June is microchipping month at SimplyCats and as a result we are offering microchips at a reduced cost. This procedure usually costs £20 but throughout the month of June we are offering microchipping at £15.
For further information about microchipping please click here or contact the surgery.
You can sleep as soundly as Naz knowing your cat is microchipped should he/she go missing
Claire
We are offering our clients the chance to see their cat appear on SimplyCats vaccine reminders and the Mewsletter. If you would like your cat to feature in these materials, please contact us and include a photo of your beloved cat.
If you have any comments or suggestions, please click here to contact us. Any feedback welcome on how we can improve our site.
If there is any subject you would like to read about on the blog or in the Mewsletter, please let us know, as we are always grateful of any suggestion.
Claire
SimplyCats would like to thank everyone who attended our Open Day on Saturday 8th May and made this a fantastic day!
We certainly had nice weather for it and the day was brilliant, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
The day would not have been a success without those who attended so once again, a big thank you from everyone.
Many thanks go to all who attended and helped to organise the event.
Please click here for more information and photos from the Open Day.
Claire
If you have ever had a cavity or dental work done, you know how uncomfortable and inconvenient it can be. For humans, caring for our teeth is something we do almost automatically. Since cats are unable to brush their own teeth and, like humans, do not have a natural, built-in way to keep teeth clean, it falls on you to maintain your cat’s dental health.
Veterinary research indicates that dental disease, in its various forms, is the number one health issue in feline medicine and about 70% of cats over the age of three have some kind of dental problem. Fortunately for your cat, dental disease is preventable!
When I got Piglet she had slight tartar on her canines and molars, and ideally needed a scale and polish. I decided to let her settle in first before undergoing any dental work.
Scale and polish is the most common dental procedure performed on cats. Generally, the process takes about an hour. General anesthesia is required for any kind of veterinary dental work.
Piglet is currently fed Purina Housecat dry food and she loves it, I can’t get it into her bowl quick enough 
I also use Logical Oral gel on her teeth once daily, or as often as I get a chance to do it. 8 weeks later I checked her teeth and the tartar has almost all gone from her teeth and she now doesn’t need a dental.
Not all cats will be as lucky as Piglet and find their tartar breaks down completely but it just goes to show that a dental routine really does make a difference to your cat’s oral hygiene.
Claire
1.Clear large space on table for wrapping present.
2.Go to wardrobe and collect bag in which present is contained, and close door.
3.Open door and remove cat from wardrobe.
4.Go to cupboard and retrieve rolls of wrapping paper.
5.Go back and remove cat from cupboard.
6.Go to drawer and collect sellotape, ribbons, scissors, labels, etc.
7.Lay out present and wrapping materials on table, to enable wrapping strategy to be formed.
8.Go back to drawer to get string, remove cat that has been in the drawer since last visit, and collect string.
9.Remove present from bag.
10.Remove cat from bag.
11.Open box to check present, remove cat from box, replace present.
12.Lay out paper to enable cutting to size.
13.Cut the paper to size, trying to keep the cutting line straight.
14.Throw away first sheet because cat tried to chase the scissors and tore paper.
15.Cut 2nd sheet of paper to size by putting cat in the bag the present came out of.
16.Place present on cut-to-size paper.
17.Lift up edges of paper to seal in present, wonder why edges now don’t reach, and find cat between present and paper. Remove cat and retry.
18.Place object on paper, to hold in place, while cutting sellotape.
19.Spend next 20 minutes carefully trying to remove sellotape from cat with pair of nail scissors.
20.Seal paper down with sellotape, making corners as neat as possible.
21.Look for roll of ribbon; chase cat down hall and retrieve ribbon.
22.Try to wrap present with ribbon in a two-directional turn.
23.Re-roll up ribbon and remove paper that is now torn, due to cat’s enthusiasm in chasing ribbon end.
24.Repeat steps 12-22 until down to last sheet of paper.
25.Decide to skip steps 12-16 in order to save time and reduce risk of losing last sheet of paper. Retrieve old cardboard box that you know is right size for paper.
26.Put present in box, and tie down with string.
27.Remove string, open box and remove cat.
28.Put all packing materials in bag with present and head for lockable room.
29.Once inside room, lock door and start to re-lay out packing materials.
30.Remove cat from box, unlock door, put cat outside door, close door and re-lock.
