Rutland House Referrals

24/12/2025

🎄✨ We’re Here for You This Holiday Season 🎄✨

As the festive season approaches, we want to reassure our referring vets and pet owners that Rutland House Referrals is open 24/7, 365 days a year.
Our team will be here throughout the holidays, providing emergency care whenever it’s needed 🐾
🎄 Bank holidays and weekends – Referral emergencies only.
If you need us, we’re just a call away—day or night.
📞 01744 853 510 for urgent referrals or case discussions.
For non-urgent cases click this link https://rutlandreferrals.com/referring-vets/refer-a-case or email referrals@rutlandhousevets.co.uk

24/12/2025

Merry Christmas to all! 🎄

A heartfelt thank you to our amazing staff and clients for your incredible generosity towards the Animal Shoebox Appeal. Your support has truly overwhelmed us this year! The shoeboxes have now been distributed (thanks to Maple Veterinary Surgery) to rescue centres across our area, bringing joy and comfort to so many animals in need 🐱 🐶

18/12/2025

😻👏

🙀 Sol miraculously survived after being left for dead in a plastic bag with his five siblings on a freezing cold night in Warrington.

The kittens, believed to be only two days old, were drenched and distressed when found by a member of the public and taken to Rutland House Veterinary Hospital in St Helens for emergency treatment.

Sadly, Sol became the sole survivor among his siblings. He was fostered by student veterinary nurse Seren, who provided life-saving, round-the-clock care, hand-feeding him special milk every two to three hours. Seren has hand-reared 12 kittens in total and took on the huge commitment of caring for Sol, who was so young he still had his umbilical cord.

After a traumatic start, six-week-old Sol is now thriving! Seren says fostering him has been a rewarding experience, noting he is developing a personality, and her dog Lily is obsessed with him. Sol will soon be ready to find his perfect forever home through Cats Protection in St Helens.

Help us cheer on Sol as he finds his loving family! 💛

17/12/2025

Please meet the lovely Lily receiving hydrotherapy for arthritis.

Our Freckleton branch in St Helens offers hydrotherapy and rehabilitation sessions for pain and weight loss.

If you have a pet that requires this service, please contact them on 01744 453429 https://rutlandhousevets.co.uk/contact-us/freckleton

11/12/2025

The handsome Bobby was awarded a bravery certificate today after his check-up with Ellie, one of our amazing RVNs! 🐾

11/12/2025

🎄 Christmas Jumper Day Success! 🎄

A huge thank you to all our amazing staff who joined in the festive fun for Christmas Jumper Day! Together, we raised money to support Save the Children, helping make a difference for children in the UK and all around the world. ❤️ 🌎

09/12/2025

Meet Annie, a brave Golden Retriever who’s been on quite a journey recently.

Annie is almost 12 years old and came to see us after her family noticed she was just a little “not herself” — slightly lower energy, a bit off her food, and the odd mild vomit. Nothing dramatic.

During her routine check-up at her primary vets, a large mass in her liver was found, so she was referred to us for further tests.

💛 What we found Annie’s examination was mostly normal, except that her liver felt enlarged. A CT scan showed that her liver had several abnormal areas, and there were also a few small changes in other parts of her body.

To learn more, we took a tiny needle sample from her liver. This showed a type of abnormal cell called plasma cells. Further tests on her blood and urine confirmed that Annie has a condition called multiple myeloma — a cancer of plasma cells that can affect different parts of the body.

💊 The good news Annie has now started oral chemotherapy, and she’s tolerating it really well so far. She’s comfortable, bright, and her family reports she’s feeling more like herself again. We’ll continue to monitor her closely, but she’s doing wonderfully at this stage.

Annie’s case shows that chemotherapy doesn’t have to be debilitating, and animals can tolerate it well. She also serves as a reminder that even subtle changes in our pets can be important.

Please join us in wishing Annie lots of strength as she continues her treatment. 💛🐶

18/11/2025

Meet Marvin, a gorgeous11-year-old Cocker Spaniel who came to see us after his owners noticed that on occasion, he would suddenly start drinking several times more water than normal. These episodes came and went, and in between them Marvin seemed completely himself.

Marvin had a full health check, including blood tests, urine tests and blood pressure, but everything looked normal with no explanation for his clinical signs.

