SimplyCats Vet Clinic Blog

I recently moved house and was looking and comparing different hoovers when I came across the ‘Roomba’ it is a robotic vacuum cleaner that can be set to automatically vacuum whilst your out (perfect I thought, housework with minimal effort!).
Whilst looking online for reviews etc, I came across this video, which made me realise how much I need a Roomba…for my cats

Claire

Hello again,

I am finding this blog very useful to jot down “frequently asked questions” or “regularly discussed topics” as they come up. I know what I’m like in the doctors or dentists and unless you remember to write everything down before hand, often as not you are heading out the door and half way down the street before you remember that last little question you forgot to ask that will niggle you all day!

Today’s topic is pre anaesthetic bloods. This is a subject that come up on a regular basis in my working week. When your pet comes to the vets for an operation and we require to give them sedation or a general anaesthetic, there is a section on the anaesthetic consent form that asks the owner if they would like a pre anaesthetic blood profile ran before the anaesthetic – what’s that all about?

Well, when we give an animal sedation or a general anaesthetic, their blood pressure is artificially lowered for a period of time. This is the nature of the drugs used to induce anaesthesia and an integral part of how they work. When the blood pressure is lowered during this time, if your pet has a pre-existing problem, for example with their liver or kidneys, then this may get worse because of the effect off the anaesthetic.

The blood sample is taken on the morning of the anaesthetic before any drugs are given, and run on a machine at the vet practice, so we usually get results back within 20min. If there are no abnormalities, we go ahead with the operation as planned. If there are any concerns, we have to re-evaluate our plans on an individual basis. This may range from deciding to go ahead with the anaesthetic, but supporting the animals body systems with an IV drip – to postponing the planned procedure and monitoring the new found condition through repeated blood sampling and medication until the condition shows improvement.

Every animal is given a thorough pre anaesthetic medical examination, unfortunately many internal problems are not evident through physical examination in their early stages. As a vet, in an ideal situation we would always give every animal a pre anaesthetic blood screen as it is the gold standard and best practice. Unfortunately a pre anaesthetic blood sample is an extra cost in an operation and we sometimes have to make compromises on an individual basis.

Working from first principles of veterinary medicine. A young, fit, healthy, animal has less likelihood of having an underlying medical problem, than a sick or older, geriatric animal. This is not always the case. Old animals bodies can be working away robustly and well, while young animals can have unexpected and alarming underlying organ problems.

As your vet I can give you my best advice. Personally I would prefer to see every animal I anaesthetise cleared through a pre anaesthetic blood test, but often I have to work to a tight budget. My personal opinion is that if you are accepting of the risks of not knowing, these underlying problems are less of a concern in the young, fit, healthy animal, and more so in old, sick or infirm animals where I almost insist on pre anaesthetic blood tests .

I hope this is of some help you all!

Please remember that at the vets we are of a firm belief that the only silly question is an unasked question! If you have any query or anxiety about your pet never, and I mean never, feel embarrassed or that you are causing an inconvenience for asking. As our clients we are here to provide to you the veterinary advice and expertise that will keep your home a happy and healthy one. If we cannot get back to you straight away, don’t worry, we will respond as soon as possible. Sometimes you may prefer to speak to a particular member of staff about a certain complicate or delicate matter. We do not take any slight if you prefer to see a certain vet or vet nurse for those detailed cases. The well being of our patients are always foremost at all times.

Bye for now,

Alistair the Vet

Hello everyone! My name is Alistair Moir and I am the locum vet that has been looking after all the SimplyCats since Paul and Sarah have been away on their break.

So far things have been going really well. I’m loving the new facilities which make it a joy to get on with my daily work. I am a cat owner myself with 2 black and white moggies (Jenny and Harry, both currently on their holidays in the Highlands of Scotland “enjoying the wildlife” at my parents) and I can really appreciate how much easier it is to come to a practice exclusively for cats!

Over the last week I am pleased to say I have seen a huge variety of cats, from locally born moggies to high born pedigree champions, and from tiny kitten first vaccinations to the geriatric gentleman in for a health check! With 10 years in veterinary practice, the collection of shapes sizes and personalities that arrive through the consulting room door continues to surprise and delight me!

The ins and outs of Microchipping is a topic which has come up a few times over the last week and I would like to take the opportunity to get a few facts down in this weeks blog.

Microchip, Identichip and ID Chip are all the same thing.
They are an implant placed under the skin, usually on the back of the neck between the shoulder blades.
Vets are generally very keen on Microchipping as collars can be wriggled out of and lost, and tattoos often fade with time.
It is a one off procedure and one microchip should last a lifetime.
It is not a legal requirement to have your pet Microchipped (except for applications for export to another country or for the pets passport scheme) but many owners chose to do so as it provides a permanent and unique way of easily identifying there pet.
The same microchip is used on all species, cats, dogs and horses, and it is recognised internationally.

The microchip itself is similar to those you would find in a computer! But as it doesn’t contain a power source of its own, it will never need the battery changed!

It is a small plastic pellet, about the size and shape of a grain of rice.
Inside the pellet is a tiny electronic circuit with a copper coil wound around it. The electronic circuit contains a unique 15 digit number (for example 981000003429887).
We read the microchip using a handheld unit that looks like a television remote control. We sweep the reader over the animals back and the reader emit’s a small magnetic field which activates the chip, then the chip transmits its number as a radio signal.
There is no energy source contained within the microchip. When the magnetic field from microchip reader passes over the chip it creates a very small electric current which provides just enough power to send a tiny radio signal with the microchip number back to the reader!
The microchip arrives at the vet practice in a sterile pack already loaded inside the bore of a hypodermic needle, along with half a dozen stickers with the unique barcode number of the microchip.
The needle is about five times as wide as the needle we use for vaccination.

