Vets4Pets Lancaster

02/11/2024

Happy Saturday everyone from smiley boy Chase.

Hope everyone is having a good Saturday and starting to get into the festive spirit 🎄

We are here today until 6pm should you need us ☺️

01/11/2024

What can you do to help and support animals and pets during fireworks season?

There are definitely choices you can make as an owner to support not just your own animals, but those of others too
- Attend organised displays, preferably of just silent fireworks.
- Buy only fireworks that just show lights and do not bang.
- Clean up fireworks after the display
- Check sheds and outbuildings for scared animals
- Leave your pet at home if you attend a display
- Do not walk your pet after dark on fireworks nights

01/11/2024

Puppy Party Graduation Halloween Edition 👻

31/10/2024

30/10/2024

Happy Halloween!

Enjoy trick or treating, seeing all the costumes or cosying up inside!

Remember not everyone enjoys people knocking on their doors, or they have fearful pets, so leave the houses without lights alone!

29/10/2024

National Cat Day 🐾🐈 Tuesday 29th October

Please fill the comment section with all of your lovely felines.

Here we have some of our staffs cats 🥰

29/10/2024

Puppy Party Week 3

27/10/2024

Outdoor Pets
Outdoor pets can be spooked by fireworks too, these could be rabbits, guinea pigs, poultry or other animals kept outdoors. Providing them with some measurements to support them can make the fireworks season easier on these pets too.

Cover
Provide a safe shelter that is warm and cosy, cover windows so lights from fireworks cannot be seen as easily and ideally with a door that can be closed against the sights and sounds too. Lock animals in their night shelter before dark with plenty food and water to occupy them. If they are free roam animals a curtain or half-door can be useful here too.

Buddy Up
Most outdoor animals are group animals, so make sure they have a bonded buddy to get them through the more stressful times together. Ensure they are bonded well, and if conflict happens make sure there is plenty room to separate them and plenty resources such as food and bedding to keep them occupied without creating competition. Scared animals can lash out at each other, especially in close proximity.

Clean Up
Before you let your animals back out of their night enclose, do a sweep of the outside area to ensure no fireworks remnants have made it into their enclosure. This prevents foreign body ingestion and toxicity.

26/10/2024

Cats
A lot of cats go missing during fireworks season, being spooked by unfamiliar and unexpected sounds and sights. Ensuring their safety is important, and there is quite a few things you can do to support them.

Keep them indoors
Keep cats indoors overnight and once it gets dark, provide them with litter trays, access to bedding and hiding spaces. Start offering these resources before the fireworks season starts, so there is less of a change to their routine. Cats that refuse to come indoors, can have similar accommodations made in sheds or barns. Ensuring you can keep them under a safe roof during fireworks season helps prevent them going missing.

Sound barriers
Play music or turn on the telly to block any sounds from the fireworks going off outside. There is also special fireworks cd’s and playlists you can play to get your cat used to hearing fireworks sounds. Drawn curtains will have a sound muffling effect too.

Safety Den
A safety den under the bed, in the bottom of a wardrobe or under the stairs works really well for cats too, somewhere they can hide, feel secure and safe. Once they are in there, let them be. Some cats may come to you for comfort or security, but most will just want to hide. Be mindful that cats when scared can react out of the norm for them, and can display aggressive behaviour in an effort to protect themselves.

26/10/2024

Dogs
Many dogs can be noise sensitive, so ensuring they are well socialised and desensitised to noise starts from a young age in their general training. If they are anxious, nervous or fearful and fireworks makes this worse, there are some steps you can take in the house to support them and help them feel calmer.

Safety Den
This can be a kennel, space under the stairs, under the desk/table. Put a comfy bed in there, access to water and food, and enclose the walls with blankets to dampen any sound coming through. This creates a cosy, enclosed environment where your dog can hide from all the noise.

Visual barriers
Close curtains and doors so lights from fireworks are less visible and sound from the outside is dampened. Take your dog for their final walk before dark or before fireworks usually start, so they do not have to go out again when the fireworks start.

Sound barriers
Play music or turn on the telly to block any sounds from the fireworks going off outside. There is also special fireworks cd’s and playlists you can play to get your dog used to hearing fireworks sounds to train desensitising.

Thundervest/wraps
Some dogs respond well to thundervests or wraps around their body, the tighter vest is like giving them a hug helping them feel more secure.

