Castle Veterinary Centre, your vet on the 'net!

We offer a high standard of medical and surgical treatment for sick and injured patients, utilising our modern facilities and equipment (X-ray, ECG, blood pressure monitor a full range of dental and surgical instrumentation etc.) and a good deal of loving care. We were the first practice in the city to attain the BSAVA Practice Standards Award.

Of equal importance to your pet is our special interest and expertise in preventative medicine and general healthcare. We recommend vaccination to protect dogs, cats, rabbits and ferrets against common infectious diseases and can advise about pet neutering. The practice participates in the Low Cost Neutering Scheme organised by local councils - please ask for details.

Parasitic problems such as intestinal worms and fleas are best prevented and we are keen to advise you about just which products will be the most effective in your particular circumstances: we offer a special service to clients, free of charge, enabling you to discuss parasite control with a nurse, who can, if necessary, medicate your pet for you.

Our trained nurses offer a FREE Pet Health Counselling service for advice about your pet’s dietary, exercise, grooming and training requirements. A veterinary surgeon is always available should medical advice be needed during such appointments. The nurses also run a ‘weigh-in club’ for pets and host regular Puppy Parties to help with socialisation and training of new puppies.

For the occasional case needing specialist attention we are always willing to discuss referral to one of the centres of excellence within the UK.

With the completion of our refurbishment and extension in 1997 we now have modern, hygienic premises where we can give our patients the best of care. Most of the rooms are now air-conditioned, which is appreciated by staff, clients and animals alike. We have included a few photos for you to give an idea of what the surgery is like!

The reception area is manned throughout the day; this is where we welcome clients, make appointments, dispense drugs and so on. Whilst you're waiting for your appointment on your next visit, help yourself to a complimentary cup of tea or coffee.

We carry a small display of training aids, food and educational toys which we believe are useful. There are three consulting rooms, allowing us to examine and treat pets without haste and with complete confidentiality. All are equipped with the most useful diagnostic tools and drugs. The third consulting room is well away from the other rooms, and is ideal for nurse consultations, or when it is time to say goodbye to a much-loved pet (see The Final Goodbye).

The non-public areas are rarely seen by clients; the central area is our "prep room", with the kennels, x-ray and operating theatre leading off from it. The design allows nurses to monitor all in-patients at the same time, and especially to keep an eye on animals recovering from operations or serious illness. The prep area is where all animals are anaesthetised and prepared for operations; in addition non-sterile operations such as dental work and stitching wounds are done here.

This is also where we do ECG tracings (to check for heart problems) and where we take blood samples. We have invested heavily in new orthopaedic and diagnostic equipment which is often used to good effect.

The operating theatre is designed to be aseptic, and is supplied with piped gases for anaesthetics and a sterile "two-way" cupboard to allow autoclaved instruments to be passed into the room without people having to enter the theatre. Only sterile operations, such as spaying, orthopaedic and soft tissue procedures are done here.

The x-ray room is equipped with its own anaesthetic machine, lead-lined table and automatic film processor; we can develop an x-ray in 3 minutes! For safety reasons the room is lined with lead, and any operators that stay in the room whilst an x-ray is being taken have to wear lead gowns.

Our isolation ward is, as you might expect, well away from the main kennel area. Here we keep animals with suspect infectious disease, animals which are very nervous and prefer total quiet, or occasionally very noisy animals which are disturbing everyone else in the main kennel area!

Most of our lab investigations are handled by outside companies; we believe that they give excellent results, offer a vast range of diagnostic services and give value for money; however we do have the facilities to perform the most urgent tests "in-house", and our centrifuge, microscope, refractometer and blood tests are used to good effect.