Small Animal Internal Medicine
The Internal Medicine Unit at the AHT has two main purposes. The first is to provide a full clinical referral service in feline and canine internal medicine that complements the other small animal specialities in the clinic. The second is to contribute knowledge and information on important canine and feline diseases, working in conjunction with other veterinarians and scientists at the Animal Health Trust.
We aim to offer a friendly, client-orientated referral service where the needs of the patient come first. We offer a full referral service in canine and feline internal medicine, backed up by extensive clinical and laboratory facilities. We aim to see genuine emergency cases the same day wherever possible.
The internal medicine team work closely with other disciplines at the Trust, utilising the wealth of experience in the specialist services available and hospitalised patients receive complete 24-hour care from our team of qualified veterinary nurses. We are also able to provide critical care for patients needing intensive monitoring.
The AHT benefits from having a state-of-the-art MRI facility along with all other typical imaging modalities (radiography, ultrasonography and scintigraphy), and we also have a full range of endoscopic equipment to allow non-invasive investigation of various disorders. This, together with the minimally invasive techniques offered by our surgical team, means many problems can be extensively investigated without the need for traditional surgery.
The AHT is one of the few institutes in the UK to offer a special focus on feline internal medicine, with two of our clinicians having further training in this area, and one being a recognised RCVS Specialist in Feline Medicine. The AHT is also one of only a very few centres in the UK that is able to offer radioiodine therapy as a treatment for hyperthyroidism, which is a highly successful form of therapy. Cats treated with radioiodine therapy at the AHT only have to remain hospitalised for three weeks.