History of Vets on Riverbank
Vets on Riverbank is the culmination of over 40 years of continuous veterinary service to the Otaki, Horowhenua and Kapiti district.
When Graham Carthew commenced practice in the early 1970’s much of today’s technology was in its infancy and “lifestyle blocks” had not been heard of. Most of the work was either out on dairy farms or back in the clinic attending to household pets.
The practice has seen many generations of companion animals pass through the clinic from puppy and kitten vaccinations through to geriatric treatments. With the advancements in technology comes an improvement in digital radiology and ultrasound. Ongoing development in medicine and surgical techniques ensures our small animal team continues to provide your pet with the best care and attention available.
Vets on Riverbank are now the only clinic on the Kapiti Coast and within the Horowhenua district who offer a 24-hour on-site emergency service for our clients, provided by our hard-working veterinarian team.
We are proud to have been and continue to be a part of the racing industry, having been associated with many trainers whose names are legendary in the racing circle. We have also had a close working relationship with the Otaki Maori Racing Club as well as Levin and Wellington Racing Clubs.
The filming of The Lord of The Rings Trilogy was an exciting episode in the history of the practice. The large number of horses involved meant veterinarians from the practice were required to be on-set much of the time.
However, a large part of our equine practice has been the growth of sport horses. The clinic has a highly trained and skilled equine dentistry team, providing the latest dental care and treatment options for your horse. Equine reproduction has always been an important part of our equine practice. In recent years along with ultra-sounding and artificial insemination, our reproduction team performs frozen embryo transfer in mares.
We are dedicated to servicing production animals and our aim, as well as caring for individual animals, is to increase the production of your farm or lifestyle block. We work closely with farmers to obtain optimum animal health which is important in producing a quality product. The dynamics of farm animal health and production are enormous as we face all the changes and problems that confront the modern farmer and veterinarian.
As well as hands-on attention to your animals, our spacious premises in Riverbank Road stocks a full range of animal care products. With our friendly helpful staff always available to advise you on all your animals nutritional and health care needs.