NEWS
Newsletters
We have regular newsletters with interesting articles and details of special offers. If you would like to receive this, then please click here to send us a message asking to be put on our email list.
Alternatively click here to see our latest newsletter, with information about a serious disease that dogs can get from eating snails (either deliberately or accidentally when eating grass). Also there is information about our latest offers - in September 2011 we are offering 10% discount on dental treatments and products, so now is a good time to make sure your pet has the best smile you could wish for!
Sunday 12th September 2010. 'TOP DOGS DAY OUT' at Haldon Forest
On Sunday 12th September (today) we once again attended the 'Top Dogs Day Out' at Haldon Forest. This was great fun, and David once again helped judge the fun dog show. See our facebook page for a few photos of the day, or share them on facebook if you took some of the day.
Blue Cross Donation
Thank you to everyone who puts their spare change in one of our collecting boxes. Because of your generosity we were able to send off a cheque for over £70 to the Blue Cross recently, to help them continue with their work.
Click here to find out more about the Blue Cross and the wonderful work they do.
Photo Competition for National Pet Month 2010 ** RESULTS BELOW **.
National Pet Month ran from April 3rd 2010 to May 3rd 2010. During that time we ran a Photo Competition. The winners all received a prize appropriate to their pet and the winning entries can be seen here. Thankyou to everyone who sent us pictures of their pets - it was great to see them all. And... keep a look out - we are sure to repeat this again sometime, .
Please click on the links below to see the category winners:
- Most Handsome/Pretty Dog
- Most Handsome / Pretty Cat
- Most Handsome / Pretty Other Species
- Picture that makes me smile / laugh
Vaccine Amnesty Success
During June 20 cats, five dogs and one rabbit restarted their vaccination programmes thanks to our participation in Vaccine Amnesty Month. Eleven of these pets are aged nine or over showing that it's never too late to start protecting your pet. Ideally starting a vaccine program at the recommended nine weeks for cats, and eight weeks for dogs, and continuing with annual boosters throughout their lives is the most effective method of protecting your pet from the many potentially fatal diseases that they can be exposed to. But well done to all those owners who joined in the vaccine amnesty.
Special offers in August / September
To all cat owners out there. Fed up with struggling to try and administer a worming tablet to your beloved moggy? Profender is a spot on wormer just for cats. Simply apply the solution to the back of the neck, banishing the need for those quarterly battles! During August and September only, if you buy 3 Profender pipettes, you get the fourth absolutely free! That's a year's worming programme for as little as £11.97 Please telephone or come on in and ask at reception for more details.
Top Dog Day Out
On Sunday September 6th 2009 we will be supporting the Top Dog Day Out at Haldon Forest. The day runs from 10.30am to 4.30pm and is absolutely free! There will be dog demonstrations including agility, obedience, dog dancing, flyball and a gundog scurry. We will have a stand at this event and will be holding a free pize draw. Come and join us and bring your dog! It should be a fun, family day out in beautiful surroundings. Lets just hope for sunshine!
National Pet Smile Month.
September sees the return of National Pet Smile Month where we try and raise awareness of our pets dental health. A high percentage of pets require urgent dental treatment. As in humans most dental diseases in animals are treatable but more importantly most are preventable. During September we are offering FREE dental check ups for your pet. Further to this you will receive advice on how to care for your pets teeth and gums in order to keep him healthy and happy and furthermore to help keep your future dental related vets bills to a minimum.
Why not book your free dental check up now to avoid disappointment.
Why not take a look at www.petsmile.org and register your pets details in the Pet Smile Club. You'll then receive reminders of vaccination, worming and dental check up dates.
Ark Vets Staff
After 2 1/2 years with us, Sarah, our receptionist, has left to become self employed. She is going to be kept busy competing with her horses, commissioning drawings and will still be available on a Friday, here at Ark for dog grooming. We wish her every success in her new venture. Taking her place is Emma Collman, who has two dogs, Milo and Maisy, and is hoping to train as a vet nurse in the future.
Orijens Pet Food
We are pleased to announce that we now stock Orijens cat and dog food. This unique food is produced from high quality ingredients and contains NO GRAINS at all. This is an ideal diet for people who like the principal of a BARF diet (bones and raw food) but would rather not have to prepare raw food themselves.
Loyalty Cards
for every £50 you spend with us we will give you a sticker for your loyalty card (which you can pick up from reception) and once your card is full you will have a choice of anything from a free booster, a dog groom, 50% off golden oldies club membership and other great offers! Just give us a ring or visit the clinic for more information.
Golden Oldies Club
We now have a golden oldies club available! This club is aimed to encourage owners of older pets to get them checked over by the vet or nurse, at least twice a year. For most pets an annual trip to the vets would be equivalent to us only going every 5 or 6 years to the doctor! That's a long time between health checks.
To become a member there will be an annual subscription of £70, but for this you will get the following benefits. An annual full general health profile blood test, a urine multi-stix test and blood pressure monitoring (normally priced at £100) and then a urine multi-stix test and nurse check 6 months later. There will also be a 10% discount available to members on bags of Royal Canin Canine Mature diets and the Feline Senior diet.
Thorverton and Silverton Visits
We are also now going to be visiting the Thorverton and Silverton areas on a Wednesday morning and a Thursday afternoon. This way our clients in these areas can book a home visit for routine things such as boosters or suture removal, or have flea treatments, wormers or food dropped off without a visit charge.
... And the winner is ...
The Prettiest Pet Photo Competition is now over and we have some winners! Geena Dinnis (13) won in the under 16 years "Prettiest Pet Portrait" category.
The runner up (and winner of the over 16 years "Prettiest Pet Portrait" category) was Mrs. Sparks with an endearing photo of her cocker spaniel puppy Rusty.
