Northwest Veterinary Specialists Oncology Department

30/09/2025

💖Everyone meet our very handsome boy, Apollo.💖

🧐Apollo was referred to Team Oncology in June 2025 following a diagnosis of a mast cell tumour at his primary care vet.🧬

🔬Given the diagnosis, we advised that Apollo should be fully staged, this allows us to get all the information on the tumour, and, if it has spread.🔬

🧐Therefore Apollo had a ultrasound scan to allow us to take needle aspirate samples of his liver, spleen, and lymph nodes.💉

🧬Unfortunatly, the results showed that there was mast cell tumour spread to one of his lymph nodes🧬.

🎉But thankfully, his liver and spleen were clear. 🎉

✂️This gave us essential information so surgery could be planned to remove the primary mass and the metastatic lymph node.✂️

💊Once Apollo was all healed from surgery we advised that he follow up with a course of chemotherapy.💊

🎉Today, Apollo completed his 3 month/8 treatment course of chemotherapy. 🎉

🧐We look forward to seeing Apollo soon for his restaging in a few weeks🔬

💖Here he is looking all smart and proud with his certificate and bandana.😎

💖We love you Apollo 💖

27/09/2025

🤩Everyone meet George🤩

🔬George was diagnosed with multicentric lymphoma by his primary care vet in May 2025.🔬

🤝He was then referred to Team Oncology to start his chemotherapy treatment.🤝

💤Due to George being very nervous at the vets, and requiring💤 sedation💤, we opted for less intense protocol involving a treatment every three weeks.💤

💉We decided on a multi-drug protocol involving epirubicin and Tanovea.💉

😔George received his first treatment with epirubicin, but unfortunately he was unwell with some gastrointestinal side effects afterwards.💩

😎Quality of life for our patients is the most important thing for us so with George being unwell afterwards we opted to discontinue ❌️ epirubicin ❌️ and continue with a single agent protocol of Tanovea.💉

🙌George received five treatments of Tanovea, without any complications, and completed his protocol on 17th September.🙌

🪅Samples of his lymph nodes were also checked, and this confirmed George was in remission.🪅

🧐George will come back to us monthly for us to check his lymph nodes!🧐

🙌Well done to George and his wonderful parents for getting through this protocol.🙌

🎂Here he is having a very well deserved chemotherapy completion - happy 4th birthday combi celebration!🎂

💖Team Oncology love you George💖

26/09/2025

Free educational event at Northwest Vet Specialists on Toxicities in dogs and cats - click the link for more info and to book🤩

🐾 FREE pet owner CPD evening 🐈‍⬛

Join Jess Herley, registered veterinary nurse and Veterinary Technician Specialist in Emergency and Critical Care, for a free educational evening.
Jess will discuss:
🍫 common toxins affecting cats and dogs
🙀 how to recognise signs of poisoning
🚑 what to do in an emergency

Food and refreshments are provided. You will get chance to tour our state-of-the-art veterinary hospital and meet other passionate pet owners.
🕧 Time: 6.45pm
🏥 Location: Northwest Veterinary Specialists. WA7 3FW
✉️ Reserve your place: email [email protected]

🌟 Spaces are limited - we'd love to see you there 🌟

25/09/2025

25/09/2025

💖Everyone meet Ernie!💖

🤕Poor Ernie has had a rough few months (which he has powered though like an absolute rockstar!💪) requiring and MRI and spinal surgery 🧐with our neurology team in April this year.

✂️The MRI also identified a splenic mass. He had his spleen removed by our surgery team in June.✂️

🔬Lab testing of the spleen, and more recently his lymphnodes revealed lymphoma, so chemotherapy was advised as a treatment option.🔬

💊So Ernie came in today for his first chemotherapy treatment with vincristine.💉

🤝What did we do to help Ernie start his chemotherapy journey?🤝

✅️Antianxiety medication administered at home to help Ernie feel less anxious about his visits to see us.
✅️Antinausea medication to hopefully make sure Ernie does not feel sick or nauseous after chemo.
✅️Local anaesthetic cream applied to his skin, so there is minimal discomfort when the intravenous catheter is placed.
✅️Treats - the menu for today was cocktail sausages (these may or maynot have contained the antinausea tablets ..... shhhhh 🤫🤫🤫Ernie doesnt know this)
✅️Quiet room with no disturbances for administering the chemotherapy.
✅️Home as quickly as we can.
✅️Supply of antinausea and antidiarrhoea medications for at home - this means his wonderful owners can start anything needed straight away.

