Fernside Vet

Fernside Vet We are a small animal veterinary clinic in the heart of Borehamwood.

13/10/2025

All systems are back up and running. We are now closed until 8:30am Tuesday morning (tomorrow) where we will continue to take calls. We are expecting to be busy on the phones as we play catch up after today so please bare with us or avoiding calling first thing if not urgent. Thank you for your patience throughout this!

🐶🐱 Heads up, everyone!‼️
Our phone and WiFi are temporarily down, so we can’t take calls or check emails right now.

If your pet needs urgent care, please pop into the clinic — we’re still here and happy to help in person!
We’ll post an update as soon as everything’s back online. Thanks for bearing with us! 💙

11/10/2025

🐕 The RVC, in collaboration with Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, has today launched a nationwide survey to explore how canine behaviour impacts the lives of dog owners and their families.

Now calling for adult UK-based dog owners to take part in the survey, the researchers hope the insights gathered will help veterinary professionals, canine behaviour experts and animal welfare organisations and charities provide better behavioural support for owners and their pets across the UK.

✍️ To participate in the survey, visit: https://rvc.uk.com/living-with-dogs-survey-main

➡️ Read more: https://rvc.uk.com/from-cuddles-to-chaos

Some useful  tips if you lose your dog out walking somewhere vast.  One of the comments included noting the point where ...
04/10/2025

Some useful tips if you lose your dog out walking somewhere vast. One of the comments included noting the point where you last saw them with What3words.

04/10/2025

DON’T TOUCH MY STUFF!

We all guard our resources; it’s a very normal, natural reaction to a threat of something we value being taken away.

Animals would not survive in the wild if they didn’t guard their resources. It’s essential for survival.

Just because our dogs are domesticated and shouldn’t be concerned about these things, doesn’t mean that this innate, genetic behaviour disappears.

We also don’t get to decide what’s valuable to our dogs or what’s not – different things have different value and at different times.

Food is usually the most common, but toys, furniture, random objects, places, or even a particular person are all things that may be considered a valuable resource.

Punishing or forcing a dog to give something up is probably one of the worst things to do. Resource guarding is rooted in the emotion of fear – the fear of that resource being taken away.

Punishment and force further increase that fear, which only increases and reinforces the need to protect that resource.

When a dog is guarding something, we can change the negative emotion of fear into a positive one by swapping, trading or adding something that has a similar or higher value.

This is one of the most effective ways to address resource guarding as it works at the root cause of the behaviour by changing the emotional response.

A dog resource guarding a person is more complicated to address. A full history of the individual dog, family dynamics, attachment styles, situation and environment all have to be assessed before planning and working on a solution.

Resource guarding can usually be prevented, managed, or resolved by understanding the underlying emotion, building trust and a sense of safety, and using consistent practice coupled with positive reinforcement.

12/09/2025

Ever wonder how your cat can spot a tiny bug across the room in the dark? It’s all thanks to their supercharged night vision! 👇

👁️ Your cat’s pupils can dilate three times bigger than yours, allowing more light to enter the eye, giving them much better visibility.

👁️ Cats have nearly three times as many rod cells in their retinas compared to humans. Rods are super sensitive but only see in black and white, which means cats see in a sort of grainy night-vision.

👁️ That green glow when their eyes catch the light is the tapetum lucidum (a “shiny layer”) which reflects light back through the retina, giving rods a second chance to catch it. More light = better sight!

👁️ Those vertical pupils help cats focus multiple colours of light at once using a multifocal lens, and they constrict to protect their sensitive eyes in daylight.

👁️ All these amazing optical features mean that cats can see in one sixth the amount of light we need, and they have up to eight times better night vision than us.

🐱 Your cat’s eyes should be clear, bright and free of discharge or inflammation. Regularly checking your cat’s eyes can help you detect potential problems early.

20th of August  this beautiful  young Siamese , Coco, had her first litter. 7 kittens is a lot , but she is raising them...
12/09/2025

20th of August this beautiful young Siamese , Coco, had her first litter. 7 kittens is a lot , but she is raising them ever so well. They are swamping Coco in size as they rapidly grow , luckily they eat kitten food as well .
It is so nice seeing cats being bred for good health and temperament. Coco is very sweet natured and the children in the family handle them a lot. This bodes well for getting easy cats to live with. They are a very long lived breed, we often see them reach 16 to 18years. The Old -style( or Fashioned) Siamese does not have such a triangular face nor crossed eyes. Coco' colouring is called Seal point, the Dad is Blue point, it looks like some of each will emerge from the litter

06/09/2025

🧑‍💼 There are two weeks left to apply for the RVC VetMed Work Experience Support Programme.
This programme is designed for students from Widening Participation backgrounds who are interested in exploring a future in veterinary medicine but may be facing barriers to accessing experience, support, or connections.

