Granta Veterinary Specialists

29/08/2026

Join us this bank holiday Monday for a day of family friendly dog show fun! 🐾

We can’t wait to see you there 🎉

🐾 CHARITY FAMILY FUN DOG SHOW – MONDAY 31ST AUGUST! 🐾

We’re delighted to welcome Granta Veterinary Specialists to Leaps & Bounds School for Hounds, Bartlow for their annual Charity Family Fun Dog Show! 💙🐶

📅 Monday 31st August
⏰ 10am–2pm
🏆 Judging from 11am

There are 10 fun classes to enter, including Handsome Hounds, Gorgeous Girls, Perfect Pups, Golden Oldies, Young Handler, Appealing Eyes, Waggiest Tail, Best Brace, Judge’s Pick and Fancy Dress — followed by Best in Show! 🏆

💷 £2 per class or 3 classes for £5

And there’s plenty more to have a go at!

🐾 INDOORS – in our large training barn:
🐶 Have-a-Go Agility

🐾 OUTDOORS – in our training field:
🐶 Gundog Bale Scurry
🐶 Gundog Retrieval Scurry
🐶 Temptation Alley — test that recall against some seriously tempting distractions!

Plus…
🎟️ Raffle
🎁 Lucky dip of treats & toys
🛍️ Leaps & Bounds Pop-Up Shop
🍦 Ice creams & refreshments for the two-legged visitors!

💷 Please remember — entries and activities are CASH ONLY.

All breeds and ages are very welcome. We simply ask that dogs are friendly and comfortable around others and remain on lead at all times, except when taking part in the scurries/recalls!

💙 Best of all, every penny raised will go to StreetVet, providing free veterinary care to the pets of people experiencing homelessness.

🐾 Come along, bring the family, bring the dog and join us for a brilliant day of four-legged fun — all for a fantastic cause!

We’ll see you there! 💙🐶🐾

28/08/2026

If you need us this bank holiday (Monday 31st August) we’re open 24 hours for emergencies only, and back to business as usual on Tuesday 1st September 💙

28/08/2026

Today is Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, a day to remember the pets who are no longer with us 💙

Not every story has the ending we hope for. As a referral centre, we often meet families at the hardest moments, and we understand how deeply a pet is loved and how much their loss is felt.

We have a private space at Granta set aside for families saying goodbye, so that difficult moment can be as gentle and unhurried as possible, pictured here.

To everyone remembering a much-loved companion today, we're thinking of you 🌈

26/08/2026

Happy International Dog Day 🐾

Between us we have a Rottweiler who is scared of needles, a rescue named after a mischievous Norse squirrel and a cavalier who came all the way from Spain to sunbathe in Cambridgeshire.
Swipe to meet the dogs who put up with our team.

Toskr arrived at Becky's old practice as a stray puppy weighing 650g. His full name is Ratatoskr, the squirrel from Norse mythology who runs up and down the world tree carrying messages and regularly getting them wrong. These days he divides his time between Neighbourhood Watch, which means sitting on the back of the sofa observing the street, and tug of war. The name fits.

Lou has a houseful. Stanley the cavalier came over from Spain and has never met a sunbeam he didn't like. Joy, a blue merle Australian shepherd, was a blood donor in her younger days and is now happily retired. Joy's mum Dot is a champion show dog. And then there's Ash, who a lot of you already know 💙

Arf is 11. Kate adopted him at nine, and he has spent the two years since collecting new adventures. When no adventure is going, his favourite pastime is lying upside down in the garden.

Arnie is Rachel's four-year-old Rottweiler, a big softy who draws the line at needles. Reggie, her three-year-old cockador, competes in agility with Rachel's son and has already qualified for Crufts 2027.

Nahla, better known as Nahbear, is Emma's five-year-old Rhodesian ridgeback. She has banana on her breakfast and holds long conversations with the people she loves.

Rita, or Margarita in full, is named after Sacha's favourite cocktail 🍹

Sprout is Vicky's five-year-old English springer. Swimming, gundog training and getting thoroughly muddy, in roughly that order.

And the rest of the crew: Rocket and Rio with Laura, Minstrel with Millie, Moose with Ellen, Tank and Luna with Max, Daisy with Danica, Doug with Dan, Penny with Laura, Ernie and Suzie with Mel, Fig with Holly, and Carpos is always in Kerry’s heart.

Tell us about yours in the comments 🐾

24/08/2026

Eddie is a cocker spaniel who came to us in July because he had suddenly gone blind. It turned out he had been coping with one blind eye for a while, and nobody had any idea.

His scans showed an infection behind his left eye, probably caused by something small that had worked its way in, and this had affected the nerve carrying vision from that eye. That explained the sudden change his family noticed.

His right eye was another matter. Everything looked almost normal in there, so Georgie Fricker, our Specialist in Veterinary Ophthalmology, ran an electroretinogram, a test that measures how the retina responds to light. Eddie's right retina gave no response at all. Somewhere in the last year or two it had stopped working, and he had adapted, using his left eye and his nose and getting on with life so well that nothing seemed wrong.

He is on antibiotics and pain relief, and two weeks after his first visit he was walking out further again and growing in confidence. He still hesitates going from bright light into a dark room. He was also very keen to explore our consult room, which was a good sign!

