Visiting Whipsnade Zoo
I had never handled a gun before going to vet school. So when I was seeing practice at Whipsnade zoo I was unprepared for the skills my colleague there had acquired. Some of his patients were calm and easy to handle. But the majority were still effectively wild, creating the problem of how a vet […]
Leap Day Lambing
Every vet student spends time learning about lambing. I visited a sheep farm in Oxfordshire with several hundred ewes currently in the lambing season. My role there was to see things from the farmer’s point of view. A good vet needs to understand this before they can offer advice and guidance to the farmer. I […]
Processing to the Senate House for my Degree
This is the time of year when students are sitting their finals. There is course work to complete, and degrees to be awarded. I was fortunate enough to spend six wonderful years at university. I had to work very hard for the right to stay there. But I did receive two degrees as a result. […]
Exotic Pet gerbils at Uni
I went to university quite a while ago. I cannot speak for now, but back then things were still very old fashioned at Cambridge. It felt odd to have porters, whose uniform was a dark suit, including waistcoat and a bowler hat. They were like a secret police pretending to be postmen. My only interaction […]
When you know you are royalty, who needs to smile.
I can’t wait for the coronation this weekend. It doesn’t matter whether you are pro or anti the monarchy, or something in between, it will be one of the most spectacular public events of the last many decades. There will be many horses involved, including the eight matched Windsor grey horses which will pull their […]
Student Equine Stud Work
As a student vet I needed to work in lots of different types of animal environments. I rather fancied myself as an experienced rider. So I didn’t imagine working on a stud farm would be tricky. I was used to mucking out, and grooming all kinds of horses. The pregnant mares were generally slow moving, […]
Things that have changed over the years
As the year draws to a close, I find myself reminiscing about all the changes that I have witnessed in my profession. Some are obvious. We now keep all our patient records on a computer, whereas, when I first started, records were hand-written and stored on reams of postcards in huge drawers. I always […]
Exotic Reptiles in captivity
Reptiles can be interesting and beautiful creatures to care for. But, they are not easy to care for. Every single species has its own special requirements, in terms of the warmth, light, space and food that they need. And when a person chooses to keep a reptile in captivity, we are effectively choosing to accept […]
May Balls
It’s June, which means that in Cambridge the college May balls are happening. Even when I was a student, I didn’t quite understand why they are called May balls. Obviously, you cannot plan a huge ball until exams are over, but why not call them June balls? The tickets are hugely expensive, almost prohibitively so, […]
Cuckoo Fayre
I was a senior at primary school. My class and I were quietly studying in a science lesson, when our teacher started behaving oddly. We were all very fond of her. She was one of the younger ones. Kind and friendly, yet firm enough not to allow us to take advantage of her good nature. […]
Dancing Student
One of my passions is dancing. For a few years as a student I competed for my University in ballroom dancing competitions, and one year our team went to compete in San Francisco. I don’t want you to think that I was a brilliant dancer, or that I am boasting. I am fully aware that […]
Simon’s story
This lovely story has been shared with me by one of my clients. Over fifty years ago a young couple, Pam and John acquired their first Siamese cat and called him Simon. He wasn’t the best looking, and had been the runt of the litter. But what he lacked in looks he made up for […]
Student Life
Being a vet student wasn’t all hard study. In my undergraduate years I joined the university ballroom dancing club. I was fortunate to be promoted to the team, which opened up opportunities to compete. Better still, we were invited to travel to America and compete at some universities in Utah and in San Francisco. Sadly, […]
A vet looks after all kinds of animals
But the smaller the patient, the more tricky certain issues are to solve. For instance, the winter white dwarf hamster makes a very pretty pet, but they are tiny, weighing in at around thirty grams. The first difficulty is making a diagnosis. These pets are more often admired from a distance than petted, which means […]
Student initiation
It was my first week at Trinity College, Cambridge, and I was off to the freshers’ dinner. I was keen to make new friends, and to have some fun, as well as to learn plenty, of course. All the first year students were wined and dined in the Hall, seated on long wooden benches, overlooked […]
Guinea pig with a head tilt
I sometimes feel like Sherlock Holmes. I see a patient, with certain symptoms, and I have to follow the clues to reach the diagnosis. Only then can I use my expertise to offer the right treatment. But when the patient is a guinea pig, things are more tricky. They are so small, and usually the […]
Feline Infectious Anaemia
The medical profession is littered with acronyms. It is so much easier to say FIV rather than feline immunodeficiency virus, or FeLV instead of feline leukaemia virus. I always enjoyed saying PUO for pyrexia of unknown origin. But when I was a student I seemed to have a kind of blindness between FIV and FIA. […]
How it all started
People often ask me how I decided to become a veterinary surgeon. It all started with a passion for animals, and most especially for horses. And, I suspect, the fact that my parents point-blank refused to indulge that passion, by never allowing us to have any pets. I felt very deprived as a young child. […]
Harry’s near miss
“Help! He has swallowed a razor blade!” These are not words you really want to hear. My mind had no trouble imaging all kinds of wounds and nasty outcomes of that error. It seems that Harry just could not help himself. As a biscuit loving hound, when his owner was excitedly opening a parcel, he […]
Drusilla’s experience
Possibly the best day out ever! Excuse my enthusiasm, but if you are an animal lover then you will be with me on this. A day out at Drusillas Park has always been one of my favourite things, so being Zoo Keeper for the day was terrific. This was a gift from before coronavirus, put […]
Why I became a vet
Last month I conducted a virtual careers talk. A local school had identified that they have several pupils that might want to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. They asked me to offer some insight into the reality of working with animals. I have frequently attended careers events at local schools, although never before via […]
This week the Mewes Vets are celebrating our 25th anniversary!
It was twenty-five years ago that I first viewed the five bedroom home at number four Haywards Road and saw its potential as a veterinary clinic. I climbed up the ridiculously narrow front steps, slippery with frost, and promised myself that some wide deep steps would be a priority for patient safety. I imagined converting […]
What are Anal Glands
“He’s made his skin raw.” Vic the labrador had been worrying at one small place on his knee, until it was bald and sore, and now he had started on a new area nearby. Vic has beautiful manners, and is in supremely fit condition. I was able to solve his problem quite easily, by clearing […]
The vet needs a caesarian kit
I heard the call and looked around to see who would respond. I was at that difficult stage where I knew very little, being just a 4th year vet student, and was more likely to be in everyone’s way than being a help. Then I realised that this time I could help. I had a […]
