Giacomo Goes to School

Giacomo and I recently visited the playgroup at Gurnos School, Ystradgynlais to talk to the children about pet owning and veterinary care.

The children enjoyed using a stethoscope; looking at X rays, including dogs, cats and tortoises and using a scanner to find a microchip in both a teddy bear and later in Giacomo.

He was real star, allowing himself to be stroked by all the class and giving them a chance to get some hands on experience with pets.

BBC Discusses Pet Bereavement

Many of you would, no doubt, describe your pet as your best friend. However the subject of pet bereavement is not often discussed in the mainstream media. An interesting article was published on the BBC website today, discussing the loss that many people feel when a much-loved pet is put to sleep.

People who do not own pets, or have not felt a real bond with an animal, can be unsympathetic to the loss of a pet, so I'm grateful to anything which brings the subject to the attention of the public. If it means that people are more understanding, it can only help.

Our staff are of course sympathetic to your loss; we all understand what it is to lose a pet and what it feels like. Some of our staff have gone further and have trained as pet bereavement councillors, so we are able to offer as much help and support as we can.

Owner of Starving Dog Banned From Keeping Animals for Ten Years

This story was featured in last week's Merthyr Express. (please click on the article to see a bigger, easier to read picture)

We at Ash Veterinary Surgery are pleased to help stamp out animal cruelty. Our vets have been involved in giving evidence in a number of animal successful cruelty prosecutions.

On The Buses

I was heartily amused by the story of Casper, a cat from Plymouth in Devon who gets on a bus when he fancies a rest and settles down to sleep on the back seat. You can read the story here.

A client pointed out a similar story about a white cat called Macavity who takes the bus 400m down the road to the fish and chip shop. His story is here.

I'm intrigued now. We've got plenty of patients who arrive by bus for treatment, but I've yet to meet one who comes by bus on his own. Perhaps it's just a matter of time.

Obesity in animals

Obesity is not just a problem for people, many animals are becoming overweight as well. Some surveys of veterinary surgeons suggest that almost half the animals we see are overweight.

When told that their pet is overweight, some owners do not feel that this is a problem, but being obesity can lead to joint pain, heart conditions, liver problems, cystitis and diabetes. Overweight animals cannot exercise and enjoy life as much as their slimline friends.

Recently a man in Brighton has been prosecuted by the RSPCA for animal cruelty because his dog was seriously overweight. Details can be found in http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/8048356.stm

The hope is that this publicity educates the public and makes people treat obesity in animals as it deserves; as a serious medical condition.

We at Ash Veterinary Surgery are very concerned about obesity and offer free nurse clinics to help your overweight pet lose weight. We have a range of special diets, behavioural therapies, advice and even drugs if necessary to help with the weight loss.

Please phone to make an appointment and we will be delighted to help. If you are not sure if your pet is actually overweight, please book a into our nurse clinic and they will be happy to advise you.


More advice about weight loss and healthy lifestyles for your pet can be found at http://www.petsgetslim.co.uk/home/

Is It Worming Time?

When did you last worm your pets? Can you remember, or was it "some time ago, I can't remember exactly when" like most of us?

Generally we remember to worm our puppies and kittens regularly. When you are doing it every 2 weeks until they are 12 weeks old, then every month until they are 6 months, it's not too hard to remember. But adult dogs and cats? Then it gets more difficult.

Adult dogs and cats should be wormed every 3 months. No matter how organised you are, it's easy for this to slip your mind; we're all terribly busy after all. Even if you buy our year's supply of wormers and get the 25% discount you still have to remember to give them.

Novartis, the manufactures of our milbemax wormers have provided a website to help you remember. If you log onto their website, you can arrange to have emails sent by either text message or email. Just look at
http://www.wormfree.co.uk/worming_reminder/en/treatment_reminder.shtml

That's one less thing for us all to remember.

Helping Ty Hafan

At Ash Veterinary Surgery we don't just help animals, we're interested in helping people too.

Last weekend Leanne, one of nurses, and I took part in Ty Hafan's first sleepwalk. The 8 mile walk started at midnight in the Millennium Stadium and went all the way to Cardiff Bay and back.

We raised over £350 in sponsorship between us, contributing to a total amount of £54,000 for the night. It costs Ty Hafan £2.5 million pounds a year to keep running, but this goes some way towards their costs.

Many thanks to everyone who sponsored us, from both of us.