OUR SERVICES
GENERAL MEDECINE
Our team is dedicated to your pet´s health during all stages of life. We recommend a yearly visit to allow regular check-up and vaccination of your pet. A full clinical examination is carried out, including examination of the mouth, auscultation (listening to the lungs and heart), palpating lymph nodes and addressing any questions you might have. We answer questions related to parasite prevention, managing ongoing problems, castration, and diagnostic tests that may be relevant. Communication with owners is paramount to our team to fully understand each situation and ensure the best possible life for your pet.
DENTAL MEDECINE
FOR DOGS AND CATS
Our pets’ dental health is also key to their well-being. Problems in the oral cavity are very common, and it is important to prevent and treat these disorders. Treatment aims to eliminate local pain and infection, preserving function and avoiding consequent disease in other organ systems. For example, the risk of chronic kidney disease is markedly increased for cats with dental disease.
The worse the dental disease, the higher the risk!
We perform COHAT (comprehensive oral health assessment and treatment), in which the oral cavity and teeth are examined carefully, in order to recognize and treat different problems such as fractured teeth, periodontal disease, tooth resorption, malocclusion (misaligned teeth) and oral tumours. Dental radiography is an essential part of the examination, allowing us to recognize problems not visible to the naked eye and plan dental surgery and treatments correctly.
The practice is a EVDS (European Veterinary Dental Society) member, and our team strives to keep up with and share current knowledge with collegues in the veterinary dental field.
SMALL MAMMAL MEDECINE
Most small mammal pets descend from prey animals in the wild, which makes them particularly skilled at hiding their pain and injuries, even from their owners. For these patients, a yearly control is thus essential to recognize the presence of a potential problem and treat it early on. We welcome rabbits and guinea pigs, as well as other small rodents, and can advise you on disease prevention (vaccination, care and feeding needs) and offer our extensive knowledge in internal medicine, soft tissue surgery, as well as diagnostics and treatment of dental diseases. Stress-free handling of your smallest companions is our number one priority, in the treatment room as well as in surgery.
GENERAL SOFT TISSUE SURGERY
General soft tissue surgery includes among other procedures castrations, treating wounds and removing nodules/tumours. Some more complicated surgeries can also be performed in our practice, such as removal of foreign bodies, bladder stones and different tumours. Our practice is equipped with modern surgical equipment and monitoring to mitigate risks during anesthesia. A separate closed surgery room provides a clean environment for sterile procedures
ANAESTHESIA
Sometimes, sedation or general anaesthesia is necessary for a diagnostic procedure or surgery. Sedation means that a low dose of medication is given to calm the patient. For surgery, or more complicated procedures, general anaesthesia is required.
Every patient in our practice requiring anaesthesia will receive a venous catheter even for smaller procedures, so that fluids can be given throughout the procedure and emergency medication can be administered easily if needed.
Longer procedures receive intubation (including for rabbits) so that oxygen can be supplemented during the procedure, and gas anesthetics can be administered if needed. This also allows for manual ventilation in an emergency situation.
Modern anaesthesia monitoring systems, heating systems to maintain the patient’s body temperature, as well as constant monitoring by a dedicated veterinary assistant are standard procedures in our practice.
Intubation is especially important to protect the airways of dental patients. Local anaesthesia is essential to block the pain sensation in the part of the body we need to work on while keeping medication doses to a minimum. This also means that the patients wake up faster after the procedure.
Adequate pain management before, during and after surgery is a priority for us, and is known to improve healing and recovery. We also aim to reduce stress by gentle handling around the anaesthetic episode. All these measures help us minimise anaesthesia risk for your pet. We are well equipped to take care of at-risk patients (very old patients, patients with concurrent diseases etc.). We are happy to advise you about anaesthesia risks and their management for your pet, and this conversation generally takes place before every procedure requiring anaesthesia.
ANAESTHESIA IN SMALL MAMMALS
Small mammals (such as rabbits, guinea pigs and other rodents) have an increased risk of complications during anaesthesia compared to dogs and cats. However, because these prey animals are especially sensitive to stress, small sedation or general anaesthesia is quickly necessary, even for smaller procedures. For example, to ensure species-appropriate keeping in pairs, castration is unavoidable and requires an anaesthetic episode.
