We are a small animal practice and treat dogs, cats, rabbits, small mammals and non-commercial poultry.  For your nearest exotic and reptile pets practice, click here.

The full range of veterinary services is available to all clients registered at Millennium.  Our large veterinary team of veterinary surgeons, registered veterinary nurses, student veterinary nurses, ward assistants, veterinary receptionists, support staff and our domestic team; all work together to provide a very high standard of veterinary care for you and your pet.  Our staff members can be found on our team page, click here.  For information about our student veterinary nurses and the care of your pet, click here.

Please refer to our individual Braintree and Coggeshall practice pages for our opening hours and emergency cover when we are closed (this includes Sundays and Bank Holidays).

We welcome new clients to our practice. We ask that all new pet registrations (belonging to new and existing clients) are registered through our 'register a pet' page on this website, click here.  Alternatively you can contact us on Petsapp or call us.  This is not an instant process and takes a minimum of 48hrs.  We need you to contact your existing vets to ask them to send your pets' history to us.  This is important from continuity of care.  We are unable to action this as it is your consent they will need.

New clients who wish to attend our practice and live a considerable distance away, are asked to consider registering their pets with a practice more local to them.  Continuity of care and accessible emergency care are paramount to your pets' welfare.  A list of all practices in the UK can be found on the RCVS website: findavet.rcvs.org.uk/find-a-vet-practice

We encourage owners to join the MVP Care Plan (dogs and cats) to provide their lifelong preventative healthcare program.  For further information and benefits, click here.

Length of Registration
Re-registration is required after a period of 5 years if we haven't seen you with any pets during this time.  Your registration will be treated as above, this includes joining our MVP Care Plan for both dogs and cats.  Visit the  'New Pet Registration' page to complete this.

We accept second opinions from owners’ registered with a different practice if we can accommodate you.  Please contact us for our second opinion consultation fee.  We will need your pet’s history from your own vet in advance of your appointment, without it we will have to delay your visit to us.  (Please note: This does not automatically mean you will become a fully registered MVP client if coming for a second opinion.)

 

We accept referrals from other vets throughout Essex in the following disciplines: dermatology, oncology, orthopaedics and soft tissue.  Our own registered clients also benefit from this service.  In most cases this means your pet can be cared for here in Braintree and you will not need to travel to another referral centre.  We are fortunate that we have access to visiting visiting vets with further qualifications in Cardiology and Ophthalmology and an RCVS Specialist in Internal Medicine.   At the end of treatment, patients are then discharged back to their own vet if they have been referred to us.

Please note: We only take referred patients for referral work only.  If you have any concerns about your pet's health other than the condition they have been referred for, we advise you to contact your own vet.  We do not offer a first opinion service to any of the clients referred to us, within the first 12 months since the pet has been discharged.

 

If your pet does need referral to a Specialist Centre,  we would normally recommend a referral to East of England Veterinary Specialists, The Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital, Cambridge; Dick White Referrals or The Queen Mother Hospital, Potters Bar.  We will assist you with this referral process.

For all pets visiting our premises
For the safety of all our patients, clients and staff all pets visiting us must be suitably restrained - all dogs MUST be on leads (please be mindful of flexi-leads, a normal lead is preferable); all cats MUST be in a cat carrier and all other pets MUST be in a suitable container / cage or carrier.  

If you or your pet has extra needs or difficulties when visiting us, please let us know when booking your appointment.

It is a requirement that all XL-Bully types, under the Certificate of Exemption, are muzzled in public places, this includes the car.  All XL-Bully types MUST be muzzled on our premises, outside and in our buildings.

 

If you are moving to a different practice, we will need the details of your new practice and your consent to forward your pets' history to them.  This will confirm you have left our practice and cease communications from us.

As part of the selection process for your new practice we recommend you check the new practice’s out of hours emergency provision.

