Dogmatix

17/12/2025

Hi everyone - the festive season is almost upon us once again and I'd like to wish you all a fabulous Christmas break!

Also spare a thought for our furry canines - we need to be their mentors to ensure they don't access to anything that is potentially toxic to them.

The list below is absolutely not exhaustive but gives you an idea of what to look out for.

Also bear in mind that poinsettias are mildly toxic to dogs and if eaten can cause vomiting and diarrhea - so if you value your carpets keep them out of the way!

Chocolate
Theobromine is a key ingredient in chocolate and cocoa powder and it is highly poisonous to dogs and cats. If eaten, it can be fatal, affecting their hearts, kidneys, and nervous systems. Keep your selection boxes sealed at all times — ideally store them up high, where your pet can’t get to them. The same goes for chocolate of any kind (even chocolatey drinks).

Cooked bones
While this one isn’t poisonous, it's still a bad idea to give to your dog. Cooked bones are known to split, which means they can scratch or become lodged in your dog’s throat. Sometimes, they can even cause slab fractures of their teeth. Raw bones, which can also cause salmonella, are equally dangerous.

Corn on the cob
The cob might cause a blockage if your pet swallows it. The corn itself isn’t the easiest for pets to digest either.

Alcohol
Alcohol can cause an array of serious health problems, the most common symptoms being vomiting, depression, visible dizziness, and breathing difficulties. Please don’t leave your glass on the floor unattended

Grapes and raisins, mince pies, christmas cake, christmas pud, fruitcakes etc.

These are highly toxic to pets and can cause kidney failure if eaten.

Onions, garlic, and chives
These ingredients are known to cause stomach and red blood cell damage to pets. While you're cooking, it’s worth keeping your pets out of the kitchen in case you drop anything. Once you’re all sorted and everything is in the oven, be sure to have a good clean-up ....and make sure the waste bin is dog proof!

Nuts
Certain types of nuts — macadamia nuts in particular — can cause vomiting, depression, and even hyperthermia in pets who eat them. They’re also a choking hazard. As with the other foods listed here, keep nuts well away from your pets, take extra care not to drop any, and to clean them up right away if you do.

The list is endless so please make your pet a priority.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2026!
😘

01/03/2025

Hi everyone
You've probably all heard by now but
just a heads up that a two year old Labrador sadly lost his life yesterday after eating something toxic whilst on a walk in Barnfield.

In addition, there was a similar incident last week in Newport Pagnell where a puppy ate something toxic and was extremely ill - not sure of the outcome. The incident happened after a lunchtime walk over by Kingfisher /Tesco in Green Park. The vet seems to think that it could have been ma*****na.

Please be extra vigilant with your dogs/puppies to minimise any risks.

29/12/2024

Just a last minute reminder and update that the deadline for neutering all XL bullies within a certain age group has been extended for XL bullies that were less than 7 months old on 1 January 2024. and the new deadline is now 30 June 2025.

🚨🚨🚨 IMPORTANT POST - PLEASE SHARE!!
This is a reminder to owners of XL bullies who were aged between 7 and 12 months of age AS OF JANUARY 31st 2024 - all these dogs are required to have been neutered by 31st December 2024. 🚨🚨🚨

If you are registered with Willow Vets and think this may apply to your dog but you have not yet had them neutered please contact us as a matter of urgency to arrange this as soon as possible. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS REQUIREMENT.

For XL bullies that were less than 7 months old on January 31st 2024, the deadline for neutering is June 30th 2025.

Let's get the message out there and ensure no-one is left in breach of the rules - thanks all ###

28/11/2024

Merry Christmas everyone! It's that time of year again when all the fun and festivities are in full swing. Have a great time...... but
just a timely reminder of all the dangers that could affect our furry friends over the Christmas period, some of which could be very unpleasant and others potentially fatal. Either way, it could mean an untimely and very costly trip to the vets!
Please follow link below for further info:
https://www.bluecross.org.uk/.../christmas-dangers-for-dogs… See more
How to keep your dog safe this Christmas

14/05/2024

Hi everyone

It's holiday season! A time when we love to take our dogs with us for a stroll along the beach.........what could be better!

So, without wanting to be a kill joy I just wanted to make you aware of the dangers associated with the ingestion of too much sea water in dogs.

Extract from Kennel Club:
Dogs Drinking Salt Water
Dogs love the beach, but playing games of fetch, chasing waves, and swimming can all lead to a thirsty dog who consumes salt water. In most cases, a few mouthfuls of salt water may only cause diarrhoea. Consuming large amounts of salt water, however, can be fatal.

When a dog ingests salt water, the excess salt draws water from the blood into the intestines, leading to diarrhoea, vomiting, and dehydration. Salt water also disrupts the fluid balance in your dog. Dogs with toxic levels of sodium in their systems have a mortality rate higher than 50 percent, regardless of treatment.

When too much salt builds up in a dog’s body, their cells release their water content to try and balance out the sodium disparity. This, in turn, causes a litany of serious health effects. It can cause seizures, a loss of brain cells, injury to the kidneys, and severe dehydration. If a dog with saltwater poisoning isn’t treated medically, the condition can easily lead to death.

Treating Saltwater Poisoning in Dogs
If you suspect that your dog has consumed a toxic amount of salt water, your best bet is to get them to the veterinarian as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment for saltwater poisoning in dogs.

