In an Emergency
In an emergency, please call 01757 705562.
We have always been proud to provide our own out-of-hours emergency service and we want to ensure your pet has the best of care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However as a small practice in a modern world, whilst it’s essential that our vets and nurses are always there to help, we have our limitations as a small team and it’s vital that we ensure our team have a good quality of home life, as well as work.
Therefore, we have asked Holly House Veterinary Hospital to become our out-of-hours emergency veterinary care providers for your pet. Holly House is an RCVS Accredited Small Animal Hospital with a 24-hour on-site emergency service and round-the-clock critical care for all inpatients.
We feel this offers the best possible care for your pet around the clock. Our vets have more time to dedicate to you through the day when you need us the most but if you have a genuine emergency through the night, the team at Holly house are there waiting to assist you and can stay up all night and give your pet their full attention.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years as part of Chinese medicine and used more recently in Western civilization in both human and veterinary care.
It’s use aims to change the chemicals involved in nerve transition in the spinal cord to alter pain recognition as well as altering inflammation and blood flow in affected tissues. It influences how information about pain is read by the body and aims to decoy or deceive its perception.
As such it has a role to play in the provision of relief and acupuncture has been shown to give definite benefits in the following situations:
When a dog or cat is on the maximum dose of pain relieving medication but the condition and pain is worsening.
- When the animal has an adverse reaction to medication.
- When an owner does not wish to use conventional medication or wants to keep to minimal doses only - when a diagnosis is not possible.
- If there is no response to conventional medication.
- It can be incorporated at any stage of the condition, i.e. early in diagnosis of osteoarthritis, say in conjunction with nutraceuticals, or at the end when everything else has been tried.
The procedure involves placing a series of very fine needles at certain points on the periphery of the body to enhance the effect of those at local points. It is advised that four, weekly sessions are given initially and response assessed from there. Sometimes single, monthly ‘top ups’ may be appropriate and sometimes another session would be used only if signs deteriorate.
The approach will vary from one individual to another. The initial session would be the longest probably 20-30 minutes and those after 15-20 minutes. This is a new service offered by the practice. If your pet has seen one of the vets who has advised acupuncture is appropriate for the condition diagnosed then please make an appointment for a consultation with Veterinary Surgeon Suzanne Young at either our Brayton or Sherburn surgery.
Consultations
We offer 15 minute consultations to ensure that our vets have all the time they need to understand your concerns, fully examine your pet and discuss any treatment options or recommendations. There is a fee for each consultation unless you are specifically told otherwise.
We understand how important it is for you and your pet to get to know us and appreciate that we can provide you with a better service if we can achieve continuity of care. As there are a number of vets working at both Brayton and Sherburn-in-Elmet, please let us know which vet you would like to see when you are booking your appointment and we will do our best to accommodate your choice. However, in emergency situations we will just offer you the first available appointment to ensure you are seen as quickly as possible.
Our nurses also offer consultations to discuss many preventative health issues plus carrying out our hospital admissions and post-operative checks.
Euthanasia
It is not always easy to decide when is the best time to say goodbye to your pet. But when you do, we are here to support you through this difficult time.
There are a few things you may want to think about.
Your pet will be given an injection of pentobarbitone into the vein, usually in one of the front legs. This is basically an overdose of anaesthesia, so your pet will literally drift off to sleep. It is painless and peaceful.
In very old or sick pets their blood pressure can be low and it may be difficult to find the vein easily. If this is the case the vet will discuss this with you and may suggest other options.
Again, usually in the very old or sick pet, they can have a few large gasps after they have passed away. This is known as cheyne-stoking. It is a reflex reaction, your pet has died at this stage so is not aware of this but it can be quite shocking for you to see if you are not expecting it.
Do you want to stay with your pet? You may want to stay with your pet while we perform the procedure or, if you find this too distressing, you may prefer to say your goodbyes, then leave your pet with our vets and nurses. Let us know how you feel, we will do our best to accommodate your wishes.
If you would prefer for us to come to you, this can be arranged.
Once your pet has passed away you may want to think about burial or cremation. You may choose to bury your pet on your property or at an approved pet burial site. Alternatively you may wish for your pet to be cremated. If you rent your property or move frequently, cremation gives you more choice about how you handle your pet’s remains. You would not get the ashes of your pet back with our standard cremation service but if you wanted your pets ashes back to scatter or keep there are many options available to suit your individual needs. You also have the option to take your pet directly to the crematorium if you wished.
Microchipping
We all love our pets dearly and dread the thought of losing them. Microchipping is one of the best ways to find your pet should it get lost. This is due to the unique number each chip carries. All your details are stored on a central database and can be accessed once the chip has been scanned. Dog wardens, vets and re-homing centres all have scanners and check any stray animals brought into them, thereby increasing the likelihood of a reunion.
The chip is about the size of a grain of rice and is placed through the skin between the shoulders blades, using a needle. The process is quick, relatively pain free and permanent.
Microchipping is also a requirement of the PETs travel scheme.
Please note that under the Control of Dogs Act 1992 - Every dog shall wear a collar with the name and address of the owner attached to it. Therefore, microchipping is not a replacement for conventional dog tags.
Vaccinations
We are able to vaccinate against a number of diseases, some of which can be life threatening.
If your pet has not been vaccinated before it will need two injections 2 to 3 weeks apart. Puppies can be vaccinated from 7 weeks and kittens from 9 weeks.
They will then need yearly boosters to keep themselves protected.