Sanatorium Road, Cardiff, CF11 8DG Tel: 02920 382211 22 Albert Road, Penarth CF64 1BZ Tel: 02920 703952 19 Morgan Street, Pontypridd, Tel: 01443 403535 www.park-vets.com email: enquiries@park-vets.com Autumn 2017 small animal Newsletter Welcome Consulting hours On behalf of Park Vets, we would like to welcome you to our Autumn newsletter. Park Vets is the longest established veterinary practice in Cardiff. We pride ourselves on offering our own out of hours emergency service. This means that we can care for your pet on our premises 24/7, 365 days a year. Our aim is to keep your pet happy and healthy whilst minimizing your stress when your pet becomes unwell. We are easily accessible 7 days a week, with practices in Sanatorium Road, Cardiff as well as in Penarth and Pontypridd. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out what Park Vets is getting up to on a daily basis. Kind regards Simon, Suzanne and Mary (on behalf of Park Vets) Cardiff Mon Fri: 8.30am 7.00pm Sat: 9.00am 4.00pm Sun: 10.00am - 12.00pm Penarth Mon Fri: 8.30am 6.30pm Sat: 9.00am 12.00pm Pontypridd Mon Fri: 8.30am 6.30pm Saturday: 9.00am 12.00pm We provide our own on-site emergency service. Our entire team is committed to providing personal attention to the unique concerns of each individual owner. Our goal is to practice the highest quality medicine and surgery always.
Team! e 2 Park Vets small animal practice goes solo! Park Vets is now a dedicated small animal only practice. After over 100 years as a mixed practice, our farm animal team has formed 'South Wales Farm Vets' based in Llantrisant Tynewydd Farm, Groesfaen. This can only improve our service to you our small animal clients as it means our vets can concentrate on one discipline and improve continuity of care and accessibility for our small animal clients. This will also be the case for our farmers, whose livestock now have a dedicated large animal team in 'South Wales Farm Vets'. Provide the best care for your pet by joining our Pet Health Club, you can spread the cost of routine care by convenient Direct Debit, making it easier to manage. Ask at our reception about joining today. Vale of Glamorgan Show Once again Park Vets had a stand at The Vale of Glamorgan Show back in August. Unfortunately, the weather wasn t kind to us and our beach themed display left us praying for sun! Never mind, as you can see several dogs came for a paddle and many clients were grateful to sit and chat whilst resting their weary limbs! It s always good to have time to chat with clients old and new in a non-pressured situation such as The Vale Show we certainly enjoyed our day out! Suzanne, Andy J, Sarah, Sarah. Keeping cool
New Look for Penarth Surgery Our Penarth branch surgery in Albert Road has now opened its doors again after a major refurbishment. A word of warning, never attempt to refurb an old Victorian semi without being prepared to uncover a raft of problems causing delay after delay. I hope our Penarth clients will agree that the wait was worthwhile the practice is now fresh and new with separate dog and cat waiting areas. As a result of this and other feline focused touches we have been awarded Cat Friendly status by ISFM (International Feline Society of Medicine). This complements that already achieved at Sanatorium Rad and emphasises Park Vets commitment to reducing stress levels for our feline patients (and their owners!) when visiting us. What is a cat friendly clinic? For more information on What is a Cat Friendly Clinic? google www.icatcare.org and www.catfriendlyclinic.org This website has so much useful information for cat owners. Including helpful tips on administration of medications (always a fun one in cats), bringing your cat to / from the vet practice etc. We d love to chat to you about this achievement and why we re more cat friendly than ever! 3
4 Macmillan coffee morning November 5 th is fast approaching This fills us with dread every year. So many pets are afraid of fireworks ranging from mild anxiety to full blown hysteria. Please prepare by planning ahead. We have advice sheets available at the surgery and on our website. We have various anti-anxiety products ranging from over the counter preparations to ease the situation or actual prescription meds which will require a check-up for your pet. Why not come along and see our Penarth surgery s refurbishment for yourself? You re welcome at any time but to encourage you along, why not combine it with a slice of cake and a cuppa to support Macmillan Coffee Morning. Penarth Branch: 11am to 2pm on Friday 29 th September. Sanatorium Road: 10am to 2pm Wednesday 27th September. Every year we have panicking clients arrive the day of or the day before November 5 for help for the pets this is just too late. Any anti-anxiety plan, or products need to be in place at least 2-3 weeks before. Please ask us for help well in advance, even if this is just a chat about your concerns and how you can prepare.
