Portland Vets East Grinstead

24/04/2025

Brave boy Tulley was a little chilly when he came around from his anaesthetic, so he got to wear one of our in-house jackets to warm him up 🐶

24/04/2025

Is your cat 7 years or older?

Could your cat have high blood pressure?

Hit the link to find out more and learn how you can book a FREE blood pressure check for your cat in May.

Our Registered Veterinary Nurses Can Help Keep Your Senior Cat Healthy: Book a Blood Pressure Check This May

22/04/2025

Our Vet Laura Sulsh reveals the signs of ageing and the importance of keeping seniors pet active and engaged.

20/04/2025

16/04/2025

A reminder of our Easter opening times 🐣

Please ensure you have enough medication for your pet, to get through the Easter break.
It takes time for the team to prepare your prescriptions, so please ensure your request is submitted this evening.

16/04/2025

We’re thrilled to be supporting Chiddingstone Real Football again this year. Team Red of course!

The “not for the faint hearted” village football match takes several hours and attracts visitors from all over the South East, but most importantly raises lots of money for various charities.

Held on Good Friday, let us know if you are taking part or going along to cheer for a team! Nurse Issy joined The Rock team last year and helped raise money for several deserving charities.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E7pnEKHJo/?mibextid=wwXIfr

14/04/2025

As a practice, we believe that well-informed pet owners make the best decisions for their animals — and we’re all for sharing trustworthy, accessible advice.

That’s why we’re pleased to share the latest resource from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). Their new Help and Advice section is packed with clear, reliable information for animal owners on a wide range of topics — from understanding vet care to knowing your rights and responsibilities.

You can explore it here: https://animalowners.rcvs.org.uk/help-and-advice

We’re always here to answer your questions, but it’s great to see more expert guidance available to support you and your pets.

Our guide for pet owners highlights the responsibilities of both you and your vet, explains the rules and regulations that shape the veterinary profession, and provides valuable tips for creating a successful partnership with your vet.

12/04/2025

Thinking about going out and cleaning your patio this weekend?

We receive a lot of enquiries at this time of year regarding pets who have been exposed to benzalkonium chloride, a chemical found in patio cleaners. Exposure most commonly occurs when the product is applied to a patio and the pet proceeds to walk across the surface before it is dry. Grooming and licking the feet then transfers the chemical to the pet's mouth.
Benzalkonium chloride can cause severe irritation and ulceration to the skin, pads of the feet, tongue and mouth. The extent of this injury is often not apparent until several hours later.

Always make sure any surface is thoroughly dry after cleaning before allowing pets to have access to the area. If your pet does get any disinfectant or patio cleaner on their feet/skin, wash it off immediately. If you notice any of the following signs, contact your vet:

⚠️Drooling
⚠️Burns/ulcers in the mouth or on the feet/skin
⚠️Pawing at the mouth
⚠️Loss of appetite
⚠️Lethargy
⚠️Lameness

☎️Owners can call Animal PoisonLine on 01202 509000
☎️Veterinary Professionals can call VPIS on 0207 305 5055

11/04/2025

𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗲𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘆!
Today we’re celebrating the joy, comfort, and unconditional love our pets bring into our lives.

𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄?
Over 57% of UK households have a pet—that's around 17 million homes sharing life with a loyal companion.

Whether they bark, purr, chirp or swim, pets truly are part of the family. Give yours a little extra love today and share your favourite pictures of your pets or tag us in your posts and stories!

10/04/2025

Beautiful Bailey came in to see Nurse Nicola this week. He was so brave and full of confidence 🐶

07/04/2025

When it’s Monday and you are just trying to hold on to happy memories, from the weekend!

04/04/2025

Congratulations to adorable Basil, what a pupstar he is!

Our followers chose him as our April cover model and we can see why 🐶

01/04/2025

Unearthing the past, one fossil at a time - when construction meets prehistoric discovery! 🦕 A little secret from the foundation building days of Portland Vets Crawley, we found and excavated this "little" guy. He's now living quite a happy polished life up in the natural history museum in London after being transported from the building last year. 🦖

01/04/2025

🐍 ADDER BITES 🐍

The Adder is the only venomous snake native to the UK and becomes active at this time of year and throughout the summer.

They are mostly found on dry sandy heaths, sand dunes, rocky hillsides, moorlands, grasslands and woodland edges. They are not an aggressive species and will only tend to bite when provoked or accidentally stepped on.

Dogs are most commonly bitten on the legs, head and neck and can display a range of symptoms, including;

🔴 Two puncture wounds may be visible

🔴Swelling of the area

🔴Pain

🔴Bruising

🔴Bleeding

🔴Lameness

🔴Panting

🔴Vomiting

🔴Collapse

One of the best ways to limit the chance of you dog being bitten by an Adder, is to stick to paths and avoid letting your dog run though the long grasses. Not only will an Adder bite be unlikely, but there will also be less chance of your dog picking up any ticks and disturbing any wildlife, like the current nesting birds on the Ashdown Forest.

There is no authorised product in the UK to treat adder bites in animals and the human product has to be imported, which means it is only kept at a few practice across the country.

Death from Adder bites in dogs is rare and often treatment in the form of pain relief, treatment for shock and monitoring is sufficient, but it really does depend on the size of the dog, location of the bite and how much venom has been injected.

It should be treated as a veterinary emergency and if anti venom is required, your vet will locate a dose through the Veterinary Poisons Information Service. The site gives the contact details and locations of anti venom across the U.K. https://www.vpisglobal.com/toxbox/

If you think your dog has been bitten by an adder, act quickly as an Adder bite is a veterinary emergency;

🔴 Do not interfere with the bite

🔴Contact a vet as soon as possible

🔴 Try to limit your dog's movement, so if possible carry them to your car. This will limit the spread of the venom

🔴 Keep them calm in the journey, try not to panic as your dog will likely pick up on that

Treatment to reduce the pain and swelling, intravenous fluids and monitoring for shock is often all that is required and dogs go home having made a full recovery.

We have treated many Adder bites, being so close to the Ashdown Forest and our clients find it reassuring that Head Vet Laura holds a Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice, with a focus on Emergency and Critical Care.

In addition to this our Deputy Head Nurse Sarah and RVN Zelda both hold certificates in Emergency and Critical Care, which means your dog will be under the care of a team with advanced knowledge and skills, in emergency situations like Adder bites.

Infograph credit

31/03/2025

We’re on the hunt for our April cover model

Entering is simple..

👉🏼 Post a picture of your pet(s), all species are welcome.

👉🏼 LIKE this post

👉🏼 SHARE it, to encourage your friends and family to vote for your pet, by giving your picture a like 👍🏼

29/03/2025

Sorry to disturb your night, but we just want to remind you clocks go forward at 1am, so be ready for that early wake up call!

28/03/2025

In this article from Portland Vets, our veterinary team offer advice on allergy symptoms to look out for this season.