You should supervise your puppy or kitten at all times to ensure they dont eat anything they shouldnt, and to make sure they dont hurt themselves. If you are supervising them, they can be allowed to explore their new home!

An SDMA test is a blood test that screen for kidney disease. Other kidney tests only detect reduced function once 70% of kidney function has already been lost, wheras SDMA can be elevated when only 30% of kidney function is lost.

We have dog and cat blood at East Island Animal Hospital

Animals require blood transfusions if they have low red blood cells. This can occur due to bleeding, infection or immune-mediated problems. Occasionally, different types of blood transfusion using only certain parts of blood may be needed, for example if your pet has a blood clotting problem.

There are not any side effects from laser therapy, but there are some conditions where we would not recommend using laser. Our vets and nurses can discuss this with you in detail during a consultation.

Yes - one pet parent can stay with the patient at all times.

The length of time depends on how many places need to be lasered. A session that is for a single location will take around 30 minutes

Laser is not painful. It can sometimes cause a pleasant warming sensation of the skin.

Our laser machine uses a different wavelength of light compared to those used for hairloss. Therefore, laser will not cause hair to fall out. However, some of the disease processes that laser can help (e.g. inflammation) can cause change in hair colour or hairloss themselves!

Laser therapy delivers special wavelengths of light that can help to accelarate wound healing, reduce scarring, have anti-inflammatory and painkiller effects, improve blood supply and improve nerve function. It can be used for wound healing, injuries, arthritis, recovery of back problems (eg IVDD), swelling and laser-acupuncture

At the pre desex check up our vets will discuss with you how we reduce airway-related risks to short nosed breeds. Steps taken might include special medications before the procedure, taking X-rays to look for pre-existing lung problems, specialist monitoring while they are recovering from the procedure, and giving extra medications to keep them calm and comfortable

As a general rule, puppies/kittens should be neutered at around 6 months old. You can give us a call to learn precisely when your pet should be desexed.

There are many benefits to desexing your pet, including reduced incidence of behaviour problems, reduced prostate problems, reduced incidence of mammary cancer and eliminating the risk of developing fatal uterus infections

The most common side effect is tiredness, and we take steps to reduce this as much as possible. There are some conditions that we would not recommend acupuncture for, which will be discussed in the consultation.

It can take up to 6 sessions to be effective, but animals often respond faster than this.

We will always work to make sure your pawfriend is comfortable and painfree, and this include when performing acupuncture. This treatment is not painful for your pet.

Response to acupuncture varies greatly between patients and their condition, but we have certainly seen good improvement in many patients after they have recieved treatment.

Acupuncture can only be performed on friendly cats or dogs. However, we can help to keep them relaxed by using anti-anxiety medications, playing calming music and giving them lots of fuss during the procedure!

Acupuncture and cartrophen injections play different, but important, roles in managing pain and arthritis. Acupuncture is good for relieving pain and reducing inflammation. Cartrophen injections help to preserve joint fluid and cartilage, while also having anti-inflammatory effects. Using both acupuncture and cartrophen will mean that your patient is as comfortable as possible.

Dental surgery is a complex and specialised procedure. At creature comforts, we do dentals to the highest standard. This includes detailed dental charting so we can properly assess the health of your pet's teeth, dental x-rays so we can look for damage to teeth under the gum line, a thorough descale and polish, nerve block injections to make sure the dental is pain-free, extractions of infected or painful teeth, stitching of the gums to ensure healing happens as fast as possible, a full general anaesthetic, detailed and careful anaesthetic monitoring throughout the procedure, and monitoring and warming of your pet as they recover. We also offer a free check up after the procedure to ensure your pet's gums have healed properly, and of course are just a phone call away if you hae any questions once your pet is recovering at home.

Non anaesthetic dental scaling can result in damaging and killing healthy teeth, accidental injury and pain to your pet, or accidental inhalation of water or fluid which can result in severe chest infections and pneumonia. Veterinary dental procedures should always be done under general anaesthesia to make sure the procedure is as safe and pain-free as possible.

Tooth brushing is the most effective way to maintain dental health, but we understand it can be difficult with some cats or dogs! Our vets and nurses can teach you how to train your pet to let you do the tooth brushing, and in the meantime you can try using oral wipes, dental chews or special diets to help kepe their teeth as healthy as possible.

Anaesthesia in animals is generally very safe, and we take lots of steps (including blood tests, careful monitoring, giving fluids) to make sure the risk to our patients is as small as possible. Doing dental surgery with no anaesthesia can result in damaging and killing healthy teeth, accidental injury and pain to your pet, or accidental inhalation of water or fluid which can result in severe chest infections. Veterinary dental procedures should always be done under general anaesthesia to make sure the procedure is as safe and pain-free as possible.

We understand that the thought of dental procedures on your pet can be scary! Our aim is always to keep your pawfriend as comfortable and healthy as possible, and we would never recommend extraction of any teeth unnecessarily. Infected or damaged teeth can be very uncomfortable (think of a time that you have had a tooth ache, infection, or needed a filling!) and it can make your pet feel a lot of pain. After extraction of these problem teeth and recovery from the procedure, your pawfriend will be much happier and completely pain free!

As a general rule, puppies/kittens should be neutered at around 6 months old. You can give us a call to learn precisely when your pet should be desexed. There are many benefits, including reduced incidence of behaviour problems, reduced prostate problems, reduced incidence of mammary cancer and eliminating the risk of developing fatal uterus infections

Your puppy/kitten can come into contact with vaccinated animals 2 weeks after their second vaccine, and with unvaccinated animals 2 weeks after their final vaccination.

You can help to train your pet to become relaxed when they are on their own. You can book an appointment with our Doctor, Dr Isabella, who has a special interest in behaviour. She can give you detailed advice on how to help your puppy/kitten sleep properly.

Puppy and kittens should be on a puppy or kitten diet until they are 6 months old. Each brand of food has different recommendations, and you should follow the instructions on the packet. If your pet is under or over weight, we might recommend you feed a little more or a little less as appropriate

You can bathe a puppy for kitten carefully, using pet friendly shampoo. You should ensure no water or soap gets in their eyes or in their mouth, and dry them with a towel straight away so that they dont get cold.

You can bring your pet in for a vaccination at any time, and we can give advice on which vaccinations they need and when they will need boosters

We recommend bringing in your puppy or kitten in for a check as soon as you get them. We will give you advice on how to take care of them, what to feed them, which preventative medications they need, training tips and can discuss desexing and tooth brushing

Multiple x-rays allow us to assess all areas of your animal, and increases the sensitivity of the test.

We have a digital x-ray machine in order to obtain the highest quality images. This means that you will not recieve a hard copy of x-ray images, but you can request that we email you a soft copy.

Yes - we can accept patients for medical boarding. Please contact us for more details.

Yes - having pet parents visit is really important in making the patients feel comfortable and relaxed. We will help you to make visitation appointments twice a day.

The cost of hospitalisation depends on how sick the patient is, which tests they need, and which medications they recieve. We will give you a full estimate at time of hospitalisation and give you an update on tests and costs on a daily basis.

Our full team of vets, nurses and customer services

We understand that your pets may feel stressed being away from home. That's why we take steps to keep them as comfortable as possible. We employ 'fear free' techniques, which are proven methods of reducing stress in animals. We keep our hospital area quiet, and in our cat area use calming music and pheromone plug ins to keep them as happy as possible.