Although the needle is about five times the width of the needle we use for vaccination, I am slightly embarrassed to say I know from personal experience (as I am also a farm vet) that it is no more painful sticking yourself with a brand new large bore needle than a brand new small bore needle!

Microchipping procedure is fairly straight forward and well practiced at the veterinary surgery. We do it daily on a regular basis and are usually quite happy to implant one whenever you are visiting. Microchips are implanted by the vet or RVN (registered veterinary nurse).
How quick and easy the procedure is, often surprises owners! Essentially the microchip pellet is injected under the skin at the scruff of the neck, the same as many other injections such as vaccinations are given at the vets.

However there are a few rules of good practice we like to keep when Microchipping our patients.

Firstly we are not too keen on Microchipping an animal on the same day it is vaccinated. The simple reason for this is that both injections are done in practically the same site. As part of the way a vaccine works, it causes a local reaction in the tissue to stimulate the animals immune system into making antibodies against the vaccine. If we put a foreign object into a site close to a vaccine site we are more likely to cause a painful exaggerated tissue reaction. Ouch!
It is a big needle so sometimes with young animals we prefer to wait until they are a bit older and bigger before we microchip them, purely from a body size issue.
If your pet is in for an operation, we will often ask if you wish to have a microchip implanted when they are under an anaesthetic. As I said before, vets are very keen on Microchips and although it is a relatively painless procedure, as vets, if we can avoid any stings or pinches to our patients we are all for it!

Your pet has done the hard part, now what do you have to do?

Details, details, details! Once we have implanted the chip a registration form is sent off to a national database of microchip numbers. The number on the chip implanted into your pet has no connection to you unless your contact details are registered! Ideally we like to take a full name and address, at least two easily contactable phone number (home, work and mobile) and these days email addresses are also very useful!
I have to mention it C.O.S.T. aargh! Although some charities (RSPCA/ PDSA) occasionally run Microchipping drives and provide reduced cost chipping, it is usually a cost for you, the owner. Currently most vet practices charge around £15 – £20 for the microchip, implanting and registration.
Once your details are taken and you are happy with them, they are posted off to a national database. Your local practice will keep a copy and add the unique chip number to their records and you take a copy home or your records.
If you move home and need to change your contact details there is a telephone number you can call and a website that allows you to change your details (much like with Datatag on push bikes and motorcycles or the V5 and driver’s license for your car).

What if I get lost?

So how does the system spring into action on the (hopefully) rare occasion our pet takes an uncharacteristic but intrepid thirst for adventure and exploration into the big wild world?
Well, at the vets it is not unusual for lost souls, waifs and strays to come through our doors.

On a personal note my cat Harry got the explorer’s bug when he was 8mths old and went missing for 2 months. I certainly feared the worst. Being an ex Cat Protection League cat he was well known to them, so when he was delivered through our doors with a bemused look on his face and a smug grin from our beloved CPL lady I was overjoyed. Turns out he was 2 streets away living in some ones garden and had simply forgotten his way home. Typical Harry, always more of a looker than a thinker. Clung to me like a limpet for two weeks after that he was so happy to be home!

At the vets when a lost and found pet is delivered to our door we first of all give them a check over for any sign of injury, then scan them for a microchip before getting them settled in a kennel with a bite to eat and drink. If there is a microchip present first we check our own computer records, as likely as not they are usually one of ours! If we have the owner on record we contact them directly and arrange a suitable home time. If we do not have records of the chip number at the practice then we phone the database directly to report a missing animal. The information you logged on the database is private and protected by the data protection act. Veterinary practices and registered local authority animal shelters are given a password that allows the database to give us your contact details so we can contact you directly. Private individuals that have scanned the animals number but have no password can report to the database that the animal is found but do not have access to your details, so the database then contacts you and relays the information between you and the person who has found your pet.
It does not cost you to use the database if your pet is lost.
If your pet is lost and arrives at the vets and has no means of identification we will try our best, through local knowledge, to find their home. Unfortunately as a working practice we do not have facilities to keep lost and founds for any length of time as we need the space for our poorly patients. So if no owner is found after 24hrs they will be sent to the local council authority animal shelter.

And finally…it’s not unusual…

It is not unusual to get a little his or yelp when implanting a chip as it can on occasion sting a bit, but no more so than any other vaccination or injection – and it is a one off procedure!
It is not unusual to get a small spot of blood after implanting a microchip. There is a stab incision made in the skin by all needles when giving an injection. This happens to be a slightly bigger needle but is as likely to knick a small blood vessel in the skin as any other injection. Applying gentle pressure to the area and leave the resulting scab to heal for a few days – no problems!
It is not unusual over time for the microchip to move about a bit under the animals skin. Everyone is uniquely different and in some cases there is more room under an animals skin for the chip to migrate before settling down (gravity has an effect on us all!). This is not harmful to the animal and you may notice when we are scanning for microchips we will take large sweeping circles with the chip reader all the way down the back and both flanks.

My stint as locum vet at SimplyCats comes to an end this week as Sarah and Paul get back from their holiday. Thank you very much to all our clients, locals and breeders alike for being so kind and accommodating to the new boy!

Alistair