As opposed to rabbits and larger mammals, a venous catheter to administer the sedatives is not always possible. We utilize Triple-Anaesthesia, a method that can be quickly antagonized and gas anaesthesia.
These small pets are supplemented with heat and oxygen during the procedure just like larger animals, and are particularly closely monitored.
At our practice, we have extensive experience with small mammal anaesthesia, and should you have any concerns or questions regarding the procedure, our team will be happy to discuss them with you.
DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY (XRAY)
Our practice is equipped with modern digital radiography delivering a clear and detailed image to help us guide diagnosis and treatment even for small pets such as rabbits and rodents. The system automatically develops the image as soon as it is taken, which allows us to minimize stress for your pet. The practice is also equipped with a modern dental radiography system (see Dental Medicine).
ULTRASOUND
Ultrasound diagnosis allows a non-invasive examination of the patient, obtaining images of organs and structures, and is a useful tool to help take samples and drain fluids safely. Our well-equipped ultrasound machine allows us to visualize abdominal and peripheral organs (for example lymph nodes), suspicious swellings or structures, blood vessels and the heart. Ultrasound examination is not painful, and you may accompany your pet throughout the procedure to help reduce stress.
Please do not hesitate to ask us about this technique and its relevance to your pet’s diagnosis.
LAB WORK
Some conditions require further diagnostic to find out what the underlying problem might be and treat it correctly. Laboratory examinations may then be necessary and can include blood or urine examination, analysis of faecal samples, cytology (examination of cell samples from the skin or tumours/nodules, for example). Our goal is to perform a focused diagnosis and deliver a well-informed treatment for your pet in a timely manner. Whenever possible, we perform laboratory examinations directly in our practice. We perform full hematology and biochemical panels (including thyroid values such as T4 and TSH) as well as urine exams (UPC) directly inhouse,
and cooperate with an external laboratory when necessary.
PHARMACY
Common medicines, dietary supplements and antiparasitic treatments are available in our in-house pharmacy. For those medicines not currently available with us, we can provide a prescription or order it quickly for your pet.
Please be aware that human drugs should never be administered to pets without first consulting a veterinarian, as doing so may have serious consequences. Please note that we are not allowed to sell any prescription medication without previous examination of your pet, or referral from a colleague.
NUTRITION
Depending on the nutritional status and disease of your pet, a special medical diet may be necessary (for example in the case of kidney disease, diabetes, overweight, allergies etc.). These diets are often not commercially available, but may be prescribed, ordered and bought at our practice.
MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY
Our practice is equipped to take care of certain conditions that go beyond standard dental procedures. Dogs and cats may for example develop problems with their salivary glands or lips, and unfortunately, tumours also occur in and around the mouth. Jaw bones may also become injured or even broken in an accident. The jaw is a unique bone structure containing nerves, blood vessels and teeth. It is thus especially important to consider these structures while treating jaw fractures, as metal screws or pins may damage them and cause pain or even infection.
As a team especially dedicated to dentistry, we are uniquely qualified to consult and treat such injuries. Dental and standard radiography, ultrasound, and biopsies of suspicious tissues or lymph nodes help us diagnose the problem efficiently. As the head is a complicated structure, we sometimes need to refer the pet for specialized diagnostic imaging (CT, MRT or CBCT; cone beam CT) before we decide how best to approach treatment.
EMERGENCY CARE SERVICES
During our opening hours, we are available to answer your questions on the phone. If you think your pet is in urgent need of medical care, please make sure to call us so we can prepare for your emergency in the best possible way. Outside opening hours, or for less urgent concerns, you can contact us by email.
Information about the regional emergency services can be found under:
https://www.collegeveterinaire.lu/fr/cv/emergency-contacts
Our practice regularly takes part in the regional emergency services.
Outside regional emergency hours one of the small animal hospitals in Luxembourg is available 24/7:
Déiereklinik Krakelshaff - www.deiereklinik.lu
Clinique Vétérinaire Bereldange - www.vet.lu