Our Shoreham practice will be moving to its new site at 120 High Street on Thursday 19th January. Our phone number will stay the same as will our service. We anticipate a normal day on the Thursday apart from the usual moving niggles like “where’s the kettle gone?”   We’re loving our new site already. It’s just over three times larger than the old one with multiple treatment rooms and larger operating facilities. It has been developed to the highest standards with plenty of space to house our expanding clinical team and facilities for many years to come. The final magic in the mix is that our new site has lots of on site parking and is a warden free zone!   We’re sharing the site with Pets Corner, the quality pet supermarket chain. Pets Corner is literally a one-stop shop ... [More]

Fireworks may be pretty to look at and they may bring a smile to human faces but they cause severe anxiety and distress to our furry friends. Cats and dogs are the ones most commonly effected but rabbits and guinea pigs need to be considered too. For those rabbits and guinea pigs who live outdoors, it may be worth considering bringing them indoors for a few days as sound proofing their hutches will be impossible. Advice for cats Cats must be kept inside. Offer them a place where they can hide if they want to and try not to restrict their access around the house. They may panic more if they feel trapped. Close all curtains, have lights on in accessible rooms and increase the volume on the television and radio to try to drown out any external noise from expected fireworks. Ensure cats h... [More]

During these worrying economic times, people are finding it more and more difficult to budget for everything. As we all know, having a pet is a luxury and it’s easy to forget how expensive they can be. Pet insurance allows people to have peace of mind when their beloved furry friend needs veterinary care. Not all animals are insurable though, for example hamsters and other small furries. As they are small, the consultation is reduced compared to that for a dog or a cat, but the charges can still build up if long term treatment is required. What we have started noticing recently is that people are failing to return for follow up examinations or people are in fact taking it upon themselves to treat their own pets. This is hugely dangerous and can have disastrous consequences for the an... [More]

Matt Allitt, one of our resident Kemp Town vets was chosen to feature in  The Cat magazine, the official publication of Cats Protection. The first issue printed excerpts from an interview with Matt where he gave advice on how to become a vet, the best career path and necessary training. This first article was so popular that the magazine decided to use Matt for a follow up feature. The feature was ‘A Day in the Life of a Vet’ and involved one of the magazine’s reporters, Amy Rutter following Matt through a busy day at the Kemp Town surgery. Their day started early with a handover meeting where the emergency admissions to Vetcall, the out-of-hours service were reviewed. Next, Matt and Amy ran through the list of morning operations while even more animals were brought in for consu... [More]

1. Balls 2. Corn cobs 3. Knickers / socks 4. Ladies feminine hygiene products 5. Stones

The role of a Veterinary Nurse is vital for the practice. Our main job is to support the Vets, just as a human Nurse would assist a Doctor. The main difference between us and human nurses is that we do a lot more things and we don’t have to specialise in one specific area unless we choose to. There are four main areas we work in on a day to day basis, theatre, ward, preparation and clinic. There are always at least two nurses in theatre and two in ward each day, one nurse in prep and one in clinic. The main duties of the theatre nurses are to admit animals who are coming in for operations or procedures. During the pre-operative check, we take readings of a patient’s heart rate, their respiration rate and their temperature. We get contact telephone numbers for owners as they have to be ... [More]

Heatstroke can be fatal very quickly and most people don’t realise this! It’s so important to make sure your pets are comfortable in hot weather. They need to be able to escape the hot temperature, have access to water and shade at all times. Never walk your dog between 10am and 7pm during hot weather. Wait until the sun goes down before taking them out. Limit the time spent playing or running around to about 5-10 minutes, as they can over heat very quickly. Animals can’t sweat like humans to help cool themselves down. Panting does not actually cool them down. Their body temperature will increase as their whole bodies move. It’s like they are doing a huge exercise workout. The more they pant, the hotter they get. If the environmental temperature increases quickly and animals haven’t... [More]

Well it’s that time of the year again when the local dog-loving community flocks to Hove to celebrate the Pride Companion Dog Show. The family-friendly show is on Sunday 3rd July at the Hove Rugby Club ground at the corner of Old Shoreham Road and Shirley Drive. We’re pleased to announce that the pedigree classes will be judged by Gary Gregory, while local celebrity, Miss Jason is in charge of the novelty classes. As well as pedigree, novelty and condition classes, there will be displays from the Kit Wilson Trust and Guide Dogs for the Blind. We’ve also got a record number of trade stands this year selling a host of lovely, quality products to keep the canine’s in your life happy and healthy. We open for entries at 11.30 and the judging starts at 1pm. Come and join us if you can, the day... [More]