We tackle creatures great and small at Langford Vets. Patients presenting with cruciate ligament injuries are very common but our tiny patients and giant breeds often present their own unique challenges.
Parker is a 4kg Chihuahua with suffering from a severe bilateral hind limb lameness caused by grade III/IV medial patella luxation with concurrent cranial cruciate rupture. Investigations included radiographs and CT examination to assess for angular deformities. Staged procedures were performed by our senior surgeon Alex Belch with Junior Orthopaedic Clinician Alex Chan. A 2mm TPLO and patellar groove replacement was performed on each stifle six weeks apart. Parker has recovered brilliantly from the procedures and is back to running around!
At the other end of the spectrum, Ria a 70kg Leonburger presented with bilateral cruciate rupture last year. In this instance the surgery was performed by our senior orthopaedic surgeon Nicolas assisted by our surgical resident Dan Lomas. In this instance a TPLO was performed using a 4.5mm locking plate and screws. We have the cutting edge facilities to allow us to safely move patients of this size through from anaesthesia to radiography to surgery. This is not only important for the patient, but also for the health and safety of our team. Having many specialist surgical nurses and animal care assistants allowed Ria to stay comfortably overnight before being discharged the following day.
Breagha was treated at Langford Vets for minimally invasive coil embolisation of an intrahepatic shunt. Here is her story in her owner’s words
We are thrilled to share the successful recovery story of Rinty, a brave dog who recently underwent complex surgery for a peripheral nerve sheath tumour. 🐾
Rinty was internally referred to our soft tissue surgery team due to progressive lameness caused by a left sciatic nerve tumour.
Key clinical findings included: ·
Significant muscle wastage in the hamstring and gastrocnemius muscles
· Reduced withdrawal reflex in the left hind limb
· Partial use of the left hind limb with occasional hopping
An MRI demonstrated thickening of the sciatic nerve to the level of the cranial acetabulum. Upon further consultations involving our orthopaedic, neurology, imaging, soft tissue, and anaesthesia teams, we opted for a left hind limb amputation and central hemipelvectomy to try to ensure the nerve could be transected high enough to get clean margins. Soft tissue surgeon, Alastair Mather was the lead surgeon for this complex case with assistance from one of our surgical residents Daniel Lomas.
Despite the complexity of the surgery, Rinty has shown remarkable resilience. The histopathology confirmed a peripheral nerve sheath tumour with complete excision, which carries a good prognosis. Thanks to the coordinated efforts of our dedicated team and Rinty's determined spirit, he has made a wonderful recovery and is back to his usual self, running in the garden. 🌟🐶
Check out the video of Rinty enjoying his newfound mobility!
This June, we're excited to have our soft tissue and orthopaedic surgery teams take over our social media channels! At Langford Vets, our dedicated surgery team consists of:
· 8 Specialist Veterinary Surgeons
· 2 Senior Surgeons
· 6 Residents
· 1 Junior Clinician
Our surgeons are supported by an exceptional team of nurses, animal care assistants, rotating interns and our front of house team, ensuring that every pet receives the highest level of care from the time they arrive in the hospital until they leave. In addition, our team of surgeons collaborate closely with a wide range of specialists in other disciplines, enhancing our ability to manage a variety of cases more effectively. In fact, we have the largest multidisciplinary team in the South West and one of the largest teams in the country.
With our highly experienced team and state-of-the-art facilities, including an intensive care unit, you can rest assured that your pet is in safe hands. We are equipped to handle a wide variety of cases, providing outstanding surgical care tailored to each pet's (and owner’s) unique needs.
Throughout the month, we'll be introducing you to our surgery team, sharing their expertise, and showcasing some of the incredible work they do. Your pet's health and quality of life are our top priority, and we are excited to share our passion for soft tissue and orthopaedic surgery with you!
Yesterday we celebrated our 50th year anniversary of our outstanding feline centre with lectures led by our amazing multidisciplinary team!
Thank you to all those who attended and celebrated with us, we had a great day networking with you all and raising a toast to 50 fantastic years! A huge thank you also to our sponsors, particularly to our main sponsors Hill’s Pet Nutrition who helped make this day such a great success. Here's to another 50 years!
