When Should I Refer My Pet to a Specialist?
Northwest Specialist Vet accepts pets that are suffering from an injury, condition, or ailment that can’t be treated with standard veterinary care. If your pet has a complicated injury, cannot be diagnosed by a standard vet, requires in-depth diagnosis or scanning (such as a CT scan), requires specialist treatment such as hydrotherapy or you want to explore alternative ways of treating conditions such as cancer, cranial cruciate ligament ruptures, arthritis, we can help.
We offer innovative treatments that help even the most severe cases, working diligently to help you find answers and restore your companion to the best health possible in an empathetic, kind, and professional manner.
Pet Owners FAQ
Northwest Specialist Vet is a Derry veterinary hospital offering specialist veterinary services to clients across Derry, Donegal, and the surrounding areas.
The best way to go about finding a specialist ( www.ecvs.org, www.ebvs.eu, www.yourvetspecialist.org ) for your pet is to research their condition and find a professional who specialises in treating this condition. For example, here at Northwest Specialist Vet, our range of CT scanning equipment, along with our innovative veterinary team, means that we specialise in orthopaedic surgeries, neurological and spinal surgeries, cancer treatments, and alternative orthopaedic treatments. Finding a specialist who deals with many cases similar to what your pet is experiencing is key.
This all depends on the type of specialist veterinary treatment you require. Contact the Northwest Specialist vet team for a free quote on any of our veterinary treatments.
It is important that your pet does not eat any solid food from about 11pm the previous night of the appointed surgery, however, water should always be freely available unless otherwise indicated. On the day of surgery, we accept pet drop-ins any time by previous arrangement, and you will be given a time to collect your pet afterward where relevant.
After surgery and discharge, your job during the recovery period at home is just as important as the surgery to helping your companion getting back to full health. Dogs and cats should be allowed to rest and should not exert too much energy or be able to jump around in a manner that could burst stitches or undo surgical procedures. Your pet will be given pain relief during their time in the clinic and you will receive pain relief tablets and antibiotics to administer at home.
Every pet discharged from clinic receives detailed instructions about wound management, home care, at-home physical therapy (if required), exercise restrictions and timelines for recovery. These recommendations are differ depending on your pet and the treatment received. If you are unsure about any details of post-operative care, please ask for clarification before leaving the clinic. Following surgery, if you have any questions or concerns about your pet’s well-being, we recommend you initially contact your local vet directly for assistance (the vet that initially referred you to us). Your vet will contact our team if additional information or intervention is required. Wishing your pets the speediest of recovery.
While we always aim to cure pets of disease and conditions that they may be suffering with, this is not always possible, such is the nature of medicine in general. As we all know no treatment in medicine is 100% effective.
During your pet’s time with our team, we strive to keep your animal as happy, healthy, and comfortable as possible throughout their treatment and will communicate about what the kindest steps to take going forward are depending on your pet’s health status and likelihood of living a comfortable and fulfilling life. Most of our patients respond well to treatment and we pride ourselves on our dedication to animal welfare and veterinary skills.
