A pain in the *#!@?

Teddy is a 6 year old Shar Pei dog, a breed not always known for their good health & temperament (yes, I know, Shar Pei fans, they're not ALL like that), but Teddy has been a bit extreme.

He had severe and long-standing ear infections with bacteria that were resistant to every single oral antibiotic that we had available to treat him with.

And he was extremely aggressive, to the point where his owner was completely unable to get anywhere near him to treat his ears at home. The only thing we could do was to admit him into the clinic each time to be sedated so that we could syringe out his ears and instill a medication into the ear canals.

We hated doing it because we knew that he hated the whole process. Every time he would become insanely aggressive to the point where, quite apart from our real concerns about his welfare, each time I was really worried at the prospect of one of us being very badly bitten.

Every time, it was horrible.

So earlier this year we sent him off to our colleagues at Davies Veterinary Specialists for ear surgery to remove all the infected tissue, a procedure called a Total Ear Canal Ablation. The idea is that if you remove all the infected tissue, despite the fact that they lose most of their hearing, you do remove the source of their pain. They, of course, found him a real challenge to deal with, and there were multiple complications with the management of his surgery wounds (and of course his behaviour), but eventually he did heal and went home.

He came back into the clinic yesterday with a cut on his face, just below his left eye.

Great.

Then I found myself sitting down in front of him, gently handling his face, cleaning his wound, applying a tissue adhesive, checking his ears and applying some gel to the ear flaps.

And he didn't move an inch. His owner and I could not believe what we were seeing. A total change in his behaviour, the raging psychopath turned gentle little teddy bear. Never in a thousand years would that have been possible before the surgery that took him out of pain.

Just goes to show, if someone is a pain in the *#!@, maybe it's because they actually have a pain in the *#!@...

A blast from the past

Then just this morning,  in walked Pepito. Or to be fair he was dragged in, in a massively over-sized travel crate. Weighing in at a thoroughly reprehensible 9.24kg, he has come for some much-needed dental work.

Pepito (despite his size) is a cat, but not just any old cat. Pepito and I have a bit of shared history.

He was adopted by his current owner many years ago from an animal welfare refuge in Rabat, Morocco, right down on the Boulevard de l'Ocean, where the Atlantic waves crash on the jagged rock formations as intrepid fisherman try to avoid being swept away to an uncertain watery fate and the sun blazes down 320 days a year..

Back in the 1990's, I spent 4 years of my life in Morocco, working for the Society for the Protection of Animals in North Africa and spent many of my days working in that self same refuge.

I was responsible for a chain of charity funded veterinary clinics across the country, and my job was to tour the clinics, training and supervising the local staff, providing equipment and supplies, identifying possible sites for new clinics and helping supervise their construction.

As a result, I spent many hours in that self same refuge in Rabat, helping treat sick & injured horses, mules and donkeys, operating on cats and dogs and planning how we could best improve the facilities on our limited resources.

The idea that Pepito was just another lost and helpless cat in North Africa, who somehow found his way to a animal sanctuary - unlikely enough in itself, given the territory, that somehow he managed to persuade a passing visitor that he was the one for her, and that he and she should then follow a very varied trajectory to bring them eventually to a clinic in central London...

Small world.

Travelling abroad with your pets

I know, this is likely to be one of a hundred different articles in various magazines at this time of year, BUT there is stuff you need to know...

The Pet Travel Scheme was originally set up to be easy for pets to travel with their owners to and from France in a car, and this remains the simplest route by far.

Your pet can now have a passport provided they have a microchip and a rabies vaccine given at least 3 weeks before the date of travel. No more blood tests are required for the EU, but given that rabies is still common in many areas of Europe (including northern Italy, for example) AND and that as many as 1 in 20 pets fail to respond fully to their first rabies vaccine, we still strongly recommend that you have the rabies blood test to be certain that your pet is protected. I for one certainly would want to know.

 

To leave the UK, all you have to do is make a booking for your pet when you buy your own tickets for the tunnel or ferry, and then not forget their passport. Or yours, for that matter.

Coming back into the UK, you will have to find a vet to give your pet a tapeworm treatment betwen 1 and 5 days before the final departure for the UK, and have the vet enter the time and date of treatment in your pet's passport. And err, that's it.

The moment you start thinking about flying, it gets more complicated and expensive. For more information, check the DEFRA  website pet travel routes page

And if you want to go to a non EU country, you may find that different regulations apply, so you should either call us on 020 7723 0453 well in advance or check the DEFRA website, this time on the countries page

And finally, something you might want to take into consideration is that your pet might be exposed to a whole host of different infections and diseases the moment you leave our green and pleasant land. If you want more information on the horrors of life abroad, check the BVA's nasty diseases my pet could catch leaflet.