@hillspet The Langford Trust for Animal Health & Welfare IMV imaging GB & Ireland Boehringer Ingelheim @krkaofficial
This dapper chap is Louie – as with many of the cases we see, he is a wonderful example of how our multidisciplinary specialist team offers that extra level of expertise, and thus, treatment options. Whilst his care was overseen by our medicine team, Louie benefited from our specialist radiologists, anaesthetists and soft tissue surgeons too!
Louie had urolithiasis (urinary stones) which had formed due to a urinary infection and caused a blockage in his urethra, preventing Louie from urinating properly. Here is Louie’s story, in his owner’s words.
‘From the time that we were referred to Langford and had our first teleconsultation with Jenny we knew we were in good hands. Jenny was very thorough about gathering all the evidence we had of Louie’s symptoms…everything was made clear about the plan on diagnosing Louie. It was decided that Louie would need a scrotal urethrostomy…we knew he would be in the best hands.
Louie had the operation and stayed at Langford for a few days afterwards where we received daily calls on how he was doing. The day come where we had to pick Louie up and he was so excited to see us. Everything was explained in detail about how to care for him afterwards and what to look out for. Jenny stayed in contact with how Louie was doing and it was great comfort knowing that they were only a phone call away if needed. Louie recovered quickly and was back to himself after a few weeks rest.
It is now nearly 2 years on and Louie is doing great and enjoying his caravan holidays all around the country. We are very thankful to Jenny and all the team that helped Louie. Being nearly 2 years on and being contacted about Louie truly shows how much Jenny and the team care.’
In addition to providing outstanding care to our patients, our nursing and animal care teams play a central role in many of our diagnostic procedures – Liz, one of canine medicine nurses, has reflected on her role here…
‘As a canine medicine nurse I am able to be involved with a wide range of procedures such as endoscopy, as well as helping with multiple types of diagnostic sampling, for example joint taps and bone marrow biopsies. My role is hugely varied, as along with helping with procedures, I also am involved with nursing our patients in the ward. I really enjoy seeing our patients progress from admit to discharge, and being able to aid the clinicians with patients’ diagnostic investigation.’
Feline Chronic Kidney Disease
It’s Feline Friday again!
Chronic kidney disease is common in cats and is a condition requiring supportive treatment in many cats as they get older. Some cats will unfortunately develop kidney disease at a younger age, and in many of these, chronic intermittent ureteral obstructions (blockages of the ureters, through which urine normally flows, from the kidneys to the bladder) with urinary stones, is an increasingly recognised cause. Some of these cats present with life-threatening obstructions, causing sudden and marked reduction in their kidney function and associated inappetance, vomiting and pain.
We are fortunate that over the last 10-15 years, interventional procedures have been developed to implant subcutaneous ureteral bypass (SUB) devices in affected cats – which essentially act as an artificial ureter – restoring kidney function and alleviating the associated clinical signs.
These cases are a great example of where a truly multidisciplinary specialist team approach is invaluable – these patients benefit not only from our medicine and critical care teams for the emergency management and longer term care, but also our diagnostic imaging and clinical pathology teams in confirming a diagnosis, our anaesthesia and surgery teams for their expertise in placing the SUB devices and also our cardiology team in many of these cases too – occult (clinically silent) heart disease is common in apparently healthy cats and can become a problem during other illnesses, particularly where fluid balance is affected, such as in the presence of kidney disease – having a cardiology team on site should any concerns arise, is a great asset to the care that we can provide to not only these, but all sick cats.
Today we are showcasing Alabama, as a gorgeous example of one of our feline patients who has benefited from a SUB device as treatment of her kidney disease. Her owners have shared reflections on their experience …
‘We are so thankful for the continued
Did you know? We are the referral centre that your vets choose for their own pets, when they need specialist care.
This handsome fellow is Billy, who belongs to one of our referring vets. He developed sudden onset lethargy and inappetance, and blood tests had shown he had dangerously high blood potassium levels – this is always a worry, because high potassium levels can adversely affect the electrical activity of the heart, potentially causing life threatening heart rhythm disturbances. Further testing had confirmed Addison’s disease (steroid hormone deficiency) as a cause of his high potassium levels, but despite the usual emergency treatments for this, Billy’s potassium levels were not responding as well as hoped.
