Services

Acupuncture is the ancient art of placing fine needles into specific parts of the body to alleviate pain, improve recovery rates and increase resistance to disease. It has been used by Chinese and other Eastern Cultures for many thousands of years as a component of their health care system.

Acupuncture treatments should always follow an accurate diagnosis of the problem and a discussion about the available treatment options.  In many cases acupuncture is best used in conjunction with conventional treatments, although sometimes it can be used as a sole treatment. Adding acupuncture to a treatment plan can sometimes decrease the requirement for conventional medication.

Acupuncture can legally only be carried out on animals by a qualified veterinary surgeon, and is extremely safe and well accepted by most animals.

The benefits of acupuncture treatment include:

• pain relief
• increased ability of the body to recover from disease
• anti-inflamatory
• increased blood flow to diseased tissues

Many insurance companies will cover the cost of acupuncture treatment, however please check your  insurance policy.

To discuss your individual requirements please contact Rachel Forster at our South Molton surgery, who has been trained by, and is a member of the Association of Veterinary Acupuncturists (ABVA).

Home Visiting Service

Our dedicated service is especially for clients who would prefer not / are unable to bring their animals to the surgery. If you have transport difficulties, multiple pets, nervous pets that don’t like to travel, our team are happy to visit. Consultations and treatment are held in the calm and relaxed comfort of your own home. One of our Veterinary Surgeons and a Nurse will visit and, where possible, treat animals in their own home. The home visiting vehicles are fully customised to carry all the necessary medical treatment that might be required.

Further Treatment

Should your animal require further treatment or investigative work that cannot be carried when we visit, our Animal Ambulance will, for no additional cost, transport your pet to one of our clinics and return them to you once the treatment is complete.

Animal Ambulance Collection Service

Our pet ambulance is available to collect and deliver your pet to the surgery if required and then return them to you afterwards. For this service we will charge a small fee to cover our costs.

This is a particularly useful service for pets that are coming in for routine operations, providing convenience and removing the stress and expense of arranging transport.

We are giving our Commitment to:

•     Improving our services to meet customer needs.
•     Innovative solutions to provide the best services for our customers and their pets.
•     Peace of mind and convenience.
•     Quality care for your animals.

Home Visiting Offers the following Services:  

•     Consultations
•     Vaccinations
•     Microchipping
•     Animal Health Checks
•     Repeat prescription consultations
•     Worming and flea control

What is Laser Therapy?

Class IV K-Lasers delivers specific red and nearfrared wavelengths of laser light to include a therapeutic effect within the body. These include increased circulation, decreased swelling, reduction of pain and enhanced tissue repair. Laser therapy has been used in Europe since 1970s and was cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 2002.

Numerous studies show that Laser Therapy can help with:

• Osteoarthritis
• Joint Pain
• Tendinopathies
• Oedema and Congestion
• Ligament Sprains
• Muscle Strains
• Puncture Wounds
• Post Traumatic Injury
• Post Surgical Pain
• Neck and Back Pain
• Hip Dysplasia
• Burns
• Chronic Wounds
• Rehabilitation
• Post Orthopedic surgical recovery

Four week course - £30.00
Based: Barnstaple Practice (outside no matter what the weather!)

Understanding about good pet care can make you a more confident pet owner and your pet a happier healthier one.

We invite all puppies between 9 and 14 weeks to come along to our 4 week course of Puppy Confidence Class with our nurse Ruth Lovell.

You and your puppy can attend these classes a week after your puppy has had their 1st vaccination. Aim of class:

• Improve your puppy's socialisation through meeting other puppies.
• Help owners recognise canine communication and body language.
• Puppy Habituation - Familiarising your puppy with household objects.
• Puppy Bonding with their owner.
• Basic commands.

Socialising Your Puppy
Socialisation is absolutely vital to ensure a balanced and well behaved adult dog. The more you expose your puppy to at a young age, the happier and more relaxed they will be in adulthood. Consequently dog ownership will be a pleasure rather than a strain. 

Whenever your puppy reacts in an appropriate way to a new situation ensure you reward them with plenty of praise so they understand they are acting correctly. If you are having any problems at all, they can be resolved very quickly and easily at a young age, so please do not hesitate to contact us so that we can offer you advice or put you in touch with a behavioural expert.

The Following Steps Outline How Best To Socialise Your Puppy:

Birth
Puppy will still be with mother and siblings but should experience human scent, both male and female at a very early stage.

3 weeks
All environmental stimuli should be interesting and non threatening to the puppy. The breeder should expose the puppy to household noises e.g. washing machine, vacuum and television. Plenty of handling should be instigated to include grooming and mock veterinary examinations.

6 weeks
Puppy is normally transferred to its new owner around this age. They should meet all the family e.g. men, women, children, other pets and babies. Puppy should also get use to car journeys, visitors e.g. postman and also start to come accustomed to being left alone for short periods.

9 weeks
Start to introduce stronger stimuli e.g. street noises, crowds, children's play areas and leash training.

This is an ideal time for puppy socialisation classes under veterinary supervision. Avoid dogs that are aggressive or badly behaved in parks as this may encourage fear and teach bad behaviour.

12 weeks
Ensure a broadening range of experiences.

15 weeks
Lessons learnt can be forgotten unless you reinforce them. This should continue right up until social maturity.

House Rules
These basic rules will provide you with some useful tips on how to get the best from your puppy.

Praise good behaviour. Use verbal praise as well as touch and treats. Dogs do not understand the English language or tone of voice so if you tell your dog off by shouting they’ll assume they are being praised and are likely to repeat the bad behaviour again.

Ignore unwanted behaviour. If chewing your best shoes gets no response from you they will be unlikely to bother with it again, however if you shriek and chase your puppy around trying to retrieve your shoe they are likely to see it as a game and will pinch your shoe at every given opportunity.

Ignore your puppy for five minutes before leaving the house, you leaving should never be a big deal.

Ignore your puppy for the first five minutes when you return as again coming home should not be a big deal.

Do not enter the house after being away if your puppy is barking. Doing this just once will teach your puppy that if they bark you will return home. Wait for them to become quiet for a few seconds and then go in.

If you come home to a destroyed item don’t clear it up in front of your puppy. They will see this as attention for the mess they have made.

Remember everything on the floor is a dog toy! Put precious items away and teach children to do the same.

Make sure your puppy is always left with safe appropriate chew toys. Use stuffed Kong's, puppies have to chew in order to learn about their environment.

If your puppy bites you, say ‘ouch’ in a gruff voice and walk away. They will soon learn that this is unacceptable behaviour and will not bite.

Ignore accidents in the house. Clean them up with the puppy out of sight. Use biological washing powder as this contains enzymes that break down anything left behind, so removing the smell. Praise your puppy for going to the toilet outside and they will soon learn that this behaviour makes you happy and will gladly wait for you to take them out.

Consider using an indoor kennel. Dogs are naturally denning animals and enjoy a dark kennel they can retreat too. They are highly beneficial giving puppies a ‘chill out’ zone to encourage rest, provide a safe environment where they can be left and also aids in toilet training as they will have been taught by their mum not to mess in their bed.

Children should not be left unsupervised with a puppy and should never be allowed to annoy or tease them. Remember the only defence a dog has are its teeth and it only takes seconds to cause serious harm. 90% of all dogs in rehoming centres are from households with children and sadly quite often the children were the problem, not the dog.