SimplyCats Vet Clinic Blog

 What you need to know if your pet is having surgery……. 

Frequently asked questions:
 
 WHY SHOULD MY PET BE TESTED ON THE SAME DAY AS THE SURGERY?

- If your pet is having dental work or surgery, it is important to run same-day blood work prior to anaesthesia primarily to ensure your pet can properly process and eliminate the drugs given to induce and maintain anaesthesia. It is especially recommended in animals over the age of 7 years, as they are more likely to have problems.

- Pre-anaesthetic testing helps us understand whether your pet’s vital organs are functioning properly and alerts us to potential underlying diseases, which can help us create an individualized anaesthetic plan for your pet and avoid potential complications during surgery.
- Regardless of why your pet is being anaesthetised, pre-anaesthetic testing establishes a baseline for their individual health, which is helpful for future reference.

WHAT INFORMATION WILL THE RESULTS OF MY PET’S BLOOD WORK SHOW?
 
- The blood sample is collected from a vein in the foreleg or neck and is used to check your pet’s blood cells (haematology part ), liver and kidneys as well as for diabetes (biochemistry part).

- Haematology is the check on the blood cells. Anaemia is where the red blood cells are low and this could be a worry if the operation is likely to cause a lot of blood loss. If the red blood cell level is high this is most likely a sign of dehydration so your pet is likely to need to go on a drip. A high white blood cell count is usually a sign of infection so your pet may be put on antibiotics.

- As anaesthetic drugs are mainly removed from your pet’s body by the liver and kidneys it is important to know how they are functioning.

- The liver is checked by measuring two enzymes in the blood, which are normally at very low levels. Any damage to the liver cells causes a release of these enzymes into the blood and can indicate an underlying problem that will need investigating.

- Urea and creatinine are removed from the blood by the kidneys so if the kidneys are not working properly levels rise.

- It is important to also check a urine sample to see how concentrated it is when looking at kidney function.

- Glucose is measured to ensure your pet is not diabetic (a urine sample will be required to interpret the result) and to make sure they have enough energy for the duration of the operation.

WHAT CAN I DO TO PREPARE MY PET FOR SURGERY?
 
- Make sure your pet has not eaten anything (fasted) at least 12 hours before surgery. Fasted samples ensure more accurate testing and interpretation of results.

- Bring any medication your pet is taking and consider taking along a favorite toy. The comforts of home can be a great help to your pet during recovery

- Ask questions if you don’t understand what is being done or why. Surgery can be complicated, so it is important to know all you can about your pet’s health.

We would like to wish all our customers and web followers a very merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year !

Don’t forget that we still have raffle tickets available here at the practice at £1.00 per strip – all proceeds going to our local branch of Cats Protection. Lots of great prizes to be won, including electric guitar and amp, large cat scratching post, signed Sunderland football, chocolates and many more!

We teamed up with our sister company, SimplyHorses for a Christmas night out. Everyone enjoyed their meal at Melanzana Durham and a few drinks afterwards.
Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thanks to the generosity of local companies and some of our clients,we have amassed a great selection of prizes for the ongoing Autumn Raffle! All proceeds are going to help the local Durham branch of Cats Protection. If you can, please pop down to the surgery and help the cause by purchasing your tickets, priced at £1.00 per strip.
Many thanks.

At this point, there is no closing date for the raffle – we will keep it going until as many tickets as possible have been sold, in order to help as many needy cats as we can.

Why not treat yourself or a friend to the luxurious smell of one of our pet odour eliminator candles. Gorgeous scents include vanilla & rose, french lavender, vanilla, clothesline fresh, pineapple & coconut, green apple pomegranate, cherry blossom, cherry pomegranate & hot apple cobbler, to name but a few! 70 hours of burn time – great value at £9.38 each.

For your furry friend we stock a range of soft, sisal and vibrating toys. Get in early and avoid the Christmas rush!

here at the surgery there are now raffle tickets on sale at £1.00 per strip. All proceeds are going to help the local Durham branch of Cats Protection. Prize so far include: an electric guitar and amp, cat scratching post, cat bed, chocolates, signed Sunderland football, 15kg bag Whiskas dry cat food, Swarofski crystal shell and florists voucher.

We are hoping to host another ‘open day’ here at the practice with the proceeds to go to a local cat charity. We are provisionally looking towards late October, early November 2011.
If you have any unwanted items that would be suitable for raffle / tombola prizes or know anyone who would be able to offer sponsorship of any kind…..ie teas, coffees, cakes, sweets and toys for kids prizes we would gratefully receive them.
Many thanks for your support.

We are pleased to announce our July winner of a £10.00 voucher is Poppy Wilson !

Our kitten lineup is as cute as ever! These three all started their vaccination course within the month of July and one lucky kitten will win a £10.00 voucher to spend on any product or service here at SimplyCats. Book your cutie in for August and be in with a chance of winning!

We are pleased to announce that Mr & Mrs Dickson will be offering this doorstop / draught excluder cat a new home! It was handmade and donated by a staff family member in order to raise funds to support the treatment of a local registered charity – Cats Protection, Durham Branch. We are pleased that we managed to raise nearly £50.00 for them.
Many thanks to all those who purchased tickets.

The Young ones competition is held every month here at SimplyCats. Every kitten who comes into the surgery to start its course of vaccinations has their photo taken and is entered into the draw to win a voucher for £10.00 to spend on any product or service here at SimplyCats. The entrants so far are pictured above.

Caroline has been out with her camera again! Wasington Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust provided some beautiful subjects in bird and flower form. Enjoy!

Dubby has been naughty again….Caroline’s son had his 9th birthday tea. Luckily only family members were present to see him jump on the table via the chair and steal a ham sandwich and take it to his lair underneath the chair. He would not part with it and hid further under the table as Caroline tried to reach him. He is pictured above re-emerging from underneath the table as he licks his lips after finishing his tasty snack !!! We’ll hold off for a weigh in at the moment as he finished off with part of a slice of battenburg cake stolen about 20 minutes later

We have some exciting offers this month. Firstly as part of national microchipping month we are offering identichips for only £15.00 throughout the whole of JUNE!! contact us now to book an appointment. We also have a great deal on Frontline Combo flea and tick treatments, for the whole of JUNE you can buy 3 pippettes and get 1 pippette FREE!!

Katie can sometimes be really mean to Dubby and Maisey. This time it was Dubby’s turn to be blocked out of the sun’s rays streaming in through the window. Dubby nudged her gently with his head to try to share the sunny patch, but she stood up, hissed and swiped her paw over his head!
From previous experience, dubby decided to cut his losses and go for the shadier position instead, while Katie made herself as long as possible to keep him right at the edge!