Friendly Vets

11/07/2024

Please share far and wide, there has, been a post about a Spaniel bitch going missing who had young pups but none of us can remember where we saw it so please share.

01/08/2023

30/04/2023

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=546178537676436&set=a.492221163072174&type=3

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides)💜

If you have been out for a walk in the woodland recently, you may have seen an abundance of bluebells blooming. Whilst these are beautiful to look at, your pet may become unwell if they ingest any.

The toxins within bluebells are known as cardiac glycosides which can increase the force of contractions in the heart.
Ingestion of bluebells is likely to cause gastrointestinal upset in dogs and cats such as vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain, but they can affect the heart rate and rhythm in serious cases.

If your pet has ingested bluebells and is otherwise bright and well, we recommend that you seek advice from a member of the Animal PoisonLine team who will be able to take a history and discuss the risk to your pet.

☎️Owners can call Animal PoisonLine on 01202 509000
☎️Veterinary professionals can call VPIS on 0207 305 5055

15/04/2023

This amused Viki a lot. She hasn't somehow got wet whilst working for about a year but this month has completely ruined that record!

03/01/2023

25/12/2022

Happy Christmas to you all

02/12/2022

Elf on a shelf.... love him or hate him....here's the farm version.....

28/11/2022

As you may know, the Kept Animals Bill is a golden opportunity to tackle many of the most pressing animal welfare issues in the UK, such as ear cropped ears and puppy smuggling. The Bill has stalled in Parliament but on 5th Dec there will be a debate about finding time for the Bill to complete its journey through Parliament and become law.
If you want to have some impact, please consider writing to your MP using this template letter https://www.bva.co.uk/take-action/kept-animals-bill/ and remind them that the debate will be held on 5th Dec.
Thanks

27/11/2022

Does this resonate with any of you????

04/09/2022

Panel 1 Welcome to War PawsAnimals in Iraq and other hostile environments need your helpOur aim is to alleviate the pain and suffering of animals in hostile environments and areas of civil conflict. There are lots of ways you can help us to give these animals a helping hand.Find Out How >

03/09/2022

Please take a moment to read and inwardly digest. Horses are not bad creatures. Abnormal behaviour and resistance to training are generally related to pain.
Remember YOU CANNOT TRAIN PAIN!

The 24 Behaviors of the Ridden Horse in Pain” is a 35 minute documentary featuring world-renowned expert in equine orthopedics, Dr Sue Dyson, and her research on how “bad” horse behavior can actually be an early indicator of pain. The film follows Dr Dyson and Dr Jim Myers of Gold Coast Equine, as they examine and diagnose show jumper Lauren McMahon’s beloved mare Galina, who was not obviously lame, yet seemed increasingly unhappy under saddle. Lauren had “tried everything” to figure out what was wrong, including ulcer treatments, multiple joint injections and specialized shoeing but Galina only became more resistant under saddle. Galina’s story is not uncommon for horses that do not present with an obvious head bobbing lameness. Oftentimes these are horses that get labeled as “resistant,” “lazy,” and for horses that buck or rear from pain, “explosive.” Trainers often tell riders to “push them through it.”

The film educates horse lovers on how to spot the early signs of pain while taking viewers on an emotional “ride” through the eyes of a young girl.

“WE ARE CONDITIONED THAT MANY HORSE BEHAVIORS ARE NORMAL, BUT THEY ARE NOT. WE NEED TO APPRECIATE THAT WHAT WE CALL ‘NAUGHTY HORSES’ ARE ACTUALLY THOSE IN PAIN.”– Dr. Sue Dyson Shifting the paradigm of how we see lameness.The 24 Behaviors of the Ridden Horse in Pain is a film that dares to...

25/08/2022

Really interesting event in Newdigate this weekend, where our practice started. Not of vet interest but of general interest

21/08/2022

This is brilliant advice for what to do if you lose your dog. Please read it all the way through and then save it in case you need it..

Message from The Bodie Search Team. Missing since 3rd July 2022
Sad news, I am sorry to say, since there has been no sighting for two weeks, we have scaled things down a bit – we don’t think there is much we can do for now until someone comes back to us with a further sighting. Drones have been up again (Thanks Drone SAR) and even the speedboat patrol has been out at Bewl. Nothing. Had a long chat with Barbara last night and we have decided that our wonderful team are exhausted and have literally put our own lives on hold to find him, but to no avail. We are not scrapping the team, members who normally walk both areas will stay on alert and we are just moth balling the group until something happens. Dogs Lost have also been proactive. Our ground volunteers have even dragged their families into the search to spread the load. Nothing!

We all felt in the team that this would be a good time to remind owners what happens when your dog runs off and various preventions you can put in place. No one owner is perfect and despite the best of training if a dog has a scent and runs, its focus is on that, not the person recalling their dog. If you are not confident with your recall in these circumstances, put a falconry or bear bell on your dog or if you have funds a tracker than can be tracked on your phone. I have used bells and got teased by the gun dog community – here comes Sally with her black reindeer ha ha, but in new territory I know exactly where my dogs are, especially if it’s a group walk and you are distracted chatting etc. When they are young, I let a plastic long line (its 8ft) trail behind them that can run smoothly through grass and rough ground, because the dog is aware of it and what is behind. I never touch it but leave it trailing. I recall and reward so that it becomes habit. There are lots of different ‘tools’, for instance in the gun dog world a stop whistle command and recall are used. Always have a reason for a recall, a reward, a sit, anything otherwise your dog will come back a couple of times, see no reason to come back and ignore you. Any trainer will tell you distance is important, your dog should not be a dot on the horizon, but closer to you so you have more control.
When your dog runs – don’t leave the last place you saw them, don’t walk on – recall with whistle and or voice. If you have other dogs with you, keep them close and back on leads. Alert someone if you are on your own that your dog has gone, if you came by car get someone to stand by car, but you stay put. The reality is that a dog running, goes deaf, they can run miles very quickly, when they stop, they realise they have no idea where they are. They turn to come back and its easy to think that their aim is to come straight back but there are distractions on the way, good smells, another rabbit etc. So they can take their time. Stop people who are walking around and ask them – have you seen my dog? Yes, it is a good idea to put something down that smells of you in the place your dog has gone missing. BUT also put a bed and food down in your own garden, leave a few lights on so it looks like you are home. You would be amazed but our breed, especially, will find their way home – even if it takes ten days to do that! DO NOT ASSUME YOUR DOG HAS BEEN STOLEN. For instance, we know that Bodi appeared and barked at the gate of the owners’ home at 3am ten days after he went missing so don’t assume that they will stay in the area you lost them. They are in a blind panic to start with but soon they are scenting the air, the ground …looking for something familiar. There will be lots of false starts but ….
Do not assume you know your dog and what it would do. We have heard it said so many times, oh no my dog would not do that, oh its friendly it would go up to anyone – well that is not always the case. Bodie ran away from Nicola in his own garden, three weeks after he went missing. He was feral and now had no faith in humans as he had lost one. He had to depend on his own wits. Do not assume that dogs have a plentiful food supply, unless they kill by accident, they have no idea that rabbit and pheasant are food as they, in all likelihood, have only been fed wet and dry food. However, they are scavengers, so if someone leaves food out for the foxes, or stocks a bird table and supplies are going faster than before – take note. We wanted to set up the barbecue a lot earlier than was done because the smell would have been tempting to a dog – hungry and not feral yet – he would have come in to the smell. IMPORTANT – your dog is not just going to turn up hungry and normal, lost dogs are different to when you saw them last particularly if they are missing for some time.
Use social media to get the news out that you have lost your dog, the first 48hrs are absolutely crucial, in fact if it was mine, I would be sounding the alert within a couple of hours!! Make notes of what happened, where and when, continue every day that passes, so that any help you are receiving are all on the same page. Make sure you update any information straight away, don’t leave it thinking everyone will know this so….. Misinformation can waste time! Map any sightings – dogs tend to circle round their destination to check things out. A finders fee is a personal thing. We had two gypsy sites near the location so made the decision not to offer one. Be proactive, be a pest – you want to get your dog back!!
Drones and Tracker dogs are essential, but you can’t use a tracker dog if you have nothing with your dog’s scent on, so multiple dog owners need to take that fact on board. When searching always make sure you have a dog lead with you. If your dog appears and has been missing a while, drop to the ground, don’t make eye contact – just talk. Even if you are pretending to make a phone call, it will take time for your dog to remember your voice. Even though they ran off – in their mind you lost them! In the UK we have Dogs Lost as well and its important to get your dog registered on there asap. Alerts are then sent out by them to post codes in the area. If you put your number on the notification make sure you have your phone with you at all times. Likewise when your dog is found edit the number to stop hoax calls. Please don’t be surprised if you get some weird comments on social media platforms, disregard them, I have received some really unpleasant scary ones but my focus was on finding Bodie and these losers can go do one as far as I am concerned.
I will be putting a simple 1 -10 list of what to do if you lose your dog, mainly for UK owners but some of it might be suitable for our overseas members. I will wait for comments on here in case there is something useful I can add. I am also going to ask Breeders to put this list in their puppy packs, regardless of breed, the comment we hear the most is, oh I did not know that….if they have read it when their dog was 8 weeks old it might stick in the memory.

