All Posts - Vet Help Direct

When does a cat vomiting need veterinary attention?

Kate Cavanagh BVSc MRCVS - Tuesday October 23rd, 2018

Most cat owners have experienced the unpleasant sensation of cat sick between the toes on a nightime bathroom trip, or as a nice addition to your favourite rug. Vomiting is the active expulsion of stomach contents, which in cats can be violent, and may have many causes. It needs to be differentiated from regurgitation: where food is brought up with minimal effort from the oesophagus before ever reaching the stomach.

Cats

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Cat drooling everywhere? These could be the reasons!

Kate Cavanagh BVSc MRCVS - Tuesday October 16th, 2018

In this blog we will discuss situations where it could be normal for your cat to drool, followed by some examples of when it may be more of a concern. If in doubt it is always best to get your pet checked by a vet.

Cats

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Is it safe for my dog to eat its own sick?

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Friday October 12th, 2018

If you’ve owned dogs for any period of time, you’ll be well aware of their less pleasant habits… However, there are very few that are as disgusting to us as eating their own sick! That awful “retch… retch… heAVe… slurp slurp slurp” is something none of us enjoy hearing from behind the sofa, especially if the culprit then trots round to give us a friendly kiss! But why do they do it, and is it safe?

Ask a vet online

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The sad cat – do cats really get depressed?

Kate Cavanagh BVSc MRCVS - Friday October 5th, 2018

Cats do experience emotions, but studying and measuring their emotion is challenging. It’s sometimes hard for us not to treat our cats as little humans, but while they feel emotion, it may not be in the same way as we do.

Cats

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How clever is your dog? A literature review sums up the evidence and if dogs were clever enough to understand, they wouldn’t be happy

Dr Pete Wedderburn BVM&S CertVR MRCVSDr - Wednesday October 3rd, 2018

A literature review carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter has reached a conclusion that may upset millions of pet owners: the combination of many different studies of animal intelligence suggest that dogs are no smarter than many other animals. You may think your pooch understands every word you say, you may believe that Rover knows exactly what is going on around him, and you may like to think that when he looks at you with his head cocked, that he has the intellectual ability of a super-smart mammal. The truth? He may be no smarter than a pigeon.

Behaviour

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A no-deal Brexit will increase hassle and costs to vets, pets, farm animals and agricultural trade in the UK

Dr Pete Wedderburn BVM&S CertVR MRCVSDr - Friday September 28th, 2018

As the days, weeks and months count down to Brexit day, every sector of British life must surely have its own concerns. The veterinary sector, largely involving pets and farm animals, is no different. As the UK government prepares for the eventuality of a no-deal Brexit, new technical notices have been issued that give detail of the changes that will need to be implemented. These include pet travel, as well as the import/export of animals and animal products coming to and from the UK. The anticipated changes will be very challenging to implement, even if there are enough vets to carry out the work.

There are three main areas that will be significantly impacted:

News and Comment

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Livestock deaths during Hurricane Florence: preventable suffering of innocents?

Dr Pete Wedderburn BVM&S CertVR MRCVSDr - Thursday September 20th, 2018

Hurricane Florence storm has caused devastation in the USA, killing over thirty people, most of them in North Carolina. Hundreds of thousands of homes have been stuck without power. There have also been devastating impacts on livestock farms, and for some reason, these have been largely unreported.

News and Comment

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Cannabis Oil for Animals – Banned or Supported by the Government?

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Monday September 17th, 2018

Last Friday, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) released, rather out of the blue, a really surprising press release. The VMD is the regulator for the manufacture, sale, prescription and use of veterinary medicines in the UK, and in this press release, they have formally declared that “The VMD considers that veterinary products containing Cannabidiol [CBD, a substance derived from the cannabis plant] are veterinary medicines.” In this blog, we’re going to be looking at the consequences of this ruling!

News and Comment

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Pets “scared” when being put to sleep – wake up call or fake news?

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Tuesday September 11th, 2018

There’s another viral article doing the rounds on Facebook at the moment… but this one really is hitting a tender spot. The article, most recently reported by the Evening Standard, is a heartfelt plea from a vet for owners not to “make them transition from life to death in a room full of strangers in a place they don’t like. The thing you people need to know that most of you don’t is that THEY SEARCH FOR YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE THEM BEHIND!!!!” So is this something we should be really guilty about, or is this Fake News? Or, perhaps, is there more going on here than meets the eye?

Life as vet - what its like

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Pet insurance should be more affordable. Here’s why it’s so expensive in 2018.

Dr Pete Wedderburn BVM&S CertVR MRCVSDr - Monday September 10th, 2018

Pet insurance has made a huge difference to many animals’ lives. The principle is simple: you pay a relatively small monthly sum to the insurance company, and if your pet is unfortunate enough to fall seriously ill or have an accident, the insurance covers the costs of the vets’ bills. Of course this is subject to the expected caveats of pre-existing conditions and excess contributions, but still, the principle is sufficient to make a huge difference to the affordability of vets’ bills for thousands of people. The benefits for animal health and welfare have been immense.

News and Comment

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All the latest info on caring for your pet

There are three main areas that will be significantly impacted: