The wild, wild west (24th April 2008)
As veterinary surgeons we never cease to be amazed by our clients; occasionally it has to be said for all the wrong reasons...  More...

The pitfalls of breeding (17th April 2008)
You may have noticed that there has been a bit of a theme running through the last few diaries with firstly the dogs...  More...

It’s the girls' turn (10th April 2008)
After last weeks bit of nonsense, I hope no one took it seriously; it’s back to the theme of the importance of neutering our canine pets.   More...

Ole (1st April 2008)
Tuesday April 1st marked an exciting new phase in the on-going development of the Alnorthumbria Veterinary Group with final approval for plans to bring bull fighting to Alnwick...  More...

The importance of the chop (13th March 2008)
Lesson learned; in future I will keep my weather predictions to myself. So much for the onset of spring, it’s been back...  More...

Brace yourself Sheila (6th March 2008)
Spring is in the air! At the risk of tempting fate and the wrath of shepherds every where; admittedly though...  More...

Vaccine amnesty provides route to protection (28th February 2008)
In recent times there has been plenty of publicity about the pro’s and con’s of vaccination...  More...

The exception that proves the rule (21st February 2008)
Working within our nursing team is a genuine one person phenomenon, blessed with a gift that is worthy of mention here. Though she shall remain anonymous, those in the know will have little trouble working out whom I am writing about.  More...

Global worming? (14th February 2008)
We all have our own ways of deciding when the first signs of spring can be felt. For some it’s the longer hours of daylight...  More...

Slow progress (7th February 2008)
Following a wonderful week away with the family, hence no diary last week, it was back down to earth with a bump on Monday, with a number of on going cases booked in to catch up on their progress.  More...

Triple challenge ahead (31st January 2008)
It has often been said that a career in veterinary surgery is more of a vocation than a job. It’s true, the long hours, frequent nights on call and inevitable emotional attachment to our patients mean that it is virtually impossible to walk in and out of work on a nine to five basis.   More...

It’s no needle in a haystack (24th January 2008)
Over the years of writing the vets diary, a recurrent theme has been gastric or intestinal foreign bodies; basically inappropriate things swallowed by our pets that go on to cause problems. Items of clothing are fairly popular,...  More...

Jamie’s got a point (17th January 2007)
Please afford me the opportunity to join a little rant! Like many others, I watched Jamie Oliver’s television programme “Jamie’s Fowl Dinners” (Channel 4, 9pm last Friday); one of a series of documentaries which seek to publicise the manner in which our food is produced.  More...

Millie’s tail lifts January Blues (10th January 2008)
After the high emotion of the Christmas period January always comes with a bit of a bump, the cold wet weather not helping to lift the mood.   More...

The twelve days “on-call” of Christmas (20th Dec 2007)
On the first day of Christmas,
A client brought to me
A bovine to test for TB...
  More...

For life and not just for Christmas (13th December 2007)
There is no doubt that as human beings we benefit immeasurably from our relationship with animals, whether it is in the form of food, assistance, sport or just good old companionship.  More...

Admira-bull but not Profita-bull (7th November 2007)
Many of the recent diaries have had a bit of a small animal feel about them, so just to prove that we do take care of all animals, great and small; I had a word with Andrew to find up what the farm vets have been up to.  More...

Feeling feint? (29th November 2007)
Regular readers may recall that we recently had a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons inspection that was very complementary about our high levels of care and general practice standards.  More...

Yellow Pages does the trick (22nd November 2007)
Since starting these diaries, nearly four years ago now, I have covered a diverse range of subjects that have hopefully been interesting and even entertaining...  More...

RCVS inspectors complimentary of high standards (8th November 2007)
There’s more than one way to skin a cat!” is probably not an entirely appropriate metaphor to use in a veterinary diary, however, there’s no denying that it holds a good deal of truth.   More...

Remember, remember, the fifth of November. (1st November 2007)
It’s that time of year again! A good proportion of the animals coming into the surgeries are to be checked over because they require some form of medication to get them through the terror that is bonfire night  More...

Team show metal in response to crisis (4th October 2007)
With all the changes that have happened since the formation of Alnorthumbria vets at the beginning of July, it has sometimes been difficult to see the wood for the trees  More...

Bluetongue another blow (27th September 2007)
As if the beleaguered British farming industry wasn’t suffering enough from the out breaks of foot and mouth...  More...

A never ending night on call (13th September 2007)
I can’t remember the expert witness that coined the phrase – “one is unlucky and two is a coincidence, however, three has to be murder!”   More...

Pet smile month (6th September 2007)
Unless you have been into one of our surgeries in the last week or so or seen something in the press, you would probably be forgiven for not knowing that September is “Pet Smile Month”.   More...

Bitter sweet satisfaction (30th August 2007)
It has become a bit of a cliché when interviewing prospective trainee veterinary nurses to remind them that the job is not just about the romantic image of nursing cherished pets...  More...

After the summer we have had (23rd August 2007)
After the summer we have had, breaking all the wrong records, the Bank Holiday weekend was certainly a welcome change.   More...

Grand day out after busy summer (16th August 2007)
Time marches on and like it or not the summer is all but over and the autumn is upon us.   More...