Donview Veterinary Centre has also invested in new equipment to enhance its service for poorly pets being treated at its practice at Blackhall Industrial Estate.

The practice will be able to increase the number of pets it can see after building two extra consulting rooms, taking the number to five. They have also added a third theatre, where they carry out operations and surgical procedures.

Patient care has been improved, with new separate dog and cat wards, with state-of-the-art accommodation, and upgraded critical care and monitoring equipment. The expansion will enable the practice to expand services to include physiotherapy, acupuncture, veterinary nurse clinics and more specialist services to treat a wider range of issues.

Donview Vets clinical driectors Laurie Ferguson-Skea, right, and Katie James, left. Picture by Michal Wachucik/Abermedia

Other improvements include:

New dental room with radiography An improved preparation area, where they get pets ready for surgery Refurbished imaging room with upgraded x-ray machines, diagnostic ultrasonography, video endoscopy and digital radiography Separate instruments room for sterilisation of surgical kits Large open plan office for team members A large conference room to host client evenings and education events about pet health Clinical areas temperature controlled with air conditioning A large animal pharmacy with a pharmacy controller ensuring continued supplies of medical stock and to prepare pharmacy orders for farmers and horse owners

The £265,000 project is the biggest investment in the practice and has been made possible with funding from veterinary group, VetPartners.

The revamp comes as two senior vets step up to become clinical directors of the practice.

Laurie Ferguson-Skea and Katie James will lead the practice into a new era.

Laurie graduated from Royal Dick Vet School in her native Edinburgh in 2009 and joined Donview Vets in 2011.

After studying in Glasgow for eight years, where she obtained both a degree in Veterinary Biosciences and in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, Katie returned to her native Aberdeenshire to begin working life at a practice in Turriff. She joined Donview Vets in 2018.

Donview Vets is a multi-award-winning practice, with its main practice in Inverurie and a branch in Kintore. Expanding facilities will enable the practice to provide wider specialist services, including higher level of surgery, as well as having visiting specialists to treat pets.

The practice’s team of 30 vets, nurses, receptionists and admin team will also benefit from the revamped facilities. There will be two rest rooms for on-call vets working overnight, a kitchen, shower room, relaxation area with lockers and a training room for team members to advance their skills and learning.

Laurie said: “The practice already had excellent facilities, but this investment will really enhance what we do for clients and their pets. Clients will benefit from an enhanced service as we have made improvements and we have more consult rooms. Our clinical facilities and equipment, including critical care equipment, have been massively upgraded in advance of this work being carried out, and we will be able to offer extra specialised services.”

Katie added: “It will create a great environment for our team members. We want it to be a place where people really want to come to work and have the best available equipment and technology so they can provide a great service for our clients and their pets.”

Inverurie veterinary practice unveils exciting £265k revamp to transform facilities