What About Out Of Hours?

We offer a twenty four hours emergency service  (for all species). The practice always has two  of its own veterinary surgeons on call.   They  can be contacted via the usual  practice telephone number,   which will  be answered by either a veterinary surgeon or  by  the outside  answering service. The obvious emergencies, such as  significant haemorrhage, swinging limbs,   persistent signs of  severe colic and  protracted births are given priority. 
All the veterinarians have access to mobile phones and  / or bleepers and can usually be contacted quickly.      They respond  as soon as they can; which means as soon as the case in hand is ‘fixed’.  

What About Distance?

The practice has  had regular clients  for several years,  as far apart as Mablethorpe and Worksop, Goxhill and Newark,  and  Crowle and  Boston.     They  believe that they  can continue to offer a cost effective veterinary service  even if  they  are a few miles away.  The more clients  seen in a particular area the same day,  the cheaper  visit charges can become as  they can be shared between the clients.     If clients get together  and are able to   synchronise visits,     then it will help to  keep the  travelling costs down.

What About Reliability?

Many of  the  clients have used  the practice service  for  the full fifty years of its existence;  and the service   offered has been provided for,    in some cases,   four generations of the families.
As previously stated,   the practice has attended  Market Rasen racecourse, in order  to deal with the emergencies,  consistently for approaching forty years. If clients are prepared to stay with   the practice  for these substantial periods of time  they  must have something special to offer in terms of  quality and reliability.    They  will do their  best to  continue to provide something special, worthwhile and cost-effective. 

What About Charges?

Proper veterinary care for horses  is  never going to be cheap.
The practice does try and keep the  charges reasonable.   As they  wish to stay in business,  and  offer a good service,  and have good facilities for the benefit of our clients,   they do have to send  out accounts - monthly.   It is  expected that  the accounts will  be paid  within thirty days.   Rest assured  the  accounts  are tempered with mercy.    Very few complaints are received each year…..not even about the charges.

In order to charge consistently there is a computerised accounting system with a fixed price list.  Discounts may be available for quantity  and  also for rapid payment. 

The practice accepts credit card payments (even over the telephone with an appropriate plastic  card) cheques, cash, .PO,  BACS  and Standing Orders.              

What about Horse  Insurance?

No matter how reasonable veterinary charges may be in reality, the bills always seem large at the time of first reading.   Nowadays insurance  for  veterinary  fees   must   be seriously considered,   as,  for example,    colic surgery can  cost  between £3000 and £6000;  and an extensive  lameness investigation can cost between £1000 and £3000.     Recent quotes for joint flushing, and sinus drainage at Newmarket have been equally frightening.     It  should be remembered that even a brief encounter with a strand of barb wire,  not noticed for a couple of days,  resulting in a wound  which requires a visit,  sutures under sedation, and a course of antibiotic  can see an account of  more than  £200.    The charge will increase  enormously if a tendon sheath or a joint is punctured.    
Insurance is worthwhile,    as it enables a higher standard of work to be performed; often enables  a better result; sometimes a quicker result;  and there is no need to try and cut corners in order to try and save.    Not to mention the peace of mind  for the owner –  confidently  knowing that a large bill is  the responsibility of someone else.

Insurance is worthwhile,   and we will advise if asked.    The practice does not  recommend any   one individual company;   and does  not sell insurance.

Insurance claim forms for our  regular clients,    generally,  are completed free of charge.    

Anything different?

The practice has recently introduced a Health Plan for Horses – the  Healthy Horse Scheme  - which will enable most of the routine health care required  (worming,  vaccination, routine dental care )  to be paid for on a monthly basis.     It is to be hoped that this service will be taken up by a substantial number of clients, as we feel that it will help both the horses’ health  and their owners’ pockets.  It is not an insurance,  and is meant to complement an insurance policy,   and so  cover those items which an insurance does not cover.   Items which still cost money on a regular basis.

 

What does the practice not do?

The practice maintains useful contact with most of the veterinary schools and generally knows where there are people to contact with  particularly difficult or non-responsive cases. This means that medical  and surgical cases which the practice feels would benefit from the expertise of others are sent willingly and promptly  to people in who the practice has complete confidence and trust.  
The practice performs little in the way of bacteriology; and swabs from mares for CEM culture prior to breeding are all sent away to approved laboratories.     Nasal or naso-pharyngeal swabs for culture for  Strangles bacteria – Streptococcus equi  -  are sent to laboratories which we believe are most likely to find the organism if it is present.   

Blood samples for examination for evidence of exposure to viruses are again sent to reliable laboratories.    Evidence of EVA infection is sought in brood mares before breeding; evidence of exposure to  Equine influenza and respiratory Herpes viruses is  increasingly looked for in horses where there is a nasal discharge and a cough.  
The practice does not have facilities for either  scintigraphy (bone scanning involving the use of radioactive material)  or MRI scanning.     These are both expensive and time consuming techniques; both are valuable in obtaining a definitive diagnosis of lameness problems. MRI will be increasingly used for  investigating   problems   ( and obtaining a very  accurate diagnosis)   which have been isolated  by nerve or joint analgesia to the lower parts of the limbs.        

Samples of tissue taken from tumours is sent to a specialist laboratory for histo-pathological examination.      Specialist  allergy laboratories are used for blood samples taken from horses with recurrent skin lesions or hair loss.

 

Measuring

   The  centre of the operating theatre   contains the  Joint Measurement Board approved  measuring  pad.  This  area has been constructed so that it is  both perfectly level,   indoors, and  within a part of the building which  can be very quiet.   These facilities, together with a little patience,   hopefully ensure that  measurements are made in a consistent and accurate manner. 
Stabling.      Day patients, and longer term in-patients,   are stabled on-site in the wooden stable block.     Most of the stable  floors have rubber mats.   The rubber mats can make many lame horses much more comfortable –  especially those ponies  with laminitis.
Transport     Frequently we can offer a collection and delivery service; or  for longer journeys   put you in touch with a  professional horse transporter.
 

Equipment Hire

    Therapeutic ultrasound and lasers are available for hire for use on horses which we have examined and recommended this form of treatment.   A  Shockwave  therapy machine is available for use by the veterinary surgeons only, and generally only at the surgery.   Shockwave therapy  is currently believed  to be the only useful treatment for strain of the origin of the suspensory  ligament.    It does have other uses.    
Equine Veterinary Nursing. The practice has just been approved as a Training Practice for the training of Equine Veterinary Nurses