All our vets are dog owners, and we appreciate the worry an illness can cause.
Our facilities are excellent, facilitating high quality diagnosis and treatment. A high powered x-ray machine, and automatic x-ray processor allows us to get good images of even the largest chest, or smallest foot! After all, our canine patients vary from the 1 kg Yorkie, to the 55kg Great Dane – it`s not really small animal practice!
The traditional auscultation (listening to the heart with a stethoscope) can still be used to diagnose the commonest heart condition in dogs, namely a murmur due to endocardiosis (click on play button below to listen)…but the advent of high quality ultrasound imaging has transformed the treatment of difficult heart cases, including cardiac tamponade.
We can now image internal organs without the need for surgery – diagnosis is now possible in many cases without any invasive procedures – this significantly enhances the welfare of those entrusted to our care. When it is necessary, however, we have a dedicated theatre suite, and we perform soft tissue surgery, both routine elective, and emergency, and orthopaedic procedures. We now perform cruciate surgery (on the knee) several times a week. It has become increasingly successful, now utilising the latest implant technology, with a shorter-than-ever recovery time.
Dog parasites represent a significant health concern, especially with the emergence of lung worms which have been responsible for some deaths in NI pets. We have seen clinical cases in Bangor (6 confirmed affected cases in Cedarmount in 2013) – the risk remains real.
We strongly advise against using the older wormers (often sold in pet shops and supermarkets), which are prone to drug resistance and side effects. Please contact us for the best advice on worming your dogs.
We stock the latest flea and worm control products – safely eliminating fleas and worms from your dog, and very importantly from the environment, ie. your house and garden etc! With recent advances in oral, tablet, parasite control, and genuine concerns about the environmental contamination caused by spot-on products, we are now advising a combined flea, tick and worming tablet. This is the only combined treatment for dogs and, when given monthly, it will eliminate and prevent flea infestation, kill ticks, prevent roundworm (toxocara) infection and prevent ooscyst shedding, and prevent lungworm (angiostrongylus) infection. The tablets are extremely palatable with very little side effects and we recommend these for virtually all dogs.
Other advantages of tablet treatments are that they will not be washed off at the groomers, or by swimming, and they do not leave any sticky residues. These combined tablets are available at incredible value as part of our Pet Health Club. Unless your dog is a hunter e.g. rabbits or mice, eats a raw diet, or travels to at risk areas, e.g Wales or Europe, then tapeworms are not really a concern. If we need to control tapeworms then a separate tablet can easily be used alongside every 3-6 months, depending on the risk.
We can insert a microchip very inexpensively now – this will be there permanently, allowing rapid identification of your dog, with your contact details immediately available to vet or rescue centre should the need arise. The chips we use are ISO standard, and as such acceptable for the Irish Kennel Club.