What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 10pm Tuesday 8am - 10pm Wednesday 8am - 10pm Thursday 8am - 10pm Friday 8am - 10pm Saturday 8am - 10pm Sunday 8am - 10pm

https://www.vets4pets.com/practices/vets-in-colchester/vets4pets-colchester-advanced/?utm_source=FB&utm_medium=Yext&y_so

Vets4Pets Colchester Small Animal Hospital, Unit 1, Stane Park, Colchester (2024)

09/09/2024

***FOUND***
We have a male ginger feline with us at our stanway branch.

He is very friendly, and is not neutered.
Found near Abby fields, Colchester

If you think he may be yours, please contact the practice on 01206 771984

18/08/2024

Found Dog ⚠️

A member of the public has handed in a dog found on Clacton Beach.

Male, entire, young, black and white colouring.

The dog is chipped but the microchip is not registered, therefore we cannot contact the owners.

If you believe this is your dog, please call the practice on 01206 771984.

Proof of ownership will be required.

Our phone lines will be open until 10.30pm this evening.

28/07/2024

⚠️ FOUND CAT ⚠️

A member of the public has handed in a Sphynx cat, not microchipped.

If you believe this to be your pet, please call the practice on 01206 771984.

Proof of ownership will be required.

20/07/2024

✨️ We have gone digital ✨️

We have officially launched our digital practice here at Vets4Pets Colchester Hospital. 🤳

This means that you can now contact us via WhatsApp at a time that suits you! We are happy to recieve prescription requests, flea and worming requests, appointment requests and non-emergency questions/contact.

We will also be contacting you via WhatsApp! We are now able to send photos or videos of your pet in hospital 📸, give patient updates, routine laboratory results and communicate via messenger where we might not necessarily need a direct conversation; meaning you have the freedom to respond when you have the time.

⚠️ Please note, our WhatsApp will only be monitored from the hours of 8am-8pm.

For any emergencies please always call the practice directly on 01206 771984 📞

Our WhatsApp number is: 07456372489
We look forward to hearing from you 📲🙂

07/07/2024

Update to our emergency fee 📢

Please note that there has been a price increase for our emergency consultations; there will now be a set fee of £95 after 7pm.

Our normal consultation price of £49 still stands from the hours of 8am - 7pm.

We are still open until 10.30pm and providing 24 hour inpatient care for your furry friends 🐾

03/07/2024

📢⚠️

Middle age all black small female cat - not microchipped - found injured near Asda Superstore by the train station.

If you believe this is your cat please call the practice on 01206 771984.

02/06/2024

Barry, the tiny puppy we posted about from January, came back in for a check up at our Cowdray Avenue practice recently.

Here he is posing up a storm with our Head Nurse, Shannon 📸🐾

12/05/2024

Information regarding our Cowdray Avenue instore practice 📢

We have unfortunately had to make the difficult decision to close our Cowdray Avenue practice *on Saturday and Sundays* for the foreseeable future.

We will still be open Monday - Friday 09:00 - 18:30 🐾

Our Stanway practice will also still be open 7 days per week 08:00 - 22:30 with 24 hour inpatient care 🏨

We encourage all of our Cowdray Avenue clients to visit our Stanway branch, on the weekends closed, for all of their veterinary needs.

Please note: we aim to re-open our Cowdray Avenue practice as soon as we can, but please bare with us in the mean time 🙂

29/04/2024

Are you Arthiritis Aware? 🦴🐾

It's not just dog's who can be affected. If you think your pet may be showing signs of slowing down please give us a call on 01206 771984 to discuss your options 📞

12/04/2024

It is a great honour to announce that we have officially been awarded the RCVS Small Animal Veterinary Hospital Accreditation.

In the 18 months since opening our doors, we have come further than we could have possibly imagined; and we have you, the people of Colchester, to thank for it.

We currently have 62 amazing colleagues including Advanced Practioner medicine and surgical vets, certificate holding vets in endoscopy, opthamology, emergency and critical care, aswell as exotics!
We have a talented team of nurses who hold emergency and critical care and medicine certificates, a dedicated night team and a whole host of friendly client care advisors and veterinary care assistants ready to welcome you in to our hospital 👋🏼

Our hardworking vets and nurses very much look forward to providing exceptional 24/7 care for your pets when you need it 🐾

This is only the beginning and we're excited to see what the future holds! 🏨🩺

Thank you for all of your support

Vets4Pets Colchester Hospital

For further information on what this means please see the following link: animalowners.rcvs.org.uk/accredited-practices/categories-of-accreditation/

https://youtu.be/fPmkfznoX88?si=QZonwkVruGDblQf3

10/04/2024

A while back we told you that we had a few students lined up for sitting their final exams.