At this stage, Billy’s owner, as the referring vet herself, self-referred him to Langford, for our specialist expertise and clinical care in resolving his potassium problems.
Billy spent his first 24 hours in our intensive care unit, on telemetry (continuous wirelessly transmitted heart rhythm monitoring), whilst we adjusted his intravenous fluids and medical therapy to correct his potassium levels.
Although the initial phase of their disease can be life-threatening, once a diagnosis has been made and emergency treatment given, the longer term the prognosis for dogs with Addison’s disease is excellent for return to normal quality and longevity of life, with life-long steroid hormone replacement. Adjusting the steroid dose to achieve an optimal dosing strategy to fully control clinical signs, and avoid side effects, can take a few months.
As well as providing emergency care for patients in the emergency stage of Addison’s disease, our team are experienced at adjusting chronic medical therapy for Addison’s disease but also many other chronic conditions – many of our referrals our for patients who already have a diagnosis, but are not doing quite right on the prescribed medication and require adjusted therapy to maximise their quali
The Feline Centres 50th Celebration
This year our outstanding Feline Centre is turning 50! In celebration of this we will be running a full day of in-person lectures, masterclasses and practical sessions delivered by our fantastic multidisciplinary vet and nursing teams. The day will take a look at ‘The Feline past, present and future’, starting with a short presentation celebrating the heritage of our Feline Centre.
If you are a veterinary professional please come and join us in our celebration on Wednesday 15th May 2024! For more information on our lectures and to book your place: https://www.langfordvets.co.uk/feline-celebration-day
Merry Christmas from Langford Vets Small Animal Referral Hospital
Wishing a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of the wonderful pets we have seen this year, and their lovely owners and fantastic referring vets! Lots of festive wishes from myself and all of my colleagues here at the Small Animal Hospital - Vicki Black - Hospital Director
RideSomerVet Finish Line
He did it!!
121 practices in 2 days
Over 400 miles
Oscar completed his Ride SomerVet challenge arriving at the Langford Vets finish line around 1am this morning. He was greeted by family, friends and colleagues from Westfield Vets who had supported him throughout his journey. This challenge was exceptional in it’s planning but no one could have predicted the sweltering heat the last two days have brought. Oscar Sinfield you truly are a legend, a huge congratulations to you and your fellow cyclists.
It’s not too late to show your support by making a donation:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/ride-somervet?utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR20qRzHgU0aAZXLEoJBE_DddHpA2b6nO_wS3LoMctcpES32_HXEKsot-NA
Vetlife
We're excited to welcome you to Vet Nurse Congress 2023 at Langford Vets! We have a fantastic day of lectures scheduled from our brilliant nurses, here's what our delegates from last year's congress had to say about the day.
Book your place by 20th Aug: www.langfordvets.co.uk/vnc2023
Special thanks to sponsors:
Pennine Veterinary
RSA (linkedin.com/company/rsa)
Langford Vets Flow Coordinator
Watch our video to find out more about Helen's role and what is involved as a Flow Coordinator within a Veterinary Hospital.
#OurProfessionMyResilience
#VNAM2022
#whatVNsdo
#VetNurse
#VeterinaryNurse
#RVN
#langfordvets
Emergency and Critical Care at Langford Vets
We are looking for a for a dynamic, motivating and proactive Veterinary Nurse to lead our amazing ICU team. Could this be you?
Watch our video to find out more about our Emergency and Critical Care Unit.
To apply and find out more about our Head ICU Nurse role: https://www.langfordvets.co.uk/vacancies/head-icu-nurse/
Closing date: Friday 8th April 2022
Thanks again for all your photo submissions, here is our last video of our teams decorating our tree with your pet photos. We hope you’re having a great Christmas and wishing you a happy new year. 🎅 #baubles #christmastree
Merry Christmas! 🎅 Here are more of your pet photos as baubles on our Christmas Tree, check in later for our last video. #baubles #christmastree
☃️ Pets and Christmas trees don't always mix, but we certainly found a way this year! ☃️
#christmastree #baubles
🎄Here are some more of your pet photos turned into decorations for our tree🎄 Submit your own at langfordvets.co.uk/sahxmastree
Our teams are loving getting involved with decorating our tree and seeing all your photos, keep them coming!
#christmastree #baubles
