Small Animal Department

Our Small Animal Department offers the quality care that your pets deserve in all aspects of veterinary medicine.

High standards: All operations and sterile procedures are performed with uncontaminated surgical sets, individually sterilized daily in our hospital.

The utmost care is taken to keep the hospital sterile and free from all diseases.

Dogs and cats do not share a ward in our hospital. There are separate wards for each species. Patients recovering from injury, disease or surgery need a calm environment with as little stress as possible in which to recover.

Patients with contagious diseases are kept in our isolation unit which is separate from the dog and cat wards.

Appointments are taken at 20-minute intervals, allowing the veterinarian time to gather a history from the owner, examine the patient and decide on appropriate treatment. We ensure that our patients’ conditions and treatments are understood by their owners.

We primarily operate by appointment, however, emergencies are accepted and treated based on the triage system.

Our Services

Our medical care is underpinned by a wide range of medical and surgical treatments.

To decrease the unwanted pet population, we encourage the practice of early sterilization of all dogs and cats. We thus perform routine sterilizations (spays and castrations) on female and male pets at 6 months of age. We also perform sterilizations on pot-bellied pigs, rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs.

As with people, animal oral health is vital for the general health of the animal. We strongly advise regular visits to the practice for us to check your pets’ teeth and gums together with a general clinical check-up.
Our dental clinic comprises of a dental x-ray unit, complete air-driven drill, a scaling and polishing unit, and dental extraction instrumentation.

The weight-loss team comprises the attending veterinarian, veterinary nurse, nutritional advisor, and reception staff. It is important to us that the overweight pets are monitored just like any patients on a weight-watcher program.
Diet, exercise, treats, and lifestyle changes are often needed, and our team is there to advise and help with these changes.

Surgical procedures are performed aseptically in fully equipped operating theatres. We are sufficiently experienced in and equipped for orthopaedic surgery, including fracture repairs. We refer certain procedures, for example spinal surgery, to a specialist surgeon if necessary. Soft tissue surgery, covering the full range of conditions, form a large part of our surgical procedures.

The hospital has state of the art digital x-ray units for the small animal and equine sections. Our ultrasound unit enables us to be able to scan the patient for any soft tissue or internal organ abnormalities, aiding in the diagnosis of bladder infections, pancreatitis, liver disease, abdominal tumours, inflammatory bowel disease, heart disease, foreign bodies, prostatic disease, pregnancy, pyometra and many more conditions.

These are issued for pets who need to travel with their owners to foreign countries. Different countries have different vaccination and blood test requirements with regards to the import or export of pets across borders. We therefore advise that all owners travelling abroad with their pets get all the facts at least 4 months in advance. We make use of certain companies to transport our owners’ pets including Animal Travel Services and Global Paws.

All anaesthetised patients are monitored by specialized equipment and more importantly a qualified veterinary nurse. It is advisable that all patients over 7 years old have a pre-anaesthetic blood test to make sure they are healthy enough to handle the anaesthetic safely.

We provide the full range of vaccinations for small pets’ routine annual vaccinations.

Presenting your pet for annual vaccinations enables us to give him or her a thorough clinical check. In this way, we can detect early disease processes including heart disease, kidney problems, skin or ear problems, oral disease, and arthritis.

Our emphasis is on preventative medicine, but we are staffed and equipped to provide your pet with the necessary medical or surgical treatment.

We provide you with clear recommendations and help you make the best decision for your pet’s healthcare needs by explaining each option.

Several specialists are now available in Cape Town covering fields of medicine, surgery, veterinary reproduction, pathology, dentistry, ophthalmology, behaviour, and alternative treatments. We have a policy of working closely with them and referring patients to them when needed.

Dawn Jones, our in-house animal rehabilitation expert, works closely with the vets on some of our injured and recovering patients to facilitate the healing process after a surgery.

Visit their website: Animal Physical Rehab

Rigid and flexible video endoscopes of different diameters enable the vets to examine and sample the internal structures of the patients safely while avoiding invasive surgical procedures.

We provide a dipping and medical bathing service for those patients that require it.

In the Blue Cross Shop, we carry the full range of veterinary premium and super-premium dog and cat foods, which include Eukanuba dog and cat food, Iams cat food, Hills Science Plan, Royal Canin dog and cat food, Acana, Orijen, Ultradog and Vets Choice.

The shopping experience is not complete without browsing through our range of exciting treats, toys, and accessories.

The Fluffia, a dog and cat parlour on our premises, offers a full range of pet grooming services as well as extras for your pet.
We work closely with The Fluffia with pets that have ailments, sores, who are nervous and require anaesthesia.

Visit their website: The Fluffia

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“Exceptional and very friendly service. Staff are knowledgeable and show a genuine love for animals.” – Nadira Gaffoor