And finally, if you decide it's all too much of a nightmare, you could send Pooch down to the lovely Haxted Kennels for a couple of weeks in the glorious Kent countryside to spend his or her time gambolling in the flower-strewn meadows playing with their new best friends all day. No olive oil, no garlic, no policemen with guns. Bliss.

Hyde Park Vet Dog Show 2012

Well the slightly off the wall idea of holding a dog show in the middle of what is a busy rush hour rat run London street last year seems to have taken a grip on the locals....

And so for the 2012 Connaught Street annual Summer Festival, we were asked whether we would be happy to host another one. To which we of course said yes.

And so it was, that after weeks of meticulous planning by the Hyde Park team of Leah (clinic manager), Janine (shop manager) and Susannah (doggy daycare supremo), on Wednesday 20th June 2012, the 2nd International Hyde Park Veterinary Centre Dog Show came to pass.

The street was closed to traffic. The vast red carpet was laid out. The white picket fence went up. The PA system arrived. The registration tent was erected. The stands from Natural Instinct, Lily's Kitchen, Billy & Margot and the Mayhew Animal Home were set up, and lo and behold, the people came!

Our star judges included Joanna Good and Anna Webb from BBC Radio London's Barking at the Moon and show categories included waggiest tail, best trick, most regal dog and an Olympic award for overcoming adversity.....

We were thrilled to get a shout out on Radio London the week before and to have an outside broadcast recorded from the judges podium played on the radio the day after.

And we had a blast. Over 100 dog competitors, hundreds more onlookers and piles of cash raised for our chosen charity, the Mayhew Animal Home.

If you want to see some of the photos, check out our Twitter and Facebook pages

Be there next year!

To vaccinate or not? What to do?

I'm just back from Radio London after taking part in a round table discussion on the whole issue of dog vaccinations and it made me think I should write something about it, so here it is...

We want to maintain a high level of protection against infectious disease for our dogs, but without giving any unnecessary vaccines.

.

What do we vaccinate against?

Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvovirus, Leptospirosis and sometimes Kennel cough. Rabies is only given to dogs who are travelling abroad.

How common are these diseases? 

Distemper and Hepatitis in dogs are now rare in the UK, but Distemper is being seen more in ferrets. In the USA, there is a rising problem with Distemper in urban wildlife, which is worrying.

Leptospirosis is always around but is probably under-diagnosed, and Parvovirus is a common disease in certain areas of the UK.

Kennel cough is common and of most concern in small and short nosed dogs, and those who spend a lot of time with other dogs, for example with dog walkers, in day care or boarding kennels.

There is no canine Rabies in the UK, but there are still regular outbreaks in Europe.

How often should we vaccinate?

Puppies should ideally not be vaccinated until as late as 16 weeks, but particularly in an urban environment we need to get them out and about earlier for them to be well socialised with other dogs and the world around them. Most puppies are therefore vaccinated twice between 8 & 12 weeks of age in order to get them protected early so that they can start going out without being at risk.

They should then have a booster vaccine a year later. In many cases, this will give a really long period of protection to Distemper, Hepatitis and Parvovirus, but the only way to find out whether your dog is still protected is to take a blood test to check their antibody levels.

The protection from Leptospirosis is much shorter and currently we recommend a booster injection each year for dogs who might be at risk.

Are there any harmful side effects of vaccination?

Surveys carried out suggest that somewhere between 2 and 40 dogs in every 10,000 show some side effects in the days after vaccination, but we suspect that many reactions go unreported, and there may be other as yet unidentified issues with over-vaccination.

The most recent advice from the World Small Animal Veterinary Association is that we try to increase the number of animals vaccinated but reduce the number of vaccines that each animal receives, consistent with them staying protected against disease.

Which is all well and good, but what should I as a dog owner do?

Go to a vet clinic that has a low vaccine protocol and ask for a vaccine blood test rather than giving a routine full vaccine every year. Don't stop vaccinating, just do it wisely.

10 commandments....?

I found this today and thought it was worth a read...hopefully not too twee but rather, more food for thought.

The 10 Commandments From a Pet's Point of View

• My life is likely to last 10-15 years; any separation from you will be painful for me. Remember that before you buy me.
  
  
• Give me time to understand what you want from me; don't be impatient, short-tempered, or irritable.
  
  
• Place your trust in me and I will always trust you back. Respect is earned not given as an inalienable right.
  
  
• Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment; I am not capable of understanding why. I only know I have been rejected. You have your work, entertainment, and friends, but I only have you.
  
