❄️Take care when walking your pets on snow and ice. Rock salt which is used to grit the roads during icy conditions can be toxic to some animals, Ingestion can result in a high blood sodium concentration which can cause thirst, vomiting and lethargy, and in severe cases there is a risk of convulsions and kidney damage. Prolonged contact during long walks can lead to chemical burns, dryness, and painful cracking of the pads. Always wash paws as soon as you get home to prevent

Millie visited the surgery for some further investigations and tests which included having her blood pressure monitored and a urinalysis, taking the blood pressure reading off a cat is very challenging but Millie was the purfect patient. Measuring blood pressure usually takes only a few minutes, and involves placing an inflatable cuff around a leg or the tail (much the same as the cuff used on the arm in humans). It is completely pain-free. A urine sample is collect using spe

poinsettia mildly toxic to dogs and cats 🌺 Poinsettias are originally from Mexico and are famous for reaching their beautiful red full bloom in December. Their bright red petals are actually leaves and, because they contain chemicals called diterpenoid euphorbol esters, they’re mildly toxic to dogs and cats. If your pets Eat poinsettia they can experience drooling, oral pain, diarrhoea and vomiting — but only if they’re ingested in large enough quantities. Please call the su

Meet Nelly a Dwarf Hamster who visited the surgery due to a sore back leg. Nelly needed to have an X-ray to see if there was any damage to her bones, we would usually sedate or give patients a general anesthetic to position them for X-ray Nelly was far to small for this. A cardboard tube was used to place tilly in and wrapped around her so she could not move allowing us to x-ray her. Nelly was very brave and no broken bones were found Nelly is now home recovering well. Did yo

On Saturday we met Clover for the first time. Clovers owners brought her to see us as she had what looked like a small would on the inside of her leg, Clover was admitted so we could examine the wound more thoroughly. Once Clover was under anaesthetic we could see a large wound that would need stitching, the cut was very deep and had cut through the medial thigh muscle and there was lots of hair tracking into the deep fascia so a drain was placed to drain infection from the s

Many animals find fireworks scary. It's estimated that 45 percent of dogs in the UK show signs of fear when they hear fireworks. It doesn’t have to be that way though, so don’t ignore the problem. There are lots of simple things you can do to help your pet deal with fireworks. By preparing in advance before fireworks start your pet will be better able to cope with the noises. just for cats l. Make sure your cat has somewhere to hide if they want to. For example this may be u

We recently saw Poppy the Yorshire terrier who visited us with lumps near her teats, Poppy had a mammectomy. Lumps found in the region of a dogs teats is usually a benign or malignant tumors of the mammary glands. They occure more often in female dogs that aren’t spayed  and another risk factor for development of mammary tumors is obesity. In fact, mammary gland tumors are the most common type of tumor diagnosed in entire female dogs. The mammary glands' function is to produc

Cooper recently visited us as he had sliced his tongue whilst playing with another dog. Cooper had to have a general anaesthetic and quite a few sutures placed in his tongue. Did you know a dogs tongue is like a radiator, a water-lapper, a healer of wounds, a food conveyor, a register of tastes, a texture sensor, and a wet equivalent of a dog's handshake. A dog's tongue has more responsibilities than any other part of the dog anatomy -- excluding the brain. And oddly enough,

Diabetes is a disease that is on the increase in dogs and cats, over the last few weeks we have diagnosed an increasing number of cases. Diabetes mellitus in pets is very similar to that in humans, it occurs when the body cannot produce enough insulin (type 1) or the body no longer responds to the insulin it produces (type 2), this insulin is vital for converting sugar in the blood to useable energy within the body. Diagnosis of diabetes is easy, with a simple blood and urin

Indy recently visited the surgery because he had a very limp tail with localised swelling and would not let you touch his tail. Indy had his tail clipped to see if there was any signs of trauma or exposed cuts that could be causing his symptoms, on inspection no cuts or trauma could be found. Helen x-rayed Indy’s tail and found a break, Indy had broken his tail. The tail is an extension of the spine The bones in the tail (vertebrae) are bigger at the base and get smaller towa

