Top tips for a terrific November 5th
📢 Bonfire Night & Pets: Keeping Our Furry Friends Safe 🎆🐾
With Bonfire Night tomorrow, we know many of our beloved pets can find the loud bangs and flashing lights unsettling.
Here are some tips to keep your pets safe and calm:
🔸 Create a Safe Space: Set up a cosy spot indoors where your pet feels secure, preferably in a room where they feel most comfortable.
🔸 Muffle the Noise: Close windows and curtains, and consider putting on some relaxing music or the TV to help mask the sound of fireworks.
🔸 Stay Calm: Animals pick up on our emotions, so try to remain calm and reassuring.
🔸 Walk Dogs Early: Try to walk them before dark to avoid the most intense noise periods.
🔸 Keep Cats Inside: Encourage your cats to stay indoors where it’s quieter and safer for them tonight.
🔸 Consider Calming Aids: We offer a variety of pet-safe calming products that might be helpful, from diffusers to supplements. Give us a call if you’d like advice on what might work best for your pet!
Let’s make this Bonfire Night as peaceful as possible for our furry family members. 💙 🎇
🌟 Horace’s Story - Our Patient of the Month! 🌟
🐈 Horace is a British Shorthair cat, who at just 7 months old, first presented to the practice as he was unwell. His initial tests and blood screen revealed a diagnosis of FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) - a viral condition in cats which until very recently, would usually prove fatal.
Fortunately, due to recent advances in medical research, a new anti-viral drug is now available to combat this condition! Horace faced a 12 week course of treatment, but his symptoms improved quickly and the early signs were promising! Horace was closely monitored throughout his treatment with regular check ups and repeat blood tests.
We’re very pleased to report that Horace has made a great recovery and has managed to beat FIP! ❤️ Watch his story below:
⚠️ Video contains images of surgery ⚠️
🐾 Beau’s Story:
Beau came to us with a sudden onset lameness in his hindlimb. His owners brought him down for a consultation and unfortunately the examination revealed a swollen and unstable stifle (knee) joint, raising the suspicion of a cruciate ligament injury - similar to the ACL tears common in human sports players!
🩻 X-Rays were taken as the next step and confirmed the injury. We used these to then take measurements and make calculations to plan surgery to fix the injury!
🦴 Beau was subsequently booked in for a TTA-R procedure (a Tibial Tuberosity Advancement - Rapid Technique, quite the mouthful!). This is the most recent development of surgical procedures for cruciate ligament injuries and has only been made possible by new technologies including 3D printing of the titanium implants!
🪚 During surgery, the joint is explored and examined (an arthroscopy) and the tibia is cut and ‘opened’ to allow the placement of the titanium cage implant, which is then secured with titanium screws. The implants remain in place permanently and the joint is now stable due to the new geometry.
❤️🩹 Recovery generally involves between 6 and 12 weeks of rest and rehabilitation! Good luck Beau!
Milo 3 days after his ligament surgery then 29 days and 37 days after😁
'We cannot thank vets for pets enough for what they have done for me and Milo. He has not run like this since he was a puppy.'
As the nights draw in it is time to get prepared for fireworks night. Unfortunately many pets suffer around this time of year as they find the loud bangs and bright lights scary. Here are our top tips for helping your pet during this stressful time:
💥Ensure your pets are microchipped and the microchip details are up to date. This is the easiest way to keep them safe should they spook and run away.
💥Avoid taking your dog out after dark, or in areas where fireworks may be let off. If possible it is worth keeping cats and other outdoor pets indoors during these times too.
💥Provide a den or safe space like a crate. Do not force your pet into this safe space as this may make them more fearful.
💥Keep windows and curtains shut to mask the sounds of the bangs
💥Turn the TV on or play the radio to mask the sounds of the bangs
💥Happy hoodies or ear covers can also help, as well as thunder shirts.
💥Consider over the counter calming treats or pheromone products. (e.g. Vets4Pets Stress relief,Calmex,Feliway,Adaptil)
💥If these tips do not help your pet please make an appointment with one of our vets to discuss calming medication.
Another Orthopedic surgery completed on a 47kg dog so the bigger the bone the bigger the cage!🔩 We used a 12X25mm cage with 6 screws to fix this ruptured ligament and meniscal tear. 🦴❤️🩹
Marmalade agrees that belly rubs are the best form of treatment when at the vets😍🥰🐱
This years theme for Guinea Pig Awareness week is creating the ideal home for your Guinea Pigs.🏠 Thank you to veterinary nurse Laura for the example of a fab free roam Guinea Pig home! 🥰
Guinea pigs are very active animals and they need lots of space as well as plenty of toys, hides and tunnels to keep them healthy and happy. If your guinea pigs don’t have the right home it can lead to boredom and health problems.😔
Guinea pigs can live indoors or outdoors, so long as they have enough space and you can keep them at a comfortable temperature in the summer heat or bad winter weather.
Click the link below for more tips and advice.
https://guineapigawarenessweek.com/guinea-pig-welfare/environment/indoor-guinea-pigs/
Here is the video of Pip’s thorn being removed from underneath her skin!!😯
Lovely to get a shout out on the radio from Stray FM today! Thanks to all our clients who have been supportive of what we’ve needed to do over the last few days ❤️🐶🐱🐰
We remain open for emergencies only - please do not come to the surgery unless we have authorised you to do so.