  
• Talk to me sometimes. Even if I don't understand your words, I do understand your voice and your tone. You only have to look at my tail.
  
  
• Be aware that however you treat me, I'll never forget it, and if it's cruel, it may affect me forever.
  
  
• Please don't hit me. I can't hit back, but I can bite and scratch, and I really don't ever want to do that.
  
  
• Before you scold me for being uncooperative, obstinate, or lazy, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right foods or I've been out in the sun too long, or my heart is getting old and weak. It may be I am just dog-tired.
  
  
• Take care of me when I get old. You too will grow old and may also need love, care, comfort, and attention.
  
  
• Go with me on difficult journeys. Never say, "I can't bear to watch" or "Let it happen in my absence". Everything is easier for me if you are there. Remember, regardless of what you do, I will always love you.
  
  © Stan Rawlinson 1993
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Meditations from a Squirrel #1

'We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals... In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.' 

(Henry Beston)

In a world where we are overwhelmed by the plethora and often excess of information, I contemplate what it is that we want to read about. We surely all want to learn more things about things, stuff about stuff... More importantly, I think we just want to feel and understand what it is that is important to us. As vets, we want to provide you with information about your pets, so that you understand what it is that they need to have a happy and healthy life. We want to offer them the best of our combined knowledge and care for them, when they need us. I also think, as sentient beings, we are all concerned about what it is that connects us to them, and animals in general.

I have been asked to contribute to our clinic blog and have been contemplating what to write....where do I start? How do I visit or perhaps access these ‘other nations’? How do I combine science with something more personal, without sounding like a cliche? Should I provide you with pages of information about health and potential disease and how to attain one or avoid the other? Or should I write about what is at the heart of pet ownership? 

My inclination is the latter, although possibly a combination of the two is the ideal partnership. Hopefully, between us, Andrew and I can provide that. 

I think that just as importantly, we would like you, as our clients and pet owners, to contribute and express your thoughts and experiences. Writing a blog, words drifting somewhere in cyberspace, can be lonely without an awareness that someone is actually reading it, and feeling something. I think the thing that connects us as human beings is the ability to relate and share stories and experiences.That’s why I love quotes. To read what someone else has written and connect to it. To understand exactly what has been said, even if I didn’t have the ability to write the words myself, is enlightening. 

The first question people often ask is ‘did you always want to be a vet?’ I guess I am supposed to say yes( in capital letters), but the answer is actually...not really, maybe... I always loved animals and we always had pets at home but I was always so super sensitive towards them... I was worried about some deeper misunderstanding on my behalf, or perhaps failing them in some way. That made me just want to hang out with them and be their friends. I guess there is a safety in that. 

I wanted( naively) to be a ballet dancer or something supposedly just as glamorous. I suspect that this had something to do with wearing a pink tutu.

The strange thing is, that the writing was probably always on the wall. I was really obsessed with animals in general. I remember watching David Attenborough in a state of awe as a young child (much as I do now). ‘Life on Earth’ was one of the first TV shows I was really interested in ...I thought his lifestyle was really romantic ( and who isn't keen on romantic ideals, you know following the dream etc etc). Now I know how hard it is to even take a decent photograph of my own dog, I appreciate the patience and painstaking determination required to capture animals in their natural habitats. And so the cliches follow...Black Beauty, To Ride a Fine Horse( chosen for the title, although the subject content was not only about horses, but more about the pioneers of the Australian outback and of course the James Herriot collection. By this time(and especially after the TV series) I was pretty sure that I was going to marry Tristan Farnon! 

Once I had established my obsession with our furry and feathered friends,( and all those whose best dressed attire ranges from scales to quills), I came to the realisation that this was going to be my vocation, my life. That I was going to have to delve into the still largely evolving world of veterinary science. 

I have read that ‘ the best thing about animals is that they don’t talk much’(Thornton Wilder) and although I can understand that sentiment, (based on the fact that us humans are guilty of an excess of verbosity), I can confirm that our lives as veterinarians would be simplified, if they could just whisper something in our ears, occasionally.... as Mr Herriot alluded to in his first novel in 1970( If Only They Could Talk). I think we, well certainly I, appreciate that we can talk to them without judgement. They accept us for all of our folly and that means a great deal. Maybe Mr Wilder meant to say ‘ the best thing about animals is that they are great listeners’. 

And so, with that thought, I will sign off as I started...With the words of someone else, someone whom I respect greatly as a writer, who so succinctly states what hopefully unites us all: 

 'Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.'

(George Elliot) 

And for us humans, they seem to be just the kind of friends we need. 

 Odile Sicouri