Branch member, Geoff Alderton telephoned be to give me news of his hound, Iggy She had been acting out of character, being restless and salavating, so he took her to his vet.

The hound was referred to a practice called, Dick White Referrals specialists who provide a wide range of services including soft tissue surgery, orthopaedic surgery, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, neurosurgery and oncology. After being given authority by his insurance company ? such places do not come cheap ? he booked the hound into their base near Newmarket.

Geoff raved about the high quality service that he received as well as the facilities, calling the centre, ‘a Harley Street doctor for dogs’. The practice sounds very plush with underfloor heating and air conditioning. I also see from their website that they have six acres of paddock where convalescing dogs can be exercised.

Iggy was left for a short stay at the centre and thoroughly checked out by Giunio Bruto Cherubini, a top European neurological specialist. She was given an MIR scan and other exhaustive tests. She was diagnosed as suffering from epilepsy and put on a regime of medication which appears to have resolved the problem.

Geoff was so impressed with this service that he wanted other branch members to be aware of this excellent referral practice. Their website is dickwhitereferrals.com .