We are thrilled to tell you that all 3 students we're sucessful and are now Registered Veterinary Nurses! 🎉

Congratulations to Olivia and Laura C 🩺💐

04/04/2024

Meet Sophie 👋🏼

If your pet ever has to spend a night or two at our practice, there's a good chance they'll be being looked after by one of our night veterinary care assistants, Sophie.

We have two full time night vets, three night nurses and two full time night veterinary care assistants.🩺

Even though we promote sleep and rest as much as possible during a night shift, as the days can get a little busy, we also make sure that every patient gets care, attention and lots of fuss and cuddles 💕

We always want to get your pet back to you as soon as possible, but we also want to make sure we make their stay as comfortable as possible 🥰

08/03/2024

Ella was an absolute angel whilst in for her routine spay last week. Our nurse Louise couldn't resist having cuddles! 🥰

05/03/2024

The needle in Bert's chest as seen on our CT machine! 📸📹🪡

05/03/2024

✨️ Bert ✨️

Meet Bert. Bert is a cheeky little 6 month old puppy who accidently ate a sewing needle!

Bert's owners noticed a few weeks back that he wasn't quite being himself, he was off his food and more lethargic than normal.

After some blood tests, an ultrasound of his abdomen and some xrays, we spotted something a little peculiar in his chest 🪡

We transferred Bert through to our in-house CT machine and low and behold we spotted the needle in his thoracic cavity. It turns out he had eaten the needle then it perforated through his oesophagus in to his chest!

The next day we prepared Bert for surgery to remove the needle. The surgery, performed by Giovanni and monitored by our nurses, Jodie and Nicola, went smoothly and Bert recovered better than we could have imagined!

He enjoyed 2 days of TLC from our nursing team before being discharged back home to his owners 🐾

*Video of Bert's CT to follow! 📸

29/02/2024

We are thrilled to announce that we have officially been awarded Silver rabbit friendly practice status by the RWAF!

After months of an extensive application process, we are now officially listed on the directory of rabbit friendly vets by the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund 🐰

Please note, we are more than happy to see all kinds of exotic pets, not just rabbits! 🐹🦜🦎

27/02/2024

Check out these ear mites we saw under the microscope! 🪲🔬

Not many things make us squeamish in the vet world, but this had a few of us itching! 🙈

25/02/2024

When Kelly from our Colton store's Pets Grooming salon discovered a lump on the tail of nine-year-old Rufus she suspected something wasn't right, so alerted his owners Les and Andrea so they could get it checked out. They brought him to Vets for Pets Leeds Colton where it was confirmed he had a cancerous tumour which needed surgery.

Les, who adopted Rufus from Dogs Trust in Leeds as a puppy, said: “Rufus is such a big part of our life; we’re absolutely besotted with him. We probably wouldn’t have noticed the lump if not at the groomers as the tail isn’t somewhere you would usually stroke and feel. Kelly loves Rufus and really looks after him, so we want to say a big thanks for spotting it. Who'd have known what would have happened if she hadn’t noticed.”

Rufus had to have his tail removed, but is now making a good recovery. He's been visiting Kelly for a groom every six weeks for the last three years. She said: “You get to know everything about a dog as you groom them. I’ve discovered similar things before on other dogs so I mentioned it to the owners so they could get it checked out. Dogs are my life and you do worry; I’m so pleased they caught it. Now he’s got a fully docked tail like a little bunny rabbit. It’s lovely and suits him – when he gets washed he wiggles his bum.”

21/02/2024

Arthur's owner Louise says he "looked like a brand-new tortoise" after having his beak filed at Sutton in Ashfield Vets4Pets.

Louise adopted the four-year-old Horsefield Tortoise from a family member in October. Although she has had other pets, Arthur is her first tortoise, so she has been doing some research on how to best care for him.

Louise said: "I noticed Arthur's beak was unusually long, so I brought him in to Vets for Pets; I bring all my pets there. When he came out, I thought 'you beautiful boy, look at you – you look so handsome!"

Vet Steph, who looked after Arthur, says that tortoise beaks continuously grow and normally grind down themselves while they're eating. She said: "Arthur needed a little help as his jaw isn't perfectly aligned; his lower jaw is further out than his top jaw, so I filed it around half a centimetre. He was really good; a real cutie."

19/02/2024

✨️ Rey ✨️

Rey is the sweetest 1 year-old dog who was referred to us by a local vet practice after not being well for 3 days.

She had had a bone at home and since then had not been able to keep any of her food down. We took xrays and found a large piece of bone lodged in her oesophagus!

Using a scope, we could assess the damage that the sharp ends of the bone had caused, and realised, that over time the bone had become so lodged in her throat that it could only be removed surgically.

It was a challenging surgery performed by our skilled vets, Ryan and Caitilin, but very rewarding when the bone was finally out!

We were very concerned about the potential damage that this bone had caused during the time it had been stuck, but with careful medical post-op care, Rey did very well and is currently back to enjoying a normal life! 🐕

Rey was very lucky, as situations like these can be life threatening and have long lasting consequences, such as oesophageal strictures.

So this is a reminder to be extra vigilant and keep any bones that can be swallowed (especially cooked ones) away from your pets! 🦴

18/02/2024

Owner Claire says she couldn't be more grateful to Vets4Pets Hamilton after their quick diagnosis saved the sight of six-year-old Alba.

Claire knew there was something terribly wrong with her miniature dachshund cross when she called her in from the back garden last summer and Alba ran headfirst into a closed patio door. She rushed her to the vets, where investigations led the team to diagnose her with uveitis – an eye condition which causes inflammation of the middle layer of the eye.

Claire said: "It all happened so suddenly; Alba must have heard my voice and guessed where to go. It was quite scary seeing how bad she was. We couldn't be more grateful for the team in Hamilton spotting the uveitis as quickly as they did, otherwise Alba would have gone blind within a matter of days. Their knowledge saved Alba's sight. I still can't believe it happened. It's taken months of treatments, but it's such a relief to have our girl back to being her funny, bossy self."

Vet Neil, one of the team who treated Alba, said: "Alba's pupil was really narrow and wouldn't respond to light properly, which can be a sign of uveitis. Once we had ruled out other conditions, we were able to get her to an eye specialist for ongoing treatment. She's now doing really well."

16/02/2024

Ducky's owner Antonia was in a state of panic when she saw a fox had dug its way into the field where she keeps him – killing two of her other ducks and chickens.

Antonia was about to move her brood into their pen for the evening when she saw what had happened and noticed that Ducky had severe bite wounds under his wing. She rushed him to Vets4Pets Vets Milton Keynes for emergency surgery – and after having his wound stitched up the one-year-old duck is now making a good recovery.

Antonia said: "I was so worried. You don’t often hear of ducks recovering from fox attacks, but there is something about Ducky and the way he was so brave. I'm sure he was protecting a lady duck, as he's a bit of a romantic. It's the first time we've gone to Vets for Pets, and the team were amazing; they've done an incredible job."

Vet Becca, who treated Ducky, said: "He's a really lucky duck, as it was quite a big wound. When he first came in, he was understandably subdued and quiet but when he came back for his stitches to be taken out, he wanted to explore and tuck his head into everyone’s shoulders."

15/02/2024

Congratulations to our Career Development Manager, Brad, who recently found out he passed his medical nursing certificate! 👨‍⚕️

It's an honour to have you on our team, Brad! 🥳

11/02/2024

We would like to extend huge congratulations to our nurse, Chantel, who recently found out that she has passed her final exams to become a registered veterinary nurse!

Well done Chantel! 🥳🎉

08/02/2024

Meet Clover 😻

Clover has an amazing story that we would like to share with you!

Clover first came in to our Cowdray Avenue practice on the 9th of December as she was having difficulties breathing. After a quick scan, it was determined that Clover had some fluid on her chest and she was transferred to our Stanway practice for further treatment and hospitalisation.

Clover was diagnosed with a Chylothorax. Our vets initially drained 215mls of fluid off her chest, immediately Clover's breathing began to stabilise and she was discharged the following day. However, as with all Chylothorax's, there was a high chance of reoccurence.

A mere 5 days after discharge, Clover returned. This time, 120mls of fluid was drained from her chest. After some close monitoring and TLC from our nurses, Clover was once again discharged.

6 days later, Clover once again returned and had a further 200mls drained! This time she had a CT scan and echocardiogram to help us determine the cause of condition and what would be the best plan of action.

