31/07/2009 by Arielle.

This is the first time that we have had to put our 3 pets in the kennels as we are away for 2 weeks in August. They should be fine but we always worry about them and feel guilty that we are having a holiday and they have to be kennelled. It is the first time that I have been unable to locate a petsitter for the 3 of them.

My 5 year old daughter read the sign to the cattery and asked if our dog Slick was due to go to the doggery!

Posted in Being a Mum and a vet | 1 Comment »

25/06/2009 by Arielle.

Five clones of a search and rescue dog which helped locate people trapped in the rubble of the 9/11 attacks were formally presented to their ancestor’s former handler.

James Symington, a former Canadian police officer, choked back tears as he formally took possession of the five descendants of his beloved German shepherd named Trakr, who died in April.

Symington was presented with Trakr’s offspring after winning a competition organized by California firm BioArts International — the “Golden Clone Giveaway” — to find the world’s most “cloneworthy” dog.

Symington said he hopes the puppies — Trustt, Valor, Prodigy, Solace and Deja Vu — will go on to follow in Trakr’s footsteps.

“We’re here to celebrate that Trakr’s legacy lives on in these five beautiful puppies,” he told reporters. “If they have the same attributes Trakr did, then hopefully they’ll develop into world class search and rescue dogs.”

Symington and Trakr arrived at the site of the World Trade Center collapse, commonly referred to as Ground Zero, on September 12, 2001 and were one of the first K9 search and rescue teams on the scene.

After working nearly non-stop for 48 hours, Trakr located the last human survivor found in the rubble of the twin towers.

“Trakr was an extraordinary search and rescue dog. His work at Ground Zero was the culmination of his career,” Symington said.

BioArts International, which says it offers the world’s first commercial dog cloning service, partnered with South Korea’s SooAm Biotech Research Foundation to clone Trakr under the direction of scientist Hwang Woo-Suk.

BioArts International chief executive Lou Hawthorne said canine cloning would remain beyond the reach of ordinary pet lovers, with cloned dogs costing an average 144,000 dollars each.

Hawthorne defended the right of people to clone their dogs instead of obtaining new pets from rescue shelters.

“I think 99 percent of the time people should get their pets from shelters,” he told AFP.

“But can we agree though that one percent of the time if you have a one in a million dog and you have the money to pay for it, you should be able to go to either a breeder or a cloner?”

Hawthorne said Trakr had been chosen for cloning because of his heroics on 9/11. “We received many very touching submissions to our contest, describing some truly amazing dogs,” he said. “But Trakr’s story blew us away.”

Symington meanwhile said that one member of his new litter — Trustt — was an exact replica of Trakr.

“The physical similarities are uncanny,” he told AFP. “He’s the spitting image of the Trakr that I first met in 1995. He has exactly the same markings, the way he moves, everything. Very alert, very intelligent and intuitive.

“I respect that cloning’s not for everyone. But there are few dogs that are born with extraordinary abilities and Trakr was one of those dogs,” he said.

“I look forward to the day that these puppies can follow in Trakr’s footsteps and play an important role in other rescues, like Trakr did.”

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

15/06/2009 by Arielle.

A week old Cocker Spaniel puppy was accidentally flushed down the toilet by a four year old boy who felt the pup needed a wash.

Frantic attempts to find the flushed puppy began, but all efforts by the fire brigade and the RSPCA at the house in Northolt, Middlesex, failed.

The ‘plumb’ job landed to drain experts Dyno-Rod, who used specialist camera gear to locate the crying pet in a pipe 20 yards away from the Blairs’ home.

Neighbours were warned not to flush their toilets to prevent him from being pushed into the main sewer and an engineer from the firm was called.

Will Craig, 22, from Harrow in Middlesex, said he was initially reluctant to nudge the pup towards a manhole cover, “because I was scared of hurting (him)”.

“But the RSPCA said I was his only hope,” he told the Daily Mirror. “Eventually I pushed him far enough for the firemen to grab.”

Cheering broke out as the pet was plucked out of the manhole to complete the rescue.

The young dog is recovering well after his draining experience and has been named Dyno in tribute to his rescuers.

Distraught Daniel said he was “so, so sorry” about flushing Dyno down the toilet, vowing: ” I won’t do it again”.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

02/06/2009 by Arielle.

My husband has been posted to Germany. Being a diligent army wife, I am preparing to leave behind everything that is familiar for now for me and our children and pets and start afresh in a new country. It is daunting and exhausting packing up 4 children, a dog and 2 cats and starting from scratch with new friends, food, school, language, walks etc but I see each move as a huge adventure and relish the challenge.

I took our cats Shadow and Buttons and our dog Slick to work with me a few weeks ago to have their rabies vaccinations. We returned last week for a final blood test to ensure that they have the adequate rabies antibody level and hopefully this week they should have received the results and can get their passports. My daughters want to know if we can put a photo of each animal in their passports - I don’t see why we shouldn’t!

Posted in Being a Mum and a vet | No Comments »

22/05/2009 by Arielle.

Jack is a long-legged Jack Russell that had come from a rescue home 2 years ago. The owner was a very tanned elderly man with no hair on the top of his head, just long grey hair all around the edges. He was retired and had taken on Jack as a companion in his retirement. Nobody wanted him as he was so nervous and had a tendency to bite. I had to be very careful when giving him his health check and vaccination. The owner told me he would give a warning growl - I just heard it through the stethoscope.