An ultrasound scan of his abdomen showed a small section of his intestine that looked abnormal and thicker than it should be. At first, the samples suggested this might be a type of cancer, although the rest of the intestines only showed mild changes. A CT scan confirmed the abnormal area but thankfully didn’t show any signs that it had spread elsewhere.

Marvin had surgery to remove the affected piece of intestine, and the detailed lab analysis brought surprising, good news: it wasn’t cancer after all. Instead, it was a rare inflammatory condition affecting that part of the bowel, known as focal lipogranulomatous lymphangitis. . Marvin was put on a special hydrolysed-protein diet, and his symptoms disappeared for a while.

About three months later, Marvin started drinking excessively again and also vomited a few times. A repeat scan showed that another patch of intestine was starting to look inflamed. This time, we added antacid and immune-modulating medication alongside his diet — and the response was almost immediate. Marvin’s symptoms completely resolved.

We’re very happy to share that Marvin has now been healthy and symptom-free for three whole years, with no further problems at all.

05/11/2025

Meet Lola who has been in remission from cancer for three years! This is Lola, who was first diagnosed with Lymphoma back in September 2022; she was originally referred over from our sister hospital, having been investigated there for lameness in her back legs - scans had identified big lymph nodes in her abdomen and sampling of these made the diagnosis of lymphoma, an aggressive cancer that is treated with chemotherapy.
She underwent chemotherapy for six months, overseen by clinician in medicine and oncology Dr Chrisopher Saul, and took all of her treatment extremely well with minimal side effects. Since then, she’s been off all treatment and living her best life. We saw her for a check-up today as she reached the three-year mark, and she remains all clear!
Cancer is never a good thing to encounter but treatments don’t have to be debilitating. Not all of our patients survive as long as Lola has, but we can in many cases buy our furry friends and their humans some worthwhile time together.
If you feel your pet might benefit from seeing one of our clinicians, feel free to talk to your local vets about a referral to Rutland House.

04/11/2025

We’re delighted to share that our Clinical Director, Duncan Midgley, has been invited to speak at the prestigious VMX North American Veterinary Conference next year.

If you have a case which you wish to refer or discuss with Duncan, call us on 01744 853 510 or email referrals@rutlandhousevets.co.uk

04/11/2025

Meet Jocky! Our lovely snuggly patient that we all love. Jocky was first presented to Clinician in Internal Medicine and oncology Dr Christopher Saul with weight loss, loss of appetite, dullness and lethargy. He was also dehydrated on presentation. Initial blood samples revealed high blood calcium levels. Jocky was admitted for fluid therapy and other supportive care, as well as investigations including various different blood tests to establish the cause behind the high calcium levels. A CT scan was also performed. None of the tests established a cause, and so Jocky was diagnosed with ‘idiopathic hypercalcaemia’, a condition that results in high calcium levels but where no cause can be found. He was initially treated with chia seeds – these have been shown to reduce calcium in some cases – and this did lower his calcium initially, but subsequently his calcium levels rose again, and it was decided to treat him with a steroid called prednisolone, which he takes orally once daily.

Since starting the prednisolone Jocky has been living his best life, his appetite is normal, and his calcium levels are normal. He comes back to Rutland House regularly for cuddles and blood tests. Well done Jocky!

If your pet has unusual or unexplained symptoms and you think he or she may benefit from further investigations, please feel free to ask your vet for a referral.

30/09/2025

Please meet Ruby!

Ruby, a gorgeous 7y8m “Cockerpoo”, was referred to Clinician in Internal medicine and Oncology, Dr Christopher Saul for investigation of episodes of abdominal pain as well as vomiting and gurgling noises. Extensive blood samples did not identify any causes for the symptoms. A CT scan identified some gas in her small bowel. A trial of a special low allergy diet was only partially sucessful, with some symptoms improved but with her also needing antacid medications to completely control them.

An endoscopic examination (using a flexible camera) was performed to examine the stomach and small bowel; this revealed significant inflammation.

After a second, similar diet trail also failed to control the symptoms, treatment was started with budesonide, a mild steroid given in tablet form. Ruby’s symptoms have resolved altogether; she’s had some very mild side effects to the drug but the dose that we’ve been giving her has been reducing slowly and as it does so, the side effects will also resolve.

Now Ruby’s back to living her best life- well done Ruby!!