Internal Medicine

The internal medicine and endoscopy service is led by Kate Murphy, an RCVS and European Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine with 20 years of experience working in academia and private referral practices, and assisted by Phil Fox-Manning MA VetMB BSAVA PGCertSAM MRCVS, RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Small Animal Medicine. 

Kate and Phil are pragmatic clinicians who will work with clients and their referring vet to find the most logical clinical approach to investigate their pets’ problems and to provide management and follow-up plans. The consultation is incredibly important in internal medicine cases, allowing the clinician to gain a full picture of the pet’s life including previous problems as well as understanding the client’s main concerns about the current problem and ensuring that remains the focus of the investigations which will be discussed and agreed with the pet owner at the end of the consultation.

The internal medicine department works closely with the other services at Rowe Referrals, particularly diagnostic imaging where we can offer specialist ultrasound, radiography, CT and MRI and soft tissue surgery as many medical cases cross the boundaries of these disciplines. They are also able to provide support to dentistry, neurology, ophthalmology and orthopaedic services when needed and have the expertise to refer to when cases are not truly in the medical field. Both Kate and Phil have an interest in gastrointestinal and respiratory endoscopy and are happy to discuss “procedure-only” referrals for these cases, however the benefit of a consultation with the client and discussion of the problems and follow up care should not be under-estimated.

We are happy to discuss cases prior to referral, or to give advice on the management of cases remotely.

The internal medicine service sees dogs and cats with medical problems which may be simple affecting a single organ system such as the gut or may be complex and affect multiple systems and might be very non-specific such as where owners know their pet is “just not right”.

Typical referrals include:

• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Weight loss
• Coughing
• Sneezing
• Nasal discharge
• Increased thirst/urination
• Haematological problems e.g. anaemia, bleeding
• Hormonal problems
• Liver disease
• Kidney disease