Oakham Veterinary Hospital Small Animal

13/09/2024

Have you joined Pet Health Club® Plus yet? Our
comprehensive new plan offers round-the-clock pet
healthcare with unlimited in-person consults* providing
reassurance and support both in practice and online.
Find out more and join or upgrade your plan by
asking us in practice
*T&Cs apply see the website for more details.

06/09/2024

We’re excited to announce we’ve just launched Pet Health Club®
Plus, a brand new pet healthcare plan that includes
Unlimited Consultations*
Along with other great Pet Health Club® benefits, our new plan offers round-the-clock pet healthcare with unlimited
consultations either online, on the phone or in
practice.
Find out more and join or upgrade your plan by
asking us in practice, contacting us on 01572 722646 or going to our website https://www.oakhamvethospital.co.uk/small-animal/pet-health-club
*T&Cs apply see the website for more details

23/08/2024

Good people of Oakham.

A beautiful boy has been brought to us this morning, very clearly missing his humans. We can't find a microchip in him.
He's under 1yr old, entire.

Was found in Ashwell, very close to Oakham Veterinary Hospital.

This boy is very friendly and easy around humans. He's obviously been loved and trained, he's got very good manners!
Please help us reunite him with his family.

If you know him or know who's missing him, please contact 01572 722646 so we can get him home!

08/08/2024

Happy International Cat Day!

This we are celebrating our Cat Friendly Clinic status. We have been awarded the highest gold level by the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM) 🥇

What makes a Cat Friendly Clinic?
🐾 High standards of care
🐾 Advanced equipment and facilities
🐾 Understanding of behaviour and needs
🐾 Gentle handling and calm interactions
🐾 Cat waiting area, consultation room and ward
🐾 Designated cat advocates

We are extremely proud of this achievement and have proactively taken steps to create a cat friendly environment, understand behaviour and follow best practice guidelines.

Please join us in celebrating by sharing your favourite photos of your feline friends 🐱

17/07/2024

We would very much like to find the owner(s) of this lovely older chap. He was found in a garden in Clipsham, he's a bit sorry for himself. He's a friendly boy. Tabby and white, neutered, no microchip.
If you know this boy or know who might be missing him, please share the info and call our team on 01572 722646.

Thank you!

27/06/2024

We have recently reviewed our weekend opening hours for our Small Animal Hospital. This is following feedback from our clients and uptake of appointment times.

From 29th June 2024 our weekend hours will be:

Saturday 9am to 5pm - Routine consultations, collections and enquiries will be available (our charges for treatment and care between these hours will be at our normal weekday rates). Members of our Client Care team will be on duty with our weekend clinical team so please drop in or call to make appointments, order or collect prescriptions, food etc.

Sunday 9am -1pm – our vets and nurses will provide an emergency OOH service at the practice. Please ring 01572 722646 in the first instance if you have a small animal emergency - you will be put through to speak to our duty vet and nurse who will provide clinical advice, and treatment if required.

For our full weekly opening hours please following this link: https://www.oakhamvethospital.co.uk/contact-us

Outside of our opening hours if you call us with an emergency you will be transferred to the Vetsnow Emergency Service who will provide clinical advice and treatment if needed at one of the VetsNow practices

Any animals already receiving treatment at Oakham Veterinary Hospital as an inpatient will remain with us under the care of our Night Nurse and Duty Vet after closing. We remain committed to providing 24 hour care.

06/06/2024

Client Notice:
We're having some technical issues with our emails at the moment. It is being investigated but we don't know how long it will take. If you need anything, it might be best to give us a call - 01572 722646.
Thank you

27/05/2024

We have a problem with our emergency phones this morning - Monday 27th May. When you call us with an emergency up to 5pm you will be transferred directly to Vets Now instead of our duty vet’s phone which would normally be the case on a bank holiday. Vets Now will let our staff know you have called and we will ring you back asap.
From 5pm the emergency service will stay with Vets Now.

