Vetting the vets
View(s):This week on Take 3 we’re looking out for your pet. Who will be open in case of an emergency? Who is willing to respond if you need a doctor to make a house call? Here’s what you need to know.
PetsVCare
No. 35, Staples Street, Union Place, Colombo 2. Tel: 011 2303554, 011 4724567
PetsVCare (www.petsvcare.com) is one of the few places pet owners would have found open on Avurudu. The 24 hour clinic has 18 veterinary surgeons on their staff, says Dr Gamika Prathapsinghe, one of the directors at PetsVCare. They opened for business in 2001 and can handle the range of cases from standard vaccinations to complex surgeries. At Rs. 500, their consultation fees are competitively priced.
Three ambulances run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, with a fourth on the road till 8 p.m. They charge approximately Rs.50 per kilometre plus consultation fees and medicine costs. (You can call for one on 077-3457238.) It’s worth noting that they operate out of Staples Street but that PetsVCare also has a Kurunegala branch. Handily, the ambulances come equipped with a mini-pharmacy. If your pet is fine but you’d like to transport him or her someplace, PetsVCare also offers a ‘taxi’ service, where you’re provided a car and a driver to take you wherever you want to go.
For approximately Rs.15,000 you can get a microchip implanted in your pet. Usually placed under the skin of the neck region, the chip has its own specific number which can be read by scanner. It serves as an anti-theft measure that can help you locate your pet. Its standard regulation in some foreign countries, but not in Sri Lanka, says Dr. Prathapsinghe.
Among their other services is a pet boarding facility (Rs.500 a night), an in-house laboratory and pet shop. They’re comfortable treating all kinds of animals, says Dr. Prathapsinghe, explaining that aside from dogs and cats, they’ve treated snakes and rabbits but that tortoises are also very popular amongst pet owners in Colombo.
Pet Vet
421/5, Malalasekara Mawatha, Colombo 7. Tel: 011 2599799, 2599800. Emergency: 0777738838
Pet Vet (http://petvet.lk) has been in the business for 16 years, says Sawanee Perera, Manager. The team is made up of over 10 veterinary surgeons and offer a range of services from spaying and neutering to more complex surgeries. “We differentiate ourselves from others because we use gas anaesthesia, like what is used on humans,” Sawanee told the Sunday Times, explaining that while this was costlier, it was very secure and lowered the health risks involved in the surgery.
The cost of a consultation here varies – an appointment with a junior doctor will cost Rs.600 while one with a senior doctor will cost Rs.750. Whichever doctor you’re seeing, the clinic promises to keep detailed records. (Doctors also reportedly meet for ‘daily discussion sessions’ where they review individual cases.)
The clinic is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. but will reopen at any time in case of an emergency. To access them outside of working hours you’ll need to call and make an appointment. Pet Vet offers ambulance services too, and charges Rs.50 per kilometre. Among their other services is an obedience training course for dogs which costs approximately Rs.12,000 for 10 classes.
The classes which are held once a week on Saturdays are currently underway, with the next batch due to begin in a few weeks. For pet owners considering international travel with their pets in tow, Pet Vet promises to help negotiate the process from designing the cage to figuring out the regulations of the destination country.
Best Care Animal Hospital
241 A, Nawala Road, Nawala. Tel: 077 3400800, 011 7 208 068, 011 2 805 661
Established in late 2010, The Best Care Animal Hospital (http://bestcare.lk) is the newest of the lot and offers ‘professional services for all your feline and canine needs.’ Among their services is a startlingly thorough General Health Checkup which explores 18 different facets of your pet’s health under three categories. Under the first, ‘General Aspects’ are listed several including brightness of eyes, activity level, TPR (temperature, pulse, respiration) and the more intangible attitude. ‘System Aspects’ explores the health of your pet’s circulatory, respiratory, digestive and reproductive systems and also checks the health of his or her glands; thorough ‘laboratory examinations’ include full blood counts and clinical chemistry report. It seems safe to say that if there is something wrong with your pet, they’ll find it. Prices vary depending on what tests the vet thinks are required.
At Rs. 400 per consultation, Best Care Animal Hospital is the most competitively priced.
While their working hours are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., a mobile veterinary service unit operates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is suitable for treatments for wounds, vaccinations, rash and tick treatment etc. However, they’re flexible, promises Dr. Dananjaya Karunaratna. If it’s urgent, they’ll try to come anyway. They charge Rs. 40 per kilometre. among their other services are dental care, pet boarding (Rs. 500 per night plus Rs.250 for food), taxi services (Rs.60 per kilometre) and radiology and laboratory facilities.
The hospital is also proud of having participated in several sterilisation camps. They have their own mobile spay neuter facility and are willing to bring the bus to any location where there are at least 20 dogs needing to be spayed and vaccinated. (As a special discount they charge Rs. 2000 per dog – they normally charge Rs.3000 at the clinic.) The camps which have been conducted both in Colombo and its suburbs were orchestrated with the intention of helping local communities combat disease and reducing the number of homeless and diseased animals out on the street.
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