Vets Now
Just a reminder folks, that from tonight onwards, our Out of Hours provider has changed to Vets Now. You now have a choice of taking your pet to either the Coventry or Northampton branches if you need care when we are closed. Further information, including location/directions can be found on our website at www.biltonvets.co.uk/emergencies
#vetsnow #myfamilyvet
Look what we found down a kitten’s ear - massive amount of ear mites! This must have been driving her mad, but thankfully treating them is usually easy and straightforward. These are magnified about 40x here. You could just about see them with the naked eye. #myfamilyvets #biltonvets #mites
A cat with a ruptured diaphragm
This video tells Topsy's story. He is a lovely little cat that had progressive breathing problems and we discovered the reason for this may be as a result of an accident he had, many months earlier...
This video does contain scenes of surgery and so viewer discretion is advised!
Two of our favourite dogs
A few weeks ago we saw two of our absolute favourite dogs. We have seen a LOT of these two as they had both been receiving treating for different cancers. What was amazing was how happy they both are to come to the vets and see us!
A lot of what we do, is trying our best to ensure that the treatment we provide has minimal impact on a pet's quality of life. Simple things, like taking the time to fuss and spoil them, giving them treats and rewards and just having a team of vets, nurses and receptionists that know them and welcome them, can make all the difference.
"Wilson" has transformed from a dog that was so painful he could hardly walk, and "Pepper" was one of the sickest dogs that we have ever seen prior to starting her treatment. Both have massively exceeded our expectations and it was an absolute delight to see them both again recently!
#biltonvets #myfamilyvets
Our "Covid Catch-Up" clinics are in full swing and proving very popular. We have released some extra dates for next week - Tuesday, August 10th, and Friday, August 13th.
We are not only doing overdue/due boosters as we are happy to do some a little early if that helps you.
For more information and to book online, please visit www.biltonvets.co.uk/catchup
Is dental disease painful?
Dental disease is one of the most common problems that we find in our patients. Frequently, we hear owners say that their pet is "a different animal" after we have performed dental work.
The tooth shown in this video is an example of a type of dental disease called a Tooth Resorptive (TR) lesion where the roots dissolve into the bone and the crown can become loose.
This cat presented initially with a vague history of lethargy, slowing down and going off food. He was immediately improved a few days after our intervention!
Microsurgery on an Eyelid
Poor Raven had a nasty eye ulcer caused by a rogue hair rubbing on her cornea. Watch the solution here...
Bilateral Cystic Ovaries in a Guinea-Pig
This little video tells a story about an interesting case we have had in recently. Blossom the Guinea-Pig, was suffering from very abnormal and cystic ovaries which were causing some hormone-related hair loss (as well as a severely distended tummy!) See her story here...
Changes to our 'out-of-hours'provisions
We have recently sent an email to all of our clients explaining that we are making some changes to how we continue to provide 'out-of-hours' care for the periods when the practice is normally closed. These changes come into effect from Monday 30th July.
During weeknights, the staff at Bilton Vets are still going to be available to see emergency cases until 10 pm at our own surgery. After this time, and on weekends after 1 pm on Saturday, we are now working with Medivet Leamington Veterinary Hospital who are providing a fully staffed, comprehensive 24 hour night and weekend service.
There is more information on our website and we also have a detailed set of 'Frequently Asked Questions' to try and address any concerns that you may have about these changes.
www.biltonvets.co.uk/emergencies
Olly the super-star Cavalier!
This week we are sharing the story of Olly. Olly was such an incredibly poorly little dog who our new vet Alix pulled out all the stops to get him better!
He was suffering from a nasty condition called Haemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (HGE) which is where the intestine gets so badly damaged that the dog can lose such dangerous amounts of blood and fluid into the diarrhoea that they can go into shock incredibly quickly.
We have to say a massive thanks to Pet Blood Bank UK who, as always, are there for vets with a variety of blood products donated by an army of volunteer animals across the county.
Rat recovering from anaesthetic
This week we had a lovely male rat in for surgery to remove a lump on his tummy. He got a bit cold during his anaesthetic and so during his recovery, one of the nurses wrapped him up with a hot water bottle and shared their lunchtime pear with him! So this week we thought we would do some ratty #FridayFactoids.
- Did you know that rats appear to take care of/nurse any injured or sick rats within their social group and if they are denied company they can show signs of depression?
- They also have excellent memories, as once they learn a navigation route or journey they never forget it.
- Rats use their thick tail to communicate and help them balance. It also helps with regulating their body temperature.
- It has also been noted that rats succumb to peer-pressure. Some rats may disregard their own experiences to fit in with the behaviour of others - for example, it has been noted that they may eat unpalatable food if other animals in the group are doing so.
- Rats are incredibly clean animals and will spend several hours a day grooming themselves.
- Rats reach sexual maturity at around 5 weeks old. A pregnancy lasts approximately 21 days and litter sizes are between 6-12 babies. In theory, a rat can get pregnant again very quickly after giving birth, but unchecked, most rats tend to have about 5 litters a year.
- Historically, some cultures regarded rats benevolently; they are the first sign in the Chinese zodiac and are considered gods in some Indian religions. However other cultures saw them as the creatures of darkness and death due to the fleas they carried contributing to the plague.
Does anyone else have any other interesting facts?
Rabbits' teeth
We are talking about #rabbits this week for our #fridayfactoid - and more specifically their teeth. Rabbits have quite complex dental anatomy - they have 4 sharp and chiselled incisors at the front (2 top and 2 bottom) and there are also two additional tiny "peg" incisors which sit behind the upper incisors. Then there are 22 premolars and molars at the back (which are called the "cheek teeth").
Rabbit teeth do not technically have roots, and they have a constantly growing area of the tooth at the bottom called the apex. At the apex, the new tooth is constantly being formed and so the result is the teeth are constantly erupting - wearing down at the crown, and being replaced by the new growth at the apex.
The wearing down should occur evenly by a combination of the grinding effect of the teeth on the food and also against each other.
For many reasons (usually poor diet and sometimes conformational issues due to poor breeding) the teeth don't wear down evenly. If the incisors don't occlude together then they can grow into all sorts of "French Fry" shapes. We often see poor rabbits where the lower incisors have grown upwards into the nostrils!
If the cheek teeth don't wear down evenly then they can form these spark spikes (called Molar Spikes) which can end up cutting into the tongue and causing severe pain and ulcers.
For more information about this condition in rabbits (and for excellent advice about rabbits in general) then we suggest you visit https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-health/dental-problems/
Draining a massive abscess from a cat's neck
** WARNING - this video does contain scenes of pus/blood that some people may find unpleasant.... **
We got to meet Benji the Bengal (again!) last week with a nasty abscess caused by a cat bite. You may find this strange but there is nothing us vets like more than popping a big juicy abscess! It was a whopper.
Benji is well known to our practice! He does only have three legs after losing one in a nasty incident with a car. If you are interested, we have told this story before on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGoaTDNdhi0
