Oakwood Veterinary Referrals

04/02/2025

29/01/2025

Meet the staff pet 🥰🐾

Say hello to Charlotte 🫶
Charlotte belongs to the lovely Lisa, one of our amazing client care team. ☎️

Lisa rescued Charlotte the poodle cross recently and they have been inseparable ever since!

Here she is helping out 🐩🐕🐾🦴🐶

27/01/2025

Busy morning at Oakwood Veterinary Referrals.
First patient of the day is the lovely Tilly 🥰🐾

Tilly came in to see Orthopaedic surgeon Eandil for suture removal following her recent pantarsal arthrodesis surgery. 🦴

Tilly’s wound is healing well and she continues to make great progress.

We look forward to seeing her again at her next appointment 🫶

26/01/2025

MRI at Oakwood Veterinary Referrals

10/01/2025

Meet the staff pets!

Indi is an 11 year old Golden Retriever.
Tash, our lovely assistant head receptionist, rescued her from the Dogs Trust at the age of 8 months old and she has been living her best life since.
Despite having osteoarthritis she acts like she is still 5 years old. ⭐

Jenson is an 11 and half year old Jack Russell.
He might be smaller than Indi but he is definitely the boss!
Jenson has recently been diagnosed with a frontal sinus squamous cell carcinoma and he has been a very brave boy throughout his treatment.
Well done Jenson! 🏆

03/01/2025

Owners and their elderly pets can face many challenges during their pet’s later years, in particular when a terminal illness may have been recently diagnosed.
Deciding when to say goodbye can be an incredibly agonizing and confusing experience for pet owners. Therefore, providing tailored, palliative care plans for these pets can extend their lives beyond initial expectations, offering them a great quality of life and granting precious additional time with their families.

Access to a multidisciplinary team of specialists at Oakwood Veterinary Referrals, gives owners and their pets a chance for a comprehensive review of many conditions that affect their pets, without the need to travel to different hospitals and see many different vets, this minimises stress for both the owners and their pet.

George, an 11-year-old labrador was recently referred to our internal medicine team following a history of anorexia, weakness, weight and muscle loss and hypercalcemia. He also had a history of chronic vomiting and acute onset oral pain and an inability/unwillingness to open his mouth.
Following a combination of advanced imaging and blood work, George was diagnosed with bilateral adrenal neoplasia, with a secondary distal aortic thrombus and ionised hypercalcemia. In addition, whilst examining George’s mouth under anaesthetic, it was revealed he had an inflamed oral mucosa.

Following a diagnosis like George’s, owners might initially consider euthanasia sooner rather than later; however, with the right palliative care plan, pets can often enjoy an extended, comfortable end of life period.
George was hospitalised for initial supportive therapy, this included placement of a nasoesophageal feeding tube to assist with meeting his nutritional needs.
George responded very well to his treatment and within 2 days his ionised calcium levels had decreased, and he had begun to eat by himself.
George was well enough to be discharged home later that week to continue his palliative care plan. George will have regular check-ups to monitor his progress, and the plan will be adjusted as required.
At George’s first check-up with our internal medicine team, George’s owner reported the vomiting had resolved, diarrhoea was only present occasionally, his appetite had increased with his weight maintained and his mobility was also improved.

We are so pleased George is continuing to respond well in this precious time of his life.
Well done George!

27/12/2024

Who remembers Charlie? He has visited the internal medicine team again today to have his blood pressure checked and as always was a very good boy 🥰🐾🐈‍⬛🩺

24/12/2024

Let’s learn all about Patellar Luxation! 🐕🐾

Medial Patellar Luxation (MPL) is a very common orthopaedic condition of dogs which involves displacement (Luxation/dislocation) of the patella (kneecap) from its normal position in a groove on the front of the femur toward the inside of the knee. MPL is more common in small dogs but is becoming increasingly common in large breeds as well. Lateral patellar Luxation (displacement of the patella to the outside of the knee) is less common and more frequent in large breed dogs. Cats can also suffer from Medial and lateral patellar luxation.

Patellar luxation is a complex condition usually involving developmental abnormalities of the hip, resulting in changes in the alignment of the quadriceps mechanism (the muscle, kneecap and tendon that run down the front of the upper hind leg to the front of the tibia, allowing extension of the knee). The changes in alignment can cause further bony abnormalities of the femur and tibia during development.

Patellar luxation has 4 grades of severity and where a patient shows clinical signs of lameness and/or pain, surgery will generally be recommended.
In most cases the conventional approach includes a combination of:
Trochlear recession sulcoplasty (Deepening the groove that the kneecap sits in)
Soft tissue balancing procedures (Tightening the loose joint capsule and fascia and occasionally releasing overly tight tissue)
Tibial Tuberosity Transposition (Moving the attachment of the patellar tendon on the tibia to bring the quadriceps back into a correct alignment)

In a proportion of cases Medial Patellar Luxation is found in combination with a Cranial cruciate Ligament problem and in these cases, we manage both conditions simultaneously.

In the higher-grade cases where bony deformities are severe more complex management options are considered which aim to correct femoral and tibial deformities by removing wedges of bone to allow straightening. These are complex procedures and will often require CT imaging to assess the deformities and to allow 3D printing of guides to facilitate accurate implementation of the surgical procedure. In addition, where there is severe abnormality of the groove that the patella runs in, the groove can be replaced with an artificial groove.

After a night’s hospitalisation to recover from the procedure, patients are discharged for a 6 week period of strict rest and after follow up checks with the surgeon exercise is then gradually returned to normal.

Here at Oakwood, we regularly perform Patellar luxation surgery. If you are a vet or pet owner looking for advice or potentially to refer a patient for assessment as a possible surgical candidate, please contact us for more information.

13/12/2024

Christmas jumper day today at Oakwood Veterinary Referrals and Willows Veterinary Hospital!
Here are some of our staff modelling theirs !
🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🌲🎄🌲🎄