On the 4th of January, Clover was admitted for thoracic duct ligation surgery and placement of a pleuralport by our vet, Giovanni.
A dye was injected in to Clover's lymph node to visualise her thoracic duct, which Giovanni carefully dissected and ligated. Only 40% of thoracic duct ligation surgeries are successful; it is common for patients to need to continue having their chest drained. The port placed allows for a safe and more comfortable method of draining Clovers chest if necessary.

Clover was discharged home on the 7th of January. Since the 11th of January, Clover has had multiple check ups and scans and we're happy to report that she has had no further fluid drained!

We are currently checking in on Clover every 2 to 3 weeks but so far she is thriving in her recovery 💕😻

07/02/2024

Well done to the team at Vets4Pets Guildford who've been awarded a silver level certificate for being a rabbit-friendly clinic.

After head veterinary nurse Ella noticed that more customers were bringing in rabbits the practice took a series of steps to give them as stress-free an experience as possible. Ella, who also fosters rescue dogs in her spare time, said: "There was a long list of things that we needed to prove that we did from making sure the rabbits are kept separate from other animals and not booked in at the same time as barking dogs, to providing heated kennels for those who need to stay in, and using special equipment made especially for rabbits."

Practice manager Kevin said: "All of our vets have plenty of experience with rabbits we have some real rabbit geeks here, so it was a big thing to us. There are so many good people in this world and I'm so proud to be around them."

31/01/2024

✨️ All you need to know about endoscopes ✨️

Here at Vets4Pets Colchester Advanced we offer advanced endoscopy and endosurgery services that bring cutting-edge care to your furry friends:

⭐️ Low Invasiveness - Our advanced endoscopy techniques ensure minimal intrusion during examinations and treatments, prioritising your pets comfort and well being.

⭐️ Short recovery periods - We understand the importance of a quick recovery for your pets. With our state of the art endosurgery services, your pet can get back to their playful self in no time!

⭐️ Precision and accuracy - Our highly skilled veterinary team employs advanced technology for precise diagnostics and surgical procedures, ensuring targeted and effective treatment tailored to your pets specific needs.

⭐️ Comprehensive care - Whether it's for diagnostics or minimally invasive surgeries, our endoscopy services cover a broad spectrum, providing comprehensive care all under one roof.

Your pets health is of the utmost importance to us, and our advanced endoscopy and endosurgery services are designed to make their healthcare journey as smooth as possible.

Here's a few photos of our vets in action 📸.
Below you can see a small selection of our scopes: Here's a laparoscopic spay taking place, an arthroscopy and the gastroscope removing a pesky foreign body!

Our vets are always happy to discuss any of the procedures we can offer via endoscopy. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries in regards to these services.

31/01/2024

‼️ Updated opening hours ‼️

We are pleased to announce that we are extending our opening hours.

We are now open *8am - 10pm* Monday through to Sunday.

We will continue to provide 24 hour in-patient care 🐾

28/01/2024

Beautiful Bear was born deaf, so he's learned to follow his owner Lisa's visual commands.

Lisa, who shops at our Tamworth store – "it's my second home!" – got two-year-old Bear as a kitten and suspected he was deaf when he didn't respond to her voice. She had it confirmed by her vet soon after. She said: "He was very scatty, and scared of people he didn’t recognise. He wasn’t bothered by loud noises like my other cat Emily and when I came home from work he wouldn’t hear the door open.

"He's doing really well though. I try to do some sign language with him – I point at him and do a solid hand sign at him to stop. He picks up on vibrations and scents too. He meows, making a really loud chirping sound which I’ve never heard a cat do before, and he’s always rubbing his head against my legs and following me everywhere. I was advised not to let him out because he wouldn’t hear cars or other dangers, so he comes outside with me every morning to have a sniff around the garden and always comes straight back in." Bear and Lisa's other cat Emily are on Instagram as

27/01/2024

Ten-year-old Dutch rabbit Alfie has been visiting vet Kate at Vets4pets Wolverhampton for dental treatment for the last eight years – and she says he's such a loveable character that he's become "part of the family".

He's one of the oldest rabbits treated by Kate and the team, and she says his longevity is down to the care and love he gets from his owner Tracy and her family. Kate said: "Alfie is famous in this practice – everyone knows him. We and his family are dedicated to making sure her little old man is happy. The beautiful thing about being a vet or vet nurse is you build these relationships with the owners and their pets – they become your surrogate pets."