💖Welcome to Team Oncology Ernie - we love you already🫶

(Please can everyone appreciate his little teefs🥰)

02/05/2025

😍Everyone Meet Maggie!😍

Maggie is a long term visitor to Northwest Veterinary Specialists!! Maggie first came to us in June 2022 which led to a diagnosis of renal dysplasia and chronic kidney disease, which has been beautifully managed by her super mum and dad along with our Internal Medicine department.

But in November 2024 a mass was discovered on her left hind leg, which following investigations was diagnosed as a mast cell tumour.

Maggie was then referred to our Soft Tissue department in December 2024 where she had the mass removed.

Due to the high grade nature of the mast cell tumour a follow up chemotherapy protocol was initiated in January 2025.

This involved eight injections of vinblastine over a 12 week course. Due to her kidney disease, the dose of the vinblastine was reduced to avoid toxicity or worsening her renal disease.

We had a few stop and starts with her treatment, this was due to her not feeling 100% on some chemo days, and we absolutely do not want to impact her quality of life as she's the happiest little boxer in the world.

🥳So finally this week Maggie completed her chemotherapy course.🎉

Here she is showing off her certificate 😎🥳

The ongoing plan for Miss Maggie is to return to NWVS in about one month for further investigations to assess the response to chemotherapy and to hopefully make sure there has been no metastasis (spread of the cancer).

We love you Maggie!😍

02/05/2025

Join us at NWVS for an evening focusing on dog first aid 🐶🩹

Our experienced team of vet nurses will show how to spot when something isn’t right with your pet, and how to act in an emergency before you get to a vet.

Along with the chance to practice CPR and bandaging animal models, there will also be advice on first aid, wounds and common medical emergencies.

📆 Thursday 29th May 2025
⏰ 7pm – 9pm (arrival from 6.30pm)
📍 Northwest Veterinary Specialists, WA7 3FW

Food and refreshments will be provided and there will be the opportunity to have a tour of our hospital.

To reserve a place email >> [email protected]

Join us at NWVS for an evening focusing on dog first aid 🐶🩹

Our experienced team of vet nurses will show how to spot when something isn’t right with your pet, and how to act in an emergency before you get to a vet.

Along with the chance to practice CPR and bandaging animal models, there will also be advice on first aid, wounds and common medical emergencies.

📆 Thursday 29th May 2025
⏰ 7pm – 9pm (arrival from 6.30pm)
📍 Northwest Veterinary Specialists, WA7 3FW

Food and refreshments will be provided and there will be the opportunity to have a tour of our hospital.

To reserve a place email >> [email protected]

17/04/2025

🥰Everyone meet Rosie!🥰

💖Rosie is the cutest little bean who first came to visit Team Onco mid February 2025 following a diagnosis of lymphoma🧬.

💉We started her on a chemotherapy protocol involving alternating two different medications every 3 weeks!💉

🤔Rosie's mum and dad adore her, and were understandably really quite concerned about starting chemotherapy with Rosie, mainly due to this possibility of side effects and complications following treatment that would affect her quality of life.🥴

🤝They had a good long chat with us, and a neighbour whos doggo had also had chemotherapy, about starting treatment and opted to move forward.🥳

🥳And they are so happy that they did! Rosie is kicking cancers butt right now AND having the best time!🥳

⚽️Just you all look at these videos of Rosie! The one with the football was taken the same day she had had chemotherapy three weeks ago!!⚽️ (videos in the comments)

🌳The one with the sticks, was taken a few days later!🌳

🧘‍♀️And that last one, you know, the one where shes sat on the sofa🧘‍♀️, in the sun eating a little snacky snack was taken last week, a few hours after she had had her third dose of chemotherapy!! 🌞

💖Now doesn't she look like she's having the best time! 💖

🫶Quality of life for our patients is the number one thing for us!!🫶

🤝And if that means we have to tweak protocols or doses to make sure that can happen we will!🤝

💖We love you Rosie and look forward to seeing you in a few weeks for your next treatment! 💖

11/03/2025

Everyone meet Rufus!!

Dear sweet Rufus came in initially to see Oncology Specialist Jess, and Team Oncology, before heading off to surgery.

Rufus is 100% living his best (spoilt 💖) life after surgery and we love it!!

