News

It’s that fantastic time of year when there are lots of new puppies about. If you are considering buying a puppy here are some top tips to consider.
Once you have made the decision we have free puppy packs at the practice with lots of helpful advice about settling your new arrival in. It is a really good idea to have your pup examined by Louise within the first couple of days of arriving, regardless of if a vaccination is due. This is a complimentary examination which gives the pup time to meet us without experiencing an injection and can highlight any potential problems that the breeder might not have necessarily noticed beforehand.

Our Case of the Month for May involves Tom Palmar - a very smart ginger tom cat!  Over a few months the owners had noticed he had runny eyes, he was very well in himself, but they just did not seem to be clearing up.

Modern technology triumphed this week!   It's not very often that happens....
Mrs Blunt and her daughters had found a very spritely Cocker Spaniel.  He was unhurt and  lively but his tag on his collar was missing and he was clearly lost.On bringing him to the surgery we scanned him for a microchip.  Much to our surprise he had an unusual six digit chip originating from the USA!  European chips have a longer chip number so are always easy to recognise.

We had an amazing day on Saturday!  Between 11am and 1pm we ran a fundraiser for the Blue Cross - Paws for Tea.

Some of you may have seen information in the press recently about 'lethal' arthritis medication and a tragic story where a Labrador died.
The Labrador involved in the article sadly died due to an adverse reaction to a commonly used arthritis medication called Rimadyl which contains a drug called Carprofen.With all arthritis medication there is a risk of inflammation of the bowels causing vomiting and diarrhoea and possible kidney damage if they are not used properly.  Carprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory much like the paracetamol and ibuprofen that we take at home when we have a head ache. Carprofen is known as COX drug due to the level in the pain pathway that it works to stop the pain

Some of you who have been to the practice recently will have already noticed a new arrival in the car park!  We now have a practice vehicle 'Jenni Wren' a 40 year old Landrover Series III.  You'll see her out and about this summer - doubling as a mobile sign and a delivery truck when needed!

April's Case goes to Jamie Chiene - a very brave little man!  At only seven months of age he was sadly attacked by another dog.  Through no fault of his own Jamie was attacked by a large Bull Mastiff type dog that had initially been playing with him.  He bit Jamie badly over his back, managing to pick him up and shake him at the same time.Luckily Jamie's owner was able to rescue him and pick him up once the other dog had let go and rushed him straight to the surgery.

Marmite Robertson has been unlucky enough to win our bravest pet award this month.

A very lively young Labrador cross she managed to run full speed onto a sharp stick.  The stick unfortunately pierced the skin over her shoulder and then impaled itself into her fore leg.  Thankfully the point was deflected towards the outside of the leg and not towards her chest otherwise things could have been much more serious.Marmite had been moving at such speed that the stick almost came out of the rear of her leg travelling a good 15cm through the muscle.  Amazingly it did not hit any major vessels or nerves.

Well done to Colin for winning at Crufts!
He comes from a long line of very smart Airedales bred by Mr and Mrs Turner who were one of the first breeders in the country to stop docking their puppies before it became law.This was a brave move in the dog showing world and has paid off!   All of their dogs are hip scored and the pups are very well socialised from an early age.  Most importantly they all have the nicest temperaments.

Now that Spring has officially arrived we thought it would be nice to get a date in the diary to get outside in this lovely countryside.