Please note: We advise against using us and your new practice for both your pet/s routine and emergency veterinary treatment.  This breaks the continuity of care which is needed for your pet and can affect both treatment and recovery.  We understand there will be situations that are outside of this, please contact us for further advice.

We have a duty of care to the pets’ registered with us.  Emergencies are seen at our Braintree site and will take priority during our opening hours.  Outside of this you will be automatically transferred to the Vets Now Emergency Service**, when you ring 01376 325511.  For more information click here.  

If you are registered with a different veterinary practice we will advise you to contact your own vets.  

It is our duty of care to provide emergency first aid and pain relief to animals.  The level of care will be according to our skills and the specific situation, this includes our commitment to wildlife.

** If for unforeseen circumstances our phone lines do not divert you through to Vets Now automatically - please ring Vets Now Emergency Service direct - 01376 617076 or visit vets-now.com

We have protocols in place to ensure compliance with our professional obligations, regulations and government legislation.
 
In accordance with regulations, all pets receiving prescription medicines must be regularly re-examined by a vet.  The general policy of this practice is to re-assess any patient receiving long term medication, every 6 months.  In some cases and depending on the patient's condition and type of medication, a shorter interval will be required.  You will be advised when your next review appointment is due. There is a reduced fee for repeat prescription re-examinations.  If your pet is on our MVP Care Plan, you can use their mid-year health examination, if this coincides with a repeat prescription examination.

There are specific government regulations concerning the use of antimicrobial (includes all antibiotics) and parasiticide prescription veterinary medicines.  Pets' are required to have a veterinary examination before re-dispensing each antibiotic course, we are no longer able to dispense these medicines based on past clinical history.  Pets' must also have a veterinary examination annually to allow dispensing of veterinary prescription parasiticide drugs for the following 12 months.  This is drug specific, any required changes to the chosen drug (e.g. changing from oral to spot-on form) will require another veterinary examination - this can be carried out at the same time as any other veterinary examination appointment.  For further information, click here.

Written prescriptions can be requested if you don't wish to purchase your pet's medication from us, click here for more information.  Please note, written prescriptions can only be collected as the original hardcopy or be emailed direct from us to your chosen online pharmacy.

Please be aware that under the UK's VETERINARY MEDICINES REGULATIONS it is illegal for us to use or resell medicines that have left our premises. We regret that this means we cannot accept returned medications (even unopened) except for disposal and, therefore, we cannot offer you any refund of the purchase price.

Please note we require 48 hrs notice (week days) to process repeat prescriptions, food orders and written prescriptions.  We accept drug and food orders though Petsapp, our online ordering page or direct email - pharmacy@millenniumvets.co.uk  For more details visit our pharmacy ordering page click here.

Our MVP Care Plans are designed to help with your pet's routine preventative healthcare needs, such as vaccination and parasite treatments at a significant saving.  The plan has two payment choices: an annual payment which is renewable in advance of each year or as a monthly direct debit 12 month contract**.  For full details of the MVP Care Plan, including benefits, savings, fees and our MVP Care Plan terms and conditions click here.

Both care plan payment options run as a 12 month plan. **The direct debit payment option is a minimum 12 month contact.  If a monthly payment is missed you will receive an invoice directly from us and your care plan will go on hold until this is paid.  
You need to remain in the 12 month agreement to receive the full discount benefits. If for unforeseeable reasons you are unable to meet the terms of this contract and need to leave mid-term please contact us first before cancelling your direct debit.  Fees will be charged if you cancel mid-term and calculated against the products/services already taken, at full price.  In many cases completing your 12 month contract in full, by taking remaining treatments will be more cost effective.  This also applies to rehomed pets.  Please contact us first, before altering your payments.

We send communications to our clients to remind you of a number of schedules for your pets' preventative health.  This may come as an email or text message.  We also send out text reminders for up and coming appointments, including those made over the phone and via our online booking facility.  These reminders require your mobile phone number and email addresses to be correct.   

