Whitworth Veterinary Practice Ltd

28/12/2024

🎆 Fireworks Season is Upon Us 🎇

With the New Year nearly upon us, that means it is time for fireworks season. Fireworks can be absolutely terrifying to all animals, therefore it is important to try and keep this time of year as stress free for our pets as we can. Here are some tips:

1. Walk your dogs BEFORE the fireworks start. Walking dogs during the fireworks may cause them to get spooked and run 🐶
2. Keep your cats INSIDE once it gets dark 🐱✨
3. Do NOT leave your pets home alone if possible 🏠
4. Have some background noise as a distraction, such as the TV or radio 📻
5. Make sure your pets microchip details are up to date incase they get scared and go missing (this is a legal requirement for both dogs and cats)
6. Create a safe space for your pets such as a den which they can use to hide away ⛺️
7. Use calming room sprays and diffusers for pets to help relax them 💤 (ask our staff for more information on these)
8. Close the curtains and blinds to keep the bright lights out from the fireworks 🪟
9. Provide plenty of bedding for small furries to burrow in, you can also partly cover their pen with a thick blanket to help muffle the sounds 🐹🐰
10. Try to remain calm yourself, pets may sense if you are behaving unusually, this can make them more nervous/ scared.
11. Make sure your house and garden is escape proof, pets may try to bolt and escape if they get spooked.
12. If your pet is exceptionally scared of fireworks and none of these tips help, contact us on 01394 271112 and a vet may be able to help with medications 💊
13. For next year: make sure to start EARLY and desensitise your pets to fireworks. Slowly introduce them to loud noises throughout the year, start small and slowly build up at their pace. Give them treats or toys so they associate these nosies with something positive. Ideally this needs to start after the new year this year so you have the whole year to prepare for next year 🗓️ 🎆

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact us on 01394 271112 📞

Let work together to keep our pets happy and safe this New Year 🐹🐶🐱

Happy New Year to you all 🎇🍾

25/12/2024

🎄Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year, from Whitworth Vets 🎁

19/12/2024

🎄 12 Risks of Christmas… 🎁

While Christmas is a fun and festive time of year, this season poses many risks for our fury friends ⚠️

Items such as Christmas decorations, children’s toys and cooked bones can cause gastrointestinal obstruction if ingested 🍖🎄

Foods such as: sweeteners, chocolates, raisins, nuts, onions and blue cheeses can cause severe stomach upset and even lead to further complications such as anaemia, seizures, heart arrhythmias and kidney damage 🍫🧅🍇

Rock salts which are commonly used for gritting the roads can cause burning of their paw pads and convulsions and kidney damage if ingested 🧂

Festive plants such as holly and mistletoe can cause severe stomach upsets if ingested 🪴

Antifreeze if ingested can lead to seizures and kidney damage 🚙

These are just some of the items which are toxic and pose life threatening risks to your pets during Christmas time. If you think your pet has gotten hold of or ingested any of these, please call us immediately on 01394 271112 📞

Merry Christmas to you all 🎁🐈‍⬛❤️🐶

18/12/2024

*** Update: Owner Found ***

📣 Stray Cat Found 📣

We have had a female, calico/tortie cat brought into us this morning by a member of the public.

She was found at High School foot bridge in Felixstowe.

She has no collar and is chipped but details are not up to date.

If you think she may be yours or have any information which may help us in finding her owners, please call us on 01394 271112 📞

18/12/2024

🎁 CHRISTMAS RAFFLE 🎄

The Christmas raffle for Colchester Caring For Our Cats will be drawn this Friday! ⏰

We still have plenty of raffle tickets left if you would like to pop down to the practice and purchase some. The winner of the raffle will get the hamper shown in the photos below which is filled with lots of yummy festive goodies 🍬🍫

If you have been following us and Colchester Caring For Our Cats on social media, you will be familiar with the beautiful kitten in the photos below, called Wookie 💙

Wookie had been hand reared from only a few days old by our wonderful receptionist, Lucinda. Wookie was meant to be fostered by Lucinda while he was growing, however, she fell in love and Wookie became a permanent member of the family ❤️🐈‍⬛

Sadly, last week, Wookie crossed over the rainbow bridge and gained his angel wings 🪽🌈

Many cats and kittens have to cross over the rainbow bridge way too early due to neglect and being let down by humans.

All donations for this raffle will go to helping cats and kittens like Wookie who have had a bad start to life and need love, affection and medical treatment in order to live a better life.

