COVID-19 Companion Animal

Dear Client,

Please see below our policy to help deal with the Covid 19 crisis

We will be giving regular updates on the evolving situation as we have more information and as government advice changes over the coming period. We will keep the advice short and succinct, based on the best available science and with the aim of protecting you, your families and our staff whilst at the same time remaining available to look after your pets as best we can.

As health professionals we are used to dealing with infectious diseases and we have the knowledge, experience and materials needed to ensure the highest standards of clinical hygiene in our veterinary premises throughout the day. 

Having examined the various risks it is clear that it is important to reduce the numbers of people mixing in the practice. As such we have instituted the following rules with immediate effect:

  1. All visits must be by appointment only. Please do not call to the hospital without calling first. We will see emergencies as fast as we possibly can, as ever, but please call us first. We will be leaving a gap between appointments so as to reduce the in-out flow. This may mean we will have somewhat less capacity – please understand if you cannot be seen at the time you prefer.
  1. We are operating a locked door policy. Please wait in your car with your pet and call the reception to let us know you have arrived. When we are ready to see you, we will call you to the door and collect your pet from you at the door. The vet will then call you over the phone to discuss the case.
  1. We would really appreciate if you could pay by bank card over the phone and try to avoid cash if at all possible. 
  1.  For repeat medications and for pet food please call your vet with at least 24 hours’ notice so that we can have them ready for you. We are operating a locked door policy so please ring the doorbell or phone call the hospital if the door is unattended. Please be patient and a nurse will deliver your order to the front door. We would appreciate if you could once again pay for these orders over the phone by bank card.
  1. Please respect our government’s advice and request to maintain a safe social distance of 2m at all times.
  1. If you are unable to come in – be it that you are unwell or you wish to self-isolate – we will do everything we can to help. Call us and we will look after you and your pet as best we can. We will, where staffing allows, happily drop repeat prescriptions to the home if you are in this situation. At worst they can be posted.
  1. Please please please be patient with our brilliant and caring staff if there are delays, we are all doing our best but all of these extra precautions are going to slow up things a little. 

To conclude – we will get through this. The steps our government is taking and the advice being given is excellent and is based on the best scientific information available, so please do what we are advised by those who know. 

We will look after each other, we will be kind to each other, we will do all that we have to do to protect the vulnerable. If we all stick together and do what we are advised life will get back to normal in the medium term. Never in any of our lifetimes have we faced anything like this but never in the history of humankind have we been better able to rapidly find a cure and develop a vaccine for a pandemic like this. 

It will get better, we will mind each other and we will prevail.

Thanks for your time taken to read this letter

Yours sincerely,

                                                                        Richard Lane, Fergus Smith, Michael Ryan