Health Checks

Bringing your pet in for regular health checks helps us detect and treat early illness which means a happy, healthier, longer life for your pet. We recommend you bring your pet in once a year when we will examine your pet thoroughly to make sure everything looks, feels and sounds normal. Periodontal disease in cats and dogs can lead to bone and tissue loss as well as infection so it is very important to keep their teeth and gums healthy to prevent or minimise permanent damage to your pets teeth.

 

Vaccinations

Vaccinating your pet is extremely important for preventing contagious diseases. Vaccinations are highly effective and extremely safe. We encourage vaccinations as part of your pets' preventative healthcare. To this end we use the best vaccines available that provide the longest proven duration of immunity. We also perform a health check with vaccinations to ensure that everything else is fine with your pet and they are as healthy as can be when they receive the vaccination so their immune system will maximise the benefit from it.

​

Desexing

We encourage desexing of pets for general health reasons as well as population control, if you don't plan to breed with them. There are many unwanted and abandoned dogs and cats in New Zealand which need homes so desexing your pet will help keep the population under control.

​

House calls

Karori and Island Bay Vet Clinics can perform housecalls on a case by case basis. In some situations it is in the best interest of your pet to have the vet visit your home.

 

You may have multiple animals and it's easier to have the vet visit you, or you may have have transport issues and are unable to come to the clinic. During the often emotional process of euthanasia, many clients' choose to have housecalls as it can feel less stressful in the comfort of your own home.

 

The most common time for housecalls is usually about midday as this fits around our normal consult times.  

​

Surgery
Karori and Island Bay Vet Clinics perform many types of surgery. Our vets are very experienced with some having over 20 years of surgical experience. We perform routine surgeries such as neutering/speying and some orthopaedic surgeries. We also do many soft tissue surgeries such as caesarians, anal gland removals, and removal of growths. We also have strong and trusting relationships with a number of referral surgeons who who perform specialist surgeries.

 

One of the main improvements in surgery over the years has been the in the quality of anaesthetics and monitoring. With better monitoring machines (like our Doppler Blood Pressure Monitor and Mindray PM-5000 ECG) surgery has become safer for your pet. Karori and Island Bay Vet Clinics only use the best anaesthetic drugs. IV fluids during surgery are recommended esoecially  in older animals as this helps maintain higher blood pressure, and having pre-anaesthetic blood tests to check your animals kidney and liver function on the day of surgery is another way to make surgery safer for your pet.

 

Our surgical nursing staff are highly experienced and skilled in patient monitoring. They are committed to continued education and regularly attend courses as well as updating their knowledge and skill sets online. You can have all the machines in the world, but a skilled and compassionate human touch is also key to successful surgical outcomes.

​

Lab Testing

Lab testing is one of the most important tools for checking the health of your pet. With a small amount of blood , urine, or faeces we can get a really good idea of how all the internal organs of your pet are functioning. As well if there is an infection or even a tumour.

 

Karori and Island bay Vet clinics have the latest IDEXX in house blood analysers. The Procyte haematology Dx as well as the biochemistry Catalyst One and Sedivue urine analyser are at both clinics. We also have an internal lab with microscope and materials to analyse blood/urine/faeces/skin scrapes and even ear wax from your pet.

 

We find this especially important pre surgery that we can test your animals kidney and liver functions on the morning before your pets surgery. Knowing these figures dramatically puts us in a advantageous position for a successful and smooth anaesthetic for your pet. This is particularly important in older animals.

 

Another situation where having blood testing available at our clinics is on weekends when external labs are closed.We are open extensive hours Sat-Sunday 9am-6pm.  Rather then wait until Monday for results we can have results almost immediately and then decide on a treatment plan shortly after.

​

 

 

Microchipping

We recommend microchipping your pets and registering with NZCAR. In Wellington it is a legal requirement to have your cats and dogs microchipped. All domestic cats over the age of 12 weeks in Wellington must be microchipped and registered with NZCAR. All dogs in Wellington must be registered with the council by 3 months of age and microchipped by 5 months. It is a small implants about the size of a grain of rice placed between the shoulder blades of your pet and with a scanner we pick up a 15 digit number that is unique to your pet. 

 

Microchipping is particularly important in the unfortunate time of a accident you pet may be in. In these situations we can scan the animal and have your details immediately and hence contact you and then implement treatment quicker. It does saves lives. Your pet may not be in an accident but just missing, again much less stress for yourself as we can identify the pet immediately and contact you sooner.

 

 Many cat doors and pet feeders are now triggered to open via the unique microchip for your pet. 

​

Dental Care

Dental health is central to your pets overall health. Gingivitis can lead to periodontal disease which can then develop into systemic infection and likely tooth extractions if left untreated.

 

The best way to prevent dental disease is in the diet. Pigs ears, raw meaty bones, trotters, chicken necks (always raw), dental chews, oral care dry food and even brushing are highly recommended to help maintain a healthy mouth. The most appropriate way to prevent dental disease for your pets size and breed is best to discuss with the Veterinarian during consultation.

 

In the case where dental disease is progressing regardless of our efforts to slow it we will need to perform a dental. Karori and Island bay Vet Clinics have dental machines to perform ultrasonic scaling and polishing. We also perform extractions when needed all of these procedures are under a general anaesthetic. 



X-Rays

Radiology is a vital part of veterinary diagnostics. We have one of the latest digital X-Ray units available to veterinarians. Its an AGFA CR30-X unit and this machine has dramatically improved the speed and quality of our X-Rays.

 

Like photos, everything is now digital with easy access in consult rooms. The speed for processing digital X-Rays is particularly important as this means your animal is anaesthetised for less time, bringing costs down and much safer for your pet.

 

X-Rays are used to assess all sorts of areas of your animal. From fractures to congenital abnormalities such as hip dysplasia, we can even assess the internal organs of your pet. 

​

PennHIP X-Rays

PennHIP X-Rays is a new and unique method of evaluating your dogs hips for the chance of developing hip dysplasia or degenerative joint disease. Only certified veterinarians can perform these X-Rays. Dr. Emily Phua at our Karori Clinic is our certified vet.

 

PennHIP X-Rays can be performed as young as sixteen weeks of age. The advantage of evaluating bone health at an early age and with greater accuracy than other methods, helps breeders and owners make decisions such as whether to breed from certain animals.

 

X-Rays are sent to the University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Programme (HIP), where they are scored. We get a surprisingly quick turn around in results, usually within a few weeks!

Ultrasound

We provide ultrasonography services at Karori and Island bay Vet Clinics. 
Kiki Majert has done her Graduate Certificate for Small animal abdominal ultrasound via the University of Melbourne in 2021 and has been performed comprehensive abdominal ultrasound examinations since. In 2022, Kiki travelled to Germany for an advanced cardiac ultrasound course and now offers now additional echocardiography for our clients. 

Ultrasound is an important tool to investigate and diagnose many illnesses and diseases. It enables minimally invasive sampling, visualises organ structure, free abdominal fluid, is used for pregnancy confirmation at an early stage.
We also use ultrasound to stage heart disease which enables us to start medical support for the heart as soon as the heart shows first signs of compensation which has shown to prolong your pets life for up to 15months!  

Ultrasound is non invasive but requires sometimes sedation, particularly if fine needle sampling is performed.  
 

Chemotherapy

Island Bay Vet Clinic now offer chemotherapy to our clients. This specialised service is provided by our vet Sarah Northover. It is her special interest area and she is very passionate about Oncology. We see animals from all over Wellington as this is often a referral service.



​



​



​