Walton Lodge Vets Ware

19/06/2024

Large breed dog found, female - Dobbs Weir
Dog is microchipped but details not up to date.
If you think this may be your dog please call us on 01920 466355
Proof of ownership will be required.

17/06/2024

Dog found - New hall farm Wareside
Dog is microchipped but details not up to date.
If you think this may be your dog please call us on 01920 466355
Proof of ownership will be required.

20/05/2024

💊Medical Monday💊
Controlled drugs 🔐✍🏼

In practice we use controlled drugs and Veterinary surgeons and Veterinary nurses have legal and professional conduct obligations in relation to veterinary medicines and controlled drugs.

The use of controlled drugs in veterinary practice is strictly managed and is regulated. The legislation and professional conduct obligations describe in detail how controlled drugs must be managed in practice and veterinary professionals are expected to be familiar with these.

Controlled drugs must be stored in a locked cabinet which only authorised personnel have access to.

Each time one of these drugs is used it must be recorded in the controlled drug books, specific to the drug used. This allows us to monitor various things including but not limited to: the amount of drug we have in stock, who and when it is used for, which Vet/Nurse drew up the drug and the responsible vet.

17/05/2024

Veterinary Nurse Awareness Month💚

Urinalysis 🧪🦠

One of the many tests our nurse carry out includes urinalysis.

Urinalysis is a routine test which is used mainly to assess the health of the kidneys and urinary system, but it can also reveal problems in other organ systems, and is important for diagnosing metabolic disease such as diabetes mellitus.

It is a valuable test in both healthy and sick animals, when we test urine we look at:
- colour
- odour
- clarity
- specific gravity
- pH
- glucose
- protein
- ketones
- bilirubin
- urobilinogen
- leukocytes
- blood

We will then look at the urine under a microscope or using our machine like in this video to look for bacteria, crystals and cells. 🦠🧫🔬

15/05/2024

Veterinary Nurse Awareness Month💚👩🏻‍⚕️

One of the many jobs our nurses do that makes them heroes includes hand rearing🐶🐱

We are lucky at Walton Lodge that we have a nurse with extensive knowledge and experience with hand rearing and is always around to support any patients needing hand rearing. 🐾🤍🩺

Hand rearing is an incredibly delicate and time consuming task, in the first days of a puppy or kittens life they need round the clock care which can include:

-feeding every 1-2 hours, consuming sometimes as little as 0.5ml per feed!

-stimulation to pass wee and poo

-continuous environmental temperature monitoring to ensure the environment is warm enough for them and not to humid

Did you know that special care must also be taken with things such as the position for feeding? Ideally puppy’s and kittens should be fed at a 45 degree angle with there head facing up to avoid aspiration neumonia.

Kittens are also especially delicate as there digestive system and kidneys take longer to fully develop then puppy’s, meaning that they are more likely to develop a runny tummy, and can easily go into kidney failure if they are provided to much ‘food’ to soon.

Hand rearing is something that can take years to master and those with extensive experience often still struggle.

15/05/2024

🏩Welcome to Ware🏩

Reception📞✍🏼👩🏼‍💻

Here is our lovely reception area where you’ll be greeted by 3 of our wonderful receptionists friendly faces🤍

14/05/2024

Veterinary Nurse Awareness Month💚

X-Rays 🩻

Did you know our nurses will perform most of our x-rays?
They will position the patients in the correct positions gaining the best x-rays to provide the vet with the right diagnostic tool. 🩺🩻

14/05/2024

🏥Meet the Team Tuesday 🏥

Meet Louise 💛

Louise is one of our vets here at Ware and you’ll see her here on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Louise is our very own eco warrior and is always coming up with innovative new ideas to help us be kinder to the environment.

Over Christmas time she collected up all of our paper towel rolls and used them to make a castle with her children!

Louise has a keen interest in internal medicine as well as ultrasonography.

13/05/2024

Female black cat handed into Ware, found near The Bull pub in Broxbourne.
Not chipped. Proof required.

13/05/2024

💊Medical Monday💊

Hypothyroidism in dogs 🐾🐶

In hypothyroidism, impaired production and secretion of thyroid hormones result in a decreased metabolic rate. This disorder is most common in dogs.

