Parklifespring edition

for the pets in your life – your vet for life

Is your Rabbit too fat? - page 8

Hens at

Home - page 6

for the pets in your life - your vet for life

• Are your dog’s vaccinations up to date? - page 9

• Puppy Socialisation - page 10

WELCOMEWelcome to the latest edition of Vets on the Park’s practice magazine, Park Life, packed with tips and information on pet health, as well as plenty of special offers for you and your pet.

As always, we have plenty of practical information to help you keep the pets in your life in the best of health. On page six we give you some advice on keeping backyard poultry which has become much more popular in recent years. At Vets on the Park, our aim is to treat your pets in the same way we would like our own pets treated and this attitude is at the heart of everything we do; from giving a kitten their first vaccination to major surgery and emergency treatment. We are all pet owners ourselves and so we understand the special place your pet has in your home.

Many of you have been with the practice for some time now, and we’d like to take this opportunity once again to say a big ‘thank you’ from all the team for your continued support and friendship. If you’re new to the practice, then welcome along!

Our website is another good source of news and information where you can request appointments, repeat prescriptions and register online.

Join us on Facebook or Twitter for all the latest practice news and special offers - simply search for Vets on the Park and ‘like’ us!

With best wishes from Alison and the team.

In this issue of Parklliiffe Page 2 Welcome!

Page 3 Useful Information

Page 4 Practice News

Page 6 Hens at Home

Page 8 Rabbit Obesity

Page 9 Parvo Beware!

Page 10 Puppy Socialisation

Page 12 Get in touch via Facebook or at vetsonthepark.co.uk

Parklife

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Useful informationOpening hoursWe know that many of you have plenty of things to fit into your busy lives, so we work hard to ensure that you can get an appointment with us at a time convenient for you, with late evening opening and Saturday clinics.

Our opening hours are 8am - 7pm, Monday to Friday and on Saturdays we are open from 8am – 1pm. To book your appointment, simply call 01242 517199

When the surgery is closed, the emergency out of hours clinic ChelVets begins. The service is run from the Surgery at Cheltenham Racecourse. Simply call 01242 522022 for help and advice in the event of an emergency.

We also offer free home visits! Coming into the surgery can sometimes be difficult so we are pleased to offer a free Vets at Home service to our clients who live within an 5 mile radius of our surgery. You can find out more on our websitewww.vetsonthepark.co.uk How tto ffiind us::Moorend Grove, Leckhampton, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL53 0EX 01242 517199 www.vetsonthepark.co.uk

Recommend a friend and you both save £5!

If you recommend Vets on the Park to a friend, we’ll give each of you a voucher for £5 off *

Simply fill in your details in part A of the form and pass it to the friend you wish to recommend us to.

All your friend needs to do is fill in part B and hand in the completed form when they register their pet with us.

Once they have been in for a consultation, they can collect their £5voucher* and we will send you your £5 voucher* by post. If you prefer you can donate your £5 to our chosen charity which this year is ‘Medical Detection Dogs.’

*Please see our website for terms and conditions: www.vetsonthepark.co.uk

SPECIAL OFFERS

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Simply fill in your details in part A of

for the pets in your life - your vet for life

Leckhampton RoadShurdington Road

Church Road

Charlton Lane

Bath

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Shurdington

Leckhampton Hill

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spring edition

Recommend a friend and you both save £5!

recommend Vets on the Park to a friend, we’ll

Goodbye!We were very sorry to have to say goodbye to Sharne who is off to start a new job in Evesham, her home tone. We will miss her and wish her all the best for the future!

Babies!, Babies! And Puppies!You may have noticed to expanding waist-lines in the practice – this is not only due to Christmas over indulgence but both Jo and Claire are expecting babies and will be off on maternity leave from May 2015!

Claire and Jo aren’t the only ones expecting – Alison’s little border terrier Ella has had two super puppies only two weeks ago

Hello!We also would like to welcome Nikki to the practice, she will be joining the nursing team in March to help cover maternity leave. She is hoping to start her nursing training with us!

Parklife Practice news

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We are about to start a major project in our big consulting room. The whole room is going to be re-designed to give us more storage and to improve your visit.

We need to do this because the Medicines Act has changed and we are no longer allowed to display Prescription Medicines, even on the shelves of our consulting rooms.

Please bear with us whilst we make the changes

Christmas FairThank you to all our clients who came to our Christmas Fair in December. We had a great evening and collected a huge anount of petfood that we donated to various local animal charities in the weeks before Christmas.

Thank you also to our friends at Cook on the Bath Road for providing the delicious canapés and to Henry Trinder from Gloucester Rugby for supporting the evening.

for the pets in your life - your vet for life

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Keeping chickens has become increasingly popular over the past few years, with more and more families choosing to build a hen coop in the garden and enjoy the pleasure these easy to keep pets can bring.

