Summer 2018

Well, it’s proving to be an extremely hot summer as you all know, and that has a big impact on our pets, as it does us.

I’m sure you’re all doing a great job of looking after your pets but here are a few pointers to think of if you haven’t already:

• Older animals suffer much more in the heat as their bodies aren’t as able to adapt to it. If you have an older pet, try and ensure they are in the shade and cool as much as possible.
• Walking dogs in the middle of the day at the moment is almost impossible. Pavements are so hot, the conditions are stifling, please be careful – remember dogs can’t sweat like us and they’re wearing a large fur coat! Walks in the early morning and at dusk are preferred.
• Certain breeds of dog are more at risk to heat – big breed dogs and brachycephalic dogs (bulldogs, pugs) certainly adapt less well and need even more care and attention.
• Clearly ensure that your pets have easy access to ample supplies of water and never leave them in the car.
• As ever if you have any concerns do get in touch.

Holyport Fair

At the start of June, we all had a lovely time at the Holyport Fair. We set ourselves up with a little stall and also sponsored the dog show.

We had kids trying to surgically remove sweets from a cat’s/teddy bear’s abdomen and guess the number of treats in the jar!

If you’ve never been it’s a lovely afternoon out and an annual fixture in the calendar!

On the clinical side, we’ve had some interesting cases as ever this summer.

We’ve had Marti, the ferret, who suffered from a broken thigh bone. We fixed it with some pins that form into a frame – partly inside his bones and fixed on the outside of his skin. It has worked very well and x-rays this week show everything to be healing, the pins have now been removed and he can return to normal life!

We see a lot of dogs and cats for dentistry work. This is a really interesting area of being a vet because dogs and cats are terrible at telling us when they have mouth pain.

Conditions that would seem agony to us don’t seem to register with pets – they often behave normally and continue to eat fine. Our job is to spot when something is going on and treat it – often we don’t completely know until the pet is under a general anaesthetic and we can thoroughly examine the mouth. We had a recent cat case where she appeared fine at home but her teeth were identified as a possible problem at a routine health check. Once under anaesthetic, we found she actually had a fractured molar tooth – it was wobbling around half attached in her mouth and must’ve been agony. Thankfully extracting that tooth has solved the problem but it does emphasise the point well.

We also had a fascinating case with Tiger Lily and her eye. She came in with a sore eye and some discharge. Routine treatment with eye drops didn’t solve the issue so we sedated her to have a closer look. To our amazement she actually had a 1cm grass seed stuck, like a dagger, into her lower eyelid. It was hidden underneath the lid and could only be seen when she was sedated – thankfully removing it will solve the problem but yet another example of the amazing things that pets put up with!

On the staff front, we’ve had some changes of late.

We wish Lizz well, who has moved onto pastures new after two and a half years with us and is being replaced by Emily. Kerry has come in as our third veterinary nurse this summer and is a great help already. Our thanks to Rosie who has been with us on a maternity placement for the year, she has been great to work with and we wish her well for the future when she leaves us in August. Eve then returns from her maternity leave to start again as normal.

I hope you and your pets all have a great summer.

Simon