31.Lay out last sheet of paper. (Admittedly this is difficult in the small area of the toilet, but try your best!)
32.Seal box, wrap with paper and start repairs by very carefully sealing down tears with sellotape. Now tie up with ribbon and decorate with bows to hide worst affected areas.
33.Label, then sit back and admire your handiwork, congratulating yourself on making good of a bad job.
34.Unlock door, and go to kitchen to make drink and feed cat.
35.Spend next 15 minutes looking for cat, before coming to obvious conclusion.
36.Unwrap present, untie box and remove cat.
37.Retrieve all discarded sheets of wrapping paper, feed cat and retire to lockable room for last attempt, making certain you are alone and the door is locked.
38.At time of handing over present, smile sweetly at receiver’s face, as they try and hide their contempt at being handed such a badly wrapped present.
39.Swear to yourself that next year, you will get the shop to wrap the things for you.
DOORS: Allow no closed doors in any room. To get door opened, stand on hind legs and hammer with forepaws. Once door is opened, it is not necessary to use it. Once an outside door is opened, stand halfway out and think about several things – a particularly good idea during the coldest weather or mosquito season.
CHAIRS AND RUGS: If you have to throw up, get on to a chair quickly. If there is no time, get to an expensive Oriental rug.
BATHROOMS: Always accompany guests to the bathroom. It is not necessary to do anything – just sit and stare.
HELPING: If one of your humans is busy and the other is idle, stay with the busy one. This is called ‘helping’ and here are the rules: – Cooking: To supervise, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You can’t be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on, then picked up and comforted.
Books: For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book, unless you can lie across the book itself.
Knitting and Paperwork: Lie on it in the most appropriate manner so as to obscure the most important part. Pretend to doze, but every so often paw the pencil or knitting needles. The worker may try to distract you – ignore it. To give the greatest help, first, sit on the paper being worked on. When dislodged, watch sadly from the side of the table.
When activity proceeds nicely, roll around on the papers, scattering them to the best of your ability. After being removed for the second time, push pens, pencils, and erasers off the table, one at a time. When a human is holding the newspaper in front of them, be sure to jump on the back of it – they love surprises. Embroidery and Needlework: These projects make great hammocks in spite of what the humans may tell you.
WALKING: As often as possible, dart quickly and as close as possible in front of the human, especially: on stairs, when they have something in their arms, in the dark, and when they first get up in the morning. This will help their coordination skills.
BEDTIME: Always sleep on the human at night so she/he cannot move around.
Claire
We are holding an Open Day at SimplyCats Veterinary Clinic on Saturday 8th May 2010 at 1pm to raise funds for Cats Protection.
The event will take place at our cat only veterinary clinic at 12 Front Street, Fencehouses, if you don’t know how to find us, please click here
Everyone is welcome; infact the more the merrier.
The practice will be open for you to look around and see what a cat only veterinary clinic really looks like behind the scenes.
We will be on hand for you to ask plenty of questions. There will be lots to see and do at the practice.
There will be plenty of tea and coffee, cakes and biscuits for you to enjoy.
We held a similar event last year and everyone had a fantastic time. Click here to view photos of our Open Day/Tea Party in 2009
Claire
I often find people are fascinated to discover foods which are toxic to their pets. So I thought I would share the following blog with you that I read by Pete Wedderburn.
Pete Wedderburn qualified as a vet twenty-five years ago, and now spends half his working life writing newspaper columns. He lives in Ireland with his wife, two daughters and a menagerie of dogs, cats, poultry and other furry and feathered companions. Pete answers readers’ queries about their pets’ health in his video Q&A – he is also on Twitter as @petethevet and has a Facebook Fan Page.)
“After I blogged recently about pets with peculiar tastes in food, a number of readers asked me to produce a list of human foodstuffs that are toxic to pets. Everyone’s heard the message about chocolate being toxic to pets, and hopefully Easter has passed without too many canine fatalities across the UK (and yes, they do happen: it isn’t just media hype). But what about other food items that are safe for humans, yet capable of causing severe or even lethal intoxications in animals?
Well, co-incidentally, I’ve just come across an article reviewing this precise subject in the European Journal of Companion Animal Practice, so with thanks to the authors, here’s a brief review of the main food items to avoid giving to your pets:
Chocolate contains the stimulant theobromine. This gives humans a pleasant buzz, but the lethal dose is around 1 to 2.5 grams for a 10kg dog. This could be as little as two ounces of dark baking chocolate.