Positive reinforcement
You can model the behaviour you want to see from your dog by going about your normal business, not responding to sounds or sights of fireworks, showing your dog there is nothing to be scared off. Rewarding calm behaviour with treats, or giving them a food puzzle to occupy themselves with during the fireworks can help creating a calmer environment. If they do react to the fireworks, provide them with reassurance. Sitting next to you, cuddling in and pets are all fine. Overt displays of affection when your dog responds to fireworks can have an adverse reaction as your dog will be looking to you for reassurance on how to react.

25/10/2024

Fireworks can be a stressful time for people and animals alike. There are supplements that can help with reactivity. There is also sedative medication that can be prescribed to your pet to help them cope with the anxiety caused by fireworks. Please make sure you order medication and supplements with plenty of notice so you do not have to rush for it last minute.

Medication and supplementation alone often is not enough. Below we will list some adjustments and measures you can put in place to support your pet during the fireworks season.

Over the next couple of days we will share tips and support on how to keep your animals safe!

24/10/2024

These 2 big boys were in to see Iona for their annual vaccination.
Liz and Sylvia did not want to miss out on the opportunity for a big cat cuddle 🥰
They were both very good boys

Can anyone guess what breed Teddy Bear and Simba are?

23/10/2024

Smokey being a very good boy for his annual vaccination with our vet Cath 🥰
What a distinguished gentleman he is 🎩

18/10/2024

Puppy Party Week 2

15/10/2024

Puppy Party 🥰

09/10/2024

**CAUTION graphic images**

Following on from one of our recent posts. Here we have the young Tilly trying our new service with the Phovia light to help aid the healing process from her recent tail amputation.

As you can see from the pictures Tilly was quite comfortable while Nurse Beccy and Nurse Amelia carried out the treatment.

Tilly was up here on holiday so we wish her and her family all the best and hope she has a speedy recovery 🥰

07/10/2024

Puppy Party Graduation 🥳

03/10/2024

🌟PHOVIA- Light therapy🌟

We now offer light therapy, a revolutionary new therapy to help with wound healing. This hand held lamp works using different lights to be able to help increase wound healing and reduce infection as well as reducing the need for antibiotics to be used.

We can offer this new therapy for a number of procedures. Some of these include routine neutering and post ops where they may have been a suture reaction or wound complication. This therapy is also used in a wide range of dermatology cases such as skin fold dermatitis and pyoderma’s.

This therapy can be done whilst the patient is under a general anaesthetic after an operation or if well behaved can be done conscious in the consult room with one of our nurses.

Please speak with our vets and nurses if you wish to know more about this therapy. 🤩

27/09/2024

P for Puppy. It’s a Puppy Party 🐾

26/09/2024

🐾Have you got a new puppy at home under 6 months old?

🐾Is your puppy up to date with their vaccinations?

🐾Would you like your puppy to socialise with other puppies in a controlled environment?

🐾Would you like information on vaccinations, neutering, flea and worm treatment, behaviour?

If you answered YES to all of these questions we may something for you 😄
Every Thursday we run a Puppy Party from 7pm-7:45pm in our waiting room. This is a 4 week course.
Our next party starts on 10th October 🥳
(If your puppy is not ready for the 10th please do enquire and we can put you on our waiting list)

£20 for clients £30 for non-clients.
**We only have a limited amount of spaces so get booked in soon so you don't get disappointed**

If interested please get in contact.
For reception call 01524 581346
Whatsapp on 07380 328970

21/09/2024

**Owner found 🥳**

We have had a blue female staffy handed in to us today

Found in the Morecambe area
Is chipped but contact number out of service 😞

If you think this may be your dog please give us a call on 01524 581346

07/09/2024

Happy graduation to our most recent puppy party 🐾

Special shout out to our nurse Becky who also graduated with the puppies
Becky has been working along side Emily these last few weeks to learn how to run our puppy parties, now she is ready to take the lead 🥳

30/08/2024

Puppy Party Week 3
Not long until graduation 🥳

26/08/2024

BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY 26TH AUGUST

We are open today 8am-6pm

25/02/2024

When Kelly from our Colton store's Pets Grooming salon discovered a lump on the tail of nine-year-old Rufus she suspected something wasn't right, so alerted his owners Les and Andrea so they could get it checked out. They brought him to Vets for Pets Leeds Colton where it was confirmed he had a cancerous tumour which needed surgery.

Les, who adopted Rufus from Dogs Trust in Leeds as a puppy, said: “Rufus is such a big part of our life; we’re absolutely besotted with him. We probably wouldn’t have noticed the lump if not at the groomers as the tail isn’t somewhere you would usually stroke and feel. Kelly loves Rufus and really looks after him, so we want to say a big thanks for spotting it. Who'd have known what would have happened if she hadn’t noticed.”