Wookie, you brought so much love and light to everyone around you and we are all so fortunate to have known you 🐈‍⬛❤️🌈

Colchester Caring for Our Cats

16/12/2024

📣 Christmas and New Years Opening Hours 📣

VetsNow will be available to assist you if needed while we are closed over the festive period. Call our practice number 01394 271112 and you will be transferred over to the VetsNow team 🐶🐱

Please make sure to order any medications/ repeat prescriptions by latest Monday 23rd December to ensure you receive them before Christmas 💊

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all 🎄🎅🏼

11/12/2024

Meet Daisy, the fabulous veterinary physiotherapist and hydrotherapist at Maybridge 🌼🐶

🌟 Meet Our New Veterinary Physiotherapist & Hydrotherapist! 🌟

We’re excited to introduce Daisy Huxtable, our highly qualified and experienced Veterinary Physiotherapist and Hydrotherapist at Maybridge Canine Hydrotherapy Centre! 🐾💧

Daisy holds a Level 7 Master’s degree in Veterinary Physiotherapy and a Diploma in Small Animal Hydrotherapy. She also has a diploma in Equine Nutrition, along with a Certificate in Canine Nutrition—bringing a wealth of knowledge to her practice.

With over five years of experience in a busy Small Animal Referral Centre, Daisy has worked on complex orthopedic and neurological cases, providing expert care to improve mobility and support recovery. She’s worked with a wide variety of animals, from those recovering from surgery or injury to senior pets needing support with arthritis and mobility issues. Her extensive experience in both Veterinary Physiotherapy and Hydrotherapy allows her to tailor each treatment to the unique needs of every animal.

Her blend of expertise, experience, and dedication ensures that your pets receive the highest standard of care, tailored to their unique needs.

We’re thrilled to have Daisy on board at Maybridge Canine Hydrotherapy Centre! 🌟

11/12/2024

The Benefits of Hydrotherapy! 🐶

🌊🐾 The Benefits of Hydrotherapy for Your Canine Companion 🐾🌊

Did you know hydrotherapy is an incredible treatment option for dogs of all ages and conditions? Whether your pup is recovering from an injury, managing a chronic condition, or simply staying fit, hydrotherapy offers a range of benefits:

✔️ Rehabilitation & Recovery: Hydrotherapy is gentle on joints while providing a full-body workout, making it perfect for dogs recovering from surgery or injury.

✔️ Improved Mobility: The buoyancy of water supports your dog’s weight, allowing for easier movement and helping to improve flexibility and strength.

✔️ Pain Relief: Hydrotherapy can help alleviate pain, reduce inflammation, and improve circulation, providing comfort for dogs with arthritis or other painful conditions.

✔️ Fitness & Weight Management: Swimming provides a great low-impact workout, helping to improve overall fitness, muscle tone, and promote healthy weight.

✔️ Mental & Emotional Well-being: Physical activity in the water can also reduce stress, improve mood, and boost confidence in dogs that may be anxious or fearful.

At Maybridge Canine Hydrotherapy Clinic, we’re here to help your dog feel their best, whether they’re recovering from an injury, managing a condition, or simply staying healthy! 🐕💪

Ready to see the benefits for your pup? Book a session with us today! 🌟

📅 [email protected]

📞 07305 548728

04/12/2024

📣 Exciting News! The Maybridge Canine Hydrotherapy Clinic is Reopening! 🐾
We’re thrilled to announce that our clinic is reopening with an exciting addition—Veterinary Physiotherapy is now available alongside our Hydrotherapy sessions!

💧 What’s New?
You can now book:
✔️ Individual Hydrotherapy sessions
✔️ Individual Veterinary Physiotherapy sessions
✔️ Dual sessions combining both for comprehensive care

Our services are designed to support a wide range of conditions, including:
🦴 Orthopaedic injuries
🧠 Neurological conditions
🐕 Rehabilitation and recovery
💪 Maintenance and fitness
🐾 Elderly pet care

💼 Whether your furry friend needs focused rehab, improved mobility, or overall fitness, we’re here to help them feel their best.

📅 Opening Times: (alternating weeks)
Week 1:
🐾 Tuesday: 11 am – 7 pm
🐾 Wednesday: 9 am – 5 pm
🐾 Thursday: 9 am – 5 pm

Week 2:
🐾 Tuesday: 3 pm – 7 pm
🐾 Wednesday: 9 am – 5 pm
🐾 Thursday: 9 am – 5 pm
🐾 Saturday: 9 am – 1 pm

📞 Book Now! Slots are filling up quickly, so get in touch to secure your pet’s session. Let’s work together to keep your canine companions happy, healthy, and thriving!

