finding a good vet??

2LittlePuds · 08-26-2014, 03:03 AM

Hi, I will have my Syrian hamster in a few weeks time and would like to find a good vet for him. Im in the Lancashire area, close to Accrington/Blackburn/Burnley so if anyone knows of any that would be great. If not then how do I go about finding a good one for hamsters??

leedsgurl · 08-26-2014, 03:07 AM

Have a look through this thread and see if there are any in your area:

Good vets finder

2LittlePuds · 08-26-2014, 03:23 AM

thanks, ive had a look through and the closest vet is in radcliffe, a 40 minute drive. I was hoping someone on here may know of a good one that's a bit closer to home.

ive been on petslocally.co.uk that was mentioned on that thread on theres a few vets local that are on there, but how do I find one that's good with hamsters? is it just a case of narrowing down which ones look at hamsters then trial and error from there?

icklemunch · 08-26-2014, 04:23 AM

Hi.
I use the one in Radcliffe, Beech house. Lovely little vets. Is Chorlton any closer? Member Bec uses these and there are lots of good reviews. Ashleigh vets i think its called.

2LittlePuds · 08-26-2014, 04:48 AM

Ive had a look on google maps and chorlton one is a little further away. Ive found a vets called myerscough veterinary group, anyone heard/used these? They have a number of branches close to me. Ive tried ringing to see if they take hamsters but couldn't get through, although looking on their website it shows guinea pigs so i presume theyd see hamsters as well.

Im not in need of a vets at the moment but would like to find one 'just in case'.

**kyrilliondaemon** · 08-26-2014, 07:53 AM

When we wanted to find a vet we went into the surgery and started by asking if they'd treat hamsters. When asked about roborovskis one practice said "We treat mice, are they smaller than a mouse?" and that was the end of plans to use that practice. At the next we asked if they treated hamsters and were told yes, all vets there will see and treat a hamster but there's one who'd be better than the rest for non-emergencies so they gave us a card with the practice's contact details and wrote that vets name in there for us so we'd know who to ask for if we needed him. They seemed far more helpful and competent than our other option so we chose to register with them, luckily they've turned out to be a fantastic surgery with really helpful vets (especially the one named to us that first day).

If we'd had many other choices we could also have asked how much experience they had with hamsters but for us there wasn't much point - when choosing between two vets, one surgery was a huge help and the other was clueless it was a pretty simple choice.

RedSky · 08-26-2014, 10:46 AM

Hi, I wanted to post mainly so I can see where you end up going, especially if it is the Burnley direction. We are in Todmorden, so just the other end.
I can't be of much help, we go to a vets about 30 mins in the opposite direction. Just so you know it's called The Friendly Animal Centre and it is in Sowerby Bridge and they are excellent with our dog and great with our hamsters and gerbils but it is always good to have other options.

2LittlePuds · 08-26-2014, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedSky

Hi, I wanted to post mainly so I can see where you end up going, especially if it is the Burnley direction. We are in Todmorden, so just the other end.
I can't be of much help, we go to a vets about 30 mins in the opposite direction. Just so you know it's called The Friendly Animal Centre and it is in Sowerby Bridge and they are excellent with our dog and great with our hamsters and gerbils but it is always good to have other options.

Hi, ive found a place through searching online called myercough veterinary group. They have several branches - ashton on ribble, bacup, clayton le dale, clitheroe, freckleton, great harwood, haslingden, ilkley, lostock hall, lytham, brierfield, oswaldtwistle, padiham, preston and st annes.

Im in oswaldtwistle and didnt even realise there was a vets here, turns out i walk past it everyday day! Going to see them tomoz to see if they definately treat syrians and see how they are. Will update you as i presume the other branches will be similar.

RedSky · 08-26-2014, 01:44 PM

I've fallen for all branches are the same before. And while they will often treat hamsters that doesn't mean they know what they are doing. I found with one branch that their vets swap around so much that I never knew them and they never knew my animals. This is the main bonus I have with our new husband and wife vet team. And they even formally introduced me to their temp who was covering while they were on holiday and to their dentist who comes in most Tuesdays. It is lovely.

2LittlePuds · 08-26-2014, 02:06 PM

Sounds like just the sort of place ive been looking for. Ive found a couple more online locally so going to speak to them all and will go with whoever seems most knowledgeable on hams. Although i would have liked to find someone that others have recommended, doesnt look like theres any as close as id like.