This is a complimentary automated service and we can't take responsibility for reminders not reaching you.  We encourage all clients to record their own reminders, in particular vaccination due dates.  Vaccines which are overdue will need a restart, which will incur a further charge.

If you have booked an appointment over the phone or through our online chat, you will receive a text message or Petsapp notification on the day before your appointment.  Appointments made online, activate a text message then email with confirmation. 

Please ensure we have your most up-to-date contact details and are aware of any change in circumstance with your pet/s.  For example, if you rehome your pet or they have sadly passed away at home (or another practice) and you haven't notified us, you will still be sent communications from us.

Otherwise we recommend you do not opt out of receiving MVP communications and reminders - this will mean we are unable to send receipts / treatment reminders or send you specific information as a registered client of MVP.  If however you have opted out and are still receiving reminders please call to check this. 

Please note: You may have signed up to other communications for your pets' health which have not been set up or generated, by us - if this is the case please contact the company in question, directly.

We can only gain consent for patients' treatment from the owner or owners registered with us.  Consent can be given where this is not the case, provided this is confirmed by the registered owner.  The registered owner is also responsible for setting all fees associated with the pet/s care.  Where separate owners own different pets in a multi-cat household, each owner should register with us separately.  Consent can not be given by any person under 18 years of age.

We provide estimates for any treatment that has been advised for your pet. Please be aware that estimates are not intended to give an exact figure for the proposed treatment. Estimates are valid up to 3 months after the date issued.

 

You should view the estimate only as an indication of approximate cost, bearing in mind that the final figure may be significantly higher, or sometimes lower. If we judge that the procedure is likely to exceed the estimate by more than 25%, we will do our best to contact you and discuss what you would like to do. On rare occasions it may be necessary, for the patient's welfare, to make immediate decisions on treatment without reference to you. We ask for your understanding in this unlikely event.

All vet and nurse appointments are chargeable.  With the exception of:

Our fees are payable in full at the time of consultation, before medication / food orders are collected or, where in-patient treatment is involved, before your pet is collected from the practice. The simplest and quickest way to pay, is to use 'Webpay' - a secure web-link will be sent to you with your outstanding balance.  We also accept cash, debit card and most major credit cards (we do not accept CHEQUES or AMERICAN EXPRESS). 

If you are claiming under insurance, contact your company before treatment commences. As above payment is required at the time of treatment.  We will help you claim fees back from your insurance company.   In some situations pre-authorisation may be possible, this must be confirmed by all parties, before the start of treatment.  All claims will be subject to your policies excess and co-payment.   There is a £10 admin charge for each new claim, this is payable before the claim is processed.

All our invoices are itemised and a receipt will be emailed to you after payment is made.

We reserve the right to charge an administration fee on all overdue invoices, commencing 28 days from the original invoice date until the date payment is made.  Where fees are not settled, a further charge will be applied to overdue accounts before this is sent and managed by a debt collection agency.    This fee is based on a percentage of the unsettled fees.

 

Our aim is always to build a professional relationship with our clients which is built on trust.  We reserve the right to withdraw our services if we feel this trust is broken and a way forward can not be found.  We also reserve the right to cease work on your behalf if fees remain outstanding.  Withdrawal of services is done so at our discretion.  We give 14 days notice to find an alternative veterinary practice and will send a letter confirming and outlining the withdrawal of services. 

All our calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes.  We operate a recorded CCTV system both inside and outside of the practice.

All our members of staff value a good working relationship with our clients.  We do not tolerate rude or abusive behaviour towards our staff.  This may result in withdrawal of our services.  

 

We all like to know when we've done well. We welcome online reviews e.g. via independent sites such as Vet Help Direct or Facebook. If you are particularly pleased with how any of our staff have looked after you or your pet, do please let us know. We are always open to suggestions for improvements, too.

 

While we hope that our service does not give you cause for complaint, there may be times when we fall short of your expectations. We have found that careful discussion of the issue can often lead to improvements in the care we provide and so we genuinely encourage you to let one of the senior staff know if you are not satisfied.