Bridges Veterinary Surgery

02/08/2024

Our computer systems are having some maintenance , so we are unable to use our computers for around the next hour.

For routine appointments and prescription requests please call back after 1.30pm.

Thank you 😊

01/08/2024

Unfortunately our phone lines are down and we are not sure when they will be back up and running, an engineer is working hard to fix the problem.

For routine queries please email [email protected] and a member of staff will get back to you as soon as possible.

For life threatening emergencies please bring your pet directly to the practice.

Thank you for your patience

16/07/2024

We are hiring!

We are looking for a temporary Receptionist/Veterinary care assistant for maternity cover- to start in September (1 year). 18+

The hours of work will be every Thursday from 3pm-6.30pm , every other Friday from 8.30am-6.30pm and every other Saturday from 8.30am-12.30pm

There will be opportunities for further hours to cover staff holidays.

We are ideally looking for somebody with veterinary experience but training will be given.

To apply please email Rachel Sims RVN - Head Nurse at [email protected] with a cv and covering letter.

01/07/2024

It’s been a scary few days for us here at Bridges vets, Unfortunately last week while off on holiday Mark suffered a heart attack.
Luckily he was at A&E very quickly and the wonderful staff at Heath Hospital saved his life.
He’s now taking a bit of time away from the surgery to rest and recover at home with his family.
Please be extra kind to our wonderful staff who are covering extra work and doing their very best to keep everything ticking over, Obviously with it being holiday season it may be tricky to sort cover on occasions.
We will do our very best and keep you updated.
We all wish Mark a speedy recovery and can’t wait to see him back at the surgery ❤️‍🩹❤️

22/06/2024

We're finally seeing some of that warm weather we've been waiting for. It's lovely to have some sunny days, but to keep pets safe during hot weather! ☀️

18/06/2024

We have had a stray cat handed in to the practice. He is not chipped and was not wearing a collar.

It was found in tongwynlais near the hotel

If he belongs you you or you have any information please call 02920842440.

16/06/2024

Happy Father’s Day to all you wonderful pet dads 🐾💙

08/06/2024

Free workshops for schools to help educate children all about dogs 🐕 🐾

Since 2003, the Dogs Trust Education Team have been delivering educational programmes to young people and children all across the UK. Our programme focusses primarily on two key themes: Responsible Dog Ownership and Safe Behaviour Around Dogs.

07/06/2024

I hope you don’t mind this little selfish share,
Today is Tourette’s awareness day, it’s such an unknown and miss understood condition, there is very little medical help out there and NO Tourette’s experts in Wales.
Mark and Rachel’s youngest daughter has Tourette’s and they along with many others and the fantastic charity Tourettes Action are helping to spread the word to try and improve life for all the families affected 💚

🗣️ It’s Time to Talk About Tourette Syndrome 🗣️

Let’s break the stigma and spread awareness about Tourette Syndrome. Understanding and compassion can make a world of difference for those living with TS. Join the conversation today, educate yourself, and help us create a more inclusive and supportive community.

Together, we can make a change. 💚

31/05/2024

BVNA (The British Veterinary Nursing Association)

Last but definately not least (the clinic wouldn't run without them!) lets celebrate our very talented veterinary care assistants Carly and Jordan!

JORDAN ANA - Animal nursing assistant

Jordan has been part of the Bridges nursing team since waaay back in 2012! Jordan qualified as an animal nursing assistant in 2014 after studying at Abbeydale veterinary college.

Jordans favourite parts of the job are community nursing, talking to clients and helping the vets with surgery.

Jordan has been nominated for the petplan support staff of the year award various times throughout her career.

CARLY VNA - Veterinary nursing assistant

Carly has been part of the Bridges nursing team since May 2020 and qualified as a veterinary nursing assistant in 2022 after studying at Abbeydale veterinary college.

Carlys favourite parts of the job are creating display boards for the waiting room, meeting the patients, helping the vets with diagnostic testing such as ultrasound scans and winding the other nurses up with her jokes and pranks!

Carly was shortlisted for the 2022 Burgess rabbit support staff of the year award for her dedication to improving and maintaining the welfare of Rabbits.

Veterinary nursing awareness month is now over but if you are interested in a career as a Registered veterinary nurse or nursing assistant please take a look at
https://bvna.org.uk/information-on-training/ #:~:text=You%20can%20complete%20a%20degree,need%20to%20apply%20via%20UCAS.

31/05/2024

BVNA (The British Veterinary Nursing Association)

LEANNE RVN

Her story so far!

Leanne began her career in 2002 , working for most of her career in a mixed (large and small animal) practice! She's the only one of us nurses who knows how to check sheep egg worm counts 🐑🪱. She started her career as an animal care assistant and became the head nurse of a large hospital.