Coffee and tea contain caffeine: for my 10kg dog, the lethal dose is around 1.5g (a cat, at 5kg, could be killed by half of this amount). An cup of filter coffee could contain as much as 150mg of caffeine, so my dog would need to drink 10 cups (5 cups for the cat), so this is an unlikely occurrence. Dark tea may contain up to 100mg caffeine, so again, a dog would have to be very thirsty to drink a toxic dose. Nonetheless, owners should go easy when offering these types of drinks as “treats”.
Onions and garlic contain so-called organothiosulphates, which can lead to destruction of red blood cells. Pets rarely eat enough of these substances to fall ill (the quantities used to flavour human meals are generally safe), but there are recorded cases of cats falling ill after drinking onion soup and dogs becoming anaemic after grazing on fields of spring onions.
Grapes and raisins seem innocuous, but in 2001 the first article was published in the USA about their potential toxicity to dogs, and since then, the phenomenon has been recognised across the world. In the UK, there were 23 cases between 2003 and 2005. The toxic agent remains unknown but it can cause severe, fatal renal failure, after ingestion of relatively small quantities of grapes or raisins. The lowest dose that has been known to cause problems is 20g/kg of grapes (perhaps 20 grapes for my 10kg dog), or 3g/kg of raisins (about 20 – 30 raisins for my 10kg dog). In one study, 60% of dogs that ate substantial amounts of grapes were poisoned: it’s now recommended that every dog that has eaten grapes or raisins should be treated intensively to reduce the risk of complications.
Avocado is consumed by people all over the world, but all parts of the avocado tree and fruit contain a component called persin that can cause damage to cells in the heart and the mammary gland in birds and animals. Mashed avocado is known to have killed canaries and budgies, and there was one case report in 1994 of two dogs that loved eating avocados that died of heart failure. It’s not a big risk to feed occasional teaspoonfuls to dogs, but still, it’s best avoided.
Macadamia nuts also contain a toxic compound that has not yet been identified; they’ve been associated with lethargy, weakness and collapse in dogs when eaten in moderate amounts (between 2.2 and 64g/kg: if one nut weighs 3g, my 10kg terrier would need to eat between 7 and 20 nuts). All affected dogs have made a full recovery, but it’s still best to avoid feeding these to your pets.
Hops has sometimes been eaten by dogs when they’ve had access to waste that’s been left over after home brewing; it contains a number of compounds that may be toxic. Affected dogs suffer from a syndrome known as malignant hyperthermia, with the body temperature shooting up soon after hops ingestion. Emergency treatment is as important as if a dog has overheated due to being left in a parked car on a sunny day.
Salt is safe as a seasoning agent, but when pets eat large quantities, they can be fatally poisoned. This only happens rarely: case reports include a Boxer that drank huge amounts of salty water while swimming in the sea, a group of dogs that ate play dough, and a Doberman that was given 10 teaspoonfuls of salt by her owner in an effort to make her sick after she’d eaten chocolate.
Xylitol is produced naturally by many fruits, and is also produced synthetically: it is used as a sweetening agent in human nutrition (it’s known as “E976″). It’s common in toothpaste, chewing gum and lozenges: it has plaque-reducing properties, and it produces a cooling effect on the tongue. The first recorded case of toxicity in a dog happened in 2004, after a 9 month old Labrador ate around 100 pieces of a sugar-free chewing gum.The dog collapsed, suffering from a dramatically reduced blood sugar, but she made a rapid recovery after treatment. Since then, many other cases have been reported, and some have died. The message: if you’ve a dog with a big appetite, keep your chewing gums stash out of reach.
There are other foodstuffs that can cause problems. Adult pets lack the enzyme to digest lactose, so large quantities of any dairy products commonly causes diarrhoea. Raw egg whites can also upset the digestion, so should be given in moderation, if at all. The stones of many fruits (apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines and cherries) contain a compound that can be toxic if they’re cracked open and swallowed. Some raw vegetables (including cassava, common beans and runner beans) contain substances than can damage the digestive tract.