Email [email protected]
Phone 07305548728

🐾 We can’t wait to welcome you back!

25/11/2024

🎄 Christmas Raffle 🎅🏼

It’s that time again for the Christmas raffle!! ⭐️

The raffle tickets cost £1 per strip and all money goes to the amazing charity, Colchester Caring For Our Cats 🐈

They are a hard working charity who works towards giving stray cats of all ages a better life ❤️

The winner of the raffle will get this festive hamper filled with lots of goodies to enjoy over the Christmas season 🥂🍬🍫

If you follow Colchester Caring For Our Cats on social media, you may recognise this gorgeous little guy in the photos below. This is Wookie, a 3 month old kitten who has been hand reared by our wonderful receptionist, Lucinda. The plan was for Lucinda to foster Wookie while he was being hand reared … however Lucinda fell in love with Wookie and he is now a permanent member of the family. As you can see, Wookie is loving having an explore of the hamper 🐈‍⬛💙

The raffle with be drawn the week before Christmas and tickets are available to purchase at Whitworth Veterinary Practice 🎄🐈❤️

12/11/2024

📣 🐈‍⬛ STRAY CAT FOUND 🐈‍⬛ 📣

We have an adult female, black domestic short hair cat been brought into the practice by a member of the public. She was found around Walton area. She is unchipped and has no collar.

If you think she may be yours, please call us on 01394 271112 📞

11/11/2024

🎄 Charity Christmas Cards 🎅🏼

Need to purchase some Christmas cards to send to loved ones??

Colchester Caring For Our Cats have created some fabulous Christmas cards for all cat lovers 🐈

They are an amazing small charity, who we work with, to help give stray and in need cats and kittens a better life.

Sizes available:
Standard size - 3 card multipacks: £6 each or 2 for £10.
Large size - single cards: £3 each or 4 for £10.

The cards come in a range of different designs, each displaying a holiday scene and festive cats 🐈‍⬛

Cards are CASH only and all money goes to Colchester Caring For Our Cats to help with vet treatment, feeding and giving these cats a better life.

Available for purchase at Whitworth Veterinary Practice 🎄🎅🏼🐈

31/10/2024

🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃

Here are some tips and tricks for keeping your pets safe and happy this Halloween:

1. Take your dogs for a walk before trick or treating beings. The Halloween outfits can be scary for dogs, even if worn by someone who they know 🐕
2. Keep sweets/ chocolates and pumpkins out of reach from your pets 🍬
3. Keep candles out of reach from your pets 🕯️
4. Make a cosy space for your pets such as a den which can help them feel safe.
5. Keep Halloween decorations out of reach from your pets 👻
6. If your pet is nervous of trick or treaters ringing on the doorbell, leave the sweets outside of the front door with a “help yourself” sign 🍫
7. Keep your cats inside once it gets dark 🐈‍⬛
8. Avoid leaving your pets at home alone if possible 🏠
9. Have some background noise on for your pets such as the radio as this can help to distract from the fireworks 🎆
10. If answering the door to trick or treaters, make sure to keep your pets away from the door to prevent them from escaping 🚪
11. Make sure all cats and dogs are microchipped and the details are up to date.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your pets this Halloween, please call us on 01394 271112 📞

We hope you have a great and safe Halloween 👻 🎃

30/10/2024

Many of you may recognise Linda, our lovely receptionist in the photos below. After nearly 40 years of working at Whitworth Vets, today is her last day as she is retiring.

Linda has been with Whitworth Vets from the beginnings at Ranelagh road, working with the founder of the practice through to our Trimley St Mary site. She has been an integral part of the team, welcoming clients, caring for them and their pets, through all phases of their lives.

We all want to say the biggest thank you to Linda for all of the kindness, smiles and laughs she has brought to the practice over the years. And a big thank you for all of her support to the clients and the patients. It has been a privilege to work with her.

