29/01/2008 by Arielle.

The start of the new year always brings with it a multitude of resolutions, but mine is always to lose weight. The weight always seems to pile on over Christmas and I struggle to find clothes to fit comfortably and resolve to not buy any new ones until I have shed at least a stone.

For this reason, I know how hard it is to lose weight and I do feel for all the overweight pets that come into the surgery. They just love all the titbits and excess food that their owners so lovingly feed them! There is a nationwide epidemic amongst the UK pets however. We see more overweight dogs than normal weight dogs and certainly most cats are overweight.

Their weight is entirely in your hands. It is easier to stick to a weight reduction regime with dogs as they can be walked and very simply increasing their energy levels daily will help burn the fat. With cats however (especially indoor cats), it is far more difficult. It is vital that the weight comes off slowly as too fast weight loss in a very obese cat can be dangerous.

There are numerous diet foods on the market at the moment and you do not have to buy them only from your vet. Remember that some of the ‘light’ varieties are for pets that have already lost weight and need to stay at that new lower weight.

Cutting out titbits is the main way to help your pet lose weight in the majority of cases. Even the most harmless looking dry chew has fat in it to bind it together and one of those a day can add to quite a few extra calories over the week. I advise rice cakes as treats if you must give them to dogs - just the ones we would eat are fine. They even make Marmite flavoured ones!

We all hate feeling deprived when on a diet so prevent this by bulking out the food bowl of your pet. Add some extra carrot peelings or brown rice to their food so that they feel full after a meal. Weigh out the exact amount of food they are allowed daily and just give this ration along with extra vegetable peelings.

There are a few very new drugs on the market to help shift the weight of dogs ie. Yarvitan and Slentrol. They are liquids that are added daily to your pet’s food and they work by binding the fat in the food so less is absorbed. They do work well but be warned - they are very expensive and insurance companies do NOT pay out for these weight loss drugs.

Good luck!

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21/01/2008 by Arielle.

I had a dog in today that I admitted for a wart to be removed from its face. I normally never recommend surgery for warts. They are SO common and seen mainly in older dogs (Yorkies, Poodles and Schnauzers seem to worse afflicted than other breeds). They are caused by a virus and can come and go. They are quite harmless unless your dog can scratch the wart. This tends to make them bleed and they bleed a lot and can become a nasty infected mess.

The dog in today has this problem. He needed a dental too so this will be combined with the one anaesthetic.

I have had warts on my own fingers for the last 8 months! I am convinced that I caught them from the local swimming pool, but being a papilloma virus, they can come from anywhere. I hate having them and feel SO self-conscious about my hands and fingers (especially when at work and the clients watch my hands as they touch their pets!). I also hate shaking hands in church with anyone.

I finally went to have them frozen at the doctors last week and amazingly they seem to be going. I tried all the lotions and potions from Boots but nothing helped except neat liquid nitrogen sprayed onto them by our doctor! What a horrible subject to tell you about!

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17/01/2008 by Arielle.

I had a case today of 2 cats that regularly received their program injections and still had fleas. It is common for cats having twice yearly program injections to still get ‘hitch-hiker’ fleas from straying out of their area or other animals may visit their home.  In this case however, the owners had even given Capstar tablets which to me are the ultimate tablets to kill fleas.

Program will actually reimburse these cases and needs to hear about them as it is a very good and expensive product. I was then forced to give the poor cat some more flea drops (Advocate in this case). They are all safe and can be used together but is obviously all very expensive!

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08/01/2008 by Arielle.

There are some cases that I see that really affect me and leave me thinking about them for weeks afterwards. Mr Benson came in as an emergency this afternoon with Ben - his 4 year old very loved Yorkie who I had seen only last week for his vaccinations. Ben was attacked by a Rottweiler that had run out of its property, crossed the road and attacked Ben around his chest whilst out on a walk.

Mr Benson had tried to kick the Rottweiler’s head but it was the owner who managed to get her dog to release him. He came in in a critical condition with blood everywhere; Mr Benson had been bitten by Ben as he tried to lift him as Ben was in such pain; and he had a ‘flail chest’ which occurs where the chest cavity is punctured.

The Rottweiler owner accompanied him and was apologetic and distraught. Ben was rushed through for emergency treatment to our hospital but he died a few hours later. I phoned Mr Benson to find out how he was as it had all been quiet traumatic for him and he too was in shock (and I wanted to ensure that he had his bitten hand seen to by a doctor). I asked if he had someone with him and his reply was ” No love, I’m all on me own”.

This has really affected me. Ben was his life - he loved him, cared for him, walked him, gave him a meaning to get up every morning and that had all gone.

He had him insured whereas the Rottweiler owner did not have hers insured so she could be sued terribly for the incident as the dog attacked Ben out of her property. A lesson to any owners of  big and possibly vicious dogs is to insure them straight away as well as ensure that there is no way they can escape from your property. What a sad day.

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