If you do not already have chickens but are interested then we recommend re-homing an ex battery hen. The British Hen Welfare Trust has a great website full of information for potential new owners and links to registering to re-home a chicken. Visit www.bhwt.org.uk to find out more.

Chickens will require a warm well made coop or you can convert a shed. It is very important that it is predator proof as both foxes and rats will do just about anything for a chicken dinner so make sure you are one step ahead of them! Inside the coop, there should be plenty of perches and laying boxes.

They are very inquisitive creatures so give them areas of soil and bark where they can scratch and display normal behaviours. Also string up vegetables such as cabbages or corn on the cob to peck at- they will love this and it will help beat the boredom.

They also love to sun and dust-bathe. You can create a lovely dust bath for your hens in a sunny dry area. Mark the area out using some logs or large stones, these will also be a great hiding place for bugs, which your hens will love to snack on, and they can use the logs as perches! You can use an old garden umbrella to keep the rain off so it stays nice and dusty. Add dry dirt and sand, wood ash or charcoal is a good addition

Parklife

Hens atHome

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as it contains vitamin K and absorbs toxins and if you fancy you can add dried herms such as lavender, mint or rosemary, that may have natural insecticidal properties!

Feed you chicken good quality layers pellets and grit. It is usually found in livestock supply shops or pet shops and comes in large 25kg bags. Store the feed in a secure metal container that is pest proof- rats love to eat chicken feed almost as much as they love to eat chickens! Unused feed should be discarded after 3 months, containers cleaned and replaced with fresh feed.

Your chickens must be wormed regularly and treated for red mites and lice.

Before allowing your chicken to free roam in the garden make sure it is secure, your neighbours will not be impressed if they find your chicken in their vegetable patch! Your chickens can easily destroy you lawn and eat your best flowers but in return, they will keep your pests under control and chicken poo makes fantastic manure!

Chickens make great pets, they are easy and fairly inexpensive to look after, they are very gentle creatures which makes them great for young children and on top of that if they are cared for well they will provide you with hours of entertainment and delicious fresh eggs!

If you would like to know more we recommend booking in to see our Head Nurse Rachel who keeps her own hens and is somewhat of an expert!

for the pets in your life - your vet for life

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Pet SelfiesOver the next few weeks, we are running a Facebook

competition to find the best pet selfie! The winner

will appear on the front of our booster reminder cards!

So log in to Facebook, “Like” our page and

then add your pet selfie – then ask all your

friends and family to “Like” us and your

photo – the most likes will win! Good Luck!

will appear on the front of our booster reminder cards!

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Parklife

Obesity in rabbits is a very common problem, with 1 in 4 rabbits that were seen at the Royal School of Veterinary Medicine in Edinburgh being obese.

Obesity in rabbits results in health problems such as urine and feacal scalding, cystitis, arthritis, pododermatitis, increased cholesterol and an increased risk of fly strike.

Obesity is caused by overeating.

Rabbits are fibrevores and require a high fibre diet. Muesli type diets are particularly bad for rabbits, as the rabbit tends to pick out the sweet tasting pieces and leave the rest. This results in a dietary imbalance, lacking in fibre and very high in sugar and starch.

The Perfect Diet for a Rabbit70% Good quality hay or grass

28% Vegetables such as kale, spinach and dandelions, herbs with a small amount of fruit.

2% Pellets

Treats such as herbs, edible flowers like roses or nasturtiums can also be given.

Rabbit Obesity

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for the pets in your life - your vet for life

spring edition

Parvo beware!There has recently been a diagnosed case of Parvovirus seen at a local veterinary

practice, so we urge you to check your dogs’ vaccination status and if it has

lapsed book an appointment immediately.

Parvovirus is an extremely contagious virus that is spread by contact with infected

feaces or vomit. It can affect dogs of all ages but is most commonly seen in

puppies. It causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea that quickly leads to patients

becoming dangerously dehydrated. In many cases, the symptoms become so

severe that the dehydration cannot be reversed and sadly leads to death.

Thankfully, due to responsible owners keeping their dogs vaccinated, we rarely see

this terrible virus but it is still out there and still a real threat to unvaccinated dogs.

Obesity is also caused by lack of exercise rabbits should be having at least 20 minutes, ideally two 30 minute sessions of free roaming a day in a secure run, garden or house. You can encourage your rabbit to exercise by hiding their pellets within their hay to encourage them to forage or you can purchase a treat ball from the pet shop and put their pellets inside.

