Information

A recent study done on five cats in China seems to indicate that SARs-CoV-2 can be transmitted via respiratory droplets to other cats. This work is yet to be peer-reviewed to assess how reliable the information is, although experts do think the findings were credible. Importantly the findings DO NOT indicate that cats can spread the disease to humans. Dogs, [...]

We have had lots of enquires this week with concerned new puppy owners during lockdown so have some advice to help. ℹ As it currently stands (08-04-2020), following government guidelines The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons clarification on treatments is that veterinary practices are currently not permitted to do puppy, kitten, or rabbit vaccinations. Only Urgent and Emergency treatment should [...]

Thankfully, it is now widely recognised in humans that mental health is just as important as physical health; the same is true for our pets!   Our lifestyles are becoming more and more hectic and often we expect our pets to be able to keep up, coping with busy households, traffic, fireworks, moving house, other pets and all sorts of other potentially stressful situations. [...]

Westport Vet's Design a Christmas Bauble Competition 2019 was a great success! The competition was to design or decorate a Westport Christmas Bauble, the entry forms had a blank white Bauble with the Westport logo on. 170 local children submitted bauble design entries - all of which were outstanding! To pick winners, the baubles were divided into categories by age [...]

At the end of November, Nicola completed the training for the third block of her clinical animal behaviour course. The first two days focused on pain and the impact this can have on behaviour. Indeed, sometimes the only sign of a painful condition can be a change in your pet's behaviour, such as being more sound sensitive than usual or [...]

At Westport Vets, we are very aware of our responsibility toward the environment, and are constantly striving to improve our practices and reduce any detrimental impact that we have on the planet. Across our three branches, we have steadily been making changes behind the scenes, as well as front of house.  Unfortunately, being a medical industry, there are some things [...]

As most cat owners will know cats and Christmas trees do not always go well together! Cats and kittens love to climb trees, and are naturally attracted to the flashing lights, baubles and tinsel that adorn many Christmas trees. As such, we at Westport have compiled a list of things you could try to “cat-proof” your tree. Set up the [...]

Christmas is the time to have fun, celebrate and indulge ourselves a little. As members  of the family our pets often get to indulge a little bit too. But the Christmas season carries a whole host of dangers to our pets, from toxic foods to dangerous seasonal plants. Dangerous food and drink Chocolate - Chocolate contains a drug called theobromine, [...]

As the nights draw in there is definitely more than a hint of frost in the air and the antifreeze may be coming out to keep our cars running smoothly…. but did you know that antifreeze is highly toxic to dogs and cats?? Antifreeze may appeal to our pets as a tasty festive drink – usually lapped up from the [...]

Louise and Gillian recently visited sunny Surrey for a conference. Unlike the usual veterinary conferences, this one was set outdoors and had a "festival" feel.  So called, VET festival, this is the brain child of Noel Fitzpatrick ("Supervet"). In recent years there has been a move within the profession to improve mental wellbeing, with the recognition that, as a profession, [...]