Royal Veterinary College Clinic - any opinions?

gettingready

One of my cats, George, had 2 operations for luxating patella some time ago.

I am not very happy with the way he walks and wanted to have him seen by another vet - do I need a referral to RVC vets?

I know they have a clinic somewhere in London:

http://www.rvc.ac.uk/BAH/Services.cfm

Will be a murder getting there with a cat in a basket but......

Also, does anyone know if they would accept me paying excess and them claiming the rest from my insurance?

Any thoughts?

Or can someone recommend a very good ortho vet in East London?

Thanks a lot.

afffffffffffffffffff

Insurance Claims

Upon proof of a valid current policy we are happy to make claims directly to your insurance company so you only need to pay your excess and any outstanding balance once they have paid us.

That IS good... sigh of relief

dawnfuller

I took my dog there about 8 years ago... fantastic place, but may be an idea to ask your vet to refer you there .

gettingready

Thanks - that is what I am thinking as George had pre and post op Xrays done at regular vet, would not like him to have those done again (radiation and cost) if this can be helped....

I always think thas student traning places are really good as they take really great care.

Not sure if still in place but RLH used to have student dentists for children and they were absolutely fantastic - used to take my daughter there when she was young.. they would chat her up so much that she never noticed what they were actually doing to her mouth/teeth LOL

Hope it is the same with student vets - and of course they are supervised...

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I took a course that was run by one of the vets that does the training for the RVC. He was absolutely lovely, even dealing with us idiots learning lab skills for the first time.

If they're all like him, I wouldn't hesitate to try and get one of the mob referred there.


Poor George, though.


The Royal Veterinary College
Royal College Street
London
NW1 0TU
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)20 7468 5000

Camden. Not so bad to get to as it could have been.

paddypaws101

Looks really interesting, I never knew it was there!
The site says this about insurance
'Insurance Claims
Upon proof of a valid current policy we are happy to make claims directly to your insurance company so you only need to pay your excess and any outstanding balance once they have paid us.'

juliebunny

I took my cat to the RVC in Herts about 6 years ago as an emergency (I believe you need to be referred by your vet, unless it's an out of hours emergency). They were wonderful and saved her life. It was expensive but no more so than our local 24hour rip off vet practice! Lucky you having pet insurance (i didn't!)

Back then they had specialists on all shifts but now apparently if you go out of hours you just see a 'regular' vet. As far as i am aware, she was seen by fully qualified vets at all times (Cardiologists) although I guess the students may have visited her when I she was an inpatient.

Only negative comment I had was the waiting room was full of really noisy dogs - awful environment for her and she was so stressed out, we went to sit in the car and then eventually stopped going there because of this. There were fund raising for separate waiting rooms so maybe they have those now?

Waterfalls

if you have alreaddy claimed for this conditon, you shouldnt need to pay another excess unless it is a new claim year. the RVC are brilliant!! but im pretty sure u will need a referal. if you are worried about the travelling, could your vet send the xrays to an orthopaedic vet to get their opinion on how well the surgery has gone? i know it doesnt help in examining your kitty, but it could point you in the right direction.
Please bare in mind, that alot of the xrays we receive from other vets are can be rather undiagnostic, and repeat xrays are often required.

albacookie

As far as I understand it the hospital in Camden is a first opinion practice (though presumably a very good one) so if you want to register there you can do it yourself and they can obtain a history from your current vet.
The specialists are at the Queen Mother Hospital in Potters Bar and you would need to be referred there by your vet.

Hillbilly1

It sounds like you want second opinion.

While BAH are good there isn't an ortho specialist there AFAIK.

Any vet can give a second opinion, but if you want to see an ortho specialist try www.rcvs.org.uk for lists of specialsts, most work out of 1st opinion practices and so could see you without a referal.

Sooz00

I've pasted a couple of links for orthopaedic referrals below in case there is anywhere that may be able to help. Many referral hospitals offer a service to general vets so if you have since had x-rays etc. that you want a 2nd opinion on, they could be sent off and reviewed. There does seem to be an ortho vet in Bayswater and in Wimbledon though I don't know of either.

http://www.vetindex.co.uk/vetindex/orth_ref.htm

http://www.vetclick.com/referral-practices/orthopaedic-c17.php

I don't know if it's an option but if you can get to Surrey, Noel Fitzpatrick is particularly good. I took one of my cats to see him in January last year for a 2nd opinion. He was kind, courteous, reviewed CT scans, examined my boy, went through the options the specialists I was already with had given, added another option and didn't even charge me for the consult. I was very impressed.

gettingready

Thanks for all the posts - George's vet is an ortho surgeon anyway but somehow I just do not have that very good feeling about him if you know what I mean.

I am taking George for a check up to his normal vet next week, will see what he says. Perhaps I am expecting too much too soon, I do not know.

He runs around, goes out but just the way he walks is not right, also he eats lying down kind of on a side which he did not do before his ops.

Thanks for all the posts and links - we are in East London.. sigh.. no car