Questions about Greenside Animal Hospital

We use appointments to ensure we do not waste your time by having to sit and wait in a queue. Appointments also ensure that we treat each client fairly and give them the time they deserve. Appointments also help us plan and be productive.

We require the full payment at the time of consultation. We accept cash, debit, and all major credit cards.

Should your pet be hospitalised with us, we require a 50% deposit of the cost estimate upon admission. The final balance is payable in full upon discharge, or on completion of treatment.

Greenside Animal Hospital does not run accounts and all payments should be up to date before leaving the practice.

We require 24 hours’ notice before you can collect your repeat medication. This is so that our Veterinarians have enough time to dispense your medication and eliminate delays, so that when you collect, it is ready and waiting.

At Greenside Animal Hospital we strive to give you and your pets the best service possible. In doing that, we would like to emphasise our policy regarding the dispensing of medication.

By law, medication may only be dispensed by a veterinarian or veterinary nurse. As our vets are not always available to do this and medication cannot be dispensed by a receptionist, we request you contact us in advance to prepare your medication for collection. We require 24 hours notice before you can collect your medication, although we are happy to dispense medication for you in the afternoon if you phone in the morning.

Please note that, by law, a repeat prescription only lasts six months and we can only dispense medication for a 30-day period. This means that, unfortunately, you will need to collect your medication on a monthly basis and not the entire 6-month supply in advance. We cannot issue repeat prescriptions for longer than six months and we require that you bring your pet in every six months for a check-up before the next prescription can be dispensed.

We highly recommend getting your pet on a medical aid. This will give you peace of mind that your pet will be looked after in their time of need.

Here are some of the insurance companies to consider:

As every pet’s needs are different, we suggest doing thorough research to ensure you are fully covered in all instances.

Please note that all of these Pet Insurers make payments to the client, and therefore, the client is responsible for making payment to Greenside Animal Hospital at the point of treatment and then claim from the Pet Insurers.

Questions about my Pet

Obesity is the number one disease in pets. We advise weighing your pet once a month to ensure that you keep track of their weight. This is especially important if your pet has been sterilised. If your pet is overweight or obese, please make an appointment with the veterinarian to discuss your pet’s diet and exercise plan.

This could be because the food goes stale. A bag of food shouldn’t be open for more than 4 weeks (in a sealed bag or other airtight container). You can do one of 2 things:

Divide the bag into weekly portions, put them in zip lock bags and freeze them, or Freeze (in a zip lock bag/container) the amount that is normally left at the end of the bag when your pet goes off the food. This helps to keep the food fresh.

This could be caused by many things including bad or broken teeth. We check your dog’s teeth annually when they come for their annual checkup, but should you be worried at any time, you can contact us and make an appointment so that we can check.

We have a number of dental products to care for your dog’s teeth which include dental chews, specialised dog food, toothpaste and toothbrushes, oral rinses and dental gel. Please speak to our receptionists or veterinarians to find out what will be most suitable for your dog’s teeth.

Animals can be very strong-willed when it comes to giving pills, especially cats and small breed dogs. Don’t be disillusioned when a vet almost effortlessly gives your pet a pill. Vets have a few things working in their favour like that they are not on home ground and that they give pills to animals all day every day.

The best way to get a pill into an animal is to place the pill at the back of the throat, close the mouth and do a short sharp blow on the nose. This forces your pet to lick the nose, which they cannot do without swallowing the pill. This method works especially well with cats. It also helps to lubricate the pill with some margarine, which helps the pill slide down more easily.

Alternatively, you can try and hide the pill in some food. Cats like margarine, marmite and fish paste. Dogs like bread, peanut butter and viennas.

For any emergency after our consulting hours, please phone our emergency phone number, 076 790 7957. Please note that a surcharge will be charged for all emergencies after hours.

We recommend that your pet comes to see us at least once a year for a general checkup and wellness examination. Pets age on average seven times faster than humans, and therefore an annual check-up for your pets is as good as a general medical checkup for yourself every 7 years.

Lighting up the night sky with a magnificent display of fireworks is a popular and fun way to usher in a new year; but while it may be enjoyable for us, it is hellish for our four-legged companions.

Aside from causing anxiety in our pets, fireworks, along with thunderstorms and owners who have gone away, are the main causes of lost or stray pets, causing animal shelters to become overpopulated.

Read more about various ways to prepare your pet for thunderstorms or fireworks

Have you ever wondered about the restriction on the number of dogs you can keep, about permits for keeping dogs and rules around dogs in public places? Read more about the by-laws relating to dogs and cats in the City of Johannesburg. 

A microchip is a small electronic chip enclosed in a glass cylinder that is about the same size as a grain of rice. The microchip is activated by a microchip scanner that is passed over the area. The signal from the scanner activates the chip, which then transmits the identification number to the scanner and displays the number on the scanner’s screen.

Microchipping your pet ensures that your pet can be identified by most veterinary practices or animal shelters should they ever get lost. The veterinary practice or animal shelter can then easily contact you if they find your pet, reducing your time of worrying and searching.

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