Linda, we will miss you so much. Enjoy your retirement and make lots of amazing memories ❤️🎉

07/10/2024

🐶 Puppy Party Spaces Available 🎉

We have a few slots left for our next puppy party group which begins this Wednesday (9th October). 🐶

The puppy party will consist of 4 sessions (October 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th) from 7:30pm-9pm at Whitworth Vets. 🗓️

The puppies and owners will learn many important skills over the 4 weeks, to include: sit, stay, veterinary health checks, parasite control, socialisation, vaccinations, insurance, legislations and much more! 💊 🦠 🐕

The course costs £40 and you will also get a puppy party guidebook and a clicker to use for your puppy training. 📖

If you wish to sign up, please contact us on 01394 271112 📞

When attending the puppy party, please ensure your puppy is up to date with their flea and worming treatment and has had their first vaccination at least a week before the first session. Also, please do not bring your puppy along to the sessions if they are poorly. 🤒

Thank you 🎉🐶

27/09/2024

What should they eat? 🐹

Feeding Hay & Grass - High quality, dust-extracted hay or fresh grass should make up 85-90% of your guinea pigs’ diet. You should make sure this is freely available and replace it with fresh hay every day.

Nuggets - A small amount of tasty, high-fibre nuggets should be fed as a supplement to feeding hay or grass to ensure that your guinea pigs get all of the vitamins and minerals they need. High in ‘beneficial fibre’ to promote digestive health, they also contain prebiotics to help with healthy eyes, skin and coat. Importantly, they also prevent selective feeding – unlike muesli-type foods where small animals just pick out the high starch/sugar components, leading to all kinds of health issues.

Treats - Grass-based treats can be fed in small amounts to your guinea pigs. Treats can be hand fed to help with bonding. Forage mixes are good for sprinkling on hay to help to encourage natural foraging behaviour and treats can be left around their housing to keep them occupied.

Fresh Greens - These can be added to your guinea pigs’ diet for some variety and to provide additional nutrients. Examples of greens which are suitable for feeding daily include: dandelion leaves, plantain, strawberry and raspberry leaves, cauliflower leaves, hawthorn, celery leaves, green pepper, kale, romaine lettuce and spring greens. 🥬

Fresh Water - Fresh water should always be available. Change it daily and check it regularly during the winter months to ensure it hasn’t frozen. 💧

27/09/2024

It's day three of Guinea Pig Awareness Week 2024 - Nibble, Nourish, Thrive! and they're jumping right into the importance of a healthy diet for guinea pigs! Stay tuned for more tips and info throughout the week, and don't forget to show your support by liking, commenting, and sharing their posts. Let's make the best one yet!💚

As exotic pets, guinea pigs require a specialist diet to meet all their nutritional requirements. Wild guinea pigs naturally eat a diet of grasses, plants, vegetables and crops.

Guinea pigs are herbivores which means that they are entirely vegetarian and need high levels of fibre to keep their digestive system working correctly, their gut should be in constant motion with two types of fibre (digestible and indigestible). They get this fibre mainly from high quality feeding hay which should make up the bulk of their diet.

If guinea pigs don’t get the right amounts of both digestible and indigestible fibre, it can rapidly lead to serious health problems. Their teeth are designed to continually grow so need to be worn down naturally by fibrous, abrasive foods to avoid dental problems such as overgrown teeth which can be very painful for them. Hay is good for dental health as the gnawing action required to eat it helps to wear down their teeth.

Your guinea pigs’ diet also needs to be supplemented with plenty of vitamin C, as they lack the enzyme needed to produce it. Vitamin C is important for healthy skin, joints and blood vessels. Vitamin C can be found in good quality, high fibre nuggets and certain fresh greens and vegetables.

Never feed your guinea pigs with human food – chocolate and dairy products are particularly dangerous and citrus fruit can upset their sensitive tummies. Also avoid potato, nuts, onion and related vegetables, rhubarb, tomato leaves, buttercups, daffodils, poppies and tulips. 🐹

26/09/2024

Indoor piggies! 🏡

Guinea pigs can be kept indoors, but it is important that you gradually get your guinea pigs used to common household sights, sounds and noises.

All areas that your guinea pigs move around in should be fully proofed to ensure that they are safe and protected from hazards. For example, all electric cables should be covered to stop your guinea pigs from chewing on them and any house plants should either be safe for guinea pigs or kept out of the way. You should also make sure the flooring is non-slip as slippery floors can cause injury and stress.

Your guinea pigs should be kept away from radiators and their space should be kept well ventilated, the temperature for your guineas’ housing should ideally be kept at between 17-20 degrees Celsius – some warmer areas of your house may be too hot.

You should have a toilet area for each of your guineas which is separate from their bedding area. It’s also important that you provide plenty of enrichment through toys, platforms, hay and grass plants.

Don't forget to like, comment, and share their posts with your fellow guinea pig lovers! 🐹