Small Animal Practice in the Moscow Metropolitan Area

Dr. Alexander Tkachev describes private practice in a Russian cosmopolitan area by a facility that doubles as a provider of both practicum experience for veterinary students and CE for practicing veterinarians.

Movet Veterinary Clinic in Moscow was organized in 1990 as one of the first private practices in the city. The clinic has 15 veterinarians as permanent staff, including 3 with PhD degrees and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays. Medical staff are members of the Moscow Guild of Veterinary Practitioners and the Russian Small Animal Veterinary Association (RSAVA). The Veterinary Cardiology Society, Veterinary Surgical Society, and Society of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging are also among the associations that various staff maintain. All doctors continually improve their skills through participation in conferences, congresses, and seminars. They are also sent for training in other clinics in Moscow, the Russian Federation, and abroad.

Moscow and its metropolitan region have about 350 veterinary clinics; some are state-run but most are private. The majority are small practices with 3 to 5 veterinarians and specialize in dogs and cats. There are also several clinics for exotic animals and birds. The most famous and largest of such clinics works at the Moscow Circus and Moscow Zoo.

However, we also provide urgent and chronic care for patients through our emergency center. A teaching hospital of the Moscow Veterinary Academy, Movet provides senior students with practical skills and familiarity with the work of private veterinary clinics in a metropolis. For many, the experience helps in the choice of their future specialization. Classes are taught both by university faculty and our doctors at Movet and the university campus. Moreover, RSAVA organizes master classes for physicians at our clinic as a part of its continuing education program.

Movet has laboratories for clinical and serologic studies, including a biochemical analyzer. Most studies are carried out in the clinic by our own specialists. The clinic is also equipped with radiographic, electrocardiographic, and ultrasound equipment as well as both flexible (Olympus) and rigid (Storz) endoscopes. We are proud to be the first and one of the few clinics in Moscow that have the equipment and specialists to conduct endosurgical manipulation. The most common of these procedures are biopsy of parenchymal organs and endoscopic ovariohysterectomy.

In addition to its private caseload, Movet has been working for the Moscow government for 10 years. We perform about 4,000 spay and neuter surgeries each year. These animals are then vaccinated, microchipped, and delivered to the city shelter. We are also actively involved in various charitable programs conducted by animal protection organizations. The Moscow mayor’s office and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation have both honored the clinic for its work on behalf of improving animal welfare in our area.