Round-the-clock care from Uckfield Vets

For animal owners needing the reassurance of a local vet, then Uckfield Vets at Fairfield House could be the ideal choice.

The practice offers a 24-hour service, using its own staff at its own premises. This ensures that the vet dealing with your animal has access to your animal’s records, which can be vital in an emergency. This is 365 days a year and 24 hours a day service.

Partner Kirsty Turrell explains: “We are one of the few practices in the area that hasn’t had to outsource its out-of-hours care. We’re proud to be able to continue with our emergency service which we see as vital to the practice and our duty of care to our patients. This is equally as important for our work with a large number of farmers and horse owners in the area, as well as all our small animal/pet owners. They all need to know that a vet is always at the end of the phone and available to visit them, offer advice or arrange for their animal to be brought to the surgery.”

Uckfield Vets is an independent practice with traditional values. The team treats everything from mice to camels, reptiles and backyard chickens. The majority of the work is still with the more domesticated species such as dogs/cats/cows and sheep. The practice in its early days was predominantly for farm animals, but it has evolved to now provide veterinary treatment and care for a huge range of species. The team is still very proud of its long-standing relationship with the local farming community.

“People come from all over the South East to see us. One of our customers moved to Lincoln and still brings her chickens to us to look after and, amazingly, we still have clients who have been with us since 1953 when the practice was first established,” added Kirsty.

For the whole team, being a successful practice means constantly thinking on your feet. In the Spring farmers will turn up with sheep experiencing lambing problems and births in the carpark are not an uncommon sight. This causes great excitement for pedestrians walking by.

On one occasion a lady turned up with her pet emu after it swallowed a child’s fishing rod. After a bit of a struggle, the rod with a toy fish on the end was carefully extracted!

As well as providing a service to a huge range of animals at a local zoo including anything from penguins to parrots, Raystede, Cats Protection and Kit Wilson also provide us with some unusual cases and patients. The talented team of vets and nurses have to be ready to turn their hand to whatever species comes their way.

Compassion is an important trait of a good vet and the team at Fairfield House carries out home visits, including home euthanasia visits if people request them. The loss of a dearly loved pet is always a difficult time. Bereaved customers receive a hand-painted card and the nurses make paw prints as a memento when pets pass away.

“It feels like a family practice and the majority of our staff are from Sussex – all of us genuinely care for the animals we look after,” says Kirsty.

Uckfield Vets combines the traditional values of a long-established, independent practice with the up-to-date knowledge of staff and the very latest in equipment. The practice offers up-to-the-minute treatment alongside some of the more alternative treatments such as acupuncture.

The qualified and experienced team of veterinary nurses holds regular clinics and can advise on a number of issues including nail clipping/flea and worm treatments, dental disease advice and post-operative checks.

Uckfield Vets is an RCVS accredited practice and is well equipped to provide the highest standards of care for your animal 24 hours-a-day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.