17/05/2024

Ella’s Journey Part 1: HA to SVN

We’re proud to introduce you to Ella, a member of the team at Oakham Veterinary Hospital Small Animal. Ella has been with OVH for 2 years now, joining us as a Hospital Assistant (HA). Ella wanted to train to be a Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN) and has recently been given the opportunity to do that in a vocational programme, which means she develops her practical skills and competencies along with the academic and knowledge-based study, which she does on day-release at college. Ella is now a Student Veterinary Nurse (SVN) and has kindly agreed to share her journey to RVN with you.

SVN positions are not often advertised as we develop our nursing team with internal growth. Hospital Assistants who want to progress into nursing, who demonstrate passion and potential, can take that step. They firstly work across both clinical and administrative support to underpin their next steps. We can’t develop everyone at once so we stagger SVN development to make sure there’s always enough fully qualified nurses to look after our patients as well as support the students. Currently we have 3 SVNs at Oakham; one approaching completion, one around half way through and now Ella, who has waited patiently for her turn!

We asked Ella:
Q: Why do you want to be a Veterinary Nurse?
Ella: I’ve always loved animals and been passionate about wanting to work with them for as long as I can remember. I love being hands-on with patients and helping to share knowledge with pet owners on the best way to care for their pets.
Q: Did you know what you wanted to aim for when you first joined OVH as a HA?
Ella: Yes, it was intended to be the first step on the ladder towards what I really wanted to do.
Q: How do you think your experience as a HA has prepared you for your role as SVN?
Ella: Massively. Firstly it gave me a chance to settle in and be sure it’s the environment I wanted to be in. Getting familiar with the general hospital processes and practices, being involved across both clinical and administrative support so I got to know how everything works and got to know the clients and patients too.
Q: Why did you choose to learn in a vocational role, rather than a full-time study programme at university?
Ella: I’d already been to Uni to study English and, although I loved the experience, I realised I’m much more of a practical learner. Being in the Hospital now, I’m learning from the best of the best all the time, with people who know me and who are always supporting my development as they also really want me to succeed.
Q: How is your development supported in the hospital?
Ella: I have a clinical coach who is one of the senior nurses. She helps me with support throughout my programme and makes sure I get the practical experiences as they become available. The management team, including our Head Nurse are brilliant too. There is more than just knowledge available, I can see, not just hear or read. I get first-hand experiences. Everyone thinks about the development of the student nurses; the team will go out of their way to find me if there’s something they think I will benefit from.
Q: How long will it take you to complete your studies and become a qualified RVN?
Ella: It’s a three-year programme
Q: You’ve been in the SVN role for around a month now, what does your programme focus on learning in these early stages?
Ella: Firstly we’re focusing on legislation, the roles and responsibilities in the hospital. This is of major importance as our industry is regulated and there are strict rules on who can do what. I’m also starting on the foundations of anatomy and physiology.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about your student journey?
Ella: I’m really looking forward to consultations because I love the client and patient experience. I’ll be able to join in consultations when I get my RCVS enrolment number and, firstly, I’ll shadow an experienced nurse in consultations before leading them myself with an experienced nurse supporting me.
Q: If someone reading this is considering a career in veterinary nursing, what advice would you give them right now?
Ella: I would say don’t allow your perception of what you think you know, or what you think you are, to stop you doing this. You don’t need to have any particular background, but you need to want it. I was never particularly science focused at school, I just had a passion and love for animals and I’m proud of myself for taking this step.
We’ll keep you updated with Ella’s progress!

15/05/2024

Sadly we have had a deceased cat brought to us this morning, quite likely having been hit by a car. We don't like to break sad news this way but someone may well be looking for him. He's an entire male, tabby, quite a large cat. No microchip so it could be that he's been a free spirit rather than a pet. He was found in Halstead.
If you know anyone around the area who may be looking for their beloved pet, please ask them to contact us on 01572 722646.

03/05/2024

With the kind permission of her mum and dad, Rachel and Edward, we are proud to share with you the incredible story of Daphne.

Rachel says: On 11th January 2024, what started out as just a normal dog walk, ended up being a walk that nearly took the life of our 9 month old Whippet puppy Daphne.

