Greenbay Vets

Henry having his teeth brushed

February is #PetDentalHealthMonth. So, what can you do to keep your pet's teeth healthy? 🦷 Ideally, like with ourselves, we should brush our dog or cat's teeth daily. Some pets, like Henry, enjoy this, but we know it isn't always that easy! 🦷 Alternatives for pets who do not tolerate brushing include gum wipes, drinking water additives, oral rinses, and dental diets/chews. We are here to help. Our nursing team offer free dental checks, where they can assess the health of your dog or cat's mouth and advise regarding dental hygiene. To book give us a call, send a WhatsApp or book via our website. Veterinary Nurse Laura H also created a couple of videos demonstrating how to brush your pets teeth, which you can watch on You Tube: https://youtu.be/apGPoTpSvHQ?si=oj4u1MmzwqDtIPsa (dogs) https://youtu.be/mLKeJbTXZQo?si=ziVxdtusDyKjWlym (cats) Dental disease is common in dogs and cats, with many pets requiring dental cleaning under anaesthetic, and sometimes extractions, during their lives. You can read more about dental disease and treatment on our website: https://www.greenbayvets.co.uk/services/dentistry-2/

What else do vet nurses do? Well, we’re glad you asked! Vet nurses are also taught the required skills to bandage a poorly limb, as well as other parts of the body, such as ears and tail. We thought you’d enjoy this time lapse of RVN Laura H bandaging with the assistance of SVN Ella. Concentration faces were on 😂 This is the lovely Floki, who currently has a poorly paw. He is a little worried, but was not short of extra reassurance throughout the procedure. 🥰

Did you know that our team carry out emergency drills? Here you can see Student Veterinary Nurse Ella carrying out a CPR drill with Registered Veterinary Nurse Ellen, who also has her nursing certificate in Emergency and Critical Care. The APP used is the RECOVER app, which provides critical guidance and the clicking sounds are to assist with compression timings. The team at Greenbay are trained in CPR using the approved RECOVER initiative training course. There is also a pet owner version of this course available. Please ask if you’d like to have this sent to you.

Ruffle Snuffle Mats

NEW IN!! 🎉Lets talks Snuffle Mats!! 🎉 Ruffle Snuffle What are they used for? Snuffle mats are great for enrichment activities for your dogs AND cats. They are great for mental stimulation to aid with emotional health. If your dog is feeling over aroused with excitement/frustation, these can be a great way to help decompress them. What else can they be used for? These can also be used for weight management, by slowing down feeding times. Which can reduce feelings of hunger, when pets are on a diet plan.

Rags

It was so lovely to see Rags enjoying his visit to us yesterday. Rags used to be very worried about coming in to see us, but thanks to lots of effort from his owners and our nursing team he has learned that we can be fun too 🥰

We are pleased to report that, following lots of work by RVN Laura Holderness, both our practices became accredited 'Dog Friendly Clinics' in December. We have been part of the ISFM Cat Friendly Accreditation scheme for many years. The canine scheme was launched last year by Dogs Trust and the British Veterinary Behaviour Association. The purpose of these schemes is to make veterinary visits as stress-free as possible for patients, and their owners. It goes without saying that patients should be handled kindly and not actively stressed, but by following the scheme guidance we can go above and beyond to make visits as comfortable as possible. Measures for our canine patients include: 🐶 Team training to identify signs of anxiety/stress in patients, and on how to approach/handle nervous patients. 🐶 Use of pheromone diffusers and Lickimats to reduce patient anxiety. 🐶 Use of pre-visit anti-anxiety medication where appropriate. 🐶 Free socialisation and puppy habituation clinics. 🐶 Advice on muzzle training, if appropriate. 🐶 Consideration of hospitalised patients e.g. use of enrichment such as snuffle mats. 🐶 Offering behavioural first aid consultations. You can read more about the scheme here: https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/how-we-help/professionals/vet-clinics. And the Cat Friendly Clinic scheme here: https://catfriendlyclinic.org/.

Still haven’t got your fur babies a Christmas present? Fear no more! At Greenbay Vets, both practices, have some last minute Christmas toys for your pets to have fun with. See below for a fun Christmas video 😂 I think some of the staff are starting to feel Christmassy 🤔 🎅 ⛄️ 🎄

We hope Friday is making you as happy as Charlie is with his catnip caterpillar 🐛 . . . . #catnip #catniphigh #catniptoy #catnipaddict #cat #toy #cattoy #cattoys #cattoysofinstagram #cattoylove #cattoysarefun #cattoysfordays #catlove #cats_of_world #catsofinstagram #catholic #felines #FelineFun

We’ve mentioned about the benefits of canine enrichment, but it is equally important that cats have enrichment in their lives too. What benefits does feline enrichment/play have? 🐱 Helps with boredom 🐱 Allows your cat to express natural behaviours 🐱 Helps prevent “problem” behaviour 🐱 Great source of mental stimulation 🎥: Seesaw (Tennessee) here working out how to get her dreamies. Clever girl! #feline #felinefriends #felinelove #felinefriendly #FelineFun #felineenrichment #foodpuzzlesforcats #foodpuzzle #catlover #catstagram #catlife #catlovers

Today was Winstons final puppy 1:1 session with Laura H. He wanted to show you how clever he is and how much he loves it here ♥️ We love to help socialise our puppies to the veterinary environment and playing games and carrying out some basic reward based training can help this process. Helping them become desensitised to a potentially scary environment. Winston has learnt the cues “down”, “roll over” and “gentle” during these sessions and through continued hard work from his mum & dad with his training at home 😊

Final reminder that we are offering a free blood pressure check for cats aged 7 and over during May in support of #felinehypertensionawarenessmonth. To book your cat's blood pressure check give us a call, or WhatsApp, or book online (select nurse appointments and blood pressure check) - https://www.greenbayvets.co.uk/make-an-appointment-2/. For more information about high blood pressure in cats, check out this useful website for owners: https://catbloodpressure.com/.