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!

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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!

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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!

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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.

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30/03/2009 by Arielle.

I had 3 cats booked in for their yearly vaccinations, program injections and worming. The computer flashed up a sign saying owner warning, but I was in too much of a hurry to read it and called through Ms Cooper - a tall blonde ‘lady’ with all her cats.

As soon as I looked at Ms Cooper with her large jaw, I realised that she was in fact a man  - with a very pretty smile wearing a long pink skirt and equally bright pink top. She had 3 cats that had put on far too much weight as she had moved to a flat and her cats had become indoor cats but she had continued to feed them as though they were outdoor cats.

I checked the owner warning when she left and it said that from July 2008, Mr Cooper wished to be referred to as Ms Copper as she was transgender. I dealt with her as I would any client but had a quiet chuckle to myself when I asked her if she wanted me to carry the cat carrier with her 2 very heavy cats in it for her. She sweetly replied ‘Oh yes’ as if she was not very strong but her arms were probably twice the size and strength of mine!

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14/02/2009 by Arielle.

We had so many kindly donated boxes of Roses, Quality Street and Heroes from loyal clients over Christmas; that I just associated the reception area at work with chocolate for a few weeks. Everytime I went to fetch some tablets over the festive season, I would peel open a tin and replenish my sugar levels!

Since January, we have all been on diet and the practice has been cleared of anything fattening. That is why, I grew very excited this morning after a busy few hours consulting when I heard a client walk in and say that she had brought in chocolate. My excitement quickly changed to disappointment when I realised that she had brought in her little Netherland Dwarf rabbit Chocolate for his 6 weekly teeth trim!

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29/01/2009 by Arielle.

I was told by my partners at work this week that they were cutting my hours right back and they could only afford to have me consult on  Saturdays. As a part-time locum at the practice, I was the obvious person to cut back on and the dear old senior vet who has had his days cut down to 3 a week.

I felt really sad about it and couldn’t but take it personally at first, feeling as though I was not good enough for them to keep me during the week. They assured me that it is purely a financial decision, but I feel so much for people who have recently been made redundant. What a blow to ones’ confidence and obviously financially, what a life changing stress.

It sent a ripple of panic through the practice as each staff member I spoke to looked concerned and I could almost read the worry on their faces. Sadly, every aspect of businesses are being affected - even vets and sadly it has to be me this time!

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21/01/2009 by Arielle.

For all animal lovers out there, I thought I’d make you aware of a show coming up so you can book your tickets

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18/12/2008 by Arielle.

My favourite kittens came in this morning for their second vaccinations and identichipping. I have seen the one before and written a blog about her. She is called Fred and is a Maine Coon kitten that licked a kettle and burnt her tongue.

This time, it was her sister George who was in ‘trouble’. She had managed to get her collar caught around her mouth and she had swallowed the bell. She had been fine with no signs of vomitting and I could feel a little round lump in her intestine ready to be passed hopefully with her next visit to the litter tray! The owner said her husband was trying to jiggle her and see if they could hear it!

What little characters Fred and George are. As identichipping involves a lot of paperwork, we left them to sniff every corner of the room. They particularly liked one area where the wall stuck out and they rolled and smeared their happy facial pheromones all over it. They are both ginger and were given their names after the Weasley twins in  Harry Potter. Having boy names really suits their characters!

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04/10/2008 by Arielle.

Every evening when I return from work, my children ask me what I have seen in my day. Today’s memorable consultations have to be a gorgeous black Pug puppy called Bubu for his second vaccinations. The owners made me laugh when they said that when he was 6 weeks old, you could not make out any facial features in his tiny squashed black face!

My second memorable case was a Pekin duck that came in. The owner had rescued 3 of them quite literally from the pot (they are the breed used to fatten up for Pekin duck - a delicacy in certain restaurants - not the ones I go to!!)

She had 3 ducks that lived in her garden but had the freedom to leave her property and go onto the canal to swim. She had found one dead and one with a large open wound on his neck on the canal. There were no feathers anywhere so she did not imagine it was a fox or dog but was concerned that a very territorial swan had attacked them.

We x-rayed the dead duck and found a pellet in his chest. How cruel some people can be with such beautiful creatures. She now had the evidence needed to report the incident with the x-ray. The duck that came into my consulting room appeared bright, made a huge mess with his water and droppings all over my consulting room floor; but hopefully will respond well to the antibiotic treatment and will live with his pellet buried in the muscle in his neck.

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