From loud parties to a few too many leftovers, veterinary surgeries up and down the country will see a rise in admissions over the festive period.

Marie Kemmish, senior small animal vet at St Boniface Veterinary Clinic highlights a few areas where taking extra care can ensure owners keep their pets healthy and safe this Christmas.

If you are throwing a party remember that loud music, Christmas crackers and big crowds, can prove distressing for pets if they’re not used to it.

With the change in seasons comes a change in weather, and with that, potentially, a change in your arthritic pet’s comfort levels.

As rainy weather sets in, atmospheric pressure drops and the joint capsule starts to stretch, stimulating nerves to trigger a feeling of tightness and pain. So, our older furry friends start to feel more uncomfortable both walking and in general day to day activities.

Vivi was presented to one of our vets Kate with a long history of vomiting on a daily basis.  Vivi’s biological sister had sadly passed away earlier that year with suspected Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) infection. Vivi’s owners were understandably concerned regarding her health and wanted to ensure Vivi wasn’t going to meet the same fate as her sister.

‘Out the back’ is a place you may have heard of and is a place of love and cuddles; where the nurses assist the vets with fractious pets or potentially painful (but necessary) procedures, to ensure as little stress and discomfort is caused to your pet as possible.  It also ensures that procedures are quick and painless.

This November, we bring our successful cardiology campaign to a close.  The campaign has been very effective and, an integral part of that success is down to our dedicated Cardiology Support Nurse (CSN).

The role of our CSN is to support the patient, owner and vet following a diagnosis of heart disease. They work closely with the vet to ensure continuity of care and follow up examinations with the responsibility of history taking, physical examination and continued monitoring of patient wellness.

Milly has recently been diagnosed with diabetes. As a diabetic patient she requires continual monitoring as well as daily insulin injections.

As part of her care plan, Milly was required to spend the day with us to carry out a ‘blood glucose curve’. This involved taking a small pin prick sample of blood and testing the level of glucose. Just like human patients - Click the link to watch the video - Milly's Blood Glucose Curve.

Sox is super friendly and likes nothing more than winding up his sister and stealing food from next door!  Tilly takes life more seriously and is very much more at home on her owner’s beanbag, venturing outside only to ensure Sox is not up to too much mischief!

Most pet owners now know that chocolate can be toxic to dogs, causing nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, abnormal heart rhythms and occasionally death but there are many other “hidden threats” lurking at home.

Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, which are both methylxanthines. The amount of methylxanthines present depends on the type of chocolate. The darker the chocolate generally the more toxic it maybe. Chocolate can cause nerve stimulation, rapid heart rate, tremors and potentially seizures.

Boots was first diagnosed with a heart condition about 8 years ago, he has had several cardiac episodes (or wobbles) along the way, but with his ever attentive owners love and care and a combination of heart medications he has proved to be unstoppable!

In the last few years he has also developed arthritis, which progressed to the point of pain and muscle wastage. Again, his owners have taken it all in their stride, as has Boots, so he is comfortable and enjoying life with further arthritis medications and a joint supplement.