We will put up the other winning photographs soon!
Puppy Parties at Ark Vets
Becci and Sarah are now running a 3 week puppy party course on a weekday evening (the day of week and the exact time changes each course according to when most people can make it). It is primarily to give puppies a chance to socialise. Becci and Sarah also give short talks, advice, and answer questions on all areas of dog care: from fleas and worming, first aid and the law regarding identification to training techniques.
The classes are £10.00, provided puppies have started a full course of vaccinations before they can attend.
Prettiest Pet Photo Competition
For April we are once again having a "Prettiest Pet" Photo Competition. There are several categories to enter for photographers under and over 16 years of age. Here are the categories:
For under 16yrs:
- crazy cats
- dirtiest dog
- all other pets
- handsomest / prettiest pet portrait
For over 16yrs:
- cats sleep anywhere
- dogs in motion
- all other pets
- handsomest / prettiest pet portrait
Each category will see a winner, and the best three photos from classes 4 and 8 will be judged for the ultimate prettiest pet prize.
There is no entry fee to this competition, but a donation to National Pet Month, which is running throughout April, would be gratefully received. For more details on National Pet Month, their website is: www.nationalpetmonth.org.uk.
Just send us your best, funniest, classiest and prettiest pet pictures by sending us an e-mail.
New Lab Equipment
We are happy to let you know that we have recently purchased some more laboratory equipment which will allow us to carry out a far more extensive range of blood tests on site. This means that fewer samples need to be sent to external laboratories, and results will be obtained much faster in many cases!
we are very pleased to let you know that the Ark Vets Practice has gained the RCVS Practice standards scheme Tier 2 Status.For more details about the scheme you can visit the RCVS website here
1st Year Anniversary!
Ark Vets celebrated its 1 year anniversary in August 2007 with a Charity Open Day. Over £120 was raised for the Blue Cross. There were competitions to enter, some creepy crawlies to handle, a HUGE raffle, lots of scrummy refreshments and the chance to look around the practice and read about the first 12 months since opening. There were also 2 awards given out to our bravest pet dog and cat. Winning the canine prize was a Labrador cross with diabetes who has been a frequent visitor over the last 12 months and for the cats was an extraordinarily brave kitty who had been involved in a road traffic accident and fractured his pelvis and spine and had to have his tail amputated.
Photo Competition
A little later then planned, but finally, here are the results of the photo competition we organized earlier this year.
Click on the links below to see the category winners:
- Classiest Cat
- Funniest Pet (over 16)
- Funniest Pet (under 16)
- Prettiest Guinea Pig
- Cutest Hamster
- Most Handsome Dog
- Most Handsome Horse
- Pets In Summer
- Pets in Winter
- Prettiest Puppy
The best under 16 overall winner was Pets in Winter, the best over 16 overall winner was Pets In Summer, and the Prettiest Pet winner was Classiest Cat.
A big thank you to all those who contributed their photos, and congratulations to the winners!
Refer a Friend!
For every new client that mentions your name when they register and book an appointment with us, we will credit your account with £5!
Open Day
Our open day on Sunday the 22nd of October was a great success. Opened by Judi Spiers (photo below), it was well attended and good fun! Several pets were microchipped, Some vouchers were given away for other days, and some prizes were won including free blood tests, fruit and cuddly toys. Below you can see a few photos from the day.
During the open day we raised some money for the charities below. If you want to find out more about these charities, please visit their websites below:
- £20 for Greyhound Rescue West of England – a greyhound rehoming charity.
- £55 for Tailends – a charity helping ill greyhounds and other dogs.
- £25 for Proteus – A reptile charity
- £2 for Pets as Therapy
General Practice Background
Hello! My name is David Rudman and I am the owner of Ark Vets in Exeter. I qualified as a a veterinary surgeon from the University of Bristol in 1987, and for 19 years I worked in mixed practice treating horses, cattle and sheep as well as dogs, cats, rabbits and other smaller animals. For 11 years I was a partner in Castle Veterinary Group in Launceston, and although I enjoyed my time there I realised that a smaller practice where it was possible for clients and their pets to get to know the staff was a much better solution. After all, if you are like me your pet is a family member, and you want to know that they will be treated as such. I was unable to find anywhere that would make this way of working possible in the area I was looking at, so I started Ark Vets in the summer of 2006... and we have been growing in strength ever since. When I started the practice it was important to find a building that would allow the provision of the high standard of care I knew we could offer. Eventually I settled on the premises we occupy on Harrington Lane, and they lent themselves well to the conversion to a modern veterinary practice. We have dedicated on site parking and are easily accessible from all areas of Exeter. The waiting areas and consulting rooms are clean and spacious and our appointment system means that we can ensure that animals that are nervous are always able to be given space free from other animals if needed. We have good radiographic examination facilities to help with the early detection and treatment of many problems, as well as laboratory facilities for many blood tests to be carried out. If animals are hospitalised you can rest assured that they will be cared for in clean, comfortable kennels suitable for their condition. The most important aspect of practice are the people however and again we are lucky to have help from Becci Gidley, a Royal College Registered Veterinary Nurse and Sarah Thompson annd Aimee Smith. If you are not sure if you would like the practice, then it is always possible to bring your pet for a consultation at absolutely no charge! We know you will want to stay!
HAVE YOUR SAY!
If you have any comments (good or bad) or suggestions on how we can improve our service, we would love to hear from you. Feedback from clients gives us a basis to work from when making changes and trying to maintain a happy workplace where both staff and clients are satisfied. We have a brief questionnaire available from reception or simply email us with your view.
Refer a Friend!
For every new client that mentions your name when they register and book an appointment with us, we will credit your account with £15!