Our team of compassionate and highly skilled veterinary surgeons have the medical and surgical experience to perform all routine surgeries and many non-routine procedures, on site. We believe in investing in our vets and equipment and keeping up to date with advances in medicine. If your pet requires surgery or has a complicated health problem, our team has the skills to treat them safely. Just like NHS doctors our vets undertake regular CPD training, ensuring that your pet receives the very best veterinary treatments available.
Ultrasound
What is an ultrasound?
An ultrasound exam is a non-invasive imaging technique that allows us to see what’s going on inside your pet using ultrasonic waves. We use ultrasound imaging at our West Wickham Veterinary Surgery for diagnosing and staging of many diseases. The process is not painful and our team works hard to ensure it is as stress free as possible for your pet.
We have invested in the latest imaging technology to provide accurate and rapid diagnosis of a wide range of conditions. Our sonographers can map detailed information about your pet’s abdominal organs and allow non-invasive measurement of heart blood flow to help shape bespoke treatment plans.
Will my pet need an anaesthetic?
Anaesthesia is not usually needed for most ultrasound examinations, unless biopsies are to be taken. The technique is totally painless and most pets will lie comfortably while the scan is being performed. Occasionally, if the pet is very frightened a sedative may be necessary.
Radiology
We have access to a high resolution digital X-ray machine that enables us to take high quality x-rays quickly, which means less stress for the patient and faster diagnosis.
Cardiology
Heart disease is one of the most commonly diagnosed conditions in dogs and cats. Early detection of a potential heart problem is so important and will not only improve the quality of life but often considerably lengthen the life span of affected animals. At an early stage your pet may not show any symptoms, we often pick up a potential problem during a routine visit.
We use several instruments to monitor the health of our patients hearts. We have the equipment to perform electrocardiographs (ECG), ultrasound scanning, radiographs (X-ray) and blood pressure monitoring. These diagnostic tools form an important part of the investigation and monitoring of heart disease and certain other conditions such as:
- Mitral valve disease
- Dilated cardiomyopathy
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
In-house Laboratory
We use only cutting-edge technologies to give us unprecedented accuracy, speed and precision of laboratory tests. Occasionally, we need to use an external laboratory for more complex tests. These tests are couriered overnight ensuring we can report your pet’s test results as quickly as possible.
Blood samples, urine tests and microscopic examination of blood, skin and urine are checked using our in-house laboratory service providing results in a matter of minutes even on weekends.
Microscopy & Cytology
Microscopes have many uses in a veterinary surgery. We use them to look for the eggs of intestinal parasites. They are helpful for diagnosing ear problems such as mites, bacterial infections, and yeast infections. Using a microscope can be quite useful for diagnosing skin infections and different forms of mites such as scabies and demodex.
When your pet has a lump, we may perform a fine needle aspiration. We will use a needle to pull cells out of the lump to identify them. We can diagnose fatty lumps just by looking at the cells under the microscope, though we may send more complicated samples to the laboratory.