Tracy's been keeping rabbits all her life, and says that having space and routine is key. She said: "Alfie is an old man now and has a routine. He goes into a hutch at night and is let out in the morning. He's out all day and has his favourite spots in the house. We clean him out every day and give him a lot of attention. When he was younger he would follow us around; if I was clearing a cupboard out he would be in the cupboard to help. Now he's old and wants to be warm and watch instead. I can't thank Kate and the practice enough. Kate's been fantastic with him."

26/01/2024

Eight-year-old Winnie the Schnauzer cross is running around like a puppy again thanks to laser treatment and physiotherapy after two successful knee operations at Vets for Pets Basildon.

Worried owner Tracy brought Winnie in to the practice after she collapsed on a walk last year – and the team discovered the cruciate ligament in a knee had ruptured. She’s since had ops on two knees and is on a recovery plan led by vet physiotherapist Izzy.

Tracy said: "Winnie has had a tough year with 15 teeth removed, two cruciate ligament operations and two bouts of pancreatitis but thankfully she's hardy. She’s treated fabulously at the Basildon practice. Izzy is great with her – she totally relaxes in her hands and does little snores with her eyes open. Winnie has a new lease of life again and is running around like a puppy."

Izzy said: "When pets have surgery or injure themselves they move differently which causes them to be sore in other places. Winnie has laser therapy then a massage to help the healing process. Laser treatment is a specialist service that not enough people know about – it can help in so many ways after an operation.”

18/01/2024

Veterinary nurse Mel from Vets4Pets Bristol Longwell Green loves cats so much she's helped the practice make a number of improvements to give cats as stress-free an experience as possible when they're brought in.

Mel, who has an Advanced Certificate in Feline Behaviour for Veterinary Professionals, helped introduce facilities like a separate feline waiting area and cattery and the use of quiet clippers – and the practice now has a silver level certificate for being a cat-friendly clinic. She said: "I love dogs but I'm really a cat person. Cats can be misunderstood which can lead to them having quite a stressful life, so if we can make things easier for them and help people understand what cats need then everyone will be happier.

"As animal lovers there's always more to learn and understand about what makes them happy. Enrichment at the home is important for a happy cat – and as cats are naturally solitary animals if you live in a multi-cat household it's important to understand what they need. The rule is to have a resource per cat, plus one spare. So if you have two cats you should have three feeding stations, three litter trays and three scratch posts spread around the house so they have the opportunity to move around to wherever they want to go. Scratching is as natural a thing for cats to do as going out hunting is, so if they're unable to go out it's about providing the chance for them to behave as naturally as possible."

07/01/2024

Four-year-old Sebastian the Jack Russell is back to his usual boisterous self after being treated at Vets4Pets Abingdon for a condition that was causing the knee caps on his back legs to dislocate when he walked.

The condition, known as medial patellar luxation, would cause him to hop or skip when exercising. It's quite common in terriers and small dog breeds, but Sebastian's case was quite severe and he was given surgery by orthopaedic surgeon Joe to deepen the groove his patella runs in on his right hind leg, and also to move and reattach his patellar tendon.

Sebastian is owned by practice vet Hannah who said: "After the operation he just wanted to get back to normal straight away but he couldn't ... and that's where we struggled. He wanted to be out and about, charging around and playing with his toys but he needed to rest." Hannah had to give him medication for six weeks to give his knees time to heal. She said: "He's absolutely fine now – he's fully recovered and running around like a lunatic again!"

05/01/2024

When 11-year-old lurcher Jess was brought into Vets for Pets Leeds Birstall 24/7 Small Animal Hospital on Christmas Eve feeling very poorly with pyometra – a life-threatening uterus infection – the team knew they had to act fast; so vet Emily and nurses JD and Hannah headed straight in to perform emergency surgery on her in the early hours of Christmas morning.

The operation went so well that by lunchtime nurse Krishna was able to call her owner Beth to say she was well enough to come home to recuperate – and Beth made the hour-long drive from her home in Keighley so she could bring Jess home before the family sat down for their Christmas dinner. Beth said: "It was a stressful start to Christmas, as we were worried about Jess because of her age and because she's never had anything wrong with her before. We're so grateful for everything – it was so nice of them to come in on Christmas Day to operate on her, to look after her so well and to get her home on top form. The vets were fantastic from start to finish. Jess is recovering nicely – you can see the happiness is back in her!"

