Pet Owners

Your Visit

We look forward to welcoming you soon to the Ferguson Veterinary Clinic. We understand that a visit to our clinic will often mean that your pet is injured or unwell and this can be a stressful time for all involved.

To make your visit as smooth and stress-free as possible, here is an outline of your pet’s journey through our clinic.

Ahead of your visit

Once our reception team have booked your appointment, keep an eye out for an email from the practice. Emails may be from an @Fergusonvetclinic.co.uk account or @VetCheck.it.

One of the links will be a questionnaire for you to submit before your visit to tell us a little bit about your pet. Additional links may be sent with a variety of useful information. This may include information pertaining to the condition that your pet is suffering from (if known), lameness scoring forms or consent forms. Reading all the information is not obligatory as our team can of course provide all the information you need in person, but it is there to digest at your leisure if you wish.

If your pet has any special dietary requirements, please bring some of their own food along with you. We stock a variety of foods but for sensitive dogs even a slight change can cause an upset. It helps reduce the risk of this by keeping them on their home diet. For most patients a few days’ worth of food should be sufficient.

Finding us

The clinic is situated in Bankhead Park, just off the Bankhead roundabout of the A92 in Glenrothes.

Ferguson Veterinary Clinic, Bankhead Park, Glenrothes, Fife, KY7 6GH

Arrival at the clinic

For those arriving by car, ample parking is available at the Ferguson Veterinary clinic, including multiple EV charging points.

Once you have arrived, head into our spacious reception area to check-in. If you need assistance with your pet just let our reception team know, and we will be happy to help.

The waiting area is partitioned to provide separate areas for cats and dogs. If for behavioural reasons it is better for your pet to wait privately, just let our team know. You could wait outside if preferred, and a member of the team will come to collect you when your appointment is called. Alternatively, we may be able to provide a room to wait in, dependent on availability.

Your appointment

You will be greeted by one of our friendly experienced clinicians who will start by simply having a chat. They will have received your pet’s medical history and any previous imaging (x-rays/scans) provided by your local practice, but it always helps to talk through things directly with you initially to paint a picture of the problem.

Your pet’s examination may involve watching them walk and trot to help determine the affected limb. Some patients may not exhibit lameness on the day of examination so it can help to have a library of videos on a phone or tablet to show our vets what has been happening at home.

Admission

Your pet will likely then be admitted for sedation to allow further detailed examination to take place. Our team will also obtain further imaging and any additional procedures such as joint fluid sampling. In some instances, a general anaesthetic may be required for these additional diagnostic procedures. Your vet will discuss everything fully with you first before proceeding.

Whilst we are undertaking this work, you can head off to stretch your legs and grab a coffee. There are several restaurants and cafes within walking distance of the practice. You will be given a time to return to the clinic or we may give you a call to let you know when your surgeon is ready to see you.

Discussion

On your return our surgeons will discuss the findings of their examination and imaging. If a diagnosis has been achieved, you will be taken through this in detail and all treatment options available.

If you decide that surgery looks to be the best option, there are several routes forward. We may offer to admit your pet with a view to performing the surgical procedure. Most commonly this will be performed the day after the consultation and examination. For some cases it may be that we offer to proceed with surgery the same day.

For more complex issues advanced planning and equipment may be required. If this is the case, you may be asked to take your pet home following their investigations and a future surgical date will be arranged.

Surgery

Once patients have been admitted for surgery you will receive intermittent updates on how they are getting on. These may be phone, text or email updates so keep an eye on all contact options you have given us. If you would like additional updates, do feel free to ring and speak to our reception team.

Once your pet is safely back to bed and recovering well following surgery, you will receive another update. This update may be from one of our nursing or support team initially. Your surgeon will also call you to let you know how your pet’s operation went but this may be at the end of their day.

Patients will stay with us for pain management and monitoring until we are happy that they will be manageable and comfortable with you at home. For most routine procedures this often just means staying the night of surgery with us, for more complexes cases though it may be several days. Your surgeon will keep you informed on the expected timeline of your pets stay with us prior to their surgery so you will be fully aware.

Getting them home

A discharge appointment will be arranged following surgery.  The discharge appointments are handled by our brilliant nursing team. Your surgeon will have discussed many aspects of your pet’s aftercare, but the nursing team will run through this again with you to ensure you feel prepared. They will also ensure you are aware of the medications your pet is to receive and what schedule this should follow.

Wound monitoring and the need for any follow-up appointments will also be covered in the discharge appointment. Wounds may or may not have external stitches or staples. If present these will need to be removed, and an appointment should be made for this with your local vet. If you have any concerns with the healing of the surgical wound, you can contact our clinic for advice or arrange an appointment with your local vet for a check. Your vets will receive a report covering all the details of your pet’s stay and aftercare requirements making them fully aware of what to expect. Many minor issues are perfectly manageable locally which can save you a trip over to our clinic. If necessary though we will of course arrange to see your pet urgently.

Follow-up

For most conditions a follow-up visit is recommended to allow our surgeons to ensure your pet is making expected progress. This will often involve a light sedation for repeat imaging, so your pet should be presented starved for their appointment. A handful of procedures may not require a physical recheck and rather we will ask you to simply phone with a progress update to save you a journey.

The timing of follow-up varies between procedures and will be made clear to you by your surgeon. The details can also be found on the discharge information you will have been provided with.

For most this will be the ‘final sign off’ and your surgeon will provide guidance on how to complete the recovery process. We are pleased to say that most pets will then never darken our doors again, but if any issues arise and you need us, just get back in touch.