Clinical signs include:
* lethargy
* dullness
* Skin issues
* hypothermia
* decreased appetite
* bradycardia occasionally (low heart rate)

It is diagnosed by clinical features such as lethargy, weight gain, obesity, haircoat changes, and low serum thyroid hormone concentrations

10/05/2024

Friday Feeling ☀️🕶️

With the sun starting to come out again make sure to keep an eye on the temperature as it can be dangerous for your fur babies!!

An early morning walk or a late night walk is best avoiding the hottest parts of the day. ☀️

Missing a walk will not harm your dog but walking in the heat can!! ❌‼️🆘

09/05/2024

Veterinary Nurse awareness month 👩🏻‍⚕️💚

Fluid therapy 💉💧

Intravenous fluid therapy will be prescribed by the veterinary surgeon however it will be the nurses that set up the fluids, connect and monitor the patient.

The nurses will gain intravenous access where the fluids will be administered at a calculated rate per hour.

Fluid therapy can be prescribed for various different reasons including:

- Treating shock
- Intoxication
- Blood loss
- Dehydration and preventing dehydration;
- Treating systemic disease
- Providing supportive care during anaesthesia
- Kidney failure

09/05/2024

⚒️ Theatre Thursday ⚒️

Theatre set up😷🩺⚒️

Here we have a picture of our theatre and how we will typically set it up for a bitch spay.

When setting up theatre our nurses have lots of things to consider and set up this includes:

- Damp dust the theatre down removing any dust/dirt that has settled on the surfaces overnight
- Set up the table with a towels/blankets/heatmat/trough/inco sheet
- Selecting a surgical gown, drape, kit, gloves, and suture materials for the chosen procedure and vet
- Selcting the correct anaesthetic circuit for the patient
- Performing anaesthetic machine and circuit checks
- Turn on the heating and heat mat
- Check there is enough oxygen and anaesthetic inhalant
- Check the multiparameter is working and on the correct settings for the patient

Inbetween surgeries the theatre is cleaned and turned around for the next procedure and set up in the same way😷⚒️👩🏻‍⚕️💚

08/05/2024

Veterinary Nurse Awareness Month 👩🏻‍⚕️💚

One of the hardest decisions about having a pet.. they are like family and leave such a big gap in our lives when it’s their time to cross the rainbow bridge🌈🪽

Our nurses will take as long it takes to get a good pawprint for you memory. We have recently started nose prints as well as each dogs nose print is like our finger print. 🐾

We offer it at the time but you are more than welcome to ask prior and after.

We are thankful for our nurses everyday for the kindness and compassion they show in these tough situations.🌈🪽👼🏻💚

08/05/2024

National Receptionist Day📞👩🏼‍💻✍🏼

Today we are celebrate and appreciate all our wonderful receptionist’s we have across all branches.

A lot of the time the receptionists will be the first people you speak to in our clinics and help with whatever questions you have. They do a great job on a day to day business and welcoming all our patients into the practice🐶🐈🏩

07/05/2024

🏥Meet the Team Tuesday🏥

Meet Francis 🧡

Francis is one of our lovely Student Nurses who first started as a VCA here at Ware.

Francis has a keen interest in surgery and anaesthesia and gets herself involved in lots of tricky cases improving her skills everyday. She is eager to learn more about the complicated surgeries and how we support the patients throughout.

Francis is also interested in schedule 3 procedures that nurses can perform such as stitch ups, dental scale and polishes and lumpectomy’s.

We are very lucky to have such a enthusiastic nurse like Francis on our team🧡⭐️

06/05/2024

💊Medical Monday 💊

Ear cleaning 👂🏼🧼

Why is it important to clean your pet’s ears?
Although it is healthy to have a small amount of wax in the ears as it prevents damage from dust, foreign objects and insects. However, a build-up of excess wax can cause discomfort, odour, and can even impair your pet’s hearing.

We recommend cleaning your pets ears 2-3 times a week to prevent this build up.

