Fernside Vet

24/12/2024

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine issues a "safety flash" about the dangers to children.

21/12/2024

Christmas dinner for dogs?

Christmas can be an exciting time for all the family, so it’s not surprising that people want to include their four-legged family members in the festivities. This may include feeding a few yuletide treats, but be warned, some of our favourite seasonal foods could spoil your dog’s day very quickly! Common Christmas foods can cause anything from digestive upset to serious, life-threatening toxicity.

Firstly, there’s absolutely no need to feed your dog anything in addition to their usual, complete food if it’s not right for them, or you’d prefer to play it safe. For example, those with sensitive stomachs, medical conditions such as pancreatitis, or requiring special food for nutritional support of a health problem should stick to their usual diet. If in doubt, don’t feel under pressure to feed anything different– your dog won’t know that they are missing out and you may help them avoid a poorly timed illness.— with Purina UK & Ireland.
If you do decide to feed treats, a small quantity should be given alongside your dog’s usual food. A completely different Christmas Day diet consisting mostly of human food is a bad idea.

Here are some common foods your dog might be sniffing out this Christmas:

✅Turkey: dogs can eat turkey meat, but it should be boneless and skinless. It’s best to avoid any meat that’s soaked in gravy, butter or seasonings and go for plain meat instead.
✅Other vegetables: small amounts of green beans, sprouts, parsnips, peas and
swede can all be given.
➡Potatoes: be careful. A small amount of cooked, peeled potato is fine, but the butter and cream added to mash or the fat that roast potatoes are cooked in could be a problem.
➡Cranberry sauce: be careful. Small amounts of cranberries are fine for dogs, but
other ingredients in the sauce could be toxic such as sweeteners (xylitol) and nuts. It
may also have a very high sugar content.
✅Dog treats: if you plan on giving treats other than your pet’s usual food, a safe option is to purchase some treats designed for dogs, produced by a reputable manufacturer.

❎Stuffing: avoid. Often contains onions, garlic and various spices. Plants in the allium family, such as onion and garlic can cause anaemia in dogs.
❎Gravy: best avoided. Gravy can be high in fat, sodium, and contain ingredients such as garlic
❎Bones: Avoid. Cooked bones from the turkey carcass, and other meats, can damage the gastrointestinal tract lining or get stuck.
❎Dairy products: best avoided. Often high in fat and containing lactose, these
products can be hard for dogs to digest and lead to stomach upsets and illness.
❎Macadamia nuts: avoid. Can cause weakness, wobbliness, vomiting, tremors, high
temperature and central nervous system problems.
❎Chocolate: avoid. Chocolate contains a chemical called theobromine that is highly
toxic to dogs. The darker the chocolate, the higher the levels of theobromine.
Chocolate can cause a variety of problems including gastrointestinal upset, hyperactivity, tremors, seizures and heart problems. Even chocolate with minimal
theobromine e.g. white chocolate can cause gastrointestinal problems due to its high
fat content.
❎Christmas pudding and mince pies: avoid. They contain several hazardous
ingredients, the most worrying being dried grapes (raisins, sultanas, currants).
❎Grapes can cause kidney failure in dogs.
❎Pigs in blankets: best avoided. High in sodium and fat, it’s a good idea to substitute these for some lean meat instead.

If you are concerned about the health of your dog or worried that they may have eaten something toxic, you should contact your vets immediately as prompt treatment may be needed.

It pays to be prepared for stomach upsets over bank holidays. See our post on acute
diarrhoea for more information and consider stocking up on any essentials in advance: https://www.vetvoices.co.uk/.../help-my-pet-has-diarrhoea...

21/12/2024

21/12/2024

Norman is looking forward to Christmas. He may well be dreading one of Robyn's 'good ideas' outfits. However, luckily for many of our patients they have more flattering style orientated dressers. We have here Willow posing beautifully in a very tasteful outfit. Please share some of your Christmas pet outfits

16/12/2024

28/11/2024

If you receive an email from Petchip.network advising that your pet’s microchip registration has expired and you need to pay for it to be updated – PLEASE IGNORE. THIS IS A SCAM. The email comes with a link taking you to a page showing your pet’s name, microchip number, your contact phone number and looks very convincing. PLEASE IGNORE.

There is a list of approved databases on gov.uk:

https://www.gov.uk/get-your-dog-cat-microchipped

Typically you would only pay a fee or first registering your pet or if you contact the company to update your details .

It is important to keep your pet’s microchip contact details up-to-date including if you move address or change phone number/ email address. Please contact your microchip provider direct to update your details.