5 Rabbit Alert This summer we have unfortunately experienced several sudden rabbit deaths from Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease variant 2 (RHD2). RHD1 has been largely brought under control by vaccination (your annual rabbit vaccination includes protection against this and Myxomatosis). Death from RHD2 occurs suddenly and without warning. It can be transferred from other rabbits via many sources ourselves, bedding, airborne, direct contact. Unfortunately, there is no treatment but there is now an annual vaccination. Although your rabbits will have received their usual annual vaccination, RHD2 is a separate requirement and is advisable. Outbreaks are sporadic and things seemed to have calmed again now but protection is the only defense against this deadly disease. (See our FB posts early August). For more info contact us at the surgery or look up www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk (RWAF). Our Veterans As the cold weather approaches, our aches and pains come back to haunt us. This is true for our golden oldie pets too. We shouldn t just accept that older pets and people slow up and experience pain without ensuring that we ve explored avenues to help. If you have concerns about your elderly pets please talk to us about these worries. Although prescription medication may not be necessary as yet, a general check-up is always a good idea. This can be discussed at your pet s annual vaccination, at his or her free 6-month vet nurse check-up or with our vets at any other time if you have specific concerns. We often begin by recommending a glucosamine, chondroitin nutraceutical such the lintbells range, or may suggest a trial of anti inflammatories or maybe just other accessory treatment-weight loss, hydrotherapy, physiotherapy. Please ask us for information getting older doesn t need to equate to living in pain.
How to Manage External Parasites With Your Pet Fleas present the biggest problem, although some dogs can get lice or ticks. Fleas namely Ctenocephalides felis, the cat flea, cause many problems for our domestic dog, the biggest single issue being that of FAD or flea allergic dermatitis. Dogs are very prone to hypersensitivity to flea saliva which is present whenever fleas feed on your dog, apart from the fact that your poor dog will scratch, rub and be miserable, fleas are unwanted visitors in anyone s home. Fleas can be extremely difficult to eradicate once established in your home, so a well thought out anti flea programme is essential, as prevention is so much better than cure as far as fleas are concerned! Fleas can also act as vectors for disease and can transmit the tapeworm Dipylidium. Adult fleas can lay up to 40-50 eggs per day. These eggs hatch into larvae then into pupae which are extremely resistant to insecticides, temperature and dessication and can survive up to two years! The adult flea that you see on your pet is only the top of the iceberg as 95% of the fleas are in our home in various stages of their life. As for worms, Park Vets can offer a tailor-made regime appropriate for your situation. Most clients now prefer to use oral treatments for their dogs. Nexgard is an extremely safe palatable chewable tablet which kills fleas and ticks for 4 weeks after administration. Some clients still choose topical spot on preparations for their dog, these are effective and available from Park Vets. Always remember to treat the environment too, ideally every 6 months using a household aerosol spray. Follow the instructions carefully don t forget to vacuum! If you fail to use appropriate prevention flea control, it can take 6-8 weeks to get a flea problem under control, due to the various stages of the flea life cycle. Always stick with a recommended regime for long enough, as fleas can be stubborn little blighters! All members of Park Vet Pet Health Club have their flea control for 12 months included in the package.