Sorry its not good news – of course there are things that could have hurt him, like railway lines and the ever present Blue Algae but we know from our contacts that the likelihood of him being stolen is negligible and we hope and pray that he is still alive and will one day be found. Thank you for all your support during this search and if nothing else we hope that the information posted above will be his legacy. So its not over – it’s a wait and see folks!

14/08/2022

Straight line fitness..... never ever underestimate it's efficacy or safety

13/08/2022

WHAT IS THE WBGT INDEX & WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

I have seen some discussions of WBGT flying around on social media so I thought some clarification may be useful.

We all understand temperature. 20C is cool, 25C is warm, 30C is hot, 40C is really hot! But temperature is only part of the picture as to how thermally stressful conditions are either for us or our horses, especially when it comes to exercise. We need to also consider humidity, wind speed and solar (sun) load.

The WBGT index (WBGT = Wet Bulb Globe Temperature) takes ALL these factors into account and has been used since 1996 by the FEI to manage competitions with respect to climate.

Below a WBGT of 28C, most fit, heat acclimatised horses cope fine. Above 28C we expect to have to take some steps to ensure horses can compete safely. Above a WBGT of 33C competition is generally not considered safe, even for heat-acclimatised horses.

The WBGT is measured outside in full sunlight NOT in the shade and around 1.5m off the ground. The WBGT should be measured over the competition surface (an arena will give a higher WBGT than grass).

The Extech HT30 is a relatively inexpensive and widely used monitor in equestrian management. When the Extech HT30 is used to measure WBGT it should be set on WBGT IN mode. This calculates the WBGT as 0.7 x wet bulb temperature (C) + 0.3 x the globe temperature (C). The “globe” is the black part at the end which has a temperature sensor inside. This is the format used officially since 1996.

As an example, if the air temperature was 33C, the humidity was 40% and the globe temperature was 45C (all fairly typical for current UK weather) the WBGT would be…..

Wet bulb temperature 22.9C x 0.7 = 16C

Globe temperature 45C x 0.3 = 13.5C

16C + 13.5C = 29.5C WBGT

So, bottom line, conditions in large parts of the UK over the next few days will almost certainly be above 28C and would normally require competition modification even for heat acclimatised horses.

11/08/2022

09/08/2022

18/07/2022

Advice re cooling that is accurate, factually correct and works.

15/07/2022

13/07/2022

Many of you will remember vet Kayleigh who worked with us from 2015 to 2017.
Haribo adored her and the feeling was entirely reciprocated.
Kayleigh and her fiancée Will came to stay with us this week and there was a very joyful reunion!

11/07/2022

Half donkey - half horse. Meet Wallace the winning mule. Wallace who was rescued by the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary has made history in the world of dressage. - Meet Wallace the first mule to win the British dressage competition

03/07/2022

How often have you heard that term? Sure, it sounds like a pretty simple concept until you try it, Here’s a detailed breakdown and a “cheat” exercise (that’s not really a ch…

01/07/2022

Worth a read for all of you with horses

Colonel Christian Carde shares this classical approach to training the horse

28/06/2022

CHICKENS EX COMMERCIAL NEEDING HOMES 9TH JULY...locations all round the country

Do any of you have room for some lovely ladies? They are a joy to have and give hours of fun and delicious eggs

27/06/2022

The Billericay and Wickford Community Policing Team have seized 3 dogs from Hovefields, in Wickford, this evening. Unfortunately, the microchips are unregistered. We are now trying to locate the owners. If you have any information please contact us either online or by calling 101 and quote reference number 42/157966/22

16/06/2022

CLOTHING, WALLS, HAIR, FUR & COATS - THE BASICS OF INSULATION!

