DOGS that have eaten something they shouldn’t. A sick kitten hand nursed for two days that touched everyone’s hearts before it died. Injured animals rushed in as an emergency, only for their distraught owners to watch incredulously as their pet gets up and nonchalantly walks away.

It’s all in a day’s work for the dedicated vets and nurses at the PDSA’s Brighton Pet Hospital, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.

Based in Robertson Road, the hospital treats nearly 54,000 sick and injured pets every year – an average of 110 cases every day.

It costs more than £1 million to run the hospital each year, with the charity relying entirely on the goodwill of their supporters for its funding.

With up to four vets on duty each day, its mission is to “turn breaking hearts into beating hearts” by providing free vet services for people in receipt of eligible benefits “to save, to protect and to heal” pets and “to educate” their owners.

“Days can be tough and extremely busy but knowing we’re changing lives by helping the much-loved pets of people in need makes it all worthwhile,” said nurse Chloe Greenland. “We’re all extremely proud of the life-saving work that takes place every single day.”

With Channel Four currently broadcasting The People’s Vet on Saturdays, showing day-to-day life in two of the PDSA’s busiest centres, this peek behind the scenes at the charity’s hospitals gives a glimpse of the kind of work that goes on in the Brighton hospital.

Diagnosing cancer, releasing blocked bladders, operating on ruptured spleens, relieving a breathing problem… in her two years at the Brighton hospital, vet Lauren Palmer, 27, has seen it all.

“It is a huge challenge,” she said. “If you can get to the bottom of an animal’s illness or condition, it is so rewarding. I love is seeing a sick animal go home happy and well.”

It’s Lauren’s first job after qualifying as a vet two years ago. She decided to be a vet at the age of 14.

She said: “You actually interact with the owners more than the animals, which is great because you get the best of both worlds. It’s a full-on job so you have to be dedicated. I’m on call in the night for emergencies and I’ve been called in for all sorts of things. Technically, vets are on call for life-and-death situations but some don’t work out quite like that.

“We will deal immediately with a ruptured spleen, such as a case where a dog had fallen over a wall, because that can bleed out, and cats can get quite distressed and be in pain with a blocked bladder. That’s also dealt with straight away because we can help the cat to be able to wee. With heart disease, they can deteriorate very quickly, and other animals with breathing difficulties are classed as emergencies.

“With accidents, though, they can look worse than they are. You can be called out at night because an animal has been rushed in, all bundled up in a blanket. Then, when the owner gently puts it down on the table, the animal just gets up and walks away. Totally all right.”

The 25th anniversary of the Brighton hospital comes during the PDSA’s centenary year. It was in 1917 the charity’s founder Maria Dickin set up a dispensary for sick animals of the poor in London’s East End. She took the PDSA to other towns and cities via a horse-drawn ambulance, treating animals and educating adults and children in the proper care of them. During the 1920s and 30s, motorised dispensaries were covering up to 80 miles each day, and permanent clinics were set up across the UK, including Brighton.

The first PDSA premises in the city opened in Portland Street in about 1927 and another opened a year later in Upper Lewes Road. This moved to Oxford Street in 1932 and it remained the PDSA’s main centre in Brighton for many years.

In 1978, the site was developed, with the premises enlarged and modernised to accommodate a shop and a veterinary centre next door. It dealt with 34,000 cases in its final 12 months before the current pet hospital opened in Robertson Road in 1993.

The new building houses six consulting rooms, two operating theatres, X-ray and isolation facilities, and recovery kennels.

Becky Knight, 27, has been a nurse for five years. “I wanted to help people as well as animals,” she said. “Some just want to talk about their pets and many are pensioners who just live for their pets. Some have fallen on hard times and need support – they want the best for their pets but often can’t afford it.”

Vet Lauren sometimes hears complaints that people shouldn’t have a pet if they can’t afford one. “But that’s not the pet’s fault,” she said.

“At the end of the day, we want pets to be comfortable while they’re here and we want to make them well, if we can.”