Krishna said: "Our night team always do an amazing job, and performing serious surgery like that at that time of night and on Christmas Day of all days is just brilliant. Jess did amazingly well to bounce back so quickly, and it was amazing being able to call her owners to say that she could come home to spend Christmas with them. It's the sort of call we all love to make, but doing it on Christmas Day was extra nice."

03/01/2024

Six-foot-long boa constrictor Astrix was the centre of attention when he called in for a routine "top to tail" health check at Vets4Pets Penzance.

Astrix, who's four, is part of a menagerie of six snakes, bearded dragons and six dogs belonging to veterinary nurse Lowenna, who works at the practice, and her partner Mark. The team looked at Astrix's eyes and mouth and checked his breathing to rule out any respiratory infections and also checked his scales.

Lowenna said: "He got a clean bill of health, he was absolutely fine and everyone had a turn holding him. Asterix is quite reserved, a little bit shy usually. He did really well when he came in as everyone wanted to touch him and he was like 'okay I quite like the attention.' Astrix has got a lovely big set-up at home. He's quite a big boy, weighing in at nearly 10 kilos, so the vivarium is more than seven foot long. We have a reptile room and he has the run of it. He has a large bucket of water too if he ever wants to submerge himself."

02/01/2024

This brave girl is collie-cross Sherpa, who the team at Vets for Pets Livingston say was "impeccably calm" when she was rushed in for emergency injury after hurting her eye in a freak accident.

Sherpa's owner Caroline was taking Sherpa for a walk when Sherpa caught her eye on a stick as she went exploring a bush. She was quickly admitted into surgery where she received X-rays and, after a two-hour procedure by practice owner Dr Adam, aided by nurse Erin, the stick was removed. Adam said: "Sherpa was amazingly tolerant following an extremely random occurrence. It was astonishing." Sherpa didn't lose her sight and is now making a great recovery.

Caroline said: “We were suddenly thrown into the worst living nightmare, it was absolutely horrifying. It’s truly a miracle what Adam and the team achieved from the moment they answered our call for help. They gave us hope."

24/12/2023

This little Christmas cracker is Molly, who survived against the odds and gave birth to three premature puppies after being brought in to Vets for Pets Cirencester as a pregnant stray with severe injuries from a fight with other dogs.

Martina, who owns the practice, said: ”It was really touch and go and we thought Molly might not make it. The team treated mum first, got her on a drip and stabilised her before successfully managing to deliver the puppies – two boys and a girl – by caesarean section."

Molly, who's a Cairn Terrier, and her three pups are recovering well at home with Martina. “As they needed 24/7 care I took them home and emptied the whole spare bedroom so there was a nice, warm and comfortable quiet place for Molly and her puppies. I was attached to her for the first five days – my husband Matt even brought food up to the bedroom for me as I stayed there all the time. It was really hard work but it was all worth it. They’re absolute darlings and doing really well now – mum is already brave enough to go on dog walks.”

Martina says Molly will continue living with her in the future, and the puppies will be adopted when they are stronger.

19/12/2023

This beautiful buzzard is on the mend after undergoing surgery on a broken wing at Vets4Pets Newmarket after he was hit by a car.

A member of the public rescued the buzzard and brought him in to see if the team could help. After a successful operation and five days of recuperation he's ben taken to The Raptor Foundation rehabilitation centre to continue his recovery.

Practice manager Natalie said: "We put him under general anaesthetic and performed orthopaedic surgery. We'll see him again next month to see how he's progressing and then hopefully he'll be released back into the wild. We wish him a speedy recovery as he's such a handsome chap.”

17/12/2023

Here's a salutary tale in the run-up to Christmas Day ... the story of poor little Tego, who had to be rushed to Vets for Pets Morpeth for emergency treatment after snaffling 48 Quality Street chocolates, their wrappers and part of the box.

Owner Sarah realised chocolate was toxic for dogs so phoned the vets who told her to get the five-year Tibetan Terrier there immediately. Sarah said: "They were brilliant with him. The chocolates were a birthday present for my daughter Olivia, and they were all wrapped up and put in the lounge with the door shut. I went to work and when I came back Tego had somehow managed to get in the room and rip into them."

Vet Eleni and the team helped Tego cough everything up and took blood tests and put him on medication before he was allowed home. Eleni said it's a useful reminder to keep chocolates well hidden – and to act fast if your dog eats any and induce vomiting within one to two hours to prevent the body from absorbing the toxins.