Centre for Avian, Reptiles and Exotics

12/11/2025

🎥 From critical to comfortable 🐰💚

This little bunny came in with a severely bloated stomach — a life-threatening condition in rabbits. Thanks to medical management, not surgery, he made a full recovery. 🌿✨

We treated him with a lidocaine and fentanyl CRI (Continuous Rate Infusion) — a steady, controlled drip that delivers pain relief and gut-supportive medication over time — along with warmth, fluids and round-the-clock monitoring. Within hours, he started eating again! 🥬

Many cases like this can be turned around with timely medical treatment, avoiding the risks of surgery — but only if caught early.

If your rabbit looks round, stops eating or passing droppings — don’t wait. Early care saves lives.

📍CARE – Centre for Avian, Reptile & Exotics
🐦🦎🐰
📞 021 875 5063

10/11/2025

🎥 Behind the scenes at CARE 🐦
You don’t often get to see this part — our team performing X-rays and blood tests with care, precision, and speed.
Every step is done calmly and efficiently to ensure the very best for your feathered (or scaled, or furry) family member. 💚

10/11/2025

Did you know? 🦜💚
Dr Coetzee isn’t just a registered avian vet — it’s been in his feathers since day one! His dad’s an avian vet too, and he’s been keeping birds since he was a kid.

After studying at one of the best universities in the world and learning from some of the top avian vets in Australia, he brought all that knowledge (and heart) home to South Africa. 🇿🇦

This lifelong passion and international experience are what set him apart — and why every bird and exotic patient at CARE is treated like his own. 🌿✨

📍 Centre for Avian, Reptile & Exotic Animal Care
📞 021 875 5063

09/11/2025

🌿 Did you know?
CARE (Centre for Avian, Reptiles & Exotics) is the only dedicated avian and exotics veterinary clinic in the greater Cape Town region that:
✅ Is open every weekend
✅ Offers after-hours support until 21:30
✅ Has a vet on premises for critical patients

We do this because exotic pets often hide their symptoms until it’s almost too late — and emergencies don’t wait for office hours. At CARE, your feathered, scaled, and furry family members are never left without help. 💚

📍 Located in Klapmuts
📞 074 134 3271 | 021 875 5063

07/11/2025

🌿 CARE: South Africa’s Most Sustainable Veterinary Practice

At CARE, we don’t just care for animals — we care for the planet they call home.

⚡️ We run on solar power
🛢️ We produce our own biodiesel
🌱 We work with EarthPet Dignified Farewells, a green composting service for ethical carcass management
🔌 We’re moving to fully electric vehicles — and soon, we’ll even have an off grid EV charging station on-site

We don’t do this for fun.
We do it for our wildlife. 💚

05/11/2025

🎄 Festive Season Availability 🎄

The CARE team will be available throughout the festive season to look after your feathered, scaled, and furry exotic companions. 🦜🐍🐇

We’ll be closed on the main public holidays, but open for emergencies — because we know health issues don’t take a holiday!

📞 For emergencies, please call or message 074 134 3271 prior to arriving so that we can ensure veterinarian availability.

💚 Dr Coetzee will be hanging around the practice during the festive season to ensure continued care for his patients.

✨ Remember: the earlier you detect an abnormality, the easier it is to treat.

03/11/2025

💬 Why doesn’t Dr Coetzee have another vet helping him?

We get this question a lot! The simple answer is that Dr Coetzee likes to have complete control and continuity of care for every patient who walks, hops, slithers, or flies through our doors. 🐦🐍🐇

Exotic and avian cases are often incredibly complex and unique — even small differences in technique or interpretation can make a big difference to recovery and long-term health.

By personally handling each case from start to finish, Dr Coetzee ensures that every patient receives the same high level of precision, consistency, and care that CARE is known for.

At CARE, it’s never about how many patients we see — it’s about how well we see them. 💚

30/10/2025

⚡️Tiny Patients. Faster Recovery.
At CARE, we use advanced electrocautery surgery — a technique that uses controlled electrical energy to cut and seal tissue at the same time.

For our delicate birds, reptiles, rabbits, and exotic pets, this means:
✅ Minimal blood loss during surgery
✅ Shorter anaesthetic times
✅ Less swelling and pain
✅ Faster recovery and a smoother healing process

Every detail matters when your patient weighs just a few grams — and our specialised equipment ensures that every exotic animal gets the safest, most precise surgical care possible. 💚

📍Centre for Avian, Reptile and Exotic Animal Medicine (CARE)
Where innovation meets compassion.

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30/10/2025

A client asked why we don’t treat dogs and cats. Here’s why.

🏥 A Calm, Safe Space for Birds, Rabbits & Exotics

Why We Don’t Hospitalise Dogs or Cats

At CARE – The Centre for Avian, Reptiles and Exotics, everything is designed for birds, rabbits, reptiles, and other exotic pets.
We do not treat or hospitalise dogs and cats — and that’s what makes CARE unique.

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💚 Stress-Free Healing

Our patients are mostly prey species, and even the sound or scent of a dog or cat can cause:
• Anxiety and fear responses
• Loss of appetite or gut stasis
• Feather plucking or self-trauma
• Delayed recovery

By keeping our hospital quiet, calm, and species-specific, we create the ideal environment for healing.

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🦜 Purpose-Built Wards

Each species has its own specialised space:
• Birds: warm, filtered, and well-ventilated rooms
• Rabbits & small mammals: soft bedding and gentle airflow
• Reptiles: precise temperature and humidity control

No barking. No meowing. No stress.

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🧼 Safety & Professional Care

We use separate equipment, air systems, and cleaning tools for each species group — maintaining strict biosecurity and stress-free recovery.

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💬 Our Promise

By focusing exclusively on exotic species, CARE ensures:
✅ Minimal stress
✅ Faster recovery
✅ A truly species-appropriate hospital environment

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Thank you for helping us keep CARE calm, safe, and specialised — just as our patients deserve.

CARE – The Centre for Avian, Reptiles and Exotics
Calm • Advanced • Respectful • Exotic

19/09/2025

🌟 Meet Sir Patrick Patters Stewart 🌟

In November 2022, we faced the heartbreak of losing our four rabbits to the RHDV2 virus. Since then, our practice has been without a bunny companion — until now.

Rescued from a construction site, this brave little soul has hopped straight into our hearts (and our practice!). With his gentle nature and undeniable charm, he’s earned a name as grand as his spirit: Sir Patrick Patters Stewart. 🐇✨

Here’s to new beginnings, second chances, and the joy of welcoming him into our practice family — while always remembering the rabbits we lost. 💛

19/09/2025

What a lovely spring day!

18/09/2025

🌟 Dr. Coetzee had such a great time chatting with Elsje on her Dieremaniere podcast on RSG!
This week’s episode dives into the fascinating world of rabbits — from their unique care needs to the stories behind these special patients. 🐇✨

🎧 Tune in for an inspiring conversation you won’t want to miss:

Snoetjie en Snuffel, elkeen ‘n skat in my hart. Dit is die verhaal van Elsje van Jaarsveld se konyne wat sy as kleindogtertjie grootgemaak het. In die 12de...