News

Gemma finds hair-raising hairball hard to stomach!

Gemma, an 8 year old long-haired cat, was brought in to the surgery because she was very quiet and hadn't eaten much for 4-5 days. When the Vet examined her, she had a large lump in the front of her abdomen. Vet Sarah Xrayed and scanned Gemma using ultrasound to confirm that the lump was in the region of Gemma's stomach.

Gemma was taken into the care of Vet Neil who performed an exploratory operation, which revealed the lump was a large and solid hairball which was completely filling her stomach. Neil removed the hairball which weighed 214g and measured 12.5cm across.  No wonder Gemma was feeling extremely unwell, there was no way she could have cleared or passed it by herself! Although hairballs are relatively common in cats, our Vets have never seen one so big. Without a doubt Gemma's operation saved her life, she is now back at home and has made an excellent recovery.

Helpful tip! Most cats groom themselves regularly and may vomit small hairballs every week or two. It is important to comb/brush cats to remove as much dead hair as possible, particularly when they are moulting. If your cat resists grooming we can offer advice on hairball control diets and other products to help avoid large hairballs. 

Pets 'n' Vets Calendar 2012

As part of our centenary celebrations, we held a children's picture competition for 4-11 years olds. We are amazed at the number of entries we have had and we must say what great drawings they are!! The lucky winners have been chosen by Dame Norma Major and the pictures are printed in a 2012 calendar!

Riverside Gala - Great crowds, great weather & great fun, all for a great charity!!

What an amazing day! More than 2000 people (and their furry friends) joined us for our 100 year celebrations at the family fun day at Riverside Park, Hartford Road, Huntingdon on Saturday 15th October. The wide range of attractions included a fun dog show, have-a-go canine agility, gun dog scurry, trade stands, tombola, raffle, a hog roast, kids bungee trampolines, a bouncy castle, "Barking Bakery" and doggy demonstrations. Visitors also got to meet "Homer" the Scops owl with his feathered friends from a local bird rescue and "Pepy" the skunk and his slitherly companions from Shepreth Wildlife Park. We were delighted to be joined by Wayne Palmer and "Berkeley" the chocolate labrador from Hounds For Heroes who was around most of the day to talk to everyone about the work of the charity.

We are absolutely thrilled with all the support you gave us on our centenary celebration and we are thrilled to announce the day raised the grand total of £2173. 81 for Hounds For Heroes. 

Selected photos courtesy of Photous Photography.

Centenary time capsule & stone plaque

As part of our centenary celebrations the idea came to have a time capsule embedded into the wall of our new extension at our Huntingdon Hospital. We are proud to announce that the time capsule is now in situ in the outside wall of the "Buttons Bradley" room and covered by a celebratory stone plaque. Hopefully in another 100 years the capsule will be opened by the future staff of the Practice and they will find: an identification microchip, an invoice, an advert from the Hunts Post, an Xray, the history booklet (available free of charge from any of our surgeries), our brochure, a tablet pot, some ear drops, a price list and the poster for our Riverside Gala event. The plaque was officially unveiled by Rachel Thurley (widow of Tom Thurley, a previous Partner of the Practice) and Simon Thurley (son of Tom and Chief Executive of English Heritage) on Saturday 15th October 2011.

Hounds For Heroes

The Cromwell Veterinary Group are proud to be supporting "Hounds For Heroes" this year. This valuable UK charity provides specially trained assistance dogs to injured and disabled men and women of both the UK Armed Forces and the civilian emergency services. We've already held numerous events including "Hop For Heroes" (a sponsored space hop around Huntingdon), "Paws For A Cause", "Group dog walk", the "All Creatures Great & Small" event with Ramsey Rural Museum and of course our infamous "Riverside Gala".

Along with your generous donations we have raised £5202.94 so far! Thank you so much for your support - what an amazing total! 

Le Tour De CVG

Our staff successfully completed "Le Tour De CVG" on Saturday 27th August! 7 members of staff and 5 friends and family  cycled through rain and shine to notch up a massive 633 miles between them. Sponsorship money is still being collected and you can still donate at any of our surgeries or visit our Just Giving website. A big congratulations to them all - WELL DONE! 

Updated Gallery

Visit our Gallery to view photos of polar bears and other wonderful wildlife taken by our vet Carol Barker during her trip to Svalbard (Norway), All Creatures Great & Small event May 2011 and the story of Snowy, the Westie who ate some toy cats!