Meet daisy the beautiful Boston terrier. We have seen Daisy this week with a painful eye which had high ocular pressure due to glaucoma as it could not be medically managed the decision was made to remove the eye. Daisy has been very brave and is recovering at home with lots of TLC. Glaucoma is a condition in which pressure is placed on the eye, causing inadequate fluid drainage in the eye. If the condition becomes chronic or persists without treatment, it will eventually c

Bernie the Bernese Mountain dog visited us with a Hot spot on his leg. A hot spot is officially known as Moist Dermatitis, hot spots are found anywhere on the body and can increase in size very quickly. Your dog will experience them as itchy and sometimes painful patches and will often try to soothe hot spots with scratching, licking or biting. Treatment for a hot spot is to : Clip and clean – clipping the fur around your dog’s hot spot will allow air to reach it and speed up

Enzo visited the surgery after suffering from intermittent lameness over a short period of time. Enzo has had extensive test including a CT scan of his leg. Enzo was diagnosed with a fractured medial coronoid process. This is a developmental defect of one of the coronoid processes, two small bony protrusions on the end of the ulna within the elbow joint. In this condition, one of the coronoid processes develops a fissure or crack and separates from the rest of the bone. Enzo

We saw the beautiful Zinnia yesterday as she is currently in kitten but feeling under the weather. Zinnia Spent the day with us on intravenous fluids and had an ultrasound to see her babies were all okay. Cat pregnancy normally lasts between 63 and 70 days, cats don’t usually show any symptoms until they are a few weeks into their term. Generally, two types of temperament are seen in cats at kittening: the independent type which will go to extreme lengths to discover a dark e

Ariel the ferret recently visited us due to a lump growing on her back, after further investigation it was decided the lump must be removed due to the rapid rate of growth and ulceration. Ferrets have to be monitored very closely during an anaesthetic as they can develop hypothermia, heat pads and bubble wrap are used to help keep them warm during surgery. With any lump removal the veterinary surgeon must make sure they obtain good margins, Lumpectomy margins are the rim of n

As we are currently spending more time at home during the pandemic with our cat we are seeing more and more cats with feline urinary stress or feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) signs of this are: *straining when urinating *incontinence/loss of bladder control *urinating outside of the litter box *crying out in pain while urinating or attempting to urinate *licking themselves *reduced appetite *blood in urine Most cats will show the above signs when they have reached

Otto got a little more adventure than he expected on his walk. Whilst on his daily walk Otto likes to have a leisurely swim in the local pond/lake, but on this occasion when he surfaced he had a fish hook stuck in his mouth. Due to the barbs on fish hooks, they can be difficult to remove without sedation, minor surgery, and pain medication. Considerable damage can also be caused if someone pulls on a fishing line after the hook has already become embedded in the animal, so we

Today we saw Lexi who visited us for a Laparoscopic Spay. There are two types of laparoscopic spays a Ovariectomy where only the ovaries are removed or a ovariohysterectomy where the ovaries and womb are removed. By removing the womb, any chance of womb cancer is eliminated. The most important piece of equipment in a laparoscopic spay is the LigaSure machine. The LigaSure is a vessel sealing device. With this device, you simply clamp it on the vessel, squeeze a button, wait a

Mitzie an adventurous puppy has got into some mischief eating berries on a walk and was treated by our Standish branch. Rowan berries, however, are dangerous because they contain a specific toxin. They can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and excessive salivation, and affected dogs can show significant signs of disease. Access to rowan berries should therefore be prevented. Other dangerous berries that dogs may find and eat if they aren't watched closely include deadly nightshade, w

If you are thinking of breeding your own pet it's important to make sure you are fully aware of the complications, costs and work involved. It's no small task having a litter of puppies or kittens and involves a considerably large amount of work. We always advice clients to make sure they plan and save for the worst and hopefully they have a smooth pregnancy and delivery. The main cause of veterinary surgeons preforming emergency caesareans is dystocia of the pup: Dystocia