The importance of good oral hygiene for your pet cannot be underestimated.

• How often do you check their mouth?
• Do you brush their teeth?
• Do they have smelly breath?
• Are they slower at eating their food or favour one side of their mouth?
• Are they less keen on eating harder foods or treats?

Oral pain, infection and gingivitis can greatly affect the welfare of your pet; both within the oral cavity and via other organs so regular dental examinations are strongly recommended.

At the Ark, we have Veterinary Nurses with an interest in dental and oral hygiene who have specific dental qualifications and we offer free comprehensive dental examinations via our Nursing dental clinics and actively support Pet Smile Month.

We may recommend further dental treatment, if required, but can also offer advice about prevention, similar to our own dental hygienist.  We can offer you regular reviews which a lot of our clients find very useful.

If your pet requires dental work, which generally becomes more likely with age, your pet will require an anaesthetic, which will be closely monitored and supervised ensuring a rapid recovery.

We offer very competitive fixed prices for dental examinations and we are able to give you an estimate before proceeding.  We offer pre-anaesthetic blood screening should this be required and dental x-rays. Short term antibiotics and pain relief are given as standard as well as a post dental examination check to ensure things are going well.

Preventative dental care is obviously the way forward so please utilise our free clinics where our nurses will be happy to advise you.

Please contact us should you require more information.

Keep your pet smiling.

It is a sad truth that the number of dogs and cats born each year is far greater than the number of good homes that can be found for them.

Neutering is one of the simplest and most practical ways of controlling these numbers but also safeguards aspects of your pet’s health, welfare and behaviour.

Our pets are routinely neutered prior to the onset of breeding.  Generally, cats aged between 5-6 months, dogs from 6 months, rabbits from 16 weeks can be neutered.  At these ages any surgery is more simplified and your pet should be home the same day.

We offer very reasonable standard prices for these procedures and see it as an important part of animal care.  Our fees include a pre-op health check, post-op antibiotics, painkillers, a Buster collar, post-op checks, which are generally after 48 hours, and stitches out where applicable.  Extra discounts are applied via our Puppy and Kitten Packs and our Practice Membership Schemes.

Apart from the obvious, there are many health benefits to neutering.  Females have the risk of ovarian, uterine and other related hormonal issues removed and the risk of mammary tumour development is greatly reduced.

Males, especially dogs, have the risk of testicular tumours removed and it also greatly helps to control prostatic issues and anal tumours as well as the obvious behavioural benefits and related hormonal issues.

It is worth mentioning that neutering will not change the personality of your pet but we recommend more care with diet post-neutering and regular checks on their weight.

For dogs, we have some other modern medical options as opposed to surgery.  Bitches can have seasons controlled or suppressed for a limited time with hormonal injections which can be given at 3, 4, 5 and 6 month intervals.  We do not recommend this long-term though it can be useful for logistical reasons ie travelling and holidays etc or to time a season for breeding in certain cases.  Male dogs have the option of a hormonal implant which is temporary and reversible.

If neutering is considered to aid in the control of behavioural issues in the male, the implant allows us to assess the benefits of neutering as it will achieve the same result without the initial need for surgery and it is reversible.  Implants will be effective for 6 – 12 months and can be administered during a routine consultation.

We also use implants in older dogs to control prostate complications and other testosterone responsive conditions without the need for neutering and to avoid a general anaesthetic in our older patients.

We are always happy to discuss any issues regarding the need for neutering and any concerns you may have.  If you are considering breeding from your pet we will discuss options and advise and support you throughout.