E-vets Borders, Emergency and Critical Care Veterinary Service

23/03/2025

The dangers of rat bait, and Bella the miracle Jug: 

Bella is an 8yo jug (JRTxPug) who came to Galedin Berwick collapsed, her gums nearly white and her blood not clotting. This is a sign of rodenticide poisoning, or rat bait toxicity - Most rodenticides work by disrupting the body’s ability to form blood clots, resulting in bleeding throughout the body. It is suspected that Bella, unbeknownst to her owners, had eaten rat bait.

Bella was immediately transferred to E-vets for intensive care. Bella was extremely weak when she arrived, with signs of bleeding into her abdomen and intestines. Bella was given a very grave prognosis, but her owners refused to give up on her, so vet Vicky began Bella’s intensive treatment plan: That night, Bella received a plasma transfusion to rapidly replenish lost blood clotting enzymes, and the next day vet Andy of the Galedin Gala team found a donor dog to give Bella a blood transfusion to replace lost red blood cells. 

Bella was still very weak, but with further supportive care and pain relief from the E-vets team during the night and Galedin team during the day, she made a miraculous recovery: 48 hours after arriving near death, Bella was greeting us with tail wags and dragging us along for walks outside!!! Bella is now home, improving every day as she remains on vitamin K tablets for several weeks to counteract the remaining rat bait in her system. 

~~~

It may take several days after ingestion for your pet to develop signs of rodenticide poisoning, but once they do, there is a very high risk of death even with intensive care. We at E-vets have unfortunately seen a number of these poisonings recently, and most are not nearly as lucky as Bella - They very sadly developed bleeding in areas of the body that meant they did not survive in spite of treatment. 

However, if caught before the bleeding starts, then preventative measures are often very successful with treatment primarily at home. So please, if you have even the slightest suspicion that your pet has eaten rat bait, or eaten a rat/mouse that had been poisoned by rat bait, immediately phone your vets. Even if it turns out that they didn’t eat it, it's better to be safe!

12/03/2025

Early this morning we had a royal visitor: A Mute Swan! A concerned member of the public found her wandering lost and looking weak around a busy road and so brought her to us (after dubbing her ‘Camilla’).

Thankfully, Camilla wasn’t showing any signs of illness on exam, just some weakness that came right with a bit of food and water, so the day team was able to take her to be happily released at the pond at Tweedbank. The brown feathers tell us that Camilla is still a young swan (a cygnet), born last year and likely struggling to find her way in the big bad world after being kicked out by her parents who are now tending to this year’s hatchlings.

This time of year especially it can be very difficult to help wild birds as avian influenza, or bird flu, is being spread all across the UK by wild birds. Because of this, wildlife rescues and vets are unable to take in poorly birds in case they are carrying the disease. Camilla is a special case - For the most part, we will also unfortunately be unable to help wild birds, as we don’t want to risk spreading bird flu to any clients with pet birds or chickens.

So if you find a wild bird that you’re concerned about, what should you do? The advice is the same for any wildlife: the most important thing is to safely make sure they are out of harm’s way, and then generally it is best to leave them be to recover in peace without stress from humans handling them.

In general, if you’re concerned, then give the SPCA, or if out of hours then us or your local vets, a phone for some advice before approaching the animal.

Meanwhile, we hope Camilla can now safely find her wings here in the Scottish Borders!

08/03/2025

With all this lovely weather, here is a quick reminder on what could be dangerous for your pets this spring.

For more information pick up some leaflets on toxins at reception.

03/03/2025

Important information on a recall of a batch of Boots branded paracetamol. Please be sure to check your paracetamol isn't in this recall if you are advised by one of our vets to give some to your dog for at home emergency pain relief: just as in humans, for our dogs there are instances when paracetamol is safe but aspirin can be dangerous!