He handed me the vaccination certificate which contained many signatures of foreign vets. I asked if he travelled and he explained that he loves fishing and spends most of the year in France fishing for carp. He bought a camper van to sleep in and Jack spent his days with him. I felt a bit nosey asking about his life, but found it so interesting. What a happy life they both seemed to lead!

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

12/05/2009 by Arielle.

Happiness cannot be travelled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude. –Denis Waitely

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

07/05/2009 by Arielle.

A client came in for his cat to be vaccinated. He told me a lovely quote from an old vet many years ago. The owner wanted to know how best to feed his cat and asked the vet ‘What is the best food for a cat?’. The elderly vet replied - a mouse!

My cat Shadow agrees with this as she munches on her nightly prize in our utility room!

Posted in A veterinary day | 1 Comment »

30/04/2009 by Arielle.

I thought I’d share  this story with you that I found to show how a vet’s day is never boring!

Vets were stunned when X-rays revealed the source of a dog’s stomach illness - a Homer Simpson figure.

The plastic toy was inside a chocolate egg eaten by 10-year-old Dixie.

The Dalmatian-collie needed emergency surgery to remove Homer from her intestine.

Dixie’s owner, Victoria Keir, 42, from Aberdeen, said she took the dog to the city’s PDSA PetAid hospital after she stopped eating and became unwell.

PDSA veterinary surgeon Alison Hamel said: “Dixie was very ill when she was brought in. She had lost a lot of weight and was extremely dehydrated.

“We needed to discover quickly what was wrong to provide the right treatment in time.

“The X-rays confirmed there was a foreign body but it was a big surprise to discover a plastic egg shell with Homer Simpson inside.

“We see many objects that have been swallowed but this has to be one of the most unusual.

“Dixie came through surgery without any complications but if it had been left any longer, it could have proved fatal.”

The dog was kept in for two days following her operation and prescribed a special diet for a fortnight to help her gain weight and aid her recovery.

Ms Keir said: “I can see the funny side now but at the time it was extremely traumatic and I’m very grateful to the PDSA for saving her life.”

Posted in A veterinary day | No Comments »

16/04/2009 by Arielle.

It is the easter holidays and I took my children to see the film ‘Marley and Me’. Both my son and daughter had read the book and were really excited when the film came out as they all love animals and anything to do with them.

We really enjoyed it;  although maybe a bit too much kissing for my 11 and 13 year old sons. The story is of Marley - a golden Labrador and his life from being a puppy to his death. He is eventually put to sleep due to a twisted stomach. It is a true story and this is a relatively common emergency in most large breed dogs.

I cried along with many other sniffing people in the cinema around me as they drew out the whole ending of Marley’s life in true american style - with really good acting and flashbacks to the young Marley. There was just one mistake they made which dog owners should be aware of if they ever have to be there at the end and sadly witness their dog’s euthanasia. When the lethal injection is given, Marley’s eyes closed as he slipped away. This does not happen. A dog (or cat’s eyes) remain open and their pupils dilate and it is usually not easy to even close their lids once they have gone. I have  had a few owners expecting their pets to close their eyes when they slip away and sadly the film has given them this misconception as well.

Posted in Being a Mum and a vet | No Comments »

12/04/2009 by Arielle.

 An Easter-egg hunt proved to be anything but fun for a sweet-toothed Labrador called Buster.

The five-stone pooch ended up with chocolate poisoning after wolfing down a stash of chocolate eggs which he found hidden away in his owner’s spare room.

Five-year-old Buster had to be taken to animal hospital where he was admitted to intensive care after devouring 12 eggs and their foil wrapping.

Buster’s owner, Brenda Dawes, bought the eggs as Easter treats for her grandchildren.

She said: “When I arrived home one afternoon, Buster came down the stairs, wagging his tail and licking his lips. I knew immediately he’d been up to something.

“He’s a terror and chews everything he gets his paws on - mobile phones, video tapes, the remote control.”

At first, Buster did not appear to be affected by his binge. However, Ms Dawes was woken in the early hours of the morning by the pet’s cries.

“He couldn’t stand up, his back legs just kept buckling underneath him.

“His stomach was swollen and he was obviously in a lot of pain. Panicking, I called PDSA and they told me to bring him straight in.”

Ms Dawes immediately took the dog to animal charity PDSA’s PetAid hospital, near her home in Derby, where he was treated with fluids and kept in for round-the-clock observation.

Buster made a full recovery, but his ordeal has prompted animal welfare officials to issue a pre-Easter warning to anyone who keeps hungry hounds and chocolate under the same roof.

Senior veterinary surgeon Vicky Sims said: “Buster was quite lucky. Creme eggs have a fairly low theobromine content because they’re half fondant.

“Higher quality ‘posh’ chocolates are the most dangerous as they have high concentrated doses of theobromine - which poisons pets.

It seems that greedy Buster has a long way to go before he learns his lesson.

Ms Dawes said: “He’s already tried to eat a bag of crisps and a toilet roll since he’s been home - I’ll have to keep a close eye on him from now on to keep him out of trouble.”

The effects of chocolate poisoning in dogs usually appear within six to twelve hours of ingestion, and can last as long as 72 hours, the PDSA says.

Symptoms can include vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal tenderness, restlessness and increased heart and breathing rate.

In severe cases there may be fits, heart beat irregularities or coma.

If dogs ingest a large quantity of chocolate and are left untreated, the poisoning can prove to be fatal.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »