When science sounds fictional / How animals help medical research
Have you heard of fluorescent felines? They have been genetically engineered to try to help our understanding of viral diseases in people. One of the most recent human viral outbreaks was the AIDS epidemic. It sparked an enormous amount of charity fund-raising to support the effort to find cures for viruses. It was noted that […]
Bunnies and Winter
With winter just around the corner, let’s spare a thought for our hutch friends. Experienced rabbit and guinea pig owners will be used to watching out for signs of frost or freezing weather. This could cause our hutch friends’ water bottles to freeze, putting them at risk of dehydration. Consider using a water bottle ‘warmer’, […]
Ermie and his purse string suture
At twelve years of age, Ernie is a cat of strong opinions. For instance, he knows he prefers vets kept at claws-length. He wants our relationship to be strictly hands-off! But when he started passing blood and diarrhoea, and getting more sickness than usual, his owner knew he needed us. And although he was reluctant […]
Celebrate Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month with us
Outside of the consulting room, most of the attention and medical care your pet receives is at the hands of a veterinary nurse. It is this we celebrate each May, as Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month (VNAM) gives us an opportunity to talk about our role in caring for your pets. In any given day a […]
Thoughts return to university days
At this time of year, my thoughts return to memories of my early days at University. My first two years at Vet School involved taking many of my lectures with the students training to become doctors. We shared Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology and Pharmacology lecture halls. Only for the Anatomy classes were the Veterinary students separated […]
Genetics of the gentle giant
One day, I was shadowing a very experienced Vet, Mr. Grigsby, and his patient was a Great Dane called Samson. Great Danes are the ultimate gentle giant. This one was no exception, but he had lost the gorgeous beauty we associate with a Dane. Samson’s back sagged, his bones were showing, his head drooped and […]
Special Offer: Fixed Price Dentistry for your Dog in February
On a wet Sunday in November I was busy learning how to improve my dental extraction skills. My entire team attend lectures and courses regularly, and this winter we have been focussing on dentistry. To better help our patients every year, we are constantly learning and updating our skills. We invested in brand new dental […]
Julia’s Weekly Column For The Middy – Don’t forget to make sure your pet is properly taken care of if you’re off on holiday this summer!
It’s the summer holidays – time for many of us to seek a little sunshine, but what about our pets? Many of us pet owners have to depend on catteries, kennels, pet sitters or boarders to help us out for holidays and busy days. There are now plenty of options, and we keep a list […]
Jumping isn’t just for the horses at the Royal Windsor Horse Show
Back in the late 80’s I was a Vet student and a referee at the Royal Windsor Horse Show every May. The marathon was part of a 3 day trial for drivers and their horses. It involves a 2-3 hour drive to test the horses’ endurance, followed by a series of complicated obstacles to be […]
Cat hyperthyroidism: the signs, the symptoms and the staff
A really good veterinary nurse is brilliant. They help me in so many ways, and become very familiar with the patients, owners and types of condition that we see most often. So when one of my five Registered Veterinary Nurses says to me I think this cat might have developed hyperthryroidism, I know to trust […]
Caring for your dogs this Easter, and caring for bunnies in the past
The Easter bunny will be visiting many homes in Mid Sussex this weekend, I imagine, bringing along many a chocolatey treat that can sadly be harmful to our canine pets. As the Easter bunny visits, please be careful, dogs have great chocolate-seeking noses, but get really sick if they eat too much, so keep them […]
Press Release: Annual Cuckoo Fayre may be last of its kind
If you want to read more please see link to the Mid Sussex times online feed.Read More…
Julia’s Weekly Column For The Middy
Starting to lose your ‘get up and go’? The same thing might be happening to Fido… I have reached the age now when, as my friends lovingly predicted, “Ah! That’s when you start to feel the aches and pains!” I’ve always shunned any idea that this was going to happen to me, but oh dear, […]
Cat Bite Abscess and World Antibiotic Awareness Week
“Careful: she bit me when I touched her there!” Cassie was hunched up, and became anxious when I tried to touch her left hind leg. Her claws were a little shredded, and she was running a slight temperature. When I ran my fingers gently through her coat I identified a swelling over the back of […]
Julia’s Weekly Column For The Middy – An un-bear-lievable student experience
It was high summer, and the evenings went on and on with lovely balmy weather. I was a lowly Veterinary Student seeing practice at Whipsnade Zoo. They had kindly provided accommodation within the Zoo, which I shared with other students as well as some noisy peacocks. All day I had observed the Vet in charge […]
Julia’s Weekly Column For The Middy
Spring is around the corner – make sure you keep an eye on your cat as the weather gets warmer and they venture back outside As the days get longer it will soon be breeding season for cats. If you are not planning a litter, and your kitten is a ‘teenager’ (4-8 months of age), […]
The Bat in the Bathroom
People often ask me how I knew I wanted to become a Vet. There are many answers, including the James Herriott series on TV; my sheer joy during my first work experience at a Vet’s; and perhaps some genetic influence: my grandfather was a doctor. But I can’t help wondering if there was some natural […]
“Never work with children or animals”, so the saying goes – and never think you know better than them either!
One bitter December I was seeing practice with the Vets in Kildare, Eire, near the Curragh Racecourse. At that time, I still fancied myself as a bit of a horsewoman, so when I was offered the chance to ride out, I leapt at the opportunity. I should have known better. My previous experience had been […]
Julia’s Weekly Column For The Middy – Sometimes answers come from the most unexpected places
Here’s an odd but essential life lesson I learnt recently: do not snack on pickled onions whilst tidying overhead! I do love a crisp tangy pickled onion, and feeling a little peckish I popped a whole one into my mouth as I started the kitchen tidy-up. I bopped around the kitchen putting things away, including […]
Puppy Parties: The most adorable event on the calendar
Dogs are social creatures – they just love company! In the wild, dogs live in packs, and have a very rich family life. This is probably why pet dogs fit so well into our families. But they do need help as puppies to develop good social skills, just as children do. Before they are 8 […]
Immunity and trickery often go hand in hand
Our immune systems are amazing. Designed to protect us from infections, they quietly do a great job keeping us fit and healthy. As a Vet, sometimes all I have to do is give a helping hand, and my patient’s immune system does the rest. This is often the way when a cat creates an abscess […]
Julia’s Weekly Column For The Middy
The bond between a pet and their owner should never be underestimated! When I first thought about joining the veterinary profession I thought I could evade working with people. I imagined a wonderful life, just me helping sick and injured animals without ever having to interact with anyone else. I had been badly bullied throughout […]
Dog Splenectomies come in threes
Have you ever noticed when waiting for a bus that there are none for ages, and then three come along together? Well, we often notice the same thing with unusual diseases in pets. I can go for a year or two without seeing an internal haemorrhage, and then three all crop up in a fortnight. […]
Julia’s Weekly Column For The Middy
An important introduction to student life “Julia, this essay is awful!” I must have written thousands of essays in my life, but as this was my very first written at Cambridge University, it was not a great start. My critic was Donald Stevens, my Anatomy tutor. I had only met him a couple of times, […]
