I hate to badger you, but...

I am increasingly concerned about genocide, and we, quite rightly, are worried about TB.

Not (for once) TB the old warmonger, our ex-ex-Prime Minister, but tuberculosis, the scourge of Victorian England.

The disease has been on the increase recently, and the government has charged DEFRA with the task of doing something about it. The worry is that there is a reservoir of TB in the badger population. Badgers can pass it onto cows (if you let them have access to the cow's feed), and then the cows can theoretically pass it onto people via their milk.

Although all UK milk is pasteurised before distribution and this kills the TB bacteria, rendering it harmless. And TB in the UK is spread from person to person.

There are about 9,000 cases of human TB diagnosed in the UK each year.  Last year just 36 of these were due to the animal form. "The majority of cases are in people over 65 years old (and who drank infected unpasteurised milk in the past) or in those of any age who picked up the infection abroad." (HPA 2009)

So what is DEFRA's plan?

Let's kill the UK's badgers.

Never mind the basic biology. Badgers live in relatively small communities and don't travel much. There are those that have TB and those that don't. If you go in and slaughter all the badgers in one area, you create an ecological vacuum, into which the local males that do travel will go. If these guys come from a non-TB infected population with little natural immunity, they are highly likely to contract the disease.

Research clearly shows that where badgers have been culled or slaughtered, the incidence of TB around the edge of that area actually increases.

So DEFRA's proposed culling of badgers will kill off a population of our natural wildlife to reduce the chance of spread of a disease that is not spread to humans by pasteurised milk, and where the slaughter is likely to increase the disease incidence.

What on earth is the matter with these people?

And while we're at it, can anyone explain to me our national obsession with milk: - haven't any of you lot been weaned yet?

PS you can check the science directly from DEFRA and the Health Protection Agency

A breath of fresh air?

OK, we know that French Bulldogs are the latest BIG thing and that you all want one. And frankly, I can see why. They do have a certain winning way about them, and my personal theory is that owners of short-nosed dogs spend more time giggling at and/or with their chosen furry pumpkins than owners of many other breeds.

Each breed, their charm, and I guess it's probably fairly likely that each genetic weirdness (ie breed) within the genus Canis (err, dog) does attract a certain human type who would want to own one. Hence the idea that owners sometimes end up looking like their dogs. It could, of course be the other way round, with dogs seeking to emulate their owners' physiognomy by way of some exalted hero- or heroine-worship, but I doubt it.

You get a dog and generally fall in love with the endless/boundless affection and apparently uncritical adulation that goes with it. That's the idea isn't it? And so impressed are you with the wisdom of this creature that has chosen to recognise your magnificence (in a way that the rest of the human race is sometimes a little slow to catch up on), that over time, rather like those couples that end up dressing the same - always a pet hate of mine - you pick up on some of the behaviour and even the look of your canine companion.

And... hey presto! The 'Dog that looks most like it's owner' category in the Hyde Park Veterinary Centre Dog Show and countless others like it across the country.

But I digress, and apologise for it.

A recent survey (you've got to love a good survey) at the Royal Veterinary College, no less, showed that of 285 dogs referred to the hospital for awide variety of reasons, 31 were identified as being affected by the Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome, which means they had difficulty breathing normally, snored loudly at night and struggled to exercise normally. Nearly 60% of their owners did not perceive this to be a problem, despite the fact that in the general population less than 2% snore.

The issue here is that many dogs, as a result of their specific breed conformation, really struggle to breathe normally, and they don't have to. Help is available to help these guys, so don't just tolerate the panting, wheezing and snoring: ask you vet and get help. It can revolutionise their lives. And yours.

If you want any more information on breed-related health problems, check the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare website.

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.