Battle Flatts Avian and Exotic Services

06/12/2024

Agatha the Feral Chicken 🐓 🐥
Said with tongue in cheek, but THIS young lady was living wild for several months before being caught by a Poultry Rescue! One of our long-term clients has adopted Agatha, but realised fairly quickly that she was showing lameness in her left foot. After a consultation with Gemma, it was established that Agatha had some severe changes to her middle toe - a deep cut and a potential fracture, likely from her "time on the streets".
Under general anaesthetic, Agatha received top tier care from her Avian Veterinary Nurse team. X-rays confirmed a fractured toe and the start of changes to the next segment of the digit. This was very useful as it helped Gemma plan where she would amputate the toe, to avoid any osteomyelitis (bone infection) remaining.🩻
All avian patients are pre-medicated with multiple analgesia agents, including opioids. Once under anaesthetic, a mechanical ventilator is used to ensure adequate breaths are given throughout the procedure.💊💉
An IV cannula is placed in the leg or wing vein. This is used to give warm fluid therapy during and after the procedure.
A doppler machine aids in monitoring of the pulse rate - although nothing beats a trust stethoscope 🩺
A tourniquet and local anaesthetic was applied to the amputation site for additional pain relief.
The nasty toe was removed and the site sutured closed. A dashing pink bandage was applied to protect the area and post-operative pain relief, fluids and cuddles prescribed.
Thank you to Agatha's owner and Facebook fans for trusting us with her care! We hope this post gives you a little insight into the level of anaesthesia and care that is performed for ALL our avian patients.🐥🐔

03/12/2024

Fantastic turn out and another great year working with National Centre for Birds of Prey to raise funds for two excellent causes. 🦅
Until next year!

On 1st December we held our annual Veterinary Health Course.

Run in conjunction with Battleflatts Vets from Stamford Bridge the course is attended by falconers, rehabbers, raptor breeders, vets and vet nurses.

Mark Naguib MRCVS, Gemma Graham MRCVS and Hannah Tate MRCVS give their time for free. Amber the vet nurse also gave up her day off to help. We provide the venue and lunch without charge. This means that the entire course fees can be donated to good causes.

As normal the good causes we support are the wonderful Jean Thorpe MBE at Ryedale Wildlife Rehab and the equally awesome Kerri Wolter at Vulpro in S Africa.

Together with some sales of first aid kits that we put together we raised £3400.

Jean will spend the money on caring for local wildlife and Vulpro will use it to buy a dehumidifier for their incubation room where they hatch eggs from the endangered Cape Vulture.

Many, many thanks to everyone who came - hopefully you learnt some useful things and you can be assured that the money raised is already being used at the front line of conservation.

01/12/2024

'Team AWESOME' ❤️❤️❤️❤️

More of the team have completed the Raptor First Aid Course, at the National Centre for Birds of Prey today.
This fabulous course is run by Battle Flatts Avian and Exotic Services. The vets and vet nurses, along with the crew from the Bird of Prey Centre, deliver the course with all funds raised from the course fees going to our great friend Jean Thorpe from Rydale Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation and VulPro. Two of the team did the course last year, so now more of us have skills in the care of raptors. This course is one of a kind, and it is only run annually, so we were thrilled to get more of the team on it. The day is full of educational and practical training, by specialist vets, all delivered at a rather special location 🙏.

As we are still a small and developing Charity, all the volunteers fund their own training and associated costs, showing even more commitment to our mission to help what we can. One of the team was taken ill over the weekend, so was unable to attend. We wish her a speedy recovery ❤️

What a fabulous bunch 🤗❤️🦉🦅
Erica Nash Lynn Krupa Penny Hunt Penny Hunt artist Hillary, Elaine Hill.

01/12/2024

TLC and in-depth chats included for all hospitalised patients 💛🐰

24/11/2024

Huge thank you to White Rose Vet Physio and Jody Lam Veterinary Acupuncture for their work with Butch so far. This big bunny holds a special place in Vet Gemma's heart, and it is lovely to see how combined treatment of underlying conditions, adequate multi-modal pain relief and a combined therapies approach can benefit our patients 🐇 💛💉

01/11/2024

18/09/2024

On 1st December 2024 we will be hosting our annual Veterinary Health Day.

This full-day course is aimed at raptor-keepers, falconers, rehabbers and vets and vet nurses wanting some specialised training.

Further details and booking is here https://www.ncbp.co.uk/veterinary-health-course/

Featuring not one, not two - but three vets from Battle Flatts Veterinary Clinic you'll spend the morning learning about the veterinary care of raptors and, after lunch (provided) you'll get the opportunity to put your new knowledge into practice in the practical sessions.

Mark Naguib BVMS(Hons) Cert AVP (ZooMed) MRCVS, Gemma Graham BVMS CertAVP(ZM) MRCVS, and Hannah Tate BVM BVS MRCVS are all very experienced in caring for and treating birds.

The entire course fee is donated to Ryedale Wildlife Rehab and VulPro.

First aid kits will be available on the day

18/07/2024

Baby Season at Battle Flatts Veterinary Clinic - little wild kestrel fledgling.
Brought in by Colin Thirsk Birds of Prey Centre (Falconry UK). Found by a member of the public.
Worked up by Gemma and Amber.
Off to join some others at Jean Thorpe 🪶 🦅

26/06/2024

Since you cannot check your rabbit’s teeth at home, it is important to look out for signs of dental disease.
There are many things that you can look out for that might indicate that your rabbit has some sort of dental health issue.
If you notice any of these signs, it is important that you bring your rabbit to your vet for an oral assessment as soon as possible. Stopping eating altogether is an emergency.
For more information about Dental Disease: vetcollection.co.uk/health/dental-disease-in-rabbits

26/06/2024

Flystrike happens more often in warm weather, and in rabbits who have soiled fur (often due to poor diet, obesity or arthritis).
Throughout the spring and summer rabbits must be checked twice daily and any soiled fur cleaned. If you find any sign of fly eggs or maggots you must arrange for your
rabbit to see a vet as soon as possible.
For more information about Flystrike: vetcollection.co.uk/health/conditions/flystrike

04/02/2024

Sooty loving some chin scratches from RVN Becky 🐹

05/01/2024

🥳

Gemma has been awarded her Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice, in Zoological Medicine. This is a further qualification run by the RCVS recognising the experience, case load and expertise of a veterinary surgeon in their chosen field. The certificate is self-directed over a number of years and involves literature reviews, case reports and a case log of over 200 different cases! Before completion the individual must sit a 1 hour oral exam in front of two well-known Exotics Vets.
Gemma is now an RCVS Recognised Advanced Practitioner in Zoological Medicine! She can be found on the RCVS AVP register which is huge as there are only 61 other vets in the UK who have achieved this status!
This means she has completed more CPD with a high proportion of this in her chosen area and is actively contributing to advancing this field of study.

Congratulations Gemma!! 🎉🎉

13/12/2023

This we're talking hibernacula!
🍂 🍃 🪵

These robust winter nests are essential for hibernating .
Made of dry leaves & vegetation, often built in hedges, log-piles or under sheds, they're surprisingly waterproof & insulated!

🦔

A good reason to let gardens go wild!