Rufus had to have his tail removed, but is now making a good recovery. He's been visiting Kelly for a groom every six weeks for the last three years. She said: “You get to know everything about a dog as you groom them. I’ve discovered similar things before on other dogs so I mentioned it to the owners so they could get it checked out. Dogs are my life and you do worry; I’m so pleased they caught it. Now he’s got a fully docked tail like a little bunny rabbit. It’s lovely and suits him – when he gets washed he wiggles his bum.”

21/02/2024

Arthur's owner Louise says he "looked like a brand-new tortoise" after having his beak filed at Sutton in Ashfield Vets4Pets.

Louise adopted the four-year-old Horsefield Tortoise from a family member in October. Although she has had other pets, Arthur is her first tortoise, so she has been doing some research on how to best care for him.

Louise said: "I noticed Arthur's beak was unusually long, so I brought him in to Vets for Pets; I bring all my pets there. When he came out, I thought 'you beautiful boy, look at you – you look so handsome!"

Vet Steph, who looked after Arthur, says that tortoise beaks continuously grow and normally grind down themselves while they're eating. She said: "Arthur needed a little help as his jaw isn't perfectly aligned; his lower jaw is further out than his top jaw, so I filed it around half a centimetre. He was really good; a real cutie."

18/02/2024

Owner Claire says she couldn't be more grateful to Vets4Pets Hamilton after their quick diagnosis saved the sight of six-year-old Alba.

Claire knew there was something terribly wrong with her miniature dachshund cross when she called her in from the back garden last summer and Alba ran headfirst into a closed patio door. She rushed her to the vets, where investigations led the team to diagnose her with uveitis – an eye condition which causes inflammation of the middle layer of the eye.

Claire said: "It all happened so suddenly; Alba must have heard my voice and guessed where to go. It was quite scary seeing how bad she was. We couldn't be more grateful for the team in Hamilton spotting the uveitis as quickly as they did, otherwise Alba would have gone blind within a matter of days. Their knowledge saved Alba's sight. I still can't believe it happened. It's taken months of treatments, but it's such a relief to have our girl back to being her funny, bossy self."

Vet Neil, one of the team who treated Alba, said: "Alba's pupil was really narrow and wouldn't respond to light properly, which can be a sign of uveitis. Once we had ruled out other conditions, we were able to get her to an eye specialist for ongoing treatment. She's now doing really well."

16/02/2024

Ducky's owner Antonia was in a state of panic when she saw a fox had dug its way into the field where she keeps him – killing two of her other ducks and chickens.

Antonia was about to move her brood into their pen for the evening when she saw what had happened and noticed that Ducky had severe bite wounds under his wing. She rushed him to Vets4Pets Vets Milton Keynes for emergency surgery – and after having his wound stitched up the one-year-old duck is now making a good recovery.

Antonia said: "I was so worried. You don’t often hear of ducks recovering from fox attacks, but there is something about Ducky and the way he was so brave. I'm sure he was protecting a lady duck, as he's a bit of a romantic. It's the first time we've gone to Vets for Pets, and the team were amazing; they've done an incredible job."

Vet Becca, who treated Ducky, said: "He's a really lucky duck, as it was quite a big wound. When he first came in, he was understandably subdued and quiet but when he came back for his stitches to be taken out, he wanted to explore and tuck his head into everyone’s shoulders."

07/02/2024

Well done to the team at Vets4Pets Guildford who've been awarded a silver level certificate for being a rabbit-friendly clinic.

After head veterinary nurse Ella noticed that more customers were bringing in rabbits the practice took a series of steps to give them as stress-free an experience as possible. Ella, who also fosters rescue dogs in her spare time, said: "There was a long list of things that we needed to prove that we did from making sure the rabbits are kept separate from other animals and not booked in at the same time as barking dogs, to providing heated kennels for those who need to stay in, and using special equipment made especially for rabbits."

Practice manager Kevin said: "All of our vets have plenty of experience with rabbits we have some real rabbit geeks here, so it was a big thing to us. There are so many good people in this world and I'm so proud to be around them."

28/01/2024

Beautiful Bear was born deaf, so he's learned to follow his owner Lisa's visual commands.

Lisa, who shops at our Tamworth store – "it's my second home!" – got two-year-old Bear as a kitten and suspected he was deaf when he didn't respond to her voice. She had it confirmed by her vet soon after. She said: "He was very scatty, and scared of people he didn’t recognise. He wasn’t bothered by loud noises like my other cat Emily and when I came home from work he wouldn’t hear the door open.

