There's nothing worse than the moment of panic that sets in when your pet starts acting strangely, has an accident or generally just becomes very unwell quite rapidly. We've all been there and it's absolutely horrible. Most of the time, the problem is resolved by a quick phone call to your local vets in order to get an appointment. Sometimes, though, these things happen in the middle of the night, on a bank holiday or some other inopportune moment. That's when the real panic sets in.

Dogs have a set of stiff hairs protruding from the sides of their muzzles that are popularly called "whiskers." These are not at all like the nonfunctional whiskers that men sometimes grow on their faces. Cats have similar hairs and people often refer to these as "feelers" and this may be a better name since 'whiskers' really are sophisticated devices that help the dog feel its way through the world. They are quite different from most other hairs on the dog's body, since they are considerably more rigid and embedded more deeply into the skin.

We all know how cats love to keep themselves clean and if you are a cat owner yourself you can probably agree that a large amount of your cat's time is spent cleaning and beautifying itself. A common side effect of this fastidious approach to personal hygiene is that some cats then develop hairballs. We often get phone calls from owners worried about their cat having vomited up a UFO (Unidentified Furry Object) and often enough, it is a hairball.

This summer we have met a lot of new chelonian faces. "What's a chelonian?" you may ask. Chelonian is defined as "a reptile of the order Testudines (formerly Chelonia ); a turtle, terrapin, or tortoise." Our most common species of chelonian that we see is by far the tortoise. Anybody who keeps an eye on our Facebook page will be familiar with the likes of Paris, George and Eugene, to name but a few of the tortoises that have "shelled out" for a visit (I'm sorry I had to do it).