When you mention pets, most people think immediately of dogs and cats. When you imagine the work that vets in Durham will do, it’s again domestic pets that come to mind. The variety of animals being treated, however, is much wider than this. Vets look after a range of pets that include rabbits, gerbils, hamsters, and many varieties of birds. Some people even enjoy having reptiles as pets and the odd snake can also be brought in for a check-up – often to the discomfort of others in the waiting room. Then there are the farm animals – horses, cattle, pigs and sheep that are also part of a vet’s work in Durham given the number of farms in the area.
The most important thing to consider when you own animals is to establish a relationship with a nearby vet. If you have a household pet you should visit at least once a year for a general check-up and to ensure that vaccinations are up-to-date. Having an established relationship with a vet who knows your animal and its health history will be vital if there’s a health emergency. You would obviously ensure that the practice you deal with has vets on-call who can attend to your pet at all hours of the night and over weekends. Seeing a pet in pain or suffering breaks the hearts of most owners and their immediate thought is to get help for their animal as quickly as possible.
Part of veterinary training is a surgical component, so any qualified vet will be able to operate on your animal if necessary. You would need to check, however, that they are specialised in a certain area. Some vets are more comfortable dealing with domestic animals, while others might be more experienced with farm animals and horses. You click here to get more details.
Microchipping your animal
Apart from a health emergency, the other thing that a pet-owner dreads is when their animal strays or is lost. This happens even with the most devoted animals which wander too far from home or are perhaps frightened and run further than they should. If you move house it often happens that animals are unsettled and roam around trying to find their previous home. It is for this reason that many pet-owners are having their cats and dogs microchipped. There is a service that is able to identify animals from their chip, and can then contact the owners. Many pet-owners have been joyously reunited with their animals as a result. Most vets are able to perform this micro-chipping service for you. From April 2016, it will become law that all dogs in England are microchipped, so this will soon become a necessity.
If you are a pet owner or have horses or livestock, you will need to find reliable vets in Durham. Ashfield Veterinary Surgery is based in County Durham and has specialised staff to cater for every type of animal.