Nurse Clinics

With an understanding and patient approach our nurses are always happy to help with general queries and support our clients with all aspects of pet care.  Charges apply for some consults.

A very popular consult is the Pet Fit Club.  It is estimated that 59% of dogs and 39% of cats in the UK are overweight or obese. Keeping your pet an ideal weight can be a challenge, but it is important for their long-term health and wellbeing.  Being overweight increases the risk of your pet developing a range of other conditions and diseases such as diabetes, joint and bone damage, heart disease, tumours, liver disease and respiratory difficulties. There are a range of factors that contribute to your pet becoming overweight or obese. These include, overfeeding, treats and lack of exercise.

If you are worried about the weight of your pet, then book in for a free Pet Fit Club appointment with one of our nurses. These appointments aim to give you a better understanding on your pet’s weight and where it should be as well as giving you the support and guidance on how to move forward.

Firstly, we ask you a few questions about your pet and their daily lifestyle such as their current diet, exercise routine and activity levels. Then, using an online database we can calculate exactly what percent your pet is over it’s healthy body weight. From there, we can devise a personalised weight loss programme for your pet using a weight management diet from the Veterinary HPM clinical diet range.

Theses diets are designed to be tasty and meet all your pet’s nutritional needs, whilst helping them to lose weight in a controlled way. Your nurse will recommend how much food to feed initially but this amount may be altered depending on your pet’s progress so therefore it is important to attend regular follow up visits.

We offer appointments every two weeks initially to keep a close eye on the weight loss and make any changes if necessary. Once the weight is coming off and you are happy, your pet can come in for monthly or two monthly check ups, depending on the plan made by your nurse.

Dogs and cats come in all different shapes and sizes so it can be difficult to say what their ideal weight should be so weighing your pet alone isn’t always the best way to determine if they are overweight. Therefore, as well as taking your pet’s weight, we also take measurements of your pet’s neck, waist and chest and record these on a chart at every appointment. We also take before and after pictures of your pet (as seen below) so you can really see the difference.

We also offer home visits for the above appointments (visit fees apply) for those pets who are nervous of travelling or of the veterinary practice itself or for clients with mobility or transport issues.