Facilities

Following a recent expansion project at 387 Veterinary Centre, we now offer clients an even better service in extended bright, spacious and air-conditioned premises. Improvements include a bigger waiting area which seats up to 13 clients, three consulting rooms to run nurse and vet appointments concurrently, a new separate cat ward and an additional high spec dedicated operating theatre for surgical procedures - and high sterility - only.

We are constantly reviewing and investing in our facilities to offer the highest standard and provide the best diagnostic approach. Click here to submit a comment and let us know what you think.

Anaesthesia

We do not anaesthetise any dogs or cats without a pre-placed intravenous catheter. This massively increases the safety of anaesthesia by maintaining constant and immediate access to the blood stream should any problems occur.

During every dog and cat anaesthetic we administer warmed intravenous fluids via the catheter. This supports and maintains blood pressure for increased safety. Heat loss is a great concern during anaesthesia – warm animals recover faster and more smoothly from anaesthesia and in weak or frail cases heat loss can contribute to death under anaesthesia. Therefore, every procedure lasting more than 15 minutes, and every animal under 3kg in weight, is kept warm using a forced-air warming system (Bair Hugger®). Forced-air warming systems are the most efficient warming systems currently available. For more information on the Bair Hugger please visit www.arizant.com/us/bairhuggeranimalhealth.

All anaesthetised animals are connected to our pulse oximeter and capnograph, which aids accurate, safe assessment of the patient by telling us the heart rate, how much oxygen is in the blood and what level of carbon dioxide is breathed out at all times. This means we can respond rapidly and as necessary to any minor changes to keep your pet safe during treatment.

All surgical procedures receive at least two different types of analgesia (pain killer), both administered before the anaesthetic commences to ensure maximum effect.

Our chosen combination of anaesthesia is propofol and isofluorane because of its excellent safety profile both in human and veterinary anaesthesia. We find that animals recover rapidly from this combination with barely any ‘hang-over’ effect, even in greyhounds and other breeds known not to tolerate anaesthesia well.

Sterility promise

Sterility is key to successful surgery and we take it very seriously. We have installed a surgeon’s scrub sink which is necessary for thorough and proper disinfecting of arms as well as hands prior to surgery. We scrub using sterile, disposable disinfectant-impregnated brushes to further increase our level of sterility.

We have a dedicated operating theatre in addition to our prep room. This is used exclusively for surgical procedures and animals - and staff - are only admitted when fully prepped and ready for operating to ensure high sterility.

When operating, we wear hats, masks, sterile gloves and surgical scrubs. For complex procedures where additional sterility is required (eg orthopaedic or abdominal surgery), we also wear single-use, sterile, disposable operating gowns.

Throughout the practice we have alcohol based anti-bacterial hand disinfectants (as used in good hospitals) to prevent contamination. Our new isolation room ensures the safe treatment of potentially infectious diseases with no risk to other patients.

X-rays

Our powerful wall-mounted X-ray machine and high-speed automatic processor allow us to take, develop and read high quality X-rays ourselves. This helps us to reach diagnoses on a number of conditions – lameness and bone problems, and diseases of the abdomen and lungs/heart - quickly and effectively.

Ultrasound

The advanced, portable ultrasound machine is essential for investigating many diseases and for pregnancy examination and has proved essential on many occasions. It can be used for scanning many organs in the abdomen, measuring abnormalities in the heart or for pregnancy scanning.

ECG (electrocardiograph)

This new piece of equipment is required for assessing and diagnosing heart conditions where the heart rate or rhythm is affected.

Bronchoscope

This is a specialist veterinary piece of equipment. It is only 4mm wide but 68cm long with a tip that can be directed up to 180°. It allows us to visually examine and take samples from the nasal passages right down the airways into the lungs in any animal from the largest dogs to small cats. When combined with the rigid foreign body retrieval device the scope can also be used to spot and remove or dislodge foreign bodies from the back of the throat or the oesophagus (food pipe down to the stomach) – a rare but life threatening problem.

We also have access to larger endoscopes allowing us to examine and biopsy the stomach or intestine when necessary (for example repeated vomiting or chronic diarrhoea).

Blood machine

In 2009 we upgraded our blood machine to one that runs by ‘wet chemistry’, a more reliable technique compared to the old ‘dry chemistry’ system. We still advocate sending the vast majority of our blood tests to a veterinary dedicated external laboratory because we feel it is more cost-effective for our clients. External lab testing also offers a wider scope of tests which are run on more advanced, and hence more reliable, machines. Our ‘in-house’ blood machine is vital for emergency testing (for results that cannot wait for the post) or same-day screens prior to anaesthesia.

Dentistry

We offer excellent dental facilities for a full range of treatments.

The iM3 dental unit and ultrasonic dental scaler is used for all our scaling procedures. This scaler is recommended by veterinary dental specialists as it is the safest, quickest, most effective veterinary dental scaler currently on the market. The round titanium head scales the teeth clean without any pressure and destroys bacteria by ultrasound.

We also have the iM3 air driven dental unit for cutting, drilling, polishing and burring treatments. This machine has many unique features including fibre-optics (for increased visibility) and CLS (a disinfectant that increases hygiene) for optimum care.

For rabbits and rodents we use a slow speed dental burr. A diamond disc cutting burr is used for the controlled cutting of incisors whilst a long, straight diamond burr is used to burr molar teeth. This is safer, more accurate, less painful and kinder than uncontrolled clipping of teeth which we strongly advise against.

Our tub table, which is made from a special antimicrobial plastic (Polystone® Microbloc), helps maintain a high standard of cleanliness during dental procedures as all water and waste drains away immediately. We can also use the ‘tub’ as a bath for animals.

Kennels

We use high spec kennels made from a special antimicrobial plastic (Polystone® Microbloc). Sizes range from large ‘walk-in’ kennels to smaller glass fronted kennels. The glass fronted kennels allow unobstructed viewing of the patient, are more secure for smaller pets and are easy to keep clean. All kennelling areas have manoeuvrable camera feeds so that we can monitor pets closely at all times.

Kennels are used both for ‘day patients’ requiring sedation or anaesthesia and for hospitalised patients who may need to stay overnight. A brand new cat ward located upstairs in the practice ensures cats and small animals are housed well away from the extended dog kennel ward downstairs, for maximum comfort and peace during their stay.

We have a purpose-built, secure, enclosed dog run at the back of the practice so that we can give our hospitalised dogs time outside in absolute safety.