Introducing Rufus, a remarkable patient who has shown incredible strength and resilience. 🐾

In February 2024, Rufus was referred to our skilled oncologist, Jess Grant, after an uneven ulcerated lesion was found on his gum near his back tooth. 🦷

Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma. 😔 Following a thorough CT and Ultrasound scan to ensure the disease hadn't spread, Rufus was referred to our expert surgery team. 🏥

Under the care of EBVS European Specialist in Small Animal Surgery, Matt Smith, Rufus underwent a hemi mandiblectomy to remove the tumour, with all cancerous cells successfully excised. ✂️

Throughout his procedure and recovery, our dedicated team of Registered Veterinary Nurses and Anaesthetists provided exceptional care during his general anaesthesia and immediate recovery phase. 🩺💉

Rufus spent four days in our High Dependency Unit, where our inpatient care nurses supported him throughout his recovery. They helped him regain the ability to eat and drink independently while ensuring he remained comfortable before returning home to continue his healing process. 🛏️💚

A year on, Rufus is thriving! He's back to his active, happy self and is now enjoying life to the fullest, celebrating his 9th birthday with a hike in the Peak District. 🎉🥾🎂 We are incredibly proud of his journey. 🙌

Rufus's case highlights the importance of the collaborative efforts between our dedicated teams, working together to provide the highest standard of care. 🤝🐾

22/01/2025

🎊Massive congratulations to oncologist Mary for becoming our new clinical director!🎊

Congratulations to Mary Marrington, who has been appointed as our new Clinical Director! 👋

Mary graduated from Cambridge University in 2002 before working at the RSPCA Greater Manchester Animal Hospital for five years, before completing a residency in oncology at the University of Liverpool.

After spending six years as a senior lecturer in oncology at the University of Liverpool, Mary joined us as an Oncology Specialist here at NWVS and set up our dedicated oncology service.

She was appointed Head of Oncology in 2018 and Head of Oncology and Internal Medicine in 2024. She also set up our oncology residency programme, where she has trained four residents to date.

Mary is excited to support our team of outstanding and dedicated clinicians in fostering a culture of collaboration, excellence, and innovation, ensuring the highest standards of patient care and client experience.

Outside of work, Mary is married with two children 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 four horses (Dolly, Clover, Mia, Thai) 🐎 two dogs (excitable Labrador x Skye and cheeky beagle Bingo) 🐶 and three barn cats (Ted, Roy, Keeley).

Congratulations, Mary!

22/01/2025

🥰Everyone meet Vinny!! 🥰

🥰Vinny is the bestest boy!🥰

🤕Vinny was first refered to our Oncology Service in July 2024 with suspected lymphoma. He had enlarged lymphnodes and a pleural effusion (fluid in the chest around the lungs)🧪

🧬Lab tests showed that it was lymphoma and we started a 25 week chemo protocol for him🧬

💖Vinny has done so well during the protocol and has totally stolen our hearts with his puppy dog eyes!💖

💊Today Vinny recieved his 16th and final treatment in this protocol! 💉

🎊Yay Vinny!🎊

🎊Here he is showing off his certificate🎊

💖We look forward to seeing Vinny soon for his check ups!💖

18/11/2024

❤️Everyone meet Henry ❤️

🥳Henry is a very special boy who was rescued from a life on the streets in Bulgaria.🥳

He took over his owners life in December 2023.

😕But sadly in January he started to have some bloody discharge collecting around his prepuce and a firm mass was also discovered around the body of the pen*s.😒

🧬He was referred to our soft tissue surgery department for further investigation and a diagnosis of transmissible venereal tumour (TVT) was made.🧬

🌍TVT is pretty much unheard of in the UK, but is unfortunately very common in many south eastern European countries.🌍

💉Henry received six injections of vincristine over 6 weeks and he was amazing for it!💉

❤️Henry is the sweetest and happiest little bean, and we love getting to see him!❤️ Plus he also likes biscuits - it's all part of the treatment plan I promise 😁

🥳At the end of the six treatments we re-examined Henry and found the lesion/masses had resolved.🎉

🧐Henry has had two further check ups since completing the treatment and thankfully there was no evidence of the mass reoccurring.🧐

🎉Here's Henry back in April showing off his certificate, and also then on his beach holiday this summer!🎉

We look forward to seeing him very soon for his next check up!😍