Wylies has, for many years, had a certified ophthalmologist on our Veterinary Team, able to offer a higher level of diagnosis and treatment for our own patients as well as those referred from neighbouring practices. Currently Morkel is our certificated ophthalmologist and has been seeing internal and external referrals for over 10 years.
Cardiology is a specialist field of veterinary medicine and usually requires a combination of blood tests, chest x-rays, heart ultrasound and ECG to make an accurate diagnosis. Richard acquired his certificate in internal medicine in 1998 and since then has developed this speciality in our practice. He takes both internal and external referrals from neighbouring practices.
We are frequently asked to treat dogs and cats with orthopaedic problems – from fractures to damaged ligaments. Repairing these injuries and defects requires specialist facilities, equipment and expertise which we are fortunate to have available at our Upminster Hospital. Christoph Stork is our orthopaedic consultant. We are able to treat most orthopaedic problems here and are equipped to accept both internal and external referrals.
Chronic skin problems can be very uncomfortable and frustrating for pets, their owners and vets alike! Pets that suffer with these problems often require specialist attention. Ewan Ferguson is our dermatology consultant and we work closely with him in order to get to the bottom of frustrating skin problems, providing relief from the stress and pain of these chronic problems.
Seeing is believing! A big part of our work is ‘looking’ into the body for clues as to the cause of an illness. This, together with a thorough examination and information gained from the laboratory, helps us to understand what the problems are in a lot of cases. We use X-rays, ultrasound and endoscopy (cameras) for this purpose. Our Veterinary Team are highly trained and experienced in the use of these instruments. With ultrasound and endoscopy we have the added benefit of being able to use these techniques for the purpose of taking real-time biopsies of suspicious areas.
When pets require surgery it is understandably an anxious time for the whole family. Considering the stress of being away from home, the anaesthetic risk, possible complications from the operation as well as post-operative pain, it is not at all surprising that this is a stressful time for all concerned. We understand this, and so whilst it may not be possible to avoid the necessity for an operation, we take all possible steps to reduce our patient’s stress levels and make the anaesthetic as safe as possible using the most modern anaesthetic techniques. We monitor our patients very closely throughout their anaesthetic and minimise the risk factors for complications. We also insist on high standards of sterility in our theatres to minimise the chance of post-operative infections. Our theatres are restricted-access areas and dedicated to this purpose alone. All staff members entering the restricted zone are required to change into appropriate theatre clothes (scrubs, masks, hats and surgical gowns). Pain control is at the top of our agenda. We are passionate believers in controlling pre- and postoperative pain as much as humanly possible through a combination of pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative medications. Despite these high standards, our clinical teams are constantly on the look-out for new and innovative ways to improve our care of our surgical patients.
From time to time one of our patients will require a blood transfusion. Usually time is of the essence in these situations, but we are fully equipped to carry out this procedure. However, we do not store blood on our premises, so we are constantly in need of donors, both dogs and cats, for our donor register. Many of our ‘success stories’ have been patients that have recovered well from their illnesses following a successful transfusion.
For more information about our further investigations service, please get in touch!