Edward had set off for his walk, expecting that the chilly morning would be drama free. Instead, whilst Daphne was enjoying her walk in a nearby field, running around, playing and loving the freedom, she suddenly fell down with the most horrifying cry. Edward ran over to her, to see that she had managed to impale herself on a branch; seemingly she’d leaped in the long grass and landed on the stick. She’d also managed to pull herself off the stick and was losing blood at a terrifying rate. With the help of a fellow dog walker, Edward managed to get her into the car and straight to hospital. The accident was one of such shocking bad luck, we don’t really know how Daphne ended up doing what she did but, aware of the risks of throwing sticks for dogs, we never do that either!

Having called Oakham Veterinary Hospital on the journey, the team were ready for her arrival but didn’t know what her injuries were. Daphne’s journey from this point was literally life-or-death. Although we didn’t know it at the time, our precious girl had been so close to losing her battle but the wonderful team worked non stop to save her life.

It turned out that the stick Daphne had fallen on had pierced part of her lung and, although it had seemed as though she’d pulled it out, there was still some of the stick left. The clinical team had to carefully investigate to find out exactly where the stick was before they could determine whether or not it could be removed.

Daphne underwent imaging with x-rays and CT scan, which were showing a perforation in her lung with air leaking from the wound, as well as fluid in her chest, making her condition even less stable.


The team kept us updated and advised that they were going to carry out a procedure to remove the stick and repair the damage. I’m not sure we fully appreciated how risky the procedure was. We had already made a heartbreaking decision to not resuscitate Daphne, if her injury proved too severe, but we put all of our faith in the skill of the vets to make the right decision. They carried out emergency chest surgery which saved Daphne's life.

When we first saw Daphne after her surgery, it was heartbreaking. She was wrapped with a huge bandage covering the surgical site, with drainage tube and monitors. She looked so poorly.

She then spent a week in the hospital while she recovered and we cannot praise the team enough for their kindness, patience and care. We were able to visit Daphne each day and call any time day or night to speak with the team and check in on her recovery.

Daphne made a miraculous recovery and soon started causing mischief at the hospital. So much so that she even gained herself a criminal record!

Following the trauma of what happened, I was worried Daphne would be too scared to go back for her follow up appointments but no she runs in, dragging us with her. Daphne loves all the staff at the hospital which just shows how wonderful her care was.

Although not a great way to find out, we also had the opportunity to test the benefits of veterinary insurance cover too and would definitely say it’s an essential. We were so glad that we’d taken out a good policy which covered her medical bills.

We recently celebrated Daphne's 1st birthday, something we weren't sure she would reach.

Emily Blunden, one of the vets who looked after Daphne through her ordeal says:

When Daphne first arrived, we weren’t sure what her injury was but it was immediately evident that she was seriously hurt and the outlook was very worrying. Investigations showed a piece of stick embedded in her chest and pleural effusion, which is fluid inside the chest cavity. Daphne needed emergency surgery and the nature of her injury was one that, ideally, would have involved a referral to a specialist but she was too weak and unstable to make the trip.

At the time the team was working hard to keep Daphne alive, another of our vets, Riccardo Quacquarelli, who wasn’t working that day, happened to come in for an unrelated matter. His arrival proved the turning point for Daphne as he was better equipped for the surgical procedure and he immediately offered to help. Without a doubt, Riccardo’s arrival saved Daphne’s life. She was an incredibly lucky pup!

After reviewing Daphne’s case remotely with another vet, Riccardo carefully and successfully removed the remainder of the stick from Daphne’s lung, repairing the hole and patching her all up. Daphne needed intensive nursing and the surgical site draining manually hourly, for the first 24 hours.

Every member of our clinical team was involved in keeping Daphne comfortable and monitoring her recovery. Her incredible mum and dad visited as much as they could.

We could tell when Daphne was recovering as her cheeky personality showed through. She had a “criminal record” added to her kennel door, with her tally of doggy crimes including escapes, theft and chewing her lines! All charges dropped due to her “criminal cuteness”.

We discharged Daphne from hospital on 16th January, several days after her accident. She had a long road to recovery ahead of her, with follow up visits to check her progress. Remarkably, her ordeal didn’t seem to make her reluctant to come into the hospital or the consult rooms either, she remained a happy girl, oblivious to her super-dog status! It felt incredible to be sending her home as the outcome could so easily have been very different.

