Many people who come to us have pre conceptions about treatments and understandably find it hard to know whether they are doing the right thing. We always recommend that  animals are at least brought to see us before any decisions are made but we felt it may be reassuring  for clients to be able to read personal accounts from some of our existing clients. The stories below are from clients we have seen from 2006 - 2008. It has been a pleasure to be involved with the care of these two characters and they each have problems which focus on different aspects of our referral service.

 

Amber

 

Amber came to us with intestinal and mesenteric lymphoma in July 2007 and so far is doing well on her treatment.

 

Ambers Owner's Story

"We couldn't believe it when the result of the tests showed that our beautiful 4 year old boxer had lymphoma. Cancer. In her bowel. We had never imagined that a dog, our dog, a member of our family, could get cancer so young. It seemed like only yesterday when she arrived.  

Our vet was great and referred us to Cave Referrals as a recognised expert in dealing with cancer. Chemotherapy was possible. This was news - chemo for dogs? Wouldn't she be ill? Anyway, we met Tom Cave who was very thorough in explaining various treatment options, possible outcomes and so on. He is clearly very knowledgeable and professional and inspired a calm confidence that Amber was in safe hands.   Each visit to Tom in Bridgwater (every two weeks) was simple and fuss free. Treatment didn't bother Amber and we were out and on our way home in an hour or less each time. Amber was periodically scanned to check progress of the treatment and so far (the 6 months of treatment finished last month) she is medically well. Fingers crossed."  

 

As far as her temperament is concerned, she is back to how she was before this all happened. Totally mad, bouncing around, charging up our hill, and being friendly to everyone.   There is a fair chance she will fall ill again, but hopefully further treatment will continue to work. We are all just so glad she is well, happy, and we have more time

Millie

Millie came to us with a blood disorder in April 2006. She was succesfully treated and with monitoring from her first opinion practice she is happy and healthy again. We still have regular updates from Millie's vet and we are pleased to know that she is still doing well

 

Millie's Owners Story

"My preconceptions of treatment for Milly included feelings of perhaps not being listened to,being rushed and not having things explained thoroughly,these feelings couldnt have been more different-we were given time to explain how we were feeling,we were immediately put at ease and had every step of her illness and treatment explained to us,we never once felt we couldnt ask further questions however important or trivial they may have seemed. We always had a contact number and never felt uncomfortable if we had to use it both with Tom,Clare and Quantock Veterinary Hospital.

We have had Milly since she was eight weeks old, she is a very loving member of our family. She first feinted when she was six years old so we took her to our local vet who referred us to a vet called Alex in Bristol for a bone marrow biopsy, Alex then referred us to Tom, we realised something was terribly wrong and we thought we were losing Milly. Tom immediately put us at ease and asked us to explain her history never once rushing us during what was a very emotional time. Tom started treatment which included various medications,biopsies and a blood transfusion keeping us fully informed at all times.

Milly had her ups and downs but nearly two years later we still have a very lively loving Milly - thanks to Tom.She has to have blood and urine tests every two months and is on a 5mg dose of Steroid every other day. We are just so grateful to Tom and his team for every extra day we have with Milly."