Caroline Speller joined us today as our first Practice Manager. She will be taking over all the non-clincal work from Sinead, which will allow Sinead to focus on the animals and the clinical side of the practice.
More changes to reception
Lower reception desk in the cat zone
We have change the reception desk so Kim & Maggie are no longer hidden from the cat zone. We are now starting to plan how we can get more seats into reception, and will hopefully make the changes over the summer.
Maggie is our new receptionist
Maggie Castles has started today as a receptionist. Maggie will be responsible for the morning reception while Kim continues to work afternoons and Saturday morning.
Canine Babesiois found in Harlow Essex
A dermacentor tick found in Harlow which transmits Babesiois
You might have heard the news today that Babesiois has been found in ticks in Harlow and has infected some local dogs. We have more information on what it is, what to look for and treatment to avoid it in our babesia page.
New equipment – Ethylene Oxide Steriliser
We have just got an ethylene oxide steriliser. Most vets use the traditional autoclave which uses water at high temperature and pressure to clean equipment – but a lot of instruments which have electronics or rubber parts cannot be put into autoclaves. The ethylene oxide steriliser can be used on any material which means at Ark Vets we can sterilise all the equipment used in the operating theatre.
Changes to reception at Ark Vets
New reception with a partition between the cat and dog areas
We have made some changes to the reception – we are going to give cats and their owners their own little area to wait in. Cats are very often stressed when coming to the vets, so the last thing they want it a strange dog staring at them in their cat carrier. So we have rearranged the reception so the space to the right of reception in front of the window is just for cat owners.
We are going to make some more changes and add more seating, but it could be a few months before we are able to complete the work. In the meantime can you dog owners please let the cats have their own little space.
The area for cats with a table for cat baskets
Operating on our smaller patients
These are some photos from a recent operation on a kitten
The kitten is on the HotDog warmer, between 2 gloves of warm water, and with socks – all to keep them warm
Even our smallest patients get the full set of anaesthetics monitoring
Patients are kept warm anc closely watched while they wake up from anaesthetics
And fully awake after the operation
Not all cats are stressed when they visit the vets
We know some cats are stressed when they visit the vets, but there are also some who are very relaxed….
Acupuncture is now available at Ark Vets
Sinead is now offering acupuncture treatment as part of rehabilitation & physiotherapy.
Slow motion video analysis using the underwater treadmill
We can now record in slow motion any animal using the underwater treadmill. This allows the vet to carefully analyse the walking movement and make adjustments to the rehabilitation /physiotherapy plan.