*** Quite a few comments and questions on this topic on various old posts so just re-posting for anyone who may be interested ***

Physics and thermodynamics and physiology at PhD level aren't most people's forte. This is why I have made an attempt to explain in a different way about why a dogs coat (even a double-coated one) does not keep it cool - in almost all circumstances. Much of the belief that it does keep them cool focuses on preventing heat getting IN from outside when the big issue is the heat the dog produces that it needs to get OUT! This is often missing from the discussion.

But just think about this - why do dogs and other animals bred for or living wild in cold climates have thick coats or thick fur or lots of feathers? To trap air and keep heat in. Insulation in cold climates can of course also be achieved with lots of fat.

So a typical thick walled, small windowed white painted traditional Greek house will be much cooler inside due to insulation. BUT if you light a fire inside then it wont stay cool. Mammals have internal "fires". Metabolism (chemical processes) that provide energy for life generates heat. In fact ALL living things produce heat as a by-product of metabolism.

So if we took a dead thick-coated dog and a dead thin-coated dog and put them in a freezer overnight and then put them out in the sun, the thick-coated dog would warm-up more slowly (assuming they were the same size). This is because the coat would insulate the dog from the heat outside. BUT in a LIVING dog, the internal "fire" means the dog has to continuously get rid of heat. And until the environmental temperature gets very hot, dogs rely primarily on convective heat loss across the whole skin as well as on evaporation from sweat (Yes, dogs do sweat - I'll cover the evidence for dogs sweating in another post).

So the only option for the dog with a thick coat in warm weather is to......
1) let its body temperature rise
OR
2) attempt to bring it down by actively thermoregulating. In dogs this means increased skin blood flow (to take more heat to the skin), panting (to increase respiratory heat loss) and sweating.

The ONLY exception to a thick coat being of benefit in the heat is when the external heat load (effectively air temperature) exceeds the dogs skin temperature. At this point, convective heat loss ceases and the dog will heat up by convective heat gain. The dog will still be working very hard (panting and sweating) to try and control its body temperature and this is not sustainable for long periods.

REMINDER - This is an attempt to help understand using a different approach as to why a thick coat in almost all circumstances does not help keep a dog or person or horse or sheep cool!

16/06/2022

This e plains the difference between evaporation and conduction for heat loss really well and explains why you should not sweat scrape water off.

13/06/2022

**NEW POLE WORK EXERCISE RESEARCH**

Great to work with an exciting group of researchers looking at the effect that pole work exercise has on equine locomotion.

Here is a new paper published in Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, titled “Effect of ground and raised poles on kinematics of the walk”, authors: Vicki A. Walker*, Carolyne A. Tranquillle, Russell MacKechnie-Guire, Jo Spear, Richard Newton & Rachel C.Murray*

For a limited time, this paper is available as Open Access using the link below. Massive thank you to the Petplan Charitable Trust who funded this research.

*lead authors

https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1fD~12dbxqfIqR

09/06/2022

**NEW WATER TREADMILL RESEARCH**

Great to work with an exciting group of researchers looking at the effect that water treadmill exercise has on equine locomotion.

Here is a new paper published in Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, titled “Effect of Water Depth on Limb and Back Kinematics in Horses Walking on a Treadmill”, authors: Carolyne Tranquille*, Jack Tacey, Victoria Walker Russell Mackechnie-Guire, Julie Ellis, Kathryn Nankervis, Richard Newton & Rachel Murray*.

For a limited time, this paper is available as Open Access using the link below. Additional papers are underway from this exciting area of research. Massive thanks to the Petplan Charitable Trust who funded this research.

*lead authors

https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fauthors.elsevier.com%2Fa%2F1fCJ52dbxqfItU&data=05%7C01%7C%7Cd3580f931ce94945f39408da47d4264f%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637901273752530540%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=RfQdB%2FJZ3GzRPaCbwp9S9qehTLhUau22hdWQG4j03SY%3D&reserved=0