"He's doing really well though. I try to do some sign language with him – I point at him and do a solid hand sign at him to stop. He picks up on vibrations and scents too. He meows, making a really loud chirping sound which I’ve never heard a cat do before, and he’s always rubbing his head against my legs and following me everywhere. I was advised not to let him out because he wouldn’t hear cars or other dangers, so he comes outside with me every morning to have a sniff around the garden and always comes straight back in." Bear and Lisa's other cat Emily are on Instagram as

27/01/2024

Ten-year-old Dutch rabbit Alfie has been visiting vet Kate at Vets4pets Wolverhampton for dental treatment for the last eight years – and she says he's such a loveable character that he's become "part of the family".

He's one of the oldest rabbits treated by Kate and the team, and she says his longevity is down to the care and love he gets from his owner Tracy and her family. Kate said: "Alfie is famous in this practice – everyone knows him. We and his family are dedicated to making sure her little old man is happy. The beautiful thing about being a vet or vet nurse is you build these relationships with the owners and their pets – they become your surrogate pets."

Tracy's been keeping rabbits all her life, and says that having space and routine is key. She said: "Alfie is an old man now and has a routine. He goes into a hutch at night and is let out in the morning. He's out all day and has his favourite spots in the house. We clean him out every day and give him a lot of attention. When he was younger he would follow us around; if I was clearing a cupboard out he would be in the cupboard to help. Now he's old and wants to be warm and watch instead. I can't thank Kate and the practice enough. Kate's been fantastic with him."

26/01/2024

Eight-year-old Winnie the Schnauzer cross is running around like a puppy again thanks to laser treatment and physiotherapy after two successful knee operations at Vets for Pets Basildon.

Worried owner Tracy brought Winnie in to the practice after she collapsed on a walk last year – and the team discovered the cruciate ligament in a knee had ruptured. She’s since had ops on two knees and is on a recovery plan led by vet physiotherapist Izzy.

Tracy said: "Winnie has had a tough year with 15 teeth removed, two cruciate ligament operations and two bouts of pancreatitis but thankfully she's hardy. She’s treated fabulously at the Basildon practice. Izzy is great with her – she totally relaxes in her hands and does little snores with her eyes open. Winnie has a new lease of life again and is running around like a puppy."

Izzy said: "When pets have surgery or injure themselves they move differently which causes them to be sore in other places. Winnie has laser therapy then a massage to help the healing process. Laser treatment is a specialist service that not enough people know about – it can help in so many ways after an operation.”

18/01/2024

Veterinary nurse Mel from Vets4Pets Bristol Longwell Green loves cats so much she's helped the practice make a number of improvements to give cats as stress-free an experience as possible when they're brought in.

Mel, who has an Advanced Certificate in Feline Behaviour for Veterinary Professionals, helped introduce facilities like a separate feline waiting area and cattery and the use of quiet clippers – and the practice now has a silver level certificate for being a cat-friendly clinic. She said: "I love dogs but I'm really a cat person. Cats can be misunderstood which can lead to them having quite a stressful life, so if we can make things easier for them and help people understand what cats need then everyone will be happier.

"As animal lovers there's always more to learn and understand about what makes them happy. Enrichment at the home is important for a happy cat – and as cats are naturally solitary animals if you live in a multi-cat household it's important to understand what they need. The rule is to have a resource per cat, plus one spare. So if you have two cats you should have three feeding stations, three litter trays and three scratch posts spread around the house so they have the opportunity to move around to wherever they want to go. Scratching is as natural a thing for cats to do as going out hunting is, so if they're unable to go out it's about providing the chance for them to behave as naturally as possible."

07/01/2024

Four-year-old Sebastian the Jack Russell is back to his usual boisterous self after being treated at Vets4Pets Abingdon for a condition that was causing the knee caps on his back legs to dislocate when he walked.

The condition, known as medial patellar luxation, would cause him to hop or skip when exercising. It's quite common in terriers and small dog breeds, but Sebastian's case was quite severe and he was given surgery by orthopaedic surgeon Joe to deepen the groove his patella runs in on his right hind leg, and also to move and reattach his patellar tendon.

Sebastian is owned by practice vet Hannah who said: "After the operation he just wanted to get back to normal straight away but he couldn't ... and that's where we struggled. He wanted to be out and about, charging around and playing with his toys but he needed to rest." Hannah had to give him medication for six weeks to give his knees time to heal. She said: "He's absolutely fine now – he's fully recovered and running around like a lunatic again!"