23/11/2024

Is that puppy advert as it seems?

“The available estimates indicate that Europe’s pet trade (cats, dogs, exotic) is the third most profitable illegal trade in the EU, after narcotics and weapons,”

The crimes it encompasses are numerous and complex, including smuggling, tax evasion, market fraud, consumer fraud, animal abuse, and danger to individual and public health.

The volumes are staggering: some eight million new dogs are required annually to supply the European market, but only about 1.1 million are produced by official breeding facilities. A smaller portion are adopted from rescue shelters or acquired from acquaintances, but that still leaves a vast, secretive supply chain that supplies millions of dogs every year.

The sales take place primarily on the internet, and the hand-offs are made in cars parks, highway service stations, and rented houses. The markup value can be no less staggering as that in the drug trade: a Hungarian puppy farm can create a French bulldog for 20-40 euros that, in one month’s time, will sell to a British buyer for 5,000-8,000 euros.

https://www.occrp.org/en/feature/the-canine-connection-europes-illegal-dog-trade

The Dogs Trust has been investigating this for a number of years and the information is shocking.

Check out the latest report:

Key finding include:

❎The total number of imports found was 91 (England 78, Scotland 13, Wales 0)- This works out as 29% of adverts in England, 7% in Scotland and 0% in Wales
❎14% of all adverts reviewed were for imported puppies
❎At least 18% of the imported puppies were confirmed by the seller as being under the minimum 15 weeks of age. Many others were suspected of being underage
❎Adverts for imported puppies were found on all four of the classified websites
❎The youngest puppy advertised was only 7 weeks of age when it entered Great Britain, too young to legally leave its mum
❎None of the puppies confirmed as having been imported could be viewed with mum
❎Only two of the 91 adverts for imported puppies included a photo or video of mum
❎None of the original advert text stated that the puppy had been imported, this was only revealed by further conversation

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/downloads/puppy-smuggling-report-2020.pdf

Read more here:

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/our-views/puppy-smuggling

23/11/2024

Buying a pedigree cat has become more popular in the UK, see the Cat Protection info screenshot. A breed that few of you will have met is the Siberian Forest cat. Crystal was at Fernside recently and we got her to pose for the camera as she is both beautiful and good natured.

We have quite a variety of pedigrees coming through our door. Persians have been overtaken in popularity for long hair breeds by the very large Maine C**n, sweet natured Birmans and Ragdolls. The most popular short-haired cats are Siamese and we are hoping that one of our young breeders gets a litter next year from her more old fashioned Siamese. A big plus of the old fashioned type is that they are less likely to be cross eyed and spidery in build.

Please, please do not get a Scottish Fold. This cat sadly became more popular as Taylor Swift has a couple. They have a hereditary disease that damages their joints making life very painful for them. Cats do not cope well with intense genetic selection for unique shapes and colours.

23/11/2024

Tilly and Bandit came for a visit this morning wearing wonderful coats.

Update, these were purchased via Amazon from Morezi, called Greyhound winter coats

They have an almost waxy outer waterproof layer and fleece inside. Finding good winter coats is always a challenge as you want good cover without swamping your dog. It is a good idea to measure how long your dog is from the collar to the top of the tail so you can select a size accurately. In cold weather we don't want exposed bottoms!!

Note also, in elderly dogs you want to get coats they can easily step into. Avoid the need to scrunch up legs to fit them into such as upper leg wrap around types of jackets. Zips along the back are very helpful in tiny dogs.

13/11/2024

😻 Play is great enrichment for cats, so we’re bringing back these lovely illustrations by Lili Chin from our 2022 International Cat Day campaign!

There are many different ways cats can play, so take note of what your cat likes to do. 🪶 A wand toy is a good place to start – try wiggling it in short bursts along the floor or swooping it slowly through the air above them.

🔔 Give yourself a reminder to play with your cat for 5 minutes each day and you will also see how much it improves your bond with them.

Check out more ways to enrich your cat’s life at home and make your home more cat friendly 👉 https://icatcare.org/advice/making-your-home-cat-friendly/

Doggie Drawings by Lili Chin

05/11/2024

Our soon to qualify student nurses, Yasmin and Chloe, gave a helping hand in this morning consult. Pictured we have 5 very cute border terriers in for their first vaccinations before setting off to start their new adventures with their new families. 🐶🐾

09/10/2024

Fernside turned 28yrs old on Sunday 6th October. Robyn took on the Borehamwood lock- up shop of the Medburn Veterinary Surgery, run by Dr Vivian Sheriden from her main base on Theobald St. The old Sweeties adjacent shop was properly incorporated at the end of 1997 as it was an empty space in 1996. The photos show the rather large journey that Fernside has had to make to become a modern surgery.

