Grateful owner thanks specialist veterinary hospital near Newmarket which treated both her dogs hospitalised over the same weekend

A dog owner has thanked vets un Six Mile Bottom, near Newmarket, who helped get her two dogs back to full health after they were hospitalised at the same time for different reasons.

Jo Addison said it was one of the worst weekends of her life when her Irish Setters Hugo and Rupert fell ill and needed specialist treatment.

Three-year-old Rupert needed help after suffering an epileptic fit while five-year-old Hugo needed treatment after a blood test came back with abnormal results.

She took the pair to Linnaeus-owned DWR Veterinary Specialists, where staff helped them both on the road to recovery.

Tests found abnormalities with Hugo’s liver enzymes and the team at DWR diagnosed him with irritable bowel disease and extra-hepatic portosystemic shunts, which sees blood vessels skip the liver and causes a build-up of toxins.

Vets managed to tie off the affected blood vessel and suggested changes to Hugo’s diet, which Jo said had been life-changing.

And despite a slow recovery, which has included Jo, who lives in Market Deeping, visiting DWR every day to hand-feed Hugo when he would not eat, she said there had been a huge change to his quality of life.

“He is a completely different dog,” she said. “ We definitely did the right thing. He’s always been quite fussy and now he lets me know when it’s time for his special food. You can tell he just feels so much better in himself.”

And Rupert is also on the road to recovery. He has not had any seizures for some months due to medication prescribed by specialists at DWR.

“Both dogs are doing well and it’s lovely to see them playing together again,” said Jo. “ I can’t thank the team at DWR enough for their hard work and ongoing support. They’ve really been with us every step of the way.”