05/01/2024

When 11-year-old lurcher Jess was brought into Vets for Pets Leeds Birstall 24/7 Small Animal Hospital on Christmas Eve feeling very poorly with pyometra – a life-threatening uterus infection – the team knew they had to act fast; so vet Emily and nurses JD and Hannah headed straight in to perform emergency surgery on her in the early hours of Christmas morning.

The operation went so well that by lunchtime nurse Krishna was able to call her owner Beth to say she was well enough to come home to recuperate – and Beth made the hour-long drive from her home in Keighley so she could bring Jess home before the family sat down for their Christmas dinner. Beth said: "It was a stressful start to Christmas, as we were worried about Jess because of her age and because she's never had anything wrong with her before. We're so grateful for everything – it was so nice of them to come in on Christmas Day to operate on her, to look after her so well and to get her home on top form. The vets were fantastic from start to finish. Jess is recovering nicely – you can see the happiness is back in her!"

Krishna said: "Our night team always do an amazing job, and performing serious surgery like that at that time of night and on Christmas Day of all days is just brilliant. Jess did amazingly well to bounce back so quickly, and it was amazing being able to call her owners to say that she could come home to spend Christmas with them. It's the sort of call we all love to make, but doing it on Christmas Day was extra nice."

03/01/2024

Six-foot-long boa constrictor Astrix was the centre of attention when he called in for a routine "top to tail" health check at Vets4Pets Penzance.

Astrix, who's four, is part of a menagerie of six snakes, bearded dragons and six dogs belonging to veterinary nurse Lowenna, who works at the practice, and her partner Mark. The team looked at Astrix's eyes and mouth and checked his breathing to rule out any respiratory infections and also checked his scales.

Lowenna said: "He got a clean bill of health, he was absolutely fine and everyone had a turn holding him. Asterix is quite reserved, a little bit shy usually. He did really well when he came in as everyone wanted to touch him and he was like 'okay I quite like the attention.' Astrix has got a lovely big set-up at home. He's quite a big boy, weighing in at nearly 10 kilos, so the vivarium is more than seven foot long. We have a reptile room and he has the run of it. He has a large bucket of water too if he ever wants to submerge himself."

02/01/2024

This brave girl is collie-cross Sherpa, who the team at Vets for Pets Livingston say was "impeccably calm" when she was rushed in for emergency injury after hurting her eye in a freak accident.

Sherpa's owner Caroline was taking Sherpa for a walk when Sherpa caught her eye on a stick as she went exploring a bush. She was quickly admitted into surgery where she received X-rays and, after a two-hour procedure by practice owner Dr Adam, aided by nurse Erin, the stick was removed. Adam said: "Sherpa was amazingly tolerant following an extremely random occurrence. It was astonishing." Sherpa didn't lose her sight and is now making a great recovery.

Caroline said: “We were suddenly thrown into the worst living nightmare, it was absolutely horrifying. It’s truly a miracle what Adam and the team achieved from the moment they answered our call for help. They gave us hope."

24/12/2023

This little Christmas cracker is Molly, who survived against the odds and gave birth to three premature puppies after being brought in to Vets for Pets Cirencester as a pregnant stray with severe injuries from a fight with other dogs.

Martina, who owns the practice, said: ”It was really touch and go and we thought Molly might not make it. The team treated mum first, got her on a drip and stabilised her before successfully managing to deliver the puppies – two boys and a girl – by caesarean section."

Molly, who's a Cairn Terrier, and her three pups are recovering well at home with Martina. “As they needed 24/7 care I took them home and emptied the whole spare bedroom so there was a nice, warm and comfortable quiet place for Molly and her puppies. I was attached to her for the first five days – my husband Matt even brought food up to the bedroom for me as I stayed there all the time. It was really hard work but it was all worth it. They’re absolute darlings and doing really well now – mum is already brave enough to go on dog walks.”

Martina says Molly will continue living with her in the future, and the puppies will be adopted when they are stronger.

19/12/2023

This beautiful buzzard is on the mend after undergoing surgery on a broken wing at Vets4Pets Newmarket after he was hit by a car.

A member of the public rescued the buzzard and brought him in to see if the team could help. After a successful operation and five days of recuperation he's ben taken to The Raptor Foundation rehabilitation centre to continue his recovery.

Practice manager Natalie said: "We put him under general anaesthetic and performed orthopaedic surgery. We'll see him again next month to see how he's progressing and then hopefully he'll be released back into the wild. We wish him a speedy recovery as he's such a handsome chap.”