26/06/2008 by Arielle.

I had a very distraught owner rush in today with her convulsing young Schnauzer Holly. Holly had gone blind and was shaking uncontrollably in her owner’s arms. All the owner could think of that was different was that she had put down slug pellets that morning and Holly had been sniffing around them in the garden.

I admitted her straight away and we gave her some intravenous fluids and intravenous valium to control her fitting. She continued to shake violently so we gave her a full anaesthetic and then put a tube into her stomach and washed out the remains of her stomach contents.

A large amount of slug pellets came out that looked exactly like the ones in the picture above.

It is slug season and my warning to pet owners is NOT to use slug pellets (no matter how much you hate slugs as I do). Dogs and some cat find them very appealing and the metaldehyde poison in them  can kill your pet. We kept Holly in but she made a full recovery much to her very guilty owner’s relief!

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20/06/2008 by Arielle.

 Honey is a gorgeous fluffy apricot-coloured mixture between a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle. She had been too inquisitive and came between a mother goose and its gosling.

She seemed blissfully unaware of her injury - a large open cut from the goose’s large bill right between her eyes. How lucky she was not to have injuries to her eyes. I am not sure that her open cut taught her a lesson though to leave geese alone!

Posted in Being a Mum and vet, A veterinary day | No Comments »

12/06/2008 by Arielle.

I am seeing so many itchy pets coming into the surgery (not to mention itchy, sneezing staff with hayfever). It is that time of the year when clients are being so diligent about their flea control, but there is another cause of itching in pets.

I have written a whole article about atopy and its treatment as we see so much of it. http://www.kill-fleas.co.uk/atopic.htm

Posted in Allergic skin, Veterinary pet advice | No Comments »

07/06/2008 by Arielle.

I felt quite moved by the story behind my one patient today. Rocky is a 19 year old Cockatiel (!). He came in for a simple nail clip which I did very carefully for such an old bird as I was very scared of him dying of shock in my hands.

The owner brought him in with her 2 grand-daughters. She told me how her husband had died on father’s day of cancer exactly 16 years ago. The doctor was at her house declaring her husband dead when she noticed 3 year old Rocky flying out the window. She could not do anything and her heart sank as she noticed him go with all the chaos of that day.

Amazingly her sister went into a pet shop that afternoon to get her mind off the family sadness and she noticed a cage with a cockatiel in it selling for £12. She was sure it was Rocky and encouraged her grieving sister to have a look.

When the owner walked into the shop, she called Rocky and they let him out the cage and he flew straight onto her head. Apparently he had been brought in by a woman with exactly the same hair colour as the owner as Rocky had flown and landed on her head when he spotted someone with her similar style and hair colour!

The pet shop owner reluctantly let Rocky go to his rightful owner. I found this story very touching. What memories Rocky holds and how incredible that he has gone on to live (and is still going strong) for so many years!

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