We find that pupppies who have attended these parties are much more confident when they have to visit the vets as they have had a positive experience after attending the puppy party. 

To celebrate the 100th party we are holding an evening event on the 11th of June 2012 at 7pm in the  Spring Lodge Community Centre (behind our Witham Hospital).  The evening  will include guest speakers from Pets as Therapy and a Heal Work to Music demonstration.  There will also be special refreshments made by our talented Saturday assistant Catherine (The Hidden Cherry Cake Company). 

If you are interested in the evening then please call 01376 513247 and ask to speak to Sophie or email us at springlodgevet.aol.com.

Most rabbit owners know the importance if having their rabbits vaccinated against the two serious diseases, Myxomatosis and Rabbit  Haemorrhagic Disease (RHD).  In the past this would require a Myxomatosis vaccine every 6 months and a seperate RHD every 12 months.

Now MSD Animal Health, the makers of Nobivac vaccines, have launched a combined ‘all in one’ vaccine for both diseases that only needs to be given every 12 months.

Myxomatosis is spread by rabbit fleas and most people have seen the terrible suffering it can cause as you often see wild rabbits that are affected with the virus.  It initially causes runny eyes which then rapidly progess to severe conjuctivitis with thick pus discharges from the nose and eyes.  The rabbit can also suffer from lumpy swellings on the head and boday and swollen genitals.  Treatment for ‘full blown’ myxomatosis is usually unsucessfully due to its severity and rabbits are generally euthanased to prevent suffering.

RVD is another widespread diease in the UK but less well known as myxomatosis.  It was first reported in the country in 1992 and is fatal if caught.  There are generally very few clincal signs and the rabbit can just be found dead in their hutch.

The new vaccine will cover for both of these dieases in just one visit every year and cost less that the three seperate vaccinations required at the moment.  (The vaccine is safe and affective in rabbits previously vaccinated with the Nobivac Myxo vaccine.)

For more information please call your local Spring Lodge branch.

If you buy a 3 pipette pack of Frontline you will receive 1 pipette free.

If you buy a 6 pipette pack of Frontline you will receive 2 pipettes free.

Just contact your local Spring Lodge Branch to take advantage of this great offer.

(NB – this offer is on Frontlines prescription only treatment so your pet must be registered and have been seen by us in the past 12 months.)

Therefore, a Spring Lodge Veterinary Surgeon and Nurse will be available from 8am – 5.30pm on Monday the 7th of May at our Witham Hospital.  They will be able to help you with any emergency advice you need and will be available for emergency consultations.

To contact them between these times please call 01376 513247 and listen to the message carefully.

This months ‘Pet of the Month’ is Fudge and her story was chosen as it is a good example of how things are never as staright forward as you think they are going to be.

Fudge is a beautiful four year old English Springer Spaniel and her owner bought her into us as she was vomiting , drooling and very lethargic.  When we examined her she seemed very uncomfortable and her stomach was ‘tucked up’.  Our initial possible diagnosis of the problem was that Fudge either had gastroenteritis, an inflammed pancreas or even a forgein body in her stomach.

We admitted Fudge into our hospital for blood tests, an ultrasound and x-rays.  The ultrasound highlighted a shadow in her stomach we took an x-ray to confirm what we were seeing.  The xray showed a large object (possibley a stone) in her stomach.

X-ray showing the possible stone in Fudges stomach.

To remove a forgein body from a dogs stomach is a serious operation with a high risk of post operation infection, but it was one that we have performed many times before so we felt confident we could help Fudge.  We called Fudges owners and our surgeon Nicole started on her operation.  The stone was in her stomach and was removed with no complications, it actually turned out to be a large piece of slate.  After removing the slate Nicole noticed that the rest of Fudges intestines looked unhealthly and she investigated further.  She discovered that she had a hole punctured through her intestines and had a piece of rose steam stciking through it.  This made her condition much more serious as the area would become quickly infected and the stick had also damaged her pancreas.  Nicole removed the stick, repaired the intestines and Fudge was given high doses of antibiotics.

The piece of slate and sticks that were causing Fudge so many problems.

Fudge had a stomach tube paced so we could feed her and her owners were informed that the next few hours were going to be critical.  We were all so worried about her as she had been through so much.

Amazingly, the following morning Fudge jumped out of her kennel and seemed keen to eat her breakfast and she went home the next day.  She was still poorly and had lost a large amount of weight but her owners took great care of her and she began to improve.

Six days after her operation Fudge was almost back to normal and able to eat normally.  The continued care by her owners a her home allowed her to make a full recovery and she is putting on weight.

Fudge was very lucky as she could have contracted a serious peritonitis and we are all so pleased that she made a full recovery.  We are very grateful to her owners for allowing us to use her story and their pictures.

National Pet Month runs throughout April this year and promotes responisable pet ownership.  To celebrate the joy of owning a pet, Spring Lodge Vets are holding a photograph competition for our customers.  There are two categories:

• My pet and me!
• Pets do the funniest things!

It is free to enter, just send your pictures into springlodgevet@aol.com or drop a print off to any of our branches.  The pictures will be displayed in our waiting rooms and on this website.  There will be prizes for you and your pet in each category.

Good luck

Good Friday – 6th April

Easter Sunday – 8th April

Easter Monday – 9th April

Spring Bank Holiday – 7th May

Spring Bank Holiday – 4th June

Queens Jubilee – 5th June

On these dates a Spring Lodge Vet will be available to give help and advice over the phone, see emergency consultations and to care for our inpatients (a job previously done by Vets Now Ltd).

We have introduced this service to provide a better continuity of care for our patients over the extended Bank Holiday periods.  If you need help on the above dates then simply call your usual Spring Lodge branch telephone number  and a message will inform you how to contact our ‘on call’ veterinary surgeon.

Please be aware that overnight and normal Sunday ‘out of hour’ emergencies will still be dealt with by Vets Now Ltd.

If you have any questions regarding this service please call or email springlodgevet@aol.com.

Betty

This months pet of the month has been chosen not only for her bravery  but because of the unusual circumstances of her accident.

Last year, when Betty was just over a year old she was on a walk when her owner decided to pop into the local shop.  She tied her up, very breifly outside the shop.  After just a few minutes Betty’s owner returned to find Betty holding up her front right leg and she was unable to place any weight on it at all.  Betty had not cried out in pain  and had been left for such a short amount of time it was unclear what could have happened.

Betty was rushed straight to Spring Lodge in Witham and examined by our vet Nicole Laws.  Betty was extremely brave and allowed us to examine her and it was clear that her leg was badly injured.  We gave her strong pain relief and sent her through to our x-ray department.  Here they gave Betty a general anaesthetic and x-rayed her leg. 

To everyones amazement Betty had somehow managed to break her leg with a complete and spiralling fracture on her humerus (the bone between the elbow and the shoulder.

Xray of Betty's Front Right Leg

Sometimes working at a vets can be sad and emotional, but we also experience the best of time as well and we thought we would share one of these momennts with you.  On Friday one of our favourite dogs, a black Pug called Sally came in as she needed a little help delivering her litter of puppies.    It was decided that she needed a caesarian section to deliver her litter as the first puppy was stuck.

 Our veterinary Surgeon Nicole Laws performed the surgery and we were delighted when five healthy and very noisey pupies were born.  Normally when puppies are born by caesarian they need attention from the veterinary nurses to revive them but these puppies were crawling around looking for their mum within seconds after being born.

 They were such a joy to look after and they made us all smile – so we thought we would share their pictures with you: