Vetcare - Veterinary Practice

Services

The services that we provide cover all facets of first opinion companion animal care, provided by a team of dedicated Veterinary Surgeons and Veterinary Nurses backed up by skilled reception and administrative staff. Most of our staff have their own pets so have personal experience of the worries accompanying pet ownership and demonstrate empathy with all of our clients whatever reason they need to contact us.

Reception

Reception is open from 8.15am until 9.00pm Monday to Thursday, until 7pm on Fridays and from 9.00am until 3.00pm on Saturdays. The staff are available for registering new clients, general advice and arranging other services as detailed below.

In addition our waiting room stocks a range of diets and equipment that you may require for your pet including collars, toys, leads and various over-the-counter medicaments for first aid, preventative health care and grooming. We also offer an ordering service where most diets or other requirements can be arranged for next day delivery.

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Consultations

All consultations with the Veterinary Surgeons are by appointment. The surgeries are open during the week for up to 12 hours per day including weekends. These are available for:

Advice on vaccinations, worming, feeding and general health of your animal.
Initial puppy or kitten vaccinations and annual booster vaccinations (these are always given after a thorough health check)
Treatment of illness or disease.
Prescribing of Prescription Only Preventative Treatments such as modern flea control products or wormers. These consultations are usually given free of charge.

Remember: always consult the vet or one of the trained nursing staff if you are in doubt of your animal’s well being. Telephone calls for free advice are always welcomed and may help put your mind at ease and urgent cases will always be seen whatever the time.

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Emergencies

Please contact us as soon as you think you have a problem. We will see an emergency any time, day or night, 365 days per year.

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Pet health counsellor clinics

We have a highly trained and dedicated team of nurses who run their own clinics by appointment for which there is NO CHARGE.

Please take advantage of these clinics as a way of ensuring you receive expert advice on total healthcare of your pet through every stage of their life. Appointments are run most afternoons and some evenings.

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NUTRITION AND DIET

We can guide you through the vast range of complete diets available, tailored to your pets needs, through each stage of his/her life or for his/her particular requirements. The most popularly attended clinic id for weight watchers! Obesity can be a contributing factor in many clinical problems in pets, not least joint and other problems that may hinder exercise that then makes the weight problem worse. Other problems can also be caused or aggravated by weight problems including diabetes mellitus, hormonal abnormalities, heart disease etc. Many owners may have tried to diet their pet without success. Our trained Pet Health Counselors have a professional and clinical approach to weight loss management giving quick results to the benefit of all concerned. Please telephone for details.

OLD AGE

Our Senior Pet Clinic is a vital aid to keeping an eye open for early signs of illness. The clinics will ensure your elderly companion will maintain a good quality of life for as long as possible. The Nurse will be able to carry out some tests and advise on diet, exercise and general care for older pets but may also identify readily treatable problems such as arthritis or dental disease or recommend that you see the Vet if the problem is potentially more serious, required blood tests or needs formal Veterinary treatment.

PUPPY AND KITTEN

There is so much to learn when a new puppy or kitten becomes a member of your family. Our experienced Nurses will help you understand and plan the many aspects of your new pet’s well being including diet, worms, pet insurance, electronic tagging, neutering and behavioural issues. They will also furnish you with a comprehensive pack containing general advice, detailing our services and giving our recommendations.

www.waltham.com is a very comprehensive site that also gives information on these issues as well as helping you choose a pet, training, grooming, hygiene etc.

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Preventative health care

VACCINATIONS

These are available for Dogs, Cats, Rabbits and Ferrets.

If your pet is unvaccinated - blush!

The diseases we vaccinate against can all be fatal and all of them can be prevented by vaccination of which the benefits far outweigh any risks. If you are not sure about vaccination then please telephone to ask advice or make an appointment to discuss the issue with the Vet.

Vaccines are available for:

DogsDistemper, Infectious Hepatitis, Parvovirus, Leptospirosis, Rabies and Kennel Cough

CatsFeline Leukaemia Virus, Viral Enteritis (parvovirus), Chlamydia and the two Influenza viruses.

RabbitsMyxomatosis and Viral Haemorrhagic Disease.

WORMING

To ensure your dog maintains good health and is not a health risk to humans including unborn babies you must worm him regularly against Roundworms. We currently recommend 3-6 month intervals depending on circumstances. We stock a range of products, many of which are only available on prescription. This means that often we need to see your pet before prescribing such medication but the benefits of using such products frequently include the fact that they work. Tapeworms (some of which may be transmitted by fleas) also need regular prevention and some of our products including Drontal and Panacur are effective against both types of worms.