We signed Daphne off as fit to return to normal exercise at the end of February, over six weeks after her terrifying accident.

Daphne’s story is one of bravery and strength and a miraculous recovery.
Thanks so much to Rachel and Edward for sharing with us.
If you have a pet with a story to tell, please let us know. Registered patients/clients only. https://form.jotform.com/juliegovh/featured-pet

27/04/2024

It’s World Veterinary Day.
A time to celebrate every member of our team - Vets, Nurses, Client Care and Support Staff.
Animals make our world go around and we are here for you and yours.

17/04/2024

"SPECIAL OFFER!"
Cat Microchipping becomes a legal requirement on 10th June.
Take advantage of a special price of £15.00 to chip your kitties!

16/04/2024

WE'RE CONNECTED AGAIN!

Apologies for any inconvenience, please feel free to dial as normal again! We look forward to speaking to you!

**URGENT MESSAGE TO CLIENTS!**

WEDNESDAY UPDATE - OUR PHONES ARE STILL OUT OF SERVICE. We have one single line which connects to our emergency phone, to make sure clients can still reach us. Please bear with us and we hope to have a full service back again soon. We have internet and can access emails.
If you call without an urgent need for veterinary help, the team will take your details for a call back, so that we can keep the line free for pets needing urgent care. We very much appreciate your patience and understanding through this.

Please continue to send emails for non-urgent enquiries and we will respond as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Our phone lines are expected to be out of action shortly, due to essential maintenance. We hope they won't be off for long but are unable to give a timescale at this point. For now, our phones will be diverted to a single emergency phone number.

IF YOU NEED URGENT VETERINARY HELP: Please call our normal number 01572 722646 and bear with us whilst the call is diverted.

IF YOU DO NOT NEED URGENT VETERINARY HELP: We would be very grateful if you would call later, when our phones are back, to make sure that our single line is open for those who need emergency care.

We are also expecting to lose internet access so we will be unable to process any orders or log enquiries.
Please email any enquiries to [email protected] and these will be followed up as soon as our service is resumed.

On this occasion, we will also keep a check on our Facebook Messenger inbox, for urgent enquiries in case anyone has been unable to reach us on the phone.

We are very sorry for the disruption and inconvenience and would like to reassure our clients that normal service will resume as soon as possible.

Thank you.
Small Animal Team

08/04/2024

Good people of Cottesmore, please help us find this beautiful boy's owner. He's been brought to us having had a whale of a time around the Rogues Lane/Toll Bar area of Cottesmore. He's an entire boy, black with white markings, very friendly but in need of some TLC. He's safe and well with us, being looked after by our team and having some treatment for a sore ear. No collar or chip.
If you know who has lost him, please could you let them know and put us in touch?
Please call 01572 722646 with any info.
Thank you!

08/04/2024

Featured Pet - Albi

With the kind permission of his mum and dad, Sarah and Paul, we’d like to tell you the story of Albi.

Sarah and Paul say:

Albi is a six-year-old Springer Spaniel. He’s one of four dogs and life in our house is energetic and lively. Walkies is fun in the fields, with lots of running, sniffing, exploring and ear flapping. One morning in the middle of December 2023, Paul took the dogs out for their usual morning run. Albi leaped out with his usual enthusiasm and shot off. By the time Paul had supervised the rest of the pack getting out, he caught sight of Albi lying in the middle of the field. Running over to him, Paul could see Albi’s front left leg was injured, it was hanging loosely and he was in obvious pain. There was nothing to indicate what had happened to him, which remains a mystery to this day.

Paul loaded the pack straight back into the truck and headed immediately down to Oakham Veterinary Hospital. Rushing in as an emergency, Albi was quickly assessed and given pain relief while the vet, Catriona Laird, started to investigate the damage.

We were shocked to learn that Albi had a badly broken leg, having shattered it between his shoulder and elbow. We had to absorb this news and decide on how to move forward. After taking x-rays of Albi’s leg, Catriona gently explained all the options. We had thought that the only option would be to say a painful goodbye to Albi, but Catriona had a much brighter picture.