If your rabbit is on a diet, avoid root vegetables and fruit because of the high level of sugar. Once your rabbit has reached his ideal weight then they can have either 1/8 of an apple or pear, 4x strawberries a ¼ of a carrot or turnip or

1/8 of a swede. However, remember these are treats to be given only occasionally!

Plenty of fresh water.

If you are worried that you rabbit may be overweight, we offer a free of charge rabbit weight check clinics at vets on the park. If you bring you rabbit in we will record his weight, perform a body condition score, give him a health check, discuss his existing diet and ways it may be improved.

To book your appointment

contact us on 01242 517199

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ParklifePuppy Socialisation

Bringing a new puppy in to the home is a fun and exciting time. However, it can also become overwhelming. All our staff at Vets on the Park are here to support you during this time and are on hand to answer any questions you may have – no matter how silly they may sound!

A well socialised puppy will grow into a calm, well behaved dog, but puppies that do not receive adequate socialisation will be susceptible to behavioural problems such as aggression, noise phobia, seperation anxiety and fear in later life.

The critical age for socialisation is from 3 to 12 weeks, which means that responsible breeders should have started a programme before you pick up your puppy, by allowing the puppies to experience different household sounds, feed from different bowls, walk on different textures. They should be well handled by various different people and spend short amounts of time away from their mother and littermates. So be wary of buying a puppy that has spent its first few weeks in stables or sheds. Go for one which has been reared in the kitchen of a busy family home with all sorts of noises and people coming and going!

Once you get your puppy home your socialisation plan should continue consistently for the first year of your dog’s life, but it is important that they experience

as many different situations, sounds and people as possible by the time they are 12 weeks old. Up to this age the puppy’s brain development enables them to accept new things without becoming fearful.

Things to do at Home• Introduce your puppy to noisy

household appliances

• Make sure you have lots of friends and family members visit

• Teach your pet to be on his own- we recommend the use of a crate as puppies own space for sleeping, feeding and time out.

• Teach your puppy to be happy in the car. Always ensure that your puppy is safe by using a harness, dog guard or specially designed crate for the boot. Your puppy should not be allowed to roam about or sit in the foot well.

When your puppy experiences something for the first time it is important that it is done calmly, with plenty of gentle encouragement and treats. If your puppy seems uncomfortable or worried remove him from the situation and try again another time.

It is not necessary to wait until you puppy has completed their vaccination course before you take them out, in fact we actively encourage that you take them out as soon as possible. Your puppy will be safe as long as he is kept off the ground and only encounters dogs that you know are vaccinated.

If you have chosen a puppy that will require regular grooming then book them in for a visit within that crucial time period.

They probably wont need to be groomed for several weeks but the groomer can get your puppy used to standing on the table and being handled.

It is so important that your puppy is happy at the vets! Years ago puppies would only be seen a handful of times by the vet in their first year, and each brief visit would rbe remembered for an injection. By the time they returned for their first booster vaccination after a year the owners more often than not would have to drag them through the doors! This is definitely not what we want! Now we encourage you to come in at the very least on a monthly basis, more often if possible! The nurses can weigh them, apply flea and worming treatments, clip nails give advice and plenty of cuddles. This results in puppies that drag their owners into the practice to see us!

We want you to enjoy every second of your new addition and we are on hand to give you the support you need during those first few difficult weeks and all the way throughout your dogs life.

Puppy clinics can be booked with any of the nurses free of charge Monday to Saturday by calling 01242 517199 for more information.

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for the pets in your life - your vet for life

spring edition

Things to do Out and About

• Let your puppy experience all sorts of different types of traffic as it passes by- buses, lorries, motorbikes and cars.

• Let your puppy meet as many different types of people as possible, male and female, old and young, babies, different ethnicities, people wearing hats and glasses.

• Visit your vet and the groomer

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ONLINE ALL THE TIME!

At Vets on the Park we work hard to ensure that you always have access to help and advice when you need it - we offer evening opening and Saturday clinics, as well as 24 hour emergency cover through our partnership with ChelVets, so that you can organise your pet’s care to fit in with your busy life.

However, we know that sometimes you might remember the appointment you meant to book, or the repeat prescription you needed to arrange, just as you’re putting the children to bed, or washing your hair. Or is that just us?

If so, you’ll be pleased to know that you can book appointments, order repeat prescriptions and so much more on our new website: www.vetsonthepark.co.uk

We also have a facebook page where we add news and special offers that we think might be of interest to our friends. You can share photos and funny stories, as well as ask for advice, so don’t forget to ‘like’ us at Vets on the Park.

Vets on the Park Moorend Grove, Leckhampton,

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL53 OEX 01242 517 199

www.vetsonthepark.co.uk

Follow us on www.facebook.com/vetsontheparkTweet us on www.twitter.com/vetsonthepark

for the pets in your life - your vet for life

spring edition