What our clients and patients say

I am a springer spaniel who is in love with life – too much I am told.

I came into the world full of fun – always in bother and often called a pain in the neck -still am!!
Was taken to my local vet at 18 months old as I had a lump in my neck – well I did love chewing bushes.

The lump was removed and that was supposed to be that !! – the lump went for testing -when it came back I was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer – null cell.

My owners were very upset – they had lost my big best friend Barney the previously year at 13yrs to cancer – couldn’t believe it could happen again in such a short time and with such a young dog.

My owners at the start were not sure what was best – if just to let me be and live my very short life or go forward and investigate treatment options in the hope of extending my life but more importantly my quality of life as a silly springer…

Went and met Professor Knottenbelt had a long chat on treatments and options and it was taken on board the type of doggie I was and the strong belief of my owners that quality is more important to them than quantity. It was decided I would start into chemotherapy.

I didn’t keep well but with the phenomenal support I received – we won through the 6 months of treatment. I was in remission. That was 4 and half years ago.

I am still in remission – I get regular checks to monitor my condition. Over the years I have created several lumps and have a range of underlying health issues, but the support has been there from Professor Knottenbelt to my owners, local vets and the other vet specialists – that support has been second to none.

My owners believe strongly in the quality of my life especially with the type of dog I am and have with the support of Professor Knottenbelt kept me the happy go lucky boy that you would see if you met me!!

We were also fortunate when another of our dogs was was supported by her oncology expertise, also as a practicing Veterinarian in the University of Glasgow’s Small Animal Oncology Department, where she supervised the ongoing care of our dog that had been referred and subsequently diagnosed with late stage anal cancer.

Clare did an amazing job of continuing treatment with monitoring elsewhere due to temporary relocation needs. Under her care, our dog exceeded expectations and we felt understandably relieved to see even late stage tumours unexpectedly disappear in follow up monitoring scans that were being reported back to Clare for ongoing advice.

We were very sad to lose our lovely dog in the end of course, but were amazed to hear from the two veterinary practices (local Veterinarian and another Veterinary Animal Hospital) also involved, that they both independently considered her passing to be unrelated to the cancer, or cancer chemotherapy treatment our dog had also tolerated brilliantly, and without any side effects under Clare’s care.

So thanks to Clare, our dog won her battle against cancer and didn’t suffer fighting it, win-win against any owner’s fears of this disease. More recently another of our dogs (aged over 18 years old) was also diagnosed with cancer so we felt relieved when our same local vet referred to Clare’s trusted, expert oncology support service through Hawk and Dove Vets, for management advice to support him to live pain free as long as possible, which he did under Clare’s and their care.

We have no hesitation in recommending both Hawk and Dove Vets and Clare Knottenbelt, the practice Director and Lead Vet, who we have found to be both professionalism personified, with a natural gift for incredible empathy and compassion whilst supporting pets, and their owners.”

“It helped greatly doing the consultation with you, as it made it easier to understand his condition and treatment options. You are truly a credit to your profession.”