Clare Vet Group's home page
Ballyclare 028 9332 2223
Whiteabbey 028 9036 5573
Carrickfergus 028 9332 9385
Cavehill 028 9071 8134

Facilities

See what facilities we have on offer at Clare Vet

  • Hospital Facilities
  • Physiotherapy
  • Endoscopy
  • Ultrasound
  • X-rays
  • Laboratory

Hospital Facilities

Four Consulting Rooms 

We provide four fully equipped consulting rooms, with separate waiting areas for dogs and cats.

We also provide a quiet consult room for owners to spend time with their pets at times of euthanasia.

Waiting Area 

Our Ballyclare clinic has a well sized waiting area, with a quiet area for nervous animals to wait in comfort.

We aim to minimise your waiting times by providing enough Vets during our busy clinics for consultations by our appointment system.

Two Operating Theatres

At the main Ballyclare clinic we provide two separate operating theatres.  Here we operate in a sterile environment, with a dedicated nurse monitoring the patients anaesthetic.

Separate Dental Facilities 

Our dental suite is completely separate from the operating theatres to minimise infections. We provide state of the art dental facilities, including ultrasonic scaling, air driven dental equipment and specialised dental x-rays.

24 Hour Nursing Care 

We pride ourselves in the ability to provide our own “in-house” 24 hour nursing care. Unlike many other veterinary practices that outsource this service, we feel we can offer a better service, with familiar faces at our Ballyclare Hospital.

We have ten fully qualified nurses, student nurses and auxiliary nurses.

Our nurses stay on site if they are on call,  so that there is always a member of staff to look after your pet throughout the night.

Inpatients are regularly checked and kept in a clean, warm and calming environment. We can provide 24 hour intensive nursing care if your pet requires this.

By providing this service at Ballyclare Hospital we have access to all your animals’ records, and the full resources of our Hospital.

Physiotherapy

At Clare Veterinary Group, we aim to provide you and your pet with the best possible veterinary care!

This means we will ensure your pet gets a complete treatment and recovery plan.

We provide professional physiotherapy for your pet that is carried out at our surgery by Siobhan Menzies from Holistic Pet. Siobhan is a qualified vet, who now specialises in physiotherapy and Elsa Izaguirre who qualified in physiotherapy in 2011 at the University of Leon.

What is Physiotherapy?

Physiotherapy is widely recognised in human medicine as being effective in the treatment and rehabilitation of soft tissue injuries, arthritis, neck and back pain following fractures or surgery.

The aims of physiotherapy are to aid the animals healing capacity by reducing pain and inflammation, improving joint range of motion and muscle strength, therefore restoring movement, function and quality of life.

Why should my pet have Physiotherapy?

Physiotherapy can be very useful for treating:

  • Hip and Elbow Dysplasia
  • Cranial Cruciate Disease
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Muscular, tendon and ligament injuries
  • Stabilising fractures
  • Paralysis
  • Neurological Problems
  • Neck or back pain- secondary to degenerative disc disease, disc protrusion/extrusion, or after surgery.

How does it work?

Once your pet has been assessed by a vet - this may involve radiographs, they will then refer you to see our physiotherapist. Your pet’s first consultation will usually take approximately 45 minutes to take a full history, treat the animal and discuss the case. Further consults are usually 30 minutes. 

During the consult:

The physiotherapist will watch your pet’s movements and palpate to feel for any areas of increased sensitivity, pain, muscle wastage or restricted movement.

A treatment plan may consist of a series of exercises involving stretches or strengthening exercises for you to carry out with your pet.

Hands on treatment will then begin - this may involve:

  • Acupuncture - Acupuncture is most commonly used to manage pain. It involves inserting thin needles into specific points on your pet’s body. The size and exact location of the needles will depend on the size of your animal and the condition in which it is being treated. Your cat or dog will remain awake during the procedure as it is not painful and can be very relaxing for them. Once the needles are in place, pets of all sizes should be pain free. They are often so relaxed that they fall asleep!
  • Laser treatment - In rare cases, in which our patients do not enjoy needling, we use a laser, which provides a painless delivery of acupuncture therapy.

We do not use drug sedation to force compliance, which would mask and may alter the body’s natural responses.

To take full advantage of physiotherapy, you, as an owner, has to be dedicated and follow all home care instruction. Results will not be seen overnight!

How do I book my pet in?

You can ring the surgery or call in – ask at reception and we can give you a date and time.

Is Physiotherapy covered through my pet insurance?

Yes. Depending on your insurance company, you will be allowed up to 10 therapy treatments, although you will have to pay a separate insurance excess.

Endoscopy

Endoscopy allows a visual examination of internal organs and body parts without invasive exploratory surgery.

We have 2 endoscopes within the Clare Vet Group.  Both scopes aid in the diagnosis of certain conditions and help us provide the best treatment for your pet.

The advantage of endoscopy over other methods of evaluating the digestive system, is that it is nonsurgical. The technique allows for visualisation of the lining of the digestive system and for taking samples of the lining of these organs, including biopsies. Many foreign bodies in the oesophagus and stomach may be removed via endoscopy.

Additionally we also have a bronchoscope for airway investigations.

Ultrasound

We have an ultrasound scanner that is capable of scanning and imaging all abdominal organs as well as the heart.

Ultrasonography is available throughout the clinics, we have 3 x ultrasound machines within the Clare Vet Group.

Our small animal machine is used for internal diagnostic scans and our vets have completed various courses relating to ultrasonography, to ensure we can find out what is wrong with your pet.

Our Farm Animal machines are used for routine pregnancy diagnosis.

X-rays

X-rays are routinely used in the diagnosis of many conditions. We provide state of the art digital x-ray.  Our x-rays are instantly processed and we have the ability to email these images if a second opinion needs to be sought.

If your pet requires an x-ray, we will generally admit your animal to the clinic for the day, as most animals need some form of sedation in order to facilitate this process.

Taking X-rays, Ultrasound Scans or organising referrals for more advanced imaging such as CT or MRI scans, gives us a huge amount of useful information, especially when dealing with complex or long-standing cases. Once we have the essentials in place, we can discuss with you the treatment options available.

Laboratory

Laboratory tests are crucial for accurate diagnosis and treatment, so don’t be surprised if we recommend blood and urine tests or taking samples from lumps, bumps or fluids.

Our in-house Lab gives us the ability to run blood work and urine sampling, this means we can have results for your pet that same day and can aid making a diagnosis. We also have a daily courier for tests that need to be performed at a more specialist laboratory. Our laboratory services help us to provide timely and optimal information of your pet’s condition and potential need for further investigation and treatment.

We have much of the equipment required in-house, including digital X-ray, state of the art Ultrasound and a fully equipped diagnostic laboratory for processing blood samples and urine tests, so that we can offer rapid and accurate diagnosis when needed.

Please feel free to call us on 02893 322223 if you would like any further information or click on the links provided.

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