Our next Frist Aid courses
“The rabbits are fighting! There’s blood everywhere!” Rabbits look so cute, you’d never think how very aggressive they can be towards one another. I have seen some very nasty injuries, especially when two boys have a disagreement. On this occasion sharp teeth and claws had ripped little Thumper on one of his ears, and between […]
Inappropriate urination in cats
Margot was a timid cat, who had recently been rehomed. “She keeps peeing on our bed!” they told us. We gave Margot a careful health check, and collected a urine sample. We needed to know if she might have picked up cystitis in all the excitement of her move. Or perhaps she had a problem […]
Ukraine refugees with pets
What do you do when Russian soldiers invade your home? For Nikolay*, the answer was to put his girlfriend, his dachsund puppy and as many of their belongings as would fit into their car, and drive west. And then, apparently, contact the British dachshund club on facebook. As Nikolay drove west, an appeal went out […]
Exotic RAW Room for rabbits
This week is rabbit awareness week. It is organised by the Rabbit Awareness Action Group (RAAG), who are ‘the trusted voice of rabbit welfare’ in the UK. They bring together expertise from the RSPCA, PDSA, Blue Cross, the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund (RWAF) and have been campaigning for 15 years to improve the welfare […]
Goodbye to Rogers Wildlife
This is the time of year when birds are rearing their young. We receive a great many calls from good Samaritans anxious about young birds, so I thought it might be helpful to draw attention to the RSPCAs online advice on this. Parent birds are much better at caring for their babies than even experienced […]
Student VN Awareness Month
When I was a vet student, the veterinary nurses were mythical dragons. There were very few of them. They dressed in dark green and swooped in to rescue patients when we students were making a mess of things. They rarely spoke, and when they did, it was invariably to make scathing comment on my rudimentary […]
Happy Easter!
I adore chocolate, especially at Easter time. But very sadly it does not love me. But I should be grateful. If I choose to eat chocolate, or any other foods based on dairy, I only get colic-like symptoms, abdominal pain, excessive wind and other symptoms I’ll leave out, as not suitable reading for a family […]
Vestibular disease
“Barney has collapsed!” Whenever I see a message like this on my appointment list, I know I have a serious situation to deal with. So I had no problem going out to meet Barney’s family in the car park. After all, it’s not easy to carry a twenty-five kilo Belgian Shepherd into the Clinic. […]
Pet first aid course
This is your last call to book a space on our Pet First Aid Course. If you would like to join me on Monday 7th February to learn how to cope in a pet emergency, then email us at enquiries@themewes.co.uk to book your place. The talk starts at 6.30pm, finishing at around 8pm. It will […]
It’s an emergency
Your pet rabbit has been chewing the electric wires again. Suddenly all the lights go out, and Nibbles has stopped moving and is now lying flat on her side. There’s no time to rush to the vets – you need to act now. What do you do? Well, those with first aid training know that […]
New Colleagues at The Mewes
This week we are absolutely thrilled to be welcoming multiple new colleagues. Dr Alice Denning MRCVS is Sussex born and raised. She qualified from Bristol vet school, and has spent the last 12 months working for a busy practice in Hereford. She is now coming to settle back in Sussex. Before university Alice was an […]
Fishing is dangerous to wildlife
Fishing and animals just don’t seem to mix. I have been rebuked often enough for walking my dog near a fishing lake to know to go another way. The fishermen are worried my water loving hound will scare off the fish. I worry that she might get entangled in a line or be impaled by […]
Our usual routine of welcoming work experience students has restarted
I had a very special message from one such school student recently. She wrote to thank us and let us know that she had just heard that she had won her place at vet school in Cambridge. I felt very uplifted that we had played a small part in that success, and that she had […]
Allowing your pet to be admitted to the veterinary hospital is hard
Every day I see pet owners who have brought their pets to us, because they trust us to know what to do, and how to do it safely. We have particularly appreciated that trust during the pandemic. But who are the people looking after those pets? As the vet, I make the decisions, perform the […]
Join in our search for our 2022 cover star
Calling all pet owners! We want your best portraits of your wonderful pets for our Mewes Vets 2022 calendar. It will be packed with the winners of our supermodel competition, and sold in aid of Rogers Wildlife Rescue. Roger and Fleur Musselle run Roger’s Wildlife Rescue from their home locally. It is an entirely voluntary […]
Haywards Heath Town Day Dog Show
Haywards Heath Town Day is scheduled for Saturday September 11th in Victoria Park. And we will be back in action with our fun dog show. It has been two years since our last opportunity to meet lots of local canine friends, and send as many as possible home with a lovely rosette. We cannot wait […]
Freedom Day – however……..
*Please note that this weeks column in the Mid Sussex times was sent to print prior to us deciding to carry on operating as we have been since the start of the pandemic. Since late March 2020 we have not allowed almost anyone other than team members into the Clinic. Our wonderful, patient pet owners […]
Dangers of PPE
Who would have thought twelve months ago that facemasks and restrictions would have become so much a part of our lives? There have been some benefits in my role. I would say that I am seeing far less road traffic collisions involving cats, for instance, thanks to the reduced amount of traffic. It is a […]
Best vets in West Sussex: thank you!
We have been bowled over with the most amazing news! Last month we heard that we were the recipients of an award. The winners of the Best UK Vet Award 2021 were revealed with The Mewes Vets, being named as the Best in County. The awards are organised by VetHelpDirect.com and were running for the […]
New Parasiticides
A few months ago, I was horrified to read that there was evidence that pet flea products were contaminating our British waterways. As anti-flea medications are specifically designed to target insects, this poses a risk to aquatic ecosystems. Researchers at the University of Sussex have found concentrations often far exceeded accepted safe limits. As an […]
Guinea Pig Awareness Week (GPAW) Special Offer
Next week will be the first ever Guinea Pig Awareness Week. At The Mewes Vets we are blessed to have many team members who love guinea pigs, and are confident with their medical concerns. But we have two who are passionate and proud guinea pig owners themselves. In fact, our vet Ali and our vet […]
Jazzie saves the day again
Charlie, the gorgeous ginger and white thirteen year old cat, recently developed diabetes. He had been visibly declining. The weight had dropped off him and he had started using the toilet as his personal drinking trough, which was not normal at all. A simple blood test showed his kidneys were healthy and that the problem […]
The first ever national guinea pig awareness week
I truly dislike using a microscope. When I was a student, I had to learn. I spent many hours a week in my first few years at Vet School attempting to identify specific cells, and then specific illnesses, germs and parasites. But unfortunately, it always set off my motion sickness, making it hard to concentrate. […]
This Saturday 20th February is national love your pet day
Of course, at The Mewes every day is a love your pet day. But I am happy to have an extra special day announced by the RSPCA to celebrate the special bond between people and their pets. It gives us an excuse to show our pets how much they mean to us. One of our […]