Catriona explained that, whilst it may be possible to repair the break, he would face a long recovery, with an uncertain prognosis. It would also be very costly. She then spoke to us about amputating Albi’s broken leg. The thought was terrifying but Catriona talked us through it at length. We discussed how he would manage after the amputation and especially how he would manage being one of a pack of four dogs from a working background. Catriona shared her knowledge and experience of dogs who had been operated on and go on to have a long happy life

Without that discussion with Catriona, we might have made a different decision. Emotions were very high, but Catriona supported us and gave us time to consider the options. We agreed that we wanted to give Albi the best chance and made the decision to ask her to amputate his leg. Catriona prepared and took Albi to theatre.

It felt like the longest day, but we finally got a call to say that Albi was out of theatre and the procedure had gone very well. She was happy with him.

Albi only stayed in hospital for a day, coming home to us with medication to keep him comfortable and to prevent infection. He was strictly on crate rest and lead exercise only, but we were so glad to have him back.

For the first few day’s Albi was home he himself had to come to terms with only having three legs …unlike a human where these things can be explained its obviously different for a dog. He not only had to learn to walk again but go to the toilet as well. There were a couple of funny moments where he actually fell over trying to c**k his leg but soon realized it was easier to squat 😊 he very cautious to start with some wobbles along the way always looking for reassurance and his confidence increased daily and were sure he was secretly actually loving all the attention and cuddles… one to one time which being the youngest of the 4 he has never had.
After a couple of days we introduced the other dogs back to Albi. His best buddy and protector Jasper is our other Spaniel a few sniffs and they just curled up together. The 2 Labradors were the same.
After the first week Albi ventured out with Paul on very some short lead walks, he got tired quickly, but he loved it and managed very well with Jasper constantly checking on him.
Every day on those daily walks he showed more & more confidence and stamina he still needed lifting in and out of the truck, but he loved being out with his pals.

Albi had to go back to have his progress monitored and he developed a slight infection. A course of antibiotics soon cleared that up and throughout it all, he had all the care and cuddles we could give. He had a large wound where his shoulder had been, but it quickly healed up.

After three weeks, Albi was back out on short lead walks with all the other dogs and around 4 weeks after he surprised us all and just jumped in the back of the truck. It was quite an emotional moment and, from there on, he never looked back (apart from to see where Jasper was). Now, 4 months after his surgery, he jumps in and out of the truck and runs like the wind as if nothing happened.

It was around 7 weeks post-op when he went on a walk with Paul and Jasper and completed 5 miles with no problem what so ever.

Safe to say he Is loving LIFE and is doing amazingly well and that all thanks to Catriona and Oakham Vet Hospital

We have so much to thank Catriona for ...we went from being heartbroken to being so grateful. Words won’t ever express how thankful we are to her for helping Albi and us.

THANKYOU for all you have done❤️

Sarah Smith and Paul Shaw

Albi’s vet, Clinical Director Catriona Laird says:

Despite the pain Albi must have been in, he was still a sweet-natured dog who allowed me to examine him. I have always had Springer Spaniels and must admit I have a soft spot for them. It was heart-breaking to see such an energetic young dog so suddenly and devastatingly disabled. However, I knew how well such dogs cope with amputation. Their resilience and love of life allows them to adapt. Although it can be challenging at the start, they soon return to the quality of life they had prior to amputation.

I was so glad when Albi's mum and dad made the decision to proceed with surgery. He was such a brave dog, was back on his feet so quickly after recovering from the anaesthetic and hasn't looked back since. An inspiration to us all!


If you have a story of an incredible pet and would like to share, please send the details through our submission form. Registered patients only.
https://form.jotform.com/juliegovh/featured-pet

08/04/2024

Calling all of our registered cats!

We are still in need of your beautiful kitten pictures for our kitten packs, which are about to be redesigned. We had a few pictures the last time we put an appeal out, but there's space for more!

If you have pictures of your kittens, or even your adult cats when they were kittens - they don't have to be kittens at this moment - and you'd like to see them featured in full technicolour glory on one of our practice brochures, please get your photos in to us!