We are offering:
• Hands-on experience with a range of animals
• The chance to observe real veterinary professionals
• Support with university interview preparation
• Free lunch, protective clothing, and shuttle transport from Potters Bar
• A guaranteed interview for eligible applicants to RVC

This opportunity meets the full vet school work experience requirement and is part of our ongoing commitment to make the veterinary profession more inclusive.

Please share this widely. You might help a student take their first real step into the profession.
Applications close Friday 19th September.

So, if you’re ready to take the first step towards your veterinary dream, check your eligibility and apply now: https://rvc.uk.com/WEX

A beautiful  rural picture for the weekend. Posing in  hilly Shropshire  is a  trio of our former patients. Oops,  who  ...
05/09/2025

A beautiful rural picture for the weekend. Posing in hilly Shropshire is a trio of our former patients. Oops, who has the best ever name, is the fine fellow in the front. We then have Squid with the much better ears, and Juno is at the back.
They know how to work with sheep and they are all trained to ride on kayaks . They have a very skilled teacher!

04/09/2025

Curious Cats: Nutrition or Predation?

It is commonly suggested that cats hunt because they are still hungry or because they have nutritional deficiencies, or need additional food following their cat food that their owners provide.

However, a study by Exeter University suggests that a cats drive to hunt is one of natural instinct not hunger or nutritional needs.

➡️University of Exeter scientists used forensic evidence from cats' whiskers to see what regular hunters of wildlife had been eating.

➡️The results showed that about 96% of their diet came from food provided by their owners, while just 3-4% came from eating wild animals.

💬"This study reassures owners of cats who hunt that the motive to hunt is instinctive, not driven by nutritional needs,"

➡️Our nation's cat habits have been a big influence on decline of songbirds in the UK.

As the habit is no driven by nutritional needs there are a few suggestions to help.

✅Bells on collars
✅Birdsbesafe collar covers
✅Providing food for cats using a puzzle feeder for mental stimulation and enrichment
✅Regular play, rotating toys and appropriate play (e.g., allowing your cat to actually succeed in catching a toy if you're using a laser pen to avoid frustration)
✅A previous study by the Exeter team showed daily play reduced hunting by cats.

➡️http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_879734_en.html

➡️https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.3737

02/09/2025

🦴 Calling all aspiring biologists and vets in Years 10–12!
Join us at the RVC Camden Campus, London, for an unforgettable day exploring comparative physiology in the animal kingdom 🧬🐄💀

📅 Wednesday 29th October 2025
🕰️ From 10:20 am to 4 pm

🔍 What’s in store?
✨ A warm welcome and intro talk
🧪 A hands-on disease outbreak simulation
🐮 Explore physiology and learn stethoscope skills in context within a live animal experience
🧠 An interactive quiz with real animal specimens within the impressive Anatomy Museum (conducted by the RVC’s Anatomy Team and Head of Anatomy, Mr Andrew Crook MBE)

📍 This is a unique chance to experience life as a future vet or biological scientist! Perfect for students aiming for Biological Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, or Veterinary Nursing at university.

⏲️ Applications close Sunday 28th September at 23:59



➡️ Applications close at the end of the month: https://rvc.uk.com/afternoon-anatomy

On Saturday our lovely vet Konstantina  got married in Crete. It looks such a happy day and what a stunning wedding dres...
01/09/2025

On Saturday our lovely vet Konstantina got married in Crete. It looks such a happy day and what a stunning wedding dress! . We all wish her and Christos the very best for married life. She will back in uniform at Fernside in 2 weeks, meanwhile we hope they are enjoying being with family in a sunny spot

Address

205 Shenley Road
Borehamwood
WD61AT

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 7pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 7pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 7pm
Thursday 8:30am - 7pm
Friday 8:30am - 7pm
Saturday 9am - 1pm

Telephone

+442082070826

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