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Autumn 2006 Newsletter |
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Welcome to the latest issue of our Practice newsletter designed to keep you up to date with what’s happening in the practice.
KEEPING YOU UP TO DATE WITH PRACTICE GOSSIP!
AUTUMN AWARENESS It’s a shame that summer is over and winter is on the way. With cold, dark nights coming, it’s important to make sure you still find time for walking your dog or his mobility and waistline may suffer! Visibility also becomes a problem at this time of year, particularly in the evenings and early mornings, so make sure you can be seen. We stock “safety blinkers” which can be clipped onto your dog’s collar and which can be seen for up to ½ mile! It is always advisable to keep pets indoors on firework night and this is especially important for those pets who are phobic about noise. These pets may benefit from medication to reduce anxiety, the use of a DAP/Feliway diffuser and a programme of habituation to loud noises over a period of time. Please book an appointment to discuss these options in further detail. Finally, fleas and mites often cause problems at this time of year if flea control medications are stopped at the end of summer. It is important to treat your pet with Frontline and to keep up to date with worm control medication all year round. Please ask for further details.
VACCINATIONS Is your dog up-to-date with his/her vaccinations? We can protect pets against a number of potentially fatal infectious diseases and if your pet hasn’t been vaccinated in the last year, then it’s worth bringing them in for an appointment to discuss what’s available and advisable. It is also worth keeping your dog’s vaccinations up-to-date, even if your dog is an OAP! The immune system of older dogs is less robust than younger dogs, so it is even more important to ensure our senior pets are protected. Parvo virus, a serious, potentially fatal disease, is unfortunately on the increase in our dog population as a number of owners are not vaccinating their dogs against this disease. It is a very infectious disease with affected dogs becoming ill very quickly. Symptoms include severe vomiting, haemorrhagic diarrhoea, collapse and death. Medical treatment of the condition can amount to as much as £800, but some dogs will unfortunately not respond to treatment, especially very young puppies. We strongly recommend vaccinating your dog against this disease. We are now also able to vaccinate your dogs against kennel cough at the same time as the annual booster. The kennel cough vaccine is recommended, not only when your dog is going into kennels, but also if s/he spends a lot of time in groups of dogs.
OBESITY IN CATS Obesity is the number one nutritional disease in cats. Approximately 40% of cats are medically obese. Obesity is defined as being 20 percent or more over the ideal body weight. The best way to tell if your cat is obese is by feeling the ribs. You should be able to touch the sides of your cat and feel each individual rib. Not to the point that the rib is jutting out, but to the point that you can feel the ribs underneath the skin and a small layer of fat. You should also be able to follow each rib up to the spine. If you can't feel your cat's ribs or follow them up to the spine, your cat is overweight. Being overweight can cause a pet to be at risk for medical problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, liver disease, greater surgical/anaesthetic risk, and musculoskeletal/joint dysfunction. Cats eat a certain number of calories per day. They also exercise (play/hunt) to burn a certain number of calories per day. If they take in more calories than they expend, they will gain weight. As it is difficult to put your cat on a diet (especially if you have multiple cats in the same household), it is always easier to not let your pet get obese in the first place. Cats who are obese are usually overweight for one or more of the following four reasons: overeating or improper eating, lack of exercise, genetic predisposition or hormone imbalances. If your cat is overweight for a hormonal or medical reason, your vet will propose treatment to deal with the disease first, which should then help the weight problem. If your cat is obese due to simply overeating or under-exercising, then it is time for a diet! Please note that you should consult your vet before beginning any diet program for your pet. Here are some ideas to help your pet lose weight: 1) Put your cat on a low-calorie high-volume food. This will help fill your cat's stomach whilst giving him/her fewer calories. 2) Start giving your pet smaller portions or weighing out the food. This may be more difficult if you have multiple cats or if your cats are allowed to eat using a self-feeding method. 3) Try to cut back on treats and table food. 4) Make sure your cat gets plenty of exercise and play time. 5) In the wild, cats hunt for their food; domesticated cats however are not required to do this, as their meals are presented to them on a plate. Reintroducing the need to hunt for food will re-engage the cat’s hunting instinct and burn up extra calories. This can be achieved by hiding small portions of the cat’s food around the house which the cat has to hunt down, or by putting some of the cat’s daily allowance in a container designed to periodically release food, as the cat plays with it.
SAM’S STORY – Life with our diabetic cat – by Shaun and Jackie Britton “We brought our big cat Sam to Viking about a year ago with weight, drinking and weeing (a lot!!) problems. He was also very tired and subdued and not as active as usual. Vicki the vet diagnosed diabetes mellitus. The vets and nurses at Viking were brilliant at teaching us to care for Sam, who is doing well a year on! He is regularly monitored for his fructose levels and we inject him daily with his insulin, which you do get used to! (The nurses trained us to do this using an orange to inject!) It was a bit scarey at first, but you know it keeps your beloved moggy alive and well and it does get easier to do! We also have a special diet for him, but it all does become a way of life after a while and it is rewarding to see your cat looking happy and well again. What we have learnt from our experience with Sam is not to let our other pets get too overweight or obese!!”
PET SMILE MONTH Pet Smile Month was held in September 2006. The aim of the campaign was to promote awareness of the importance of Veterinary Dentistry. During September 2006 Pet Smile Month provided FREE dental check-ups for pets at participating veterinary practices to help prevent dental disease, a very common problem in our pets. At Viking Vets, we carried out many Pet Smile Month checks on our patients and as a result of these, we were able to detect any dental problems, offer advice about general day-to-day dental care and increase awareness of the need for dental care in our pets. If you missed Pet Smile Month but would like some advice on dental care for your pet, please ask a member of staff.
ANY SUGGESTIONS? If you have an idea or suggestion for a service or product that you would like to see available at Viking Vets, and that we currently don’t offer, please let us know. All sensible suggestions will be considered! |
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