Your veterinarian will attempt to restore your dog’s water and electrolyte balance to normal levels. Lowering sodium levels too quickly, however, can be dangerous, increasing the likelihood of cerebral oedema (fluid on the brain). A veterinarian will administer IV fluids to try and flush the excess salt out of your dog’s body. Your vet will also monitor your dog’s electrolytes, provide treatment for brain swelling, control seizures, and offer supportive care.

In ideal cases, the water and electrolyte balance will be restored over a period of 2-3 days. This usually involves hospitalization. Further supportive care and medications may be given, depending on your dog’s condition.

Just something to be aware of when holidaying near the coast!

Have lots of sunny summer fun!

12/03/2024

Just for info - a recent post from Willow Veterinary Centre regarding a canine intestinal bug that seems to be doing the rounds.

🚑💩🚑 PLEASE SHARE - DIARRHOEA CASES ON THE UP - LONG POST ALERT!!! 🚑💩🚑

We are seeing a lot of cases of diarrhoea in dogs at both surgeries at the moment and so we are going to put some measures in place to ensure that if there is a bug doing the rounds, we don't end up transmitting anything between our patients entering the surgery. If your pet needs a vet appointment because they are unwell and showing signs of diarrhoea and/or vomiting, we will ask you to WAIT IN YOUR CAR with your pet on arrival at the surgery and call us to let us know you are here - you will be marked on our computer system as 'arrived' as normal. When your vet is ready to see you they will give you a call or pop out to the carpark to collect you and bring you and your pet in through the side door (known as door 2 during covid!!) at the Newport surgery and either straight in to the consult room through the waiting room or guide you through the garden and in via the garden entrance to the vet consultation room at Olney. PLEASE DO NOT FEEL LIKE A PARIAH!!! This is purely to keep everyone safe and ensure any potentially infectious animals have minimal contact with other pets while at Willow Vets.

Please also bear in mind that the vast majority of dogs with diarrhoea are mildly affected and will recover without a visit to the vets - below follows advice on what to do if your dog has diarrhoea but is otherwise bright and happy in themselves and eating normally -
1) Bland diet - the advice used to be to starve dogs when they had diarrhoea, but this is no longer the case - the intestinal lining cells will heal quicker if they are given some nutrition!! The best thing would be to feed an appropriate formulated bland diet and you are welcome to come into the surgery without an appointment and pick some up. If you are unable to come in, cooked white chicken meat or white fish with cooked white rice is a useful stop gap. Feeding little and often is easiest on the gut so give 3 or 4 small meals a day.
2) Pro/prebiotics - these can be really helpful in rebalancing the gut flora and can really speed up a return to normal motions - again you can come in and pick these up from the surgery without an appointment.
It is useful to note that we almost never give antibiotics for a simple case of diarrhoea - we tend only to use these when a faecal culture has been performed and indicates appropriate antibiotic use. There have been many recent scientific studies which have shown that giving antibiotics has no effect on the length of time if takes for a case of diarrhoea to resolve!!
It is also not unusual to see a small amount of fresh red blood if your dog has had diarrhoea for a few days - this usually comes from the inflamed lining of the colon, so don't panic if you see this but of course feel free to give us a call for advice.
If your dog is also vomiting, seems very quiet or depressed, is refusing food that they would normally eat, if the diarrhoea has been present for a few days and is getting worse rather than better, if the diarrhoea darkens in colour and becomes 'tarry' looking or if your dog starts to pass a large amount of blood it may be that we will need to make an appointment to check things out so do give us a call.

Thanks for reading and please please share to get the message out there!!!

18/12/2023

Merry Christmas everyone! Have a great time......

Before we commence with all the fun and festivities, a timely reminder of all the dangers that could affect our furry friends over the Christmas period, some of which could be very unpleasant and others potentially fatal. Either way, it could mean an untimely and very costly trip to the vets!
Please follow link below for further info:
https://www.bluecross.org.uk/advice/dog/christmas-dangers-for-dogs
Let's keep our pets safe!dogs

Many Christmas foods are tasty for us but dangerous for dogs. Keep your dog safe this festive season with our expert advice.

16/10/2023

Autumn is such a lovely season but just a reminder that it's conker season again.
I'm sure you're aware that conkers and acorns are toxic to dogs, causing vomiting and intestinal upset and can occasionally cause an obstruction which can lead to serious complications.
Depending where you walk you can find them littered all over the pathways and grassy areas, making it really difficult to avoid them!
Happy autumn!

We receive lots of enquires at this time of year about dogs eating acorns (the fruit of oak) and conkers (the seed of the horse chestnut). With acorns about a quarter of dogs remain well and with conkers about a third of dogs do not develop any signs. With both acorns and conkers, the most common si...

24/08/2023

It's that time of year when the weather starts to cool a little and it makes ideal walking conditions for you and your 4 legged friend. However it's important to remember to always be your dog's mentor and to keep them safe when close to cliff edges.
Please see the post below from the National Coastal Institute.

Please keep dogs on a lead on cliff paths as they don’t always see the dangers and will carry on running 🐕🥲.

These two photos were taken at the same time - one is from an adult’s eye line and the other one from a medium sized dog’s eye line….

Stop and think keep it on a lead

01/03/2023

It's lambing season again (primarily March-May and it's vital that dog owners keep their dogs under control around livestock at all times.

Under the Animal Act 1971 (section 9) Farmers are entitled to shoot any dog that is perceived to be worrying their sheep.

Please always remember to walk your dog responsibly by:
* keeping your dog on lead
* keeping to the designated pathways

Let's keep our dogs ..... and sheep ......safe!

09/12/2022

A heads up - just in case you have some in your cupboard....

The prescription dog food label was placed on non-prescription dog food.