Since then, he has recovered remarkably well and within just a couple of weeks is finding his way around really well and enjoying life 🫶

Piecing this together had our ophthalmology and neurology teams working side by side. Dogs compensate far better than we give them credit for. If something changes in the way your dog moves around at home, mention it to your vet 💙

24/08/2026

🐾 CHARITY FAMILY FUN DOG SHOW – MONDAY 31ST AUGUST! 🐾

We’re delighted to welcome Granta Veterinary Specialists to Leaps & Bounds School for Hounds, Bartlow for their annual Charity Family Fun Dog Show! 💙🐶

📅 Monday 31st August
⏰ 10am–2pm
🏆 Judging from 11am

There are 10 fun classes to enter, including Handsome Hounds, Gorgeous Girls, Perfect Pups, Golden Oldies, Young Handler, Appealing Eyes, Waggiest Tail, Best Brace, Judge’s Pick and Fancy Dress — followed by Best in Show! 🏆

💷 £2 per class or 3 classes for £5

And there’s plenty more to have a go at!

🐾 INDOORS – in our large training barn:
🐶 Have-a-Go Agility

🐾 OUTDOORS – in our training field:
🐶 Gundog Bale Scurry
🐶 Gundog Retrieval Scurry
🐶 Temptation Alley — test that recall against some seriously tempting distractions!

Plus…
🎟️ Raffle
🎁 Lucky dip of treats & toys
🛍️ Leaps & Bounds Pop-Up Shop
🍦 Ice creams & refreshments for the two-legged visitors!

💷 Please remember — entries and activities are CASH ONLY.

All breeds and ages are very welcome. We simply ask that dogs are friendly and comfortable around others and remain on lead at all times, except when taking part in the scurries/recalls!

💙 Best of all, every penny raised will go to StreetVet, providing free veterinary care to the pets of people experiencing homelessness.

🐾 Come along, bring the family, bring the dog and join us for a brilliant day of four-legged fun — all for a fantastic cause!

We’ll see you there! 💙🐶🐾

23/08/2026

Owners often grieve a dog's sight loss for far longer than the dog does 💙

Today, Sunday 23 August is International Blind Dog Day. Although this can be a worrying diagnosis, it’s important to remember that dogs don't process the loss the way we do. They adapt, and usually faster than anyone expects.

How fast they adapt does vary; sight that goes almost overnight, as in sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome or diabetic cataracts, is a much bigger adjustment than the very gradual loss of progressive retinal atrophy, where a dog has been adapting since puppyhood without anyone noticing. Breed and training play their part too. A scent hound already has more to work with than a sighthound, and a dog who reliably stops when you tell them to will have an easier time of it.

The good news is that most of what helps is small and practical:
💙 Leave whiskers on the muzzle and above the eyes long. They're a built-in early warning system.
💙 Keep beds, food and water bowls in the same place.
💙 Mark routes with scent. A little orange oil from bed to bowl gives them something to follow.
💙 Pop a bell on your other dog, or on yourself, so they know where you are.
💙 Speak before you touch.

Most owners tell us that even in a completely new house, their dog is finding its way around with confidence inside about 24 hours.

Our ophthalmology service sees dogs at every stage of sight loss. If you're worried about your dog's vision, have a chat with your own vet about a referral 🐾

20/08/2026

Coco is a one-year-old Bengal who came to us earlier this summer with serious head and facial injuries after a road accident. When he first arrived, he was very subdued, his sight was affected and he was unable to move his jaw or pick up food.

Our surgical team examined him and admitted him for close monitoring and pain relief. Over that first weekend he began to improve, his awareness returned and so did some of his vision. A head CT then showed several fractures to his skull and face, so he underwent surgery to stabilise his jaw and a feeding tube was placed, so he could get all the nutrition he needed while he healed.

RVN Emma, who helped nurse him, said it best: "Coco was a real sweetheart to nurse, coming on leaps and bounds in just a matter of days. His resilience despite his injuries was incredible to see, and he didn't miss an opportunity to play with his toys when it was safe to do so. Coco was a star patient and we all loved seeing him progress."

He went home with his feeding tube, and his owners took real care learning every step of his recovery. We’re so pleased to report that since then the tube is out and Coco is doing very well 💙

What a brave boy. Keep being you, Coco 🐾

19/08/2026

Nursing care never stops, even when the rest of the world is asleep! 😴

We're looking for a Registered Veterinary Nurse to join our night team for one Sunday night shift a week here in Linton.

Our inpatients don't stop needing care at 6pm. Our team is here throughout the night, watching closely, keeping them comfortable and handing over properly to the day team in the morning. You'd be alongside experienced vets, night nurses and Patient Care Assistants, with specialist vets available when you need them.

You'll need to be RCVS registered with ward nursing experience and be happy working nights. Referral or emergency experience is welcome, not essential.

13 hours a week, part time, with overtime available if you'd like more.

Please send your CV and a short covering letter to [email protected] 🐾

17/08/2026

Most people know that dogs can give blood but far fewer know that cats can too 🐾

This is Rocket. In June last year he arrived with us seriously unwell. His red cell level had fallen to 6.7% (where it should be around 30-45%!), and his body had stopped replacing what it was losing. His platelet and white cell counts were low too.

A cat this unwell needs blood urgently. There was no feline blood available, so Rocket was given 80ml of dog blood in what is called a xenotransfusion. It saved his life and it bought him time, and as you can see he is now doing very well. However, xenotransfusions can only ever be done once. A second transfusion of dog blood would be fatal, which means any cat who needs more than one has to have feline blood.

Pet Blood Bank UK launched the UK's first national cat blood donation service, and they are registering feline donors now.

Your cat might be eligible if they are between one and eight years old, over 4.5kg, fit and healthy, up to date with flea and worm treatment, comfortable being handled, and have never travelled outside the UK or Ireland.

Registering takes a few minutes and there is no obligation to ongoing commitment. Read more and register your cat here: https://www.petbloodbankuk.org/pet-owners/cat-blood-donation/

We have lost count of the patients this service has helped us save, and Rocket is one of the reasons we are so glad it exists now 💙