Nursing Clinics at Portland Vets

Obesity is a growing problem for pets in the UK and the saying “killing them with kindness” is often all too true when it comes to your pets’ weight. Diabetes is now a frequent diagnosis, cases of heart disease are increasing and pets with arthritis now means that animals are unnecessarily suffering because of the lifestyle their owners allow them to lead. Our registered or training veterinary nurses are an excellent source of advice in helping your animal with dietary problems and they can happily create a safe diet for your pet to follow.

As with most things, prevention is far better than cure. The nursing team at Portland Vets will weigh your pet at each visit to the clinic. They will keep records and graphs of your pet’s weight and can pick up subtle changes often before they are visible to any owner. Furthermore, bringing your pet in for a regular ‘weigh-in’ can help desensitise your pet to the vet surgery, making future appointments that little bit easier.

Dental disease is seriously underestimated in pet healthcare and our team at Portland Vets are passionate about ensuring that no pet suffers silently with dental pain. The disease can cause not only pain but also distress, poor appetite, weight loss and it can even affect some organs such as the kidneys, heart and it also causes incredibly smelly breath.

Our practice nurses are able to offer excellent dental advice for dogs, cats, rabbits and other small furries and we offer complimentary dental check-ups on our nursing clinics, all year round. Whether it be advice or a demonstration on how to care for your pet’s teeth, or how to incorporate dental chews into their diet, our nurse clinics are the perfect place to ask for advice.

For rabbits, it is essential that owners understand how dental disease can be fatal. Getting your rabbits’ diet right is essential and can prevent serious ongoing health issues and pain.

Find out more with our nurses and book an appointment for a complimentary dental check-up.

Many pet owners may have heard of arthritis but not many understand how to identify it in your pets.

Arthritis is a painful condition that can cause painful, swollen, and stiff joints. It can be caused by general wear and tear as your pet gets older, or by damage caused by an old injury.

Does your pet have:

• Difficulty getting upstairs/into the car
• Difficulty rising after long periods of lying down
• Stiffness or lameness
• A change in temperament/personality
• A reluctance to play or walk

If you have noticed any of the above changes in your pet then he/she may be suffering with arthritis. Sometimes just a simple change of lifestyle, preventative supplement, arthritis medication or physiotherapy can make a huge difference to your pet’s quality of life.

Our team of nurses offer pets a ‘Mobility Clinic’ to provide them with first class treatment, lifestyle advice for owners, and continual monitoring of your pet’s condition. The nurses work very closely with our vets and will assess your pet as an individual during the clinic.

If you feel your pet could benefit from a mobility check, please contact the surgery to book your complimentary appointment with one of our nurses.

Our nurses routinely perform all of our post-operative checks on patients. With many surgical procedures, your pet will be invited back to our clinic approximately 3 days post-surgery to make sure they have recovered well from the anaesthetic and that their surgical wounds are healing nicely. This also gives the team a chance to treat your pet for infection or to adjust their post-surgery medication.

Following this, sutures will be removed by nurses approximately 10 days post-surgery if required. Many post-operative appointments are booked with our team once our vets discharge your pet following the surgical procedure. At this point, chat to our reception team about timings for the nurse appointments and what works best for you and your pet.

As well as post-operative care and suture removal, our nurses will also complete bandage, dressing and wound checks during their clinics. They can also help you with tips and tricks of the trade on how to keep your pet’s wound clean, how to stop them chewing their bandages and much more!

Included in the cost of your puppy’s vaccination is the chance to have complimentary monthly check-ups on your pup to ensure they are growing and developing correctly. Our nurse clinics can be used for these checks up until your puppy is 6 months old and it allows you to discuss training, behavioural issues and also things such as neutering and tooth brushing. Our nurses will also weigh your puppy and then recommend and administer (if necessary) their monthly worming and flea treatment. An important preventative healthcare measure to keep your puppy in tip-top condition.

Furthermore, these checks ensure that your puppy also becomes desensitised to the practice. Because of this programme, lots of dogs now love coming into Portland Vets, making it much less stressful for both owner and pet if they are ever ill and need hospitalising.