Signs of your pets having an issue with their ears can be:
* Regular scratching of the ears
* Frequent shaking of the head
* A nasty smell coming from the ear
* Visible redness or sores

Here are two ear cleaners we recommend and sell to tackle build up of wax, fungal and bacteria growth.

05/05/2024

04/05/2024

⭐️Celebration Saturday⭐️

Veterinary Awareness day 3💚👩🏻‍⚕️

Today we celebrate our fantastic team of nurses we have here at Ware. The place wouldn’t run without them and the vets would definitely not know where anything lived !🤣

03/05/2024

Veterinary Nurse Awareness Day 2💚

Blood smears🩸🔬

Nurses will perform blood smears which are used to examine different cells under the microscope. This includes different types of white blood cells, red blood cells and a platelet count.

When examining a blood smear different parts of the smear are looked at - The feathered edge, the monolayer, and the body and base of the of the smear.

The vet can then confirm what has been identified on the smear to help diagnose different conditions such as:
- Anaemia - low red blood cell count
- Thrombocytopenia - low platelet count
- Toxins
- Infectious diseases
- Neoplasia

03/05/2024

🤪 Fun Fact Friday 🤪

Did you know rabbits perform an athletic leap, known as a ‘binky‘, when they’re happy — performing twists and kicks in mid air! 🐇🐰

03/05/2024

🌟Worried about your dog and rapeseed?🌟

At this time of year, we start to notice lots of posts circulating social media regarding rapeseed; these posts are shared extensively and can understandably worry many dog owners. The posts usually state that rapeseed is highly poisonous to dogs, and can cause signs including haemolytic anaemia, blindness, damaged nervous system, digestive disorders and breathing problems.

These posts are misinformation.

The signs mentioned are typically only seen in grazing animals, and most dogs actually remain asymptomatic after exposure to rapeseed. Dogs can develop gastrointestinal upset if they have ingested some of the plant, and there have been reports of skin reactions which resemble burns, but this is extremely rare and does not happen to every dog which comes into contact with it.

02/05/2024

Vet Nurse Awareness Day 1 👩🏻‍⚕️💚

Nail clipping 💅✂️

One of the most common appointments you can book in with one of our nurses is a routine nail clip. In this appointment the nurse will be more than happy to show you how you can do this at home if you would like to learn.

Top tips for nail clipping: 💅✂️

- Make sure your dog is relaxed so that this is not a stressful situation for your pet as it will make it easier
- Only use dog/cat nail clippers and not human ones
- Lots of positive reinforcement and treats
- When trimming the nails start with just taking a few millimetres of the top first avoiding the quick - this contains small blood vessels and nerves but will bleed and cause pain if cut
- If you do accidentally cut the quick then you can dip the nail in cornflour to help it clot or hold pressure with cotton wool

Here is illy demonstrating being a star patient for us⭐️

02/05/2024

⚒️ Theatre Thursday ⚒️

Intravenous Catheters💉🩸

For every patients we put under sedation or anaesthetic we place an intravenous catheter into one of their veins. This allows us to have emergency access in case of an emergency.

Placing an IV catheter can be placed in various locations but the most common being the cephalic vein.

01/05/2024

May🌸🍃🌼

Veterinary Nurse Awareness Month💚

This year celebrates 20 years of raising awareness for Veterinary Nursing.

The British Veterinary Nursing Association aims to raise awareness and empower veterinary nurses to develop as individuals and increase their impact on the profession and animal welfare.

This month we will be bringing you along in showing you what we do as veterinary nurses and why the role is so important. We aim to hopefully inspire you along the way and show you what a great and rewarding profession it is 🐾👩🏻‍⚕️

01/05/2024

🏩Welcome to Ware🏩

Dental 🦷🪥

Here is our dental are we have here at Ware. We are able to offer dental x-rays here at Ware as we have a state of the art x-ray machine allowing us to provide the best care for your pets when they are undergoing extractions.

Dentals can be a routine procedure such as a scale and polish where we will remove the build up if tartar on your pets teeth. This can always be avoided with regular teeth brushing however we know some of your pets won’t always tolerate this.

They can also be a more complex procedure where there can be extractions and these can vary from simple extractions to fairly difficult extractions that need surgical excisions. 🔪🪥🦷