote for in New Tampa. 

Please also be sure to completely fill out the entry forms, whether from our print publications, on our website or by email, because we have had a few people — out of more than 1,200 total entries so far — try to enter with just their first name only, and two others who took the time to send us an entry without naming any restaurants. 

Despite those issues, it definitely appears (as we expected) that more of you like this year’s format — with individual questions for you to answer in each issue — than in the recent past, when we asked you to answer a full page of questions across multiple issues all at once. 

Remember, whether you enter by mail, email or on our website, there is never any purchase necessary to enter and win, but we do need your first AND last name, the community you live in, your daytime telephone number and a valid email address to be eligible to win any of our FREE dining prizes — and please enter all of your Survey entries by no later than November 1 to be eligible to win prizes! All winners will be announced in our December issues! 

If you haven’t yet answered ALL of this year’s previous Survey questions, they are all available again by clicking on their titles below.

 Five Favorite Restaurants in Wesley Chapel

Five Favorite Restaurants in New Tampa

Favorite Pizza Place

Favorite Sushi Place

Favorite Latin (NOT Mexican) Restaurant

Favorite Burger Place

Favorite Asian Restaurant

Johnny C’s Italian Eatery — Where New Tampa Gets Treated Like Family! 

Erik Ravenna (left) & Pat Ciaccio are the owners of Johnny C’s Italian Eatery on Cross Creek Blvd. (Photos by Charmaine George)

Even though there are other pretty great options for Italian food in New Tampa, if you like feeling like family as you enjoy traditional comfort food “Italiano,” you need to visit my friends Pat Ciaccio and Erik Ravenna at Johnny C’s Italian Eatery, located in the small plaza on Cross Creek Blvd. at Morris Bridge Rd. 

Jannah and I — and photographer Charmaine George — have visited Johnny C’s often since it opened in May of this year and there’s no doubt that the restaurant named for Pat’s father Johnny (a long-time restaurateur himself) is more of a sit-down restaurant than Precinct Pizza, the previous eatery in the same space. 

Pat and Erik, who also worked together at Saddlebrook Resort, are long-time friends who both were looking for a new challenge — at least, that’s how Pat tells it. 

“Actually, the only reason I’m here doing this is because of Pat,” Erik counters. “I wasn’t really looking to run a kitchen, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying myself.” 

Fried calamari

Former Saddlebrook owner Tom Dempsey and Erik’s brother Seth also helped open Johnny C’s, which has a large selection of seafood options, in addition to the usual calamari, linguine with clams, wings, NY-style pizzas, lasagna and other baked pastas, favorites like fettuccine Alfredo, chicken piccata and marsala and starters like bruschetta and fried mozzarella wedges. 

“I saw that New Tampa didn’t have places with a lot of seafood pasta options,” Ravenna says. “We have a mussels posillipo appetizer, plus Frutti di Mare (which translates to “fruits of the seas”) pasta, shrimp scampi, fra diavalo, parmigiana and marinara.” 

Ya gotta try the “Yea Babe!” pizza.

Erik also dusts Johnny C’s pizza crusts with garlic and named one of his favorites — the “Yea, Babe!” — after his father-in-law, Grandpa Bill’s favorite saying. The Yea Babe! features pink vodka sauce (instead of traditional red pizza sauce), Italian sausage and mozzarella. The other specialty pizzas on the menu are all named for the five boroughs of New York City, as well as SoHo, but you can get any of the 18 pizza toppings on the menu — from anchovies to sundried tomatoes — on any of the three sizes of pizza and in the calzones. You can even get your pizza made with a gluten-free cauliflower crust. 

“We have an open kitchen, and a dining room that might be a little louder than what you’re used to,” Erik says, “because we want you to enjoy our food the way Italian families do.” 


You can’t go wrong with a Johnny C’s Italian grinder.

Momma’s lasagne 

We already have quite a few favorites. The Momma’s lasagna is spot-on, the hand-breaded, fresh mozzarella wedges are delicious (“We weren’t going to do frozen string cheese sticks like a lot of places do,” Erik says), the calamari is made with Mike’s hot honey and parmigiana cheese in the batter and served with banana peppers, the tasty Johnny C’s Italian grinder features capicola, salami, ham, provolone, tomato, onion, banana peppers and roasted red peppers, plus creamy Italian dressing (“The way my dad would make it at home,” Pat says) and there also are hot grinders like meatball and chicken parm. I also love Erik’s linguine vongolĂ© (with fresh clams). You also can’t go wrong with the penne vodka, chicken or eggplant parmigiana, baked penne or spaghettini & meatballs. 

We honestly have only ever tried the house and Caesar salads (both very good), but there’s also a blue cheese wedge, antipasto and caprese salads and you can add chicken or shrimp to the salads for $4 more. 

Finish off your meal with delicious cannolis.

Save room for dessert, too. From delicious cannolis to the tartufo gelato bomb with hot fudge and whipped cream, there’s no better way to top off a great meal, and Johnny C’s recently added beer and wine, too. And yes, there’s also a kids menu, with all items just $6.95. 

And, Johnny C’s has daily specials, like “Manic Monday” (free mozzarella wedges with purchase of a large pizza); “Take-Out Tuesday” (15% off all take-out orders); also on Tuesday, one kid 10 & under eats free with each adult entrĂ©e purchased); “Wednesday is a Pastability,” when you get a second pasta entrĂ©e 1/2-off with the purchase of a pasta entrĂ©e, and “Thursday Night Out,” when you can buy one entrĂ©e and get the second 1/2-off. 

Johnny C’s Italian Eatery (10970 Cross Creek Blvd.) is open 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. every day. For info, call (813) 278-8020, visit JohnnyCsItalianEatery.com. Catering also is a specialty and your Booster Club can hold its Spirit Days at the restaurant. Call during business hours for details. 


Mozzarella wedges

Johnny C’s linguine vongolĂ© 

If you like mussels, try the mussels posillipo appetizer.