A small-animal practice in a converted barn on the edge of Cowbridge, owned by the two vets who opened it in 2011. Ring the emergency line at 2am and one of our own vets answers. A written estimate before anything is done, and a health plan that spreads the routine care over the year.
What we do
01
The routine care that keeps a pet out of the other pages: first vaccinations for puppies and kittens, annual boosters with a full health check, microchipping, flea and worm treatment, and the health plan that spreads it all over the year for a monthly direct debit.
Booster with health check £55, puppy or kitten course £75 for both visits, microchip £20.
02
Two operating theatres in the barn, a dedicated dental suite and a recovery ward with a nurse on it all day. Neutering, lump removals, abdominal and soft-tissue surgery, fracture repair and cruciate surgery, and the dental work that most pets over five quietly need.
Cat neuter from £95, dog neuter from £220 by weight, dental scale and polish from £320 including the anaesthetic and x-rays.
03
When something happens at 2am, you ring 01632 960 813 and one of our own vets answers. They know the practice, the kit and usually the animal, and they see you here, not at a hospital forty miles away. The out-of-hours fee is £160 on top of treatment, and we will tell you on the phone what it is likely to cost.
Out-of-hours consultation £160 plus treatment, told to you on the phone first.
04
Digital x-ray and ultrasound in the barn, an in-house laboratory that turns a blood profile round in twenty minutes, endoscopy, blood pressure and ECG, so that most of the finding-out happens in one visit rather than a week of waiting.
Blood profile £95, x-rays under sedation from £180, ultrasound from £140, all with the results explained the same day.
05
Dogs over eight and cats over ten are the fastest-growing part of the practice. Six-monthly senior checks, arthritis clinics with the nurses, the long-term conditions managed with monthly plans, and honest conversations about quality of life when the time comes.
Senior check £48 (free on the health plan, twice a year), arthritis nurse clinic £25, repeat prescription checks £32.
06
Rabbits are the third most common pet in Britain and the most often let down by vets who treat them as small cats. Cerys is our rabbit and small-mammal lead: vaccination, neutering, dentistry, gut stasis emergencies, and husbandry advice that prevents most of it.
Consultation £48, rabbit vaccination £48 once a year, rabbit neuter from £110, dental burring from £140.
The health plan
£24.00 a month, dogs
£17.50 a month for cats and £12.50 for rabbits. The booster, two health checks, flea and worm treatment posted monthly and 10% off everything else. No joining fee; leave with a month's notice. About half our patients are on it.
What you can expect
You can ask for the same vet every time and we will book around it. Your pet's notes, weights and x-rays are on the screen in the room, not in a different branch.
Ring before 10am and a sick pet is seen that day. A real emergency is seen the moment you arrive, day or night, by our own vets.
Before any procedure you get the estimate on paper with the range it could fall in, and a phone call before we go beyond it. The prices page shows what things cost before you ring.
When a pet is old or ill we tell you what we would do if it were ours, including when the kindest thing is to stop. Euthanasia at home or in the quiet room, never rushed.
Emergencies
Most practices send night calls to an emergency centre in a city. We kept it in the barn. Five vets share the rota, one is always on with a nurse on call, and they meet you here, in the rooms your pet knows. You are told the likely cost on the phone before you leave home.
Your first visit
01
Five minutes: your details, your pet's, any previous vet so we can request the history, and your insurer if you have one. Bring the vaccination card if it exists.
02
Separate dog and cat sides with a raised shelf for carriers. If your dog is anxious, wait in the car and we will come and get you; say so when you book.
03
Every visit starts on the scales, because weight is the number that tells us most over time. The nurse enters it and the graph is on the screen in the room.
04
What has brought you in, then the whole animal: teeth, heart, lungs, skin, joints, the lumps you wondered about. Nothing is done without telling you first.
05
If anything needs doing, the options and their prices, written down, including the option of waiting and watching. You decide; nobody is sold to.
06
Card at the desk, or a direct claim to your insurer. Reception can set up the health plan there and then if you want it; the first direct debit comes out the following month.
Reviews
Our labrador bloated at eleven at night. Rang the emergency number, Owen answered, met us at the barn in fifteen minutes and operated within the hour. He is asleep on my feet as I write this. The bill was exactly what Owen said on the phone.
Fourteen-year-old collie with arthritis and a dodgy thyroid. Rhian sees her every six months, the nurses run the arthritis clinic, and the monthly injection has given her back the beach. The plan discount on the tablets adds up.
They came to the house for our old cat and sat with us on the kitchen floor for as long as we needed. Nobody looked at a watch. A card arrived a week later, handwritten. I will not go anywhere else.
Find us
On the Llantwit Major Road, the stone barn with the sage-green door and the hedge. Twenty lit spaces on the gravel, a dog-walking field behind, the X2 at the end of the drive, and separate dog and cat sides to the waiting room. Out of hours, the car park lights come on when you arrive.
Yes. Ring 01632 960 813 at any hour and one of our five vets answers, tells you what to do and meets you at the barn if you need to come in. We do not use an out-of-hours provider. The fee is £160 on top of treatment and you are told the likely total on the phone.
The annual booster, a second health check, flea and worm treatment posted monthly, microchip, nail clips, and 10% off everything else, for £17.50 a month for a cat, £24 for a dog and £12.50 for a rabbit. No joining fee; leave with a month's notice.
Yes, the form on the register page takes five minutes and we request the history from your previous vet. You can book the first appointment at the same time. There is no registration fee.
For most insurers, yes: you pay the excess and we claim the rest, so you are not out of pocket for a big bill. Bring the policy details or email them to us before the appointment.
Yes, and we will book around their days. Rhian is in Monday to Thursday, Owen Tuesday to Saturday, and the other three vets' days are on the team page. For an emergency you see whoever is on.
Registration takes five minutes and we request the history from your previous vet. Sick pets are seen the same day, emergencies at once, and out of hours one of our own vets answers 01632 960 813. Every price is on the website.
