Last week I wrote about the high number of cases of vomiting and diarrhoea that we are seeing in dogs at the moment. Luckily the vast majority of these cases will be self limiting – either they improve with a bland diet at home or they improve after some medication from us. However there will be the occasional case (often elderly or very young dogs) where these stomach bugs hit dogs hard and they need a bit more help. These dogs will need to be admitted to the hospital for intravenous fluids and medication .

Leaving your dog at the vets is always nerve-wracking and we know it can be upsetting for owners. We are lucky now here at Southfields as we are part of a bigger group called Medivet and we run the group's 24 hour hospital from our premises here in Dorchester. This means that we have a vet and nurse here 24 hours a day seven days a week to look after hospitalised in-patients. This means that overnight patients have company, comfort and full-time care. Any changes in their condition can be noted straight away and treatment adjusted accordingly, this gives a huge amount of peace of mind to us “day vets” leaving our critical patients overnight and even more so it gives peace of mind to owners leaving their beloved pet.

Cats and dogs generally cope with hospitalisation much better than we think they will – they settle in and are generally pretty content. Worst case scenario they can get a bit bored – but if you are getting over illness that is no bad thing!