You can submit them directly online, please use this link as it gives us the required permissions from you too, we can't use your pictures without this.
https://form.jotform.com/juliegovh/your-pet-pictures

Please send us original photos, which have not been cropped, edited or sent/received as the resolution will be too low for printing. Due to data protection, please do not include photos with people or with anyone else's animals. Photos with high contrast, clear backgrounds and good lighting are best.

Sorry dogs, you can sit this one out!
Patient model Maud 😍

02/04/2024

Our new seasonal photo booth being tested by one of our lovely nurses. She's confirmed it's also suitable for dogs!
Ozzy and LouLou tested it too.

Please join us in a bit of fun when you come in, with or without pets! Please tag us in any pictures 😁

28/03/2024

We would like to wish everyone a very happy and safe Easter weekend.
Our opening hours for our Small Animal Hospital during the holiday are:

Good Friday 29th March 9am-5pm Emergencies only

Saturday 30th March 8.30am - 5pm

Easter Sunday 31st March 9am - 12 noon Emergencies only

Easter Monday 1st April 9am - 5pm Emergencies only

When the hospital is Emergencies only please ring 01572 722646 for veterinary assistance.
Out side of the hours shown above your call will be directed to Vets Now.

04/03/2024

Thanks to Prickleback Urchin Hedgehog Rescue for a really informative and engaging presentation this evening, to the OVH team and some of our community based wildlife lovers. We have all learned something tonight and look forward to continuing to work with you to look after our cute, spiky friends ☺️

20/02/2024

Good people of Oakham. We have had a lovely cat brought to us today, found locally around the willow crescent area. She's a little sweet girl who's obviously lost her owners for a little while as she's in need of some TLC.
She's black with white markings and has the tip of an ear missing.
If you know her or know who she might belong to, please call our team on 01572 722646.

29/01/2024

**Cat Microchipping becomes a legal requirement from 10th June 2024**

Take advantage of our special offer for cat neutering and microchipping*:
Many owners have their cats microchipped at the same time as routine neutering procedure, where the cat is under anaesthetic.

Oakham Veterinary Hospital invites clients, new and existing, to have their cats neutered and chipped at a fantastic price.
**• £50 for castrate (male neutering)**
**• £70 for a spay (female neutering)**

Clients who are part of our Pet Health Club care plan get an additional 20% off, too!
*Selected dates only

**FIRST AVAILABLE DATE IS FRIDAY 23RD FEBRUARY**
Limited spaces available but we will be adding further dates.

To book, please call our team on 01572 722646

15/01/2024

Good people of Oakham, please help us trace an owner.
Heartbreakingly, we had a deceased cat brought into us over the weekend, We can't find a microchip, but this is a large male, entire, white with tabby markings on back, face, ears and tail. He was hit by a car on Saturday, on Tees Road (bottom of Tyne Road) in Oakham.

This beautiful boy has clearly been very well looked after and we would like to reunite him with his owners who must be desperately worried for him.

We are sorry to break such sad news over a Facebook post, but if the owners could please contact us, we will do our best to support them through the next steps.

Please call the team on 01572 722646.

26/11/2023

If you suspect your pets may have ingested any dried fruit as mentioned in this post or other christmas goodies please contact us asap on 01572 722646.

Today is Stir-up Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent, and the traditional day to prepare and mix your Christmas puddings🎄🎁

Remember that raisins, sultanas and currants are toxic to pets, and ingestion of a small amount can be enough to cause kidney damage. It is not fully understood how these foods cause poisoning, and there is no correlation between the amount eaten and the likelihood of an animal developing complications. This means that even a small amount can be enough to cause serious kidney impairment.

☎️ Pet owners can call Animal PoisonLine on 01202 509 000
🤳 Veterinary professionals can call VPIS on 0207 305 5055

Photo credit to Mosney Mill (https://www.facebook.com/mosneymill)

20/11/2023

Good people of Oakham, we've had a tiny kitten brought to us, found around Uppingham Road and brought to us Friday evening. A little tabby boy, probably around 5 weeks of age. He is being cared for but probably would be much happier with his mummy if we can reunite them.
If you have any idea where there may be a mumma cat missing one of her babies, please contact our team on 01572 722646.