Hospital Tour

Waiting Room - This is the room that most of you would be accustomed to seeing. We have made improvements lately to try and make it a bit lighter and more inviting room to walk into. We ask people to have dogs on leads and cats restrained or in cages when in the waiting room- even if your dog is good with cats the other cats in the room may not know this. When you arrive with your pet the nurse will greet you and weigh your pet. You will be asked to take a seat while waiting for your appointment with the veterinarian. Sometimes it may seem as though you have waited longer than someone else for an appointment. This is because we have two veterinarians consulting at any one time and the other person may be booked in with a specific vet at a specific time. Sometimes emergencies come in and these will be assessed by the nurse and may be seen immediately. Sometimes a consultation takes longer than we intend- please be patient with us, sometimes it takes longer than we expect, especially if the medical problem is complicated or if the owners are receiving bad news. If you feel your pet has a complicated problem or you would like extra time then please mention this while booking in and an extended consultation will be booked for you. If you are in a hurry or you feel that your pet is in need of urgent medical attention please let one of the nurses know.

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Some hints when booking in:

• If you feel your pet's problem is complicated then please mention when booking in and an extended appointment time will be made for you.
• Please write down any questions so that you dont forget to ask later
• If the problem is urgent please advise at the time of booking and we will try to get you in immediately.
• If your pet does not like other pets and you would prefer to not wait in the waiting room please mention when booking- we will try and book you into a room where you are able to enter via a side door. When you arrive for your appointment let the nurses know you are waiting in your car and we will get you through the side door when we are ready. 

Consultation Room - From the waiting room you will be taken to one of our two consultation rooms where you will have your appointment with one of the vets. This is your time so please feel free to use to ask any questions you may have. Your vet will give your pet a quick check all over before focussing on the major problem at hand. They will then discuss with you their approach to further diagnosing or treatment. If you are confused about what is being said please say so and we will try to explain it differently. If you have financial concerns about proposed treatment please let the vet know so that they can find a solution for you.

Click for more photos:  Consultation Room 1  |  Consultation Room 2

Hospital Wards - The dog and cat wards are kept seperately here. Bedding is provided for every pet in hospital and changed regularly to keep them confortable. Hot water bottles or heating mats are provided for all pets that are sick or recovering from an anaesthetic. You are welcome to visit your pet at any time while they are in hospital as most pets really enjoy a visit from their family. We provide commercial dog and cat food for hospitalised patients but you are welcome to bring in their "normal" diet if you would prefer. Birds, rabbits, possums etc are kept in different rooms away from the dogs and cats. Please bring with you their normal food if you are expecting that your rabbit or rat may need to stay in hospital. This is very important for rabbits undergoing surgery.

Click for more photos: Dog Ward  |  Cat Ward

Wet Prep Room - We have a general area room which is used for preparing for anaesthetics and for simple dirty surgeries such as enemas and abscesses. It is the hub of the clinic and most of the rooms come off from this room. When the surgeon is ready your pet will be brought to this room. An intravenous catheter will be placed and intravenous fluids will be started. Your pet will start his anaesthetic via an injection into the intravenous line and then intubated and maintained on a safe gaseous anaesthetic. All of this is done at the wet preperation table. A nurse will clip and surgically prepare the surgical site prior to your pet being taken into surgery.

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Surgery - The surgery room is kept for sterile surgical procedures such as desexings and orthopaedic surgeries. The surgeon will be wearing a surgical gown, and surgical gloves and hat and mask while in this room. Special lights, the surgical table and the anaesthetic machine are the only items kept in this room. Surgery will be done in a special order from the most sterile- such as orthopaedics, to the least sterile- such as infected wounds. When surgery is finished for the day the nurses have to thoroughly clean all the surfaces in the room. At this clinic we guarantee that every patient will have their own sterile surgical pack so no diseases can be transmitted between patients (Some clinics will reuse surgical packs if for instance doing several desexings in a row). A nurse will be with your pet from the start of the anaesthetic until your animal is conscious, she will be constantly monitoring and charting your pets vital signs to ensure your pets safe anaesthetic. Warming blankets and hot water bottles are used to maintain your pets temperature and intravenous fluids are used to maintain your pets blood circulation.

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Radiology - The clinic has a radiology room and a seperate dark room for developing x-ray film. Most animals need to be anaesthetised to have xrays taken, this allows better quality radiographs and decreases the amount of xray beams that staff are exposed to. To get good information we normally try and take two views - one from the front and one from the side. Xrays may be suggested for many reasons- to check if bones are broken, to check for tumours, to look at the size and shape of the heart, to check the lungs, amongst many other reasons. If you are unsure if your pet needs an xray please discuss it with your veterinarian.

Recovery - The blue recovery cage is kept in the main hub area of the hospital. Animals needing constant monitoring, intensive care, or are recovering from an anaesthetic are held in this cage. Snake bite patients can often be seen in the blue recovery cage.

Pharmacy: - The pharmacy for the clinic is on the side of the hub. Many prescription medications and worming and heartworm products are kept here. Unfortunately drugs of dependence, such as morphine, are not able to be kept here and scripts may be given so that you are able to get these types of drugs from
your local “human” pharmacy. When you are given the medication for your pet always double check the instructions match what your veterinarian told you, also ask if you are not sure when to start the medication or if you should give the medication with or without food.

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Inhouse Laboratory - At Para Hills Vet Clinic we have extensive in house laboratory facilities to allow fast diagnosis for your pet. We have a state of the art microscope to allow us to check blood, urine, cells and bacteria. We keep special stains to allow better examination of blood and cells. We operate an in house blood analysis machine to check things such as levels of red and white cells, and kidney and liver function. We have a blood glucometer to monitor diabetics and various strips for instant testing of urine and blood. We have a centrifuge to spin blood and fluids for analysis. A woods lamp (which is a special uv lamp) is kept to examine for some ringworm infections and to look at special stains in eyes. We have various snap tests available to check for heartworm disease and pancreatic disease. We also prepare samples here to send to referral laboratories for more extensive testing.

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