Our Vets and Nurses all share a genuine love of animals and each patient is treated as an individual.
We maintain high standards of care and guarantee no compromise to the patient’s wellbeing is made “behind the scenes.”
Before surgery
We will:
- Examine your pet externally and listen to her heart and lung sounds to ensure these sound healthy
- Perform a pre-anaesthetic blood test (with your consent) - see below for information on why this is important
- call or SMS you with the results of this test before we start the procedure
During surgery
We will:
- Use only the safest anaesthetic for your pet.
- Place an i.v. catheter to allow any medications required to be quickly administered if needed during surgery
- Provide valuable i.v. fluids to maintain vital body functions throughout the procedure (with your consent)
- Use sterilised stainless steel surgical instruments prepared for your pet and your pet only
- Monitor your pet throughout the surgery using sophisticated monitoring equipment and supervised by trained staff
- Provide pain relief before, during and after the procedure as appropriate.
After surgery:
- We will contact you with the outcome of the surgery and organise a time for discharge from hospital
Before discharge:
We do the following:
- Make sure your pet has recovered fully from the anaesthesia
- Check for signs of pain and medicate as necessary
- Check the incision site
If we believe that your pet has not recovered sufficiently from the anaesthetic by the end of the day we will not authorise discharge.
Recovery times can vary with individual patients so we prefer to keep them in hospital until they are well enough to go home.
We do not charge for overnight boarding in this instance.
Please be aware that we prioritise our surgery according to urgency. On some days we may need to delay routine procedures for more urgent cases. In this case we will contact you to inform you of any changes that may occur as a result.
Pre-Anaesthetic blood testing
Before administering a general anaesthetic we perform a full physical examination of each patient. However many conditions to include disorders of the blood, kidneys and liver cannot be detected unless a blood test is performed. For these reasons we prefer to take a small sample of the patient’s blood for testing before anaesthesia. Results are available immediately. Such tests are especially important for older animals however we recommend this important test for patients of all ages.
You will be asked for your consent for this test on admission of your pet for surgery.
Intravenous fluids
Placing your pet on an intravenous drip during the procedure is highly recommended as it supports the body’s vital functions throughout the procedure. It assists in counteracting any blood loss, changes in body temperature and allows us to more accurately control the drugs that affect anaesthesia.
Patients also experience a more rapid recovery after surgery when fluids are given.
Pain relief
The provision of pain relief for patients is not an option in our practice.
All patients undergoing a surgical procedure are provided with pain relief both before and after surgery and as appropriate in all medical cases. This is included in all fee estimations.
Not happy with an opinion?
If you're not satisfied with an opinion given by one of our vets, please ask for your pet's case to be reviewed by another vet in the practice. Sometimes a different perspective can shed further light on a tricky case and it may be all you need in order to get to the bottom of a problem.
Naturally - there is no charge for this secondary opinion.
We offer this option because we recognise none of us are perfect. As you can imagine - not all cases are straightforward and some can be particularly perplexing. The symptoms may not fit a disease profile or diagnostic tests may not be conclusive.
Sometimes the response to treatment is not what we expect and sometimes we're strapped to find a solution within a given budget.
So please, if you're not happy with a primary opinion - please let us know.