The Practice

Since we opened our fabulous purpose built clinic in 2008 it seems like lots has happened. Let me think, we achieved accreditation on the RCVS practice standards scheme, we trained up a team who are dedicated to providing you and your pets with the care they deserve – and that was in spite of Steph crowding the place with more and more pets and then even a human baby! But lots has also stayed the same, we still are delighted to have got to know and be a part of our little animal loving community and count you all as friends.

For those of you who are new to us this is how it all works at Hope Vets…

Opening hours and Emergency Service

Our clinic is open 8:30am to 7:00pm Monday to Friday and 8:30am to 12:00pm on Saturdays but don’t fret whatever time of day or night you always have access to veterinary care and advice, just phone us on 01442 833 198.

Facilities and Services

We are a small family run practice which, although it gives us the luxury of providing an individual service tailored to your pets’ needs, does not mean we compromise on the facilities and services we provide. We have a full range of equipment and the expertise you need to keep your pet healthy, to put them back together after an accident or to beat disease.

RCVS accredited practice

Within 6 months of opening we became an approved member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Practice Standards Scheme. To be an accredited practice, we have to pass inspections carried out by an experienced veterinary surgeon focusing on a range of areas, including hygiene, health and safety, clinical governance and the facilities we provide, to name just a few of the many criteria.

The Practice Standards Scheme is a voluntary initiative – not all practices are part of it. RCVS accreditation means that as a client you can rest assured that our practice offers a high quality of care – both in those bits of the practice you can see – and those that you can’t.

Consultations

Whatever your problem, big or small, book an appointment to see us. Not only do we have expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, but we can also advise you on all aspects of health and preventative medicine for your pet. Many problems befalling pets can be prevented or eased by proper preventative medicine or better knowledge of our pet’s wants and needs. At Hope Vets we consider this care to be our responsibility and so we are on hand to help and advise you on the care of your pet. In addition we run special clinics for your puppies and kittens, new pets and elderly pets to ensure any problems are prevented or dealt with quickly.

Operations

Unfortunately, sometimes medicine just isn’t enough and your pet may need an operation to get things sorted. We have a dedicated operating theatre which is fully equipped and ready for action. In order to ensure that your pet receives the best care whilst under anaesthetic our fully trained and highly experienced staff have the full range of monitoring equipment to keep your pet safe.

Physiotherapy

Just like people, animals can often benefit from physiotherapy for rehabilitation as well as the management of common conditions such as arthritis. We can provide some physiotherapy at the practice and will refer you to specialists where required.

Hospitalisation

However heartbreaking it is, sometimes your pet may need to stay with us in order to receive specialist care. We try and make this stay as comfortable and stress free as possible. To this end we have separate dog and cat wards, ensuring that barking dogs aren’t terrifying wide eyed cats. We also have an isolation ward, well away from the hubbub of normal surgery life. This allows more sensitive creatures a quiet respite or allows us to keep infectious animals separate from the other patients. We are also spoilt for outdoor space, which means that providing your dog is well enough there is plenty of room for gentle exercise and a change of scenery. Being a small practice we can’t routinely offer overnight hospitalisation for poorly pets. Should your animal need to be hospitalised overnight we will ask you to transfer him or her to Vets Now. This is a dedicated emergency service who can provide constant supervision and specialist critical care. Very occasionally animals do need to stay with us overnight rather than be transferred. Any animals hospitalised at the practice are checked as often as their condition requires overnight and over weekends, ensuring they receive the very best of care.

Diagnostic imaging

We have a full range of diagnostic imaging equipment. This allows us to see inside your pet, so we can work out what’s going wrong. We have an X-ray machine and processor on site giving us x-ray vision almost as good as Superman. If that isn’t enough we also have an ultrasound machine – perfect for visualising inside the abdomen.

Laboratory

Sometimes seeing is not enough to make a diagnosis, you need to measure things. We have equipment on site, which enable us to measure blood parameters and provides information on your pet’s organ function within minutes. We can do tests on urine and look a cell samples on site too. If this isn’t enough to make a diagnosis we have a courier poised and ready to rush samples to a professional veterinary laboratory that very same day so we can get results back to you as quickly as possible.

Dentistry

Vets have to be jacks of all trades and to this end we also take responsibility for your pet’s oral health. We would love to prevent all problems and have all animals teeth brushed as diligently as yours are, but unfortunately this isn’t always the case. For animals with dental problems we have full facilities to deal with it, from a high speed drill to an ultrasonic de-scaler and a polishing unit. This means we can get your dog’s breath smelling sweet and pleasant!

Supplies

Whatever you need, from pet food to flea treatments to odour eliminator, we’ve got it (and if we haven’t got it, we can usually get it for you the next working day). Not only that but we also stock a full range of medications, so whatever your pet needs, it gets as soon as possible. We are also happy to supply you with a prescription, with which you can obtain medications from other vets or pharmacies although of course we can only prescribe drugs to animals which we have responsibility for and have examined recently. We understand that drug bills can add up, particularly when your pet needs long term treatment. At Hope Vets we try to keep the cost of long term medications as low as possible. The prices of any medication are available on request along with our prescription charges.

We are very happy to offer estimates on request, but to give you a general idea of our prices…

• Dog booster £54.50 to £75.50 (depending on vaccines requested).
• Puppy L2 vaccination course £90.50 (this includes 2 vaccines spaced 2 weeks apart, a dose of worm/flea treatment, health check with the vet and an additional nurse consult to give you general puppy advice and a puppy pack of goodies). The three part L4 vaccine course – where required – is £119.50.
• Cat booster £58. Always against cat flu and enteritis. In cats at increased risk of disease (particularly young, outdoor and sociable cats) we recommend you also protect your cat against Leukaemia (no difference in price)
• Kitten vaccination course £97.50 (this includes 2 vaccines spaced 3 weeks apart, a dose of worm/flea treatment, health check with the vet and an additional nurse consult to give you general kitten advice and a kitten pack of goodies)
• Primary consultation £46.50-£64
• Follow up consultation  £41-£58
• Emergency consult surcharges £45-£120. These apply where appointments will result in staff overtime or appointments for other clients have to be re-arranged.
• Prescription charge up to £12. Click here for more info.
• Microchips £15 (mini chip as standard)
• Insurance claim £22.00 for initial claim, £16.00 for continuations. Please note that to claim directly from your insurer we need pre-authorisation from the insurer in each case.

Prices for neutering include one pre op check to make sure there are no issues and go through the procedure with you, the operation and any medication needed to go home with and also one post op check up to make sure they are recovering well.

• Bitch spay £290-420 depending on the weight of your dog
• Dog castrate £210-310 depending on the weight of your dog
• Cat spay £150
• Cat castrate £100

All prices are correct at time of publishing, if you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact us. Up to date prices for Out of Hours services provided by Vets Now are available from Vets Now.