FLEAS

Fleas spend most of their time off of your pet and so it is important to treat the house as well as the animal. Some animals are allergic to flea saliva and so the problem will be obvious to diagnose with your pet if they are scratching, pulling hair out or have violent skin reactions. Otherwise you may see the fleas crawling through your pets coat, find small specks of flea dirt within the coat where the fleas have been feeding or have small bites on yourself. Please telephone for advice. Modern products include spot-on applicators, aerosols, pump-action applicators and even products that break the flea life cycle (stopping any of the up to 600 eggs that an adult flea may lay from developing). Flea control schemes will be tailor-made for each specific household.

DENTAL HYGIENE

High proportions of pets have dental disease – tartar, caries, loose teeth, abscesses etc – from a very early age. Bad breath and gum disease can be prevented or treated with specially formulated toothpaste and diets available from reception. Free Pet Health Counselor appointments are available to have your pet’s teeth checked. We undertake a range of dental procedures, including scaling and polishing and extractions when necessary and have access to an orthodontist for more specialised remedial work.

Surgical facilities

All three sites have theatres fully equipped to deal with emergency and routine surgical procedures from small wounds to emergency caesarians. We invest heavily to maintain sophisticated and up to date equipment much of which is on a par with that of modern human hospitals. Some of the theatres are more specialized to allow us to deal with more advanced elective procedures such as fracture repairs, tissue biopsies and tumour removal.

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Computers

Vetcare is computerized and comprehensive case records are maintained on all our patients. The various sites communicate via dedicated ISDN lines so we can access your records from whichever surgery you choose to visit us. As well as records and accounting information we can also store photographed images of your pet or any conditions they acquire, laboratory reports, X-ray images, ultrasound videos, ECGs etc and also produce vaccination or other health-care reminders to inform you by post when check-ups or treatment is due. Appointment scheduling is also controlled by the computer as well as stock management and word-processing/data management facilities.

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Laboratory

As well as allowing us to carry out a range of routine laboratory tests as an aid to diagnosis of your Pet’s problems our in house laboratory is able to perform a range of other services all competently carried out by our own fully qualified laboratory technician. These include Feline Leukaemia Virus testing prior to vaccination, worm egg counts on faeces, ovulation detection for breeding programs etc.

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Imaging

As well as for diagnostic purposes our X-ray and Ultrasound facilities are available for BVA Hip and Elbow scoring prior to breeding and pregnancy diagnosis or monitoring.

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Neutering

Unless you want to breed from your pet we recommend spaying or castration. Our prices for these procedures are kept as low as possible to encourage our clients to have them carried out and can be carried out as early as 6 months of age although we recommend that bitches are allowed to have a season first before spaying. There are many reasons for advising neutering including prevention of:

unwanted litters
Pyometritis and ovarian problems in bitches and queens
Mammary cancer
Prostate enlargement or cancer in dogs
Roaming
Antisocial territorial behaviour – spraying and marking
Bleeding during seasons in house
False pregnancies
Antisocial mating behaviour

This list is not exhaustive. Please telephone or book an appointment for advice if you are unsure about neutering you pet or wish to discuss cost. Many myths surround the subject and we will aim to dispel as many of these as possible.

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Practice ambulance

This may be made available for house calls, delivering goods and we also offer a service for those who find transport difficult to find for collecting you pet for treatment or other services. This may be useful for the elderly or infirm. Please contact us for further information.

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Insurance

As a responsible owner we would strongly recommend that you use pet insurance to cover most of the cost of accidents or illness. We insure our cars, houses, and even holidays. Your pet’s health is surely just as important. Our reception staff and nursing team will gladly advise on a full range of different policies, allowing you to deal direct with the insurance company of your choice.

Pet Plan have a very comprehensive site covering such information: Further Information

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Savings scheme

We now run a saving scheme to allow you to budget for any of our goods or services. This scheme also offers several very useful discounts.

Collect your card today from reception or telephone for further information.

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The Practice also has available treatment modalities other than conventional Medicine and Surgery including:

Homeopathy – A system of therapeutics founded by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) in which diseases are treated by drugs that are capable of producing in healthy animals signs like those of the disease to be treated, the drug being administered in minute doses.

Acupuncture – Recently adapted to use in Veterinary Medicine. This is the Chinese practice of inserting needles into specific points (acupoints) along the ‘meridians’ of the body to relieve the discomfort associated with painful disorders, to induce surgical anaesthesia, and for preventive and therapeutic purposes.

Please ask if you are interested in any of these therapies, sometimes we may recommend them as a standard treatment or complementary treatment (in conjunction with conventional treatment) for some conditions.

The Nurses also provide physiotherapy sessions for animals with orthopaedic or neurological problems or conditions having long convalescence periods.

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Caring is our profession