The Small Animal Surgeon

28/02/2023

Thank you Ashleigh. Thank you Cherie. Thank you to our previous nurses. Thank you to Sean and Ryan.

But especially thank you to Dr Ruth. So proud of you.

And that's a wrap.

02/02/2023

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

The Small Animal Surgeon will close from March 1st this year.

We would like to thank all our loyal clients and referring clinics for their support over the nearly 20 years we have provided surgical referral services. We have enjoyed the great relationships we have had with so many veterinarians and their clients, and it has been a privilege to help with the care of so many loved family companions.

Dr Ruth Youmans starts full time as a specialist surgeon with the Animal Referral Centre from mid April. From mid 2023, Ruth will be based at their new clinic in Freemans Bay in the CBD. This new ARC site will offer 24-hour care, and a wide range of specialist services including surgery, oncology, cardiology, neurology, critical care and on-site CT and MRI.

During the period March 1st – mid April 2023 (prior to Ruth starting full time), Ruth will be available at ARC on a small number of specified days to provide follow up care for recent TSAS cases.

Appointments for new referrals for Ruth can be made via the ARC website (or by contacting ARC directly).

We hope to keep in touch with you at ARC in the future.

15/12/2022

Ruth once again attended the NZ Institute of Specialist Veterinary Surgeons meeting in November this year. The meeting (as always) had great content - with each of the attending specialists and residents presenting on a surgical topic. Held in Akaroa, this gave Ruth the opportunity to visit a beautiful New Zealand location she had not previously seen (and a chance to catch up with other like-minded surgeons).

27/11/2022

Dedication.

A big thank you to Jamie who came in on Saturday (one of her days off) for an out-of-hours emergency, even though she had plans to be somewhere else.

(PS. The dog photo bombing the pic was not the patient ☺️)

25/10/2022

Our Practice in print!

In the world of specialist veterinary surgeons, publication in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Veterinary Surgery s the equivalent of 'seeing your name in lights'! While admittedly on this recently published article, our surgeon is only one of many co-authors, it is a very great honor to have worked alongside many other recognised leaders in the field to produce this review. And it is great to have the name of our New Zealand specialist practice recognised in an international publication as well.

16/10/2022

We were very privileged to care for a special patient for many years, and we were very sad to say Good Bye recently.

His lovely owners donated a special 'Thank you' lunch for our staff at a local restaurant. Thank you to them for the extra kindness and gifts; we had a wonderful time out, and love the framed photo for our consult room.

Some of our patients become truly unforgettable, and we know that his loss will still be affecting his family deeply.

14/10/2022

It's been Veterinary Nurse Awareness Week this week, so a big thank you to our dedicated nursing team of Ashleigh, Jamie and Cherie.

11/10/2022

19 YEARS IN BUSINESS ...

Who'd have thought 😄

07/10/2022

PRACTICAL CPD (NZ) FRACTURE MANAGEMENT WET LAB - SEPT

Ruth in her demonstrator role at the latest fracture management wet-lab over the weekend of September 17th and 18th. Thanks to Damian Chase from VSA as course presenter, and of course Practical CPD for the invite to be a demonstrator.

Always great courses - with all participants coming away with improved skills.

(Photos reproduced with permission.)

30/09/2022

WEBSITE ISSUES

It has come to note our new website is not functioning properly, particularly the Online Referral page. The main issue the inability to upload files such as PDF's, word docs etc.

Please email us at [email protected] for any referrals or assistance until this is sorted.

Sorry for any inconvenience. We will be contacting the developers first thing Monday for resolution.

22/09/2022

NEW WEBSITE!

Finally we've got our website renewed - and a bit more up to date with our current staff. Still a few tweaks and fine tuning of content and photos, but hopefully it'll be kept relevant a bit more than the last.

Check it out:

The Small Animal Surgeon provide specialist consultancy and surgical services to referring veterinarians and their clients to aid in the treatment of cats and dogs.

15/09/2022

Tiny bones, nasty fracture!

Chewie had a serious accident, and was run over - resulting in a fracture of her pelvis. At only 9 months of age and only just over 2kg she had to have surgery to repair the fracture and ensure her pelvis remained a normal width for the long term. (Dogs (and cats) that do not have surgery can sometimes be at risk for such severe pelvic narrowing that ultimately they can't pass motions).

We repaired Chewie's displaced ilial fracture with a small bone plate and tiny 2mm diameter bone screws. She went on to heal well, and we expect the 'metalwork' will be tolerated well and can be left in long term without issue. We have screws as small as 1.5mm diameter available and this allows us to treat fractures in even very small patients.