6 Recent Park Vet case report Labradors are known for their love of food, so when Bronte suddenly went off hers, her owner was understandably concerned. That, coupled with the onset of vomiting, prompted a visit for a consultation with one of our vets. Bronte was placed on medication and was booked in for some further investigations which culminated in exploratory surgery to determine the cause of her symptoms. Bronte must have decided (without consulting her owner!) that a corn on the cob was a tasty treat but unfortunately this had caused an obstruction in her small intestine. She ended up undergoing an intestinal resection and having an overnight stay at the practice under the care of our excellent nursing team. We are very happy to say that 2 weeks on, Bronte has made a full recovery from her surgery. Have you liked us on Facebook yet? Are you following us on Twitter? Head over to our pages and take a look.
What our clients are saying about us. As is tradition in my house on a bank holiday weekend; we had a doggy disaster. This little one is trying to give me a heart attack. Ruby did a bit of bin diving on Saturday morning within 5 minutes her front legs were shaking, I adjusted her position but it didn t stop. My one over-riding thought was, I don t like this! I put her straight in the van and dialed the vet. By the time I reached the end of my road she was convulsing. Apologies to anyone who got in my way on the rally drive from sully to sanatorium road and had a barrage of abuse and horn blaring. The team at Park Vets were outstanding. I was virtually hysterical by the time I barged through the door with her in my arms. They took her straight off me and went to work. I was convinced she would die. They let me stay for ages, made me cups of tea, let my other dog be delivered to keep my company and even let me go in and see Ruby before leaving her with them. They called regular with updates and let me visit her in doggy hospital. I cannot recommend them highly enough. I get to bring her home tomorrow (fingers crossed) Most dogs who poison themselves in this way don t make it. They literally worked a miracle on my little monster. I can t believe how quickly they brought her back to reasonable health. This photo is from this morning, just 48 hours later. 24hrs before she could barely rise her head. I don t think I ve ever felt so grateful for anything. A message from our vet Jonny Ruby, a lovely French bulldog, was presented to us having eaten some very mouldy food one Saturday lunch time. Ruby s owner immediately noticed something was not right and brought Ruby straight into us, and during the journey into us Ruby started convulsing very aggressively. When Ruby arrived we very quickly started her on medication to relax her convulsing state, and started her on oxygen therapy. Ruby was in a very bad way from the mycotoxins in the mouldy food, and took a long time to stabilize. She required a combination of medication, relaxants and anesthetic drugs to bring her convulsions under control, all whilst her body was having to metabolize the mycotoxins in her blood stream. Unfortunately, we cannot remove the toxins from a dog s blood stream, and have to rely on their own body s metabolism. Ruby was put on a drip throughout to help support her body in doing this. After almost 10 hours, we slowly woke Ruby up, as she had stopped convulsing, however due to the severity of her toxin ingestion, recovery was very slow, and complicated by some aspiration pneumonia from her initial convulsions, but she has since made a good recovery. We would like to thank Ruby s owners for being so quick to bring Ruby in to the surgery. From this, a take home message is not to hesitate if your pet eats something they shouldn t, or if they start acting differently after eating something. The wait and see approach could be fatal. If ever you are unsure if something is a danger to your pet, PLEASE phone us as soon as possible
8 Hello and Goodbyes We have had to say a sad goodbye to Lauren and Ryan, receptionists at Sanatorium Road, as they embark on a lengthy adventure to foreign shores. But we have several new faces at Park Vets too. We d like to welcome Alice and Rory to our small animal veterinary team. Rory Roberts recently graduated from the RVC, London, but is originally from Zimbabwe. Rory is a keen rugby player and is also looking forward to exploring the Welsh countryside in his free time. Alice Kneen, recently graduated from Bristol Vet School. She is an experienced equestrian who has competed at international level in eventing for several years. We would also like to say hello and welcome Lindsay and Maria to our Vet Nurse team, Cat and Katherine our new animal nursing assistants and Jade, Lucy and Lesley to our admin / reception team.