Leanne qualified in 2009 after studying at Pencoed agricultural college .She has been part of the Bridges nursing team since 2018 and is the most clinically experienced nurse having seen and done most things! Leanne also works at an emergency only surgery from time to time.

Leannes favourite parts of the job are emergency and critical care nursing and radiography.

Leanne is our top phlebotomist and can find even the tiniest of veins with her eyes closed! Nurses are responsible for taking your pets blood samples and running them in our in house laboratory.

Leanne would like to embark on a certificate in emergency and critical care nursing in the future.

31/05/2024

BVNA (The British Veterinary Nursing Association)

Karen RVN

Karen started her veterinary career as a receptionist at a surgery in Cardiff 13 years ago and was delighted when she was offered a role as a student nurse.

She qualified as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in 2017 after studying at Pencoed agricultural college and joined us here at Bridges in 2019.

Karen's favourite parts of the job are anaesthesia monitoring, medical nursing and surgical nursing. She is the go to nurse for winning over "spicy" cats and her calming presence often wins them over pretty quickly!

Karen has a beautiful, sassy cat named Bo at home who has a big personality and we all love listening to Karen's stories of the mischief she gets into!

Karen would like to further her knowledge in small animal dentistry by completing a dentistry certificate in the near future. Registered veterinary nurses are vital in maintaining their patients oral hygiene and often perform scale and polish treatments on animals under anaesthesia.

30/05/2024

BVNA (The British Veterinary Nursing Association)

Meg RVN DipAniPhys - Registered Veterinary Nurse and animal physiotherapist

Her story so far!

Meg started her career as a kennel assistant at a practice in south wales before progressing to a student nurse - Rachel was actually her clinical coach for a while!

Meg qualified as a Veterinary Nurse in 2019 after studying at Abbeydale veterinary college.

She went on to qualify as an animal physiotherapist, and passed her exams with distinction.

Meg now runs her own nurse physiotherapy clinics here at Bridges, does house visits for physiotherapy sessions and also runs sessions at a hydrotherapy clinic in Bridgend alongside her nursing duties! MLP Animal Physiotherapy

If you would like some more information about physiotherapy sessions with Meg at the clinic please give us a call or talk to one of our vets.

Meg has a real soft spot for Cockerpoos 🐩.

In her spare time Meg loves spending time with her family and going for long walks with her dog Freddie.

Meg is a fluent Welsh speaker. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

29/05/2024

BVNA (The British Veterinary Nursing Association)

Rachel - Head RVN

Her story so far!

Rachel started her nursing journey in 2004. She originally wanted to be a farrier but quickly realised that horses were a force to be reckoned with , so concentrated her efforts on small animals!

Rachel studied animal care at ACT academy before starting a work placement at the pdsa pet aid hospital in Cardiff where she fell in love with nursing, after being mentored by an amazing group of registered nurses.

She then progressed on to a veterinary nursing assistant certificate, and worked for the next few years at various small animal practices in South Wales before starting her nurse training.

Rachel studied at Pencoed agricultural college for 2.5 years whilst also working in practice and completing her nursing progress log - this is an enormous list of skills which a nurse must be competent in before they are allowed to sit their practical exams. There were also plenty of other exams to pass including anatomy and physiology, anaesthesia, surgical and medical nursing, emergency and critical care, radiography, pharmacology and law and ethics. Rachel will admit this was the most stressful time of her life as she also had two small children! Rachel finally passed all of her exams in late 2017 and became a Registered Veterinary nurse!

Rachel then worked as a deputy head nurse and clinical coach - mentoring other student veterinary nurses, then a self employed locum veterinary nurse before settling here at Bridges in 2021 and shortly after ,becoming our Head nurse.

Rachel has completed various extra courses so far, focusing most of her efforts on dermatology in which she has a vet nurse merit award. Rachel is a member of the British Veterinary dermatology study group.

Rachel is now studying for a certificate in veterinary practice management and hopes to complete it this year.

"Nursing has come a long way in the 20 years I have been in the industry, many nurses are now specialising in various aspects of their careers and are for the most part highly respected and valued by their peers, for their knowledge and contributions to the industry.We've come a long way from just making the vets tea and cleaning...although we do still make the vets tea (they make us tea too though!) and we definitely spend 50% of our time cleaning something!"

25/05/2024

Just a reminder that we are closed this Monday due to the Bank holiday! We will reopen Tuesday 28th May at 8.30am.

If your pet requires urgent medical attention please call our normal telephone number, and the voicemail will direct you to our out of hours service provider Valley 24/7.

Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend 🤞🌞

23/05/2024

May is Veterinary Nursing awareness month! 👩‍⚕️👨‍⚕️

We are extremely proud to employ only Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVN's) and qualified Veterinary care assistants (VNA's/ANA's) to care for your pets 🐕🐈‍⬛️🐰🐇🐁

The theme of this year's is progression and over the next few days some of our nurses will be discussing what they do, how they have progressed in their careers and the changes they have seen in the profession over the years.

If you have any questions you would like to ask our nurses about their Jobs please post them below!

28/03/2024

**UPDATE - HE'S BEEN FOUND 🥳

Unfortunately this young man broke out of his carrier in the car park at pughs after a visit to us today.

He was last seen entering the woods behind the Ty Nant pub.

Could everybody share and keep an eye out for him please!

Please call 07855355678 with any information.

Thank you

25/03/2024

The bank holiday weekend is approaching!

We would like to let all of our lovely clients know that we will be closed from 6pm on Thursday 28th March until 8.30am on Tuesday 2nd April.

This is so our very hard working staff can enjoy the very rainy long weekend with their families! ☔️

Please make sure to order all repeat medications by Wednesday 27th March at the very latest! 💊💊

Wishing you a lovely Bank Holiday weekend , remember to make sure to keep your pets away from any chocolate! 🍫🐕🤮

If you have an emergency over the closure period please call our out of hours providers on 02920 001454.

Thank you!

Bridges

15/03/2024

11/03/2024

Veterinary Surgeon - Bridges Vets Cardiff

We are looking for a vet to join our small, friendly team!

We can be flexible with hours/days worked so if you’re interested in working at a small, friendly independent practice please get in contact.

We are looking for a confident GP SA vet who is happy to work sole charge occasionally.

We are a 2.5 vet, independent, purpose built, air conditioned practice, housed within a garden centre on the outskirts of Cardiff

We’re open Monday to Friday 9-6pm and a half day 9-12 every Saturday. (Sat rota shared, currently 1:2).

Excellent salary, CPD allowance and holiday allowance offered. No Sunday, out of hours or bank holiday work is required.


We are a friendly team of Vets, RVNs and ANAs with a strong focus on client care.

If you think you would like to join us or would like more information please email your CV or just an enquiry to our Head RVN Rachel Sims at [email protected]

An independent Veterinary Surgery passionate about giving your pets the very best care.

10/03/2024

Happy Mother’s Day to all you amazing pet Mums 💗 🐾 💗

01/03/2024

St David’s Day is always a very special day for Bridges Vets because it’s also our Birthday 🎉
21 years looking after all of your wonderful pets has been a pleasure.
Thank you to all of our wonderful clients, friends and family that have kept our little independent practice thriving 💚

01/03/2024

Please send us your St David’s day pet photos and have a lovely day 🌼🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿❤️

23/02/2024

🐰🐹🐰🐹🐰🐹

Do rabbits and guinea pigs make a good pairing? 🐰🐹

Guinea pigs were once a popular choice for rabbit companions as an alternative to neutering. However, there can be various complications when keeping the two species together:

💬 Communication: Rabbits and guineas communicate differently, and this can put stress and strain on their relationship.

🤕 Accidents: Rabbits are a lot bigger than guineas and can accidentally hurt them if they kick or fall.

🍊 Dietary needs: Guinea pigs have a requirement for external sources of vitamin C, so should not be fed on the same diet as a rabbit needs.

🤒 Disease: Guinea pigs can catch Bordetella bronchiseptica from rabbits which can cause serious respiratory problems.

If you already have an amicable pairing of rabbits and guinea pigs, then please do not separate them, but be mindful of their individual needs and care requirements.

As many of our followers have guinea pigs, we have created a separate page on our website dedicated to guinea pig care, which you can check out here: https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/owning-guinea-pigs/

21/02/2024

Thank you for your nominations for the petplan veterinary awards 2024! Voting is now closed! fingers crossed for our nominees 🤞

Here is our Registered veterinary nurse and animal physiotherapist Meg, along with Freddie the lurcher. Meg was thrilled to receive her certificate 🤗. We are very proud of her ❤️🐾🐶

15/02/2024

Sadly, although the majority of our clients are lovely, we are having an increased number of people being rude or aggressive to members of our team both on the phone and in person.
We will not tolerate any kind of abusive behaviour.
If you are unable to speak or act kindly and with respect to our wonderful staff you will be asked to find yourself alternative care for your pets 🐾

14/02/2024

Happy Valentines Day 💝

22/01/2024

Thank you to everybody that donated ❤️

Thank you to Bridges Veterinary Surgery for choosing as us their Christmas charity and collecting this bootful of donations of pet food, toys and beds.

21/01/2024

Wishing Karen, one of our wonderful RVNs, a very happy 50th Birthday 🎂 🥂🥳

19/12/2023

🐕🎄🐕🎄🐕