‼️ UPDATE - 04.03.2025 ‼️
We can confirm that the tablets are Paracetamol. The foil is the incorrect packaging. If you have bought the product as detailed below, please return the product to your local Boots store for a full refund with or without a receipt.

‼️ IMPORTANT RECALL NOTICE ‼️

Boots Paracetamol 500mg tablets 16s
Item code 81-99-922
Batch 241005
Expiry date 12/2029

If you have bought the Boots Paracetamol 500mg tablets 16s item code 81-99-922 as detailed below, please return the product to your local Boots store for a full refund with or without a receipt.

18/02/2025

Please consider signing your pet up ❤️

New donor registrations have been really low recently, and we need to ensure we have enough blood in stock for any dog that needs it 😢

Could you help us to spread the word by sharing this post?

If your dog meets the following criteria, they could become a lifesaving blood donor and help other dogs in need:

🎂 Between 1 and 8 years old
⚖️ Weigh over 25kg
💪 Fit and healthy
🐶 Confident and enjoy meeting new people

Coming to a donation session takes only 45 minutes and each donation can help save up to four other dogs ❤️

Register today to start making a difference!

www.petbloodbankuk.org/welcome

31/01/2025

Very sadly a deceased large black brindle male entire dog has arrived to the practice after being hit by a car outside of Galashiels. He has a microchip but unfortunately it has never been registered.

If you might know this dog, please contact the practice at 01896 753759.

29/01/2025

Following on from our first aid talk (which included a section on poisonings), VPIS/Animal PoisonLine has newsletters available for pet owners on seasonal toxins. Especially if you have a cheeky hoover for a dog or a cat, see the details in their post for how to sign up!

Are you a pet owner wanting to stay in the loop with seasonal poisoning hazards that your pet may face?

Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://www.animalpoisonline.co.uk/newsletter/

28/01/2025

Check out our gorgeous stray boy from the end of last year 💫and look how well he is doing 💪

We are all so pleased for him, he got his happy ending 😊

22/01/2025

A massive thank you to everyone who came to our open evening tonight! The seats were filled, money was raised for Borders Pet Rescue, and a happy spaniel was pet as he demonstrated pulses and gum colours.

We have already had requests for an advanced first aid night with more practical elements, which we are more than happy to provide so stay tuned later this year for that!

If any attendees have any questions from the night, or if there are any other topics you'd like to hear about, please let us know either via our page here or send us an email at [email protected]

We'll see you all at the next client event (or sooner if you ever need an emergency vet)! 😸

22/01/2025

20/01/2025

Only 2️⃣ more sleeps until our First Aid open day!

We'll have a talk by vet Rebecca on first aid you can do for your pets in common emergency situations, followed by a live demo of taking vitals and bandaging on our fabulous staff spaniel Frank, and then a tour of our facilities by vet Vicky.

Entry is free and open to all! Tea and coffee and biscuits also provided.

We will have first aid bags with bandaging material, tick removers, and other items available for £10 each with all profits going to Borders Pet Rescue. We will also be having a raffle with a basket of goodies, tickets available for a £2 donation to BPR. (If you're interested in these, cash only please!)

Just rsvp on our event below so we have an idea of numbers, and then join us this Wednesday 22nd Jan 2025 at 630pm at Galedin Galashiels 👇👇👇
https://www.facebook.com/share/1CPi15anx4/

11/01/2025

We were delighted to be a part of brave Boston’s journey ❤️

Today marks exactly 6 months since my spinal surgery!
I am a little bit of a wobbly boy when I walk now, but the important thing is that I can walk!
Life has slowed down - I don't have as many toys and I can't really run or jump about anymore but these things have been replaced with more cuddles and I'm still a happy boy 🥰

We honestly can't express how grateful we are to Pawel & team at Moorview Referrals, Sofia, Katrina and team at Greenside Regenerative Therapies & Rehabilitation , Victoria, Kirsty, Sarah & everyone at Galedin Veterinary- Small Animal and Vicky and team at E-vets Borders, Emergency and Critical Care Veterinary Service ! 🥰🐶