In 1996 Robyn was very lucky to be able to inherit Melainne Cole and Kerry Skinner from Vivian's employment. These two knew the clients and were very hard working! If you look through the photos the high gloss floral wallpaper in the waiting and consultation rooms was a memorable feature of the very early days. We had a totally handwritten card system although Robyn didn't adopt Vivian's fountain pen. The old cards were often most amusing to read, we could never write 'Vet hopper' today as a sign off for a disenchanted client now !
Bugs, Robyn's little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, used to spend a lot of time in the surgery, she was clever at stealing cake and this included from clients' shopping bags. Robyn worked 24/7 at the start as there were no out of hours services available. The first Christmas was just four of us at the then Greek restaurant on the corner of Grosvenor Road.
We worked in an extra chaotic space at the end of 1997 as the two shops were joined up and pretty much every surface was redone. It was essential to invest in blood analysers and new X-ray facilities from the very beginning. We used to process X- rays in a dark room ( ie lights off) through 3 tanks of fluid while holding the plates with metal clips. The first automatic processor still required darkness to unload the plate, see the photo of what looks like a tent. All this is thankfully digital now.

It has been quite a journey since 1996

02/10/2024

Sometimes, it can be really difficult to know if what you're reading is legitimate.

And the same can be said for puppies, as many people can fall for very convincing puppies which turn out to be from unethical and illegitimate operations.

One thing we don't celebrate enough are owners who breed puppies who are invested in the health of their dam and sire, and of the long term outcomes of their puppies.

People who invest huge amounts in ensuring their puppies are raised in clean, comfortable, homely environments and are equipped to deal with their purpose - whether a working dog or a family pet.

We should celebrate those who go above and beyond to socialise and provide safe, enriched environments for the puppies to learn at their own pace. Who ensures the mum is healthy, happy, calm and prepared for whelping.

Those who engage in health testing to ensure, as best they can, that they're producing puppies who will be set up for success, who use the preventative medicine they need and who are financially prepared to do whatever necessary to care for their animals needs.

Something everyone should do is keep aiming to learn and improve, so learning from others is a great way to share information.

If you have bred dogs, or if you're a veterinary professional who sees common trends for what goes wrong, please share that information.

Some top tips are:

✅ Ensure you have owners lined up before a mating, so you know that you have plenty of responsible homes waiting for you.

✅ Always have the option to have a puppy returned to you as a back up - this avoids them getting passed around or into rescue if it doesn't work out.

✅ Health test and repeat if necessary!

✅ Make sure prospective owners are appropriate for your breed! Asking for information from the new owners should always happen before!

✅ Make sure they come meet the mum and puppies where they were raised so everyone is happy that the conditions are exemplary.

✅ Don't breed for aesthetics or extreme conformation - always breed for longevity and health.

✅ Remember that a recent RVC study revealed that the overall health of three common crossbreeds (Cockapoo, Labradoodle and Cavapoo) is largely similar to their parent purebred breeds. So don't go for a cross breed just because you think it's healthier, but equally don't go for a cross breed just because they're cute looking - make sure you're aware of their coat and grooming needs and also what the dog is crossed with - remember that many of these dogs are incredibly high energy working breeds - they might look cute but they need lots of hard work (as do all puppies).

What's your best tips! 👇

25/09/2024

Little Pasha came in to see us tonight. Pasha is a 4 month old miniature Pomeranian and he is not yet 1kg! Pasha did not have the best start in life but is doing better and better!

16/09/2024

📅 One week to go to apply for our BVetMed Work Experience Support Programme

Designed to give people from underrepresented backgrounds, who have been unable to fulfil our work experience requirements, the opportunity to gain the necessary experience to join our BVetMed degree

➡️ For more information visit: https://www.rvc.ac.uk/news-and-events/rvc-news/new-work-experience-support-programme-for-bvetmed-applicants

16/09/2024

Everybody meet our new vet Ring and her cat Crumble!
Ring started with us back in July, so has already had the pleasure of making acquaintances with some of you.
Ring graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2021 and has since worked in practices across London.
She is looking forward to gaining more experience from our already very experienced vet team.
Did you know our vet team have a combined 89 years worth of experience!

Because of Ring starting, we can now offer a lot more bookable appointments and we are pleased to announce that our books are and will remain open for new clients!