Finally, alcohol can be poisonous for pets, just as for humans. A couple of measures of whisky would be more than enough to cause severe poisoning to my 10kg dog. In one bizarre case, reported in 2008, a dog in Austria suffered from alcohol poisoning after eating half a kilogram of raw yeast dough. The fermentation of yeast in the digestive tract had produced enough ethanol to cause the dog to have a blood alcohol level higher than the legal limit for driving. (By the way, raw dough is best avoided for another reason: it can expand inside the digestive tract, causing a blockage.)
Cats are less commonly poisoned than dogs: they’re more fastidious in their eating habits. Dogs, especially some breeds (you know who I mean, Labrador-owners) can have unstoppable appetites, with no discernible “off-switch”, which makes them particularly prone to problems.”
written by Pete Wedderburn
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peterwedderburn/100032752/dont-feed-your-animals-barbed-wire-and-other-tips-to-avoid-problems-with-pets/
Claire
As most of you will know I am owned by a rescue Sphynx named Piglet. So I’m using the blog to provide some interesting information about the Sphynx breed.
For those of you who have never met a Sphynx before, Piglet will be attending our Cats & Coffee evening on 31st March where we will discuss Feline Hyperthryoidism and Owning a Sphynx. Click here for more information about our ‘Cats & Coffee evening’.
To view photos of Piglet, click here.
The Sphynx is a healthy robust breed but it is thought that around 3% of the breed suffer from this Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) affects the heart by thickening the walls of the heart. If you have all read stories of fit young people who have died on the sporting field, often the cause is HCM.
It is possible to contract HCM without a genetic cause, inheriting the disorder is much more likely. If one parent has the genetic trait to pass on HCM, then the chances are 50% of their kittens can develop it.
HCM Screening
Ecardiogram (ECG) is the most reliable way to diagnose HCM. It is currently recommended that Sphynx are screened annually to ensure the cat is not developing HCM.
Symptoms of HCM
Symptoms are often so subtle they go completely unnoticed. A slight rise in respiration rate may be the only visible sign. A vet may detect a heart murmur.
Treatment of HCM
There is currently no cure for HCM, treatment is symptomatic and is often various medications to help with heart failure.
HCM clots can form due to blood circulation in the enlarged heart chambers being abnormal. These clots can then enter the circulatory system and travel to where the blood vessels become too narrow to pass. This will cut off blood flow to the area causing paralysis and pain. This is known as ‘saddle thrombosis’.
Saddle thrombosis prognosis is poor. Some cats survive after mild cases on blood thinning medication, but the underlying cause, HCM will continue to be a major risk factor. Recent studies show that48% of cats that died from saddle thrombosis had HCM.
Claire's cat Piglet
Claire
In Tokyo, Japan, so called ‘Cat Cafes’ are becoming increasingly popular. Cat Cafes where people can spend time with their favorite cat for about 10 US dollars an hour, are now getting more popular with people living in urban areas. The regular customers are mainly in their 20′s to 30′s and seeking healing by cats, or people who cannot afford to have pets full time. Some visiters come to the cat cafe three times a week.
Claire
It’s that time of year again when we all start thinking, or if you’re lucky enough, booking summer holidays. Whilst you are counting down the days until your holiday, take a minute to think about where your cat will spent his or her summer holidays too.
You should start looking for a cattery a while before you need it, as it may take some time to find one that you like and suits your needs. Try and get recommendations from friends and from the Feline Advisory Bureau.
Catteries are classified as outdoor (having an outdoor run for the cats) or indoor (having no outside run).
Most cats enjoy having an outdoor run; it also helps to ensure there is good ventilation and airflow to help prevent the spread of disease. While totally indoor catteries may seem cosy, the shared-air situation means that bacteria and viruses remain in the cats’ environment and can spread from cat to cat unless there is some form of ventilation.
Good cattery design should ensure that:
Ensure that your cat to be up to date with its vaccinations against cat flu (herpesvirus and calicivirus), and feline infectious enteritis as without these vaccinations your cat will not be able to stay at a cattery.
Click here to view a list of FAB listed boarding catteries.
Claire
Claire
SimplyCats has been nominated and short listed to 3 nominees for SunFm’s Business Awards, We have been shortlisted for the Online Achievement category. The team are attending the awards ceremony on Friday 19th March at the Ramside Hall so fingers crossed we win!
The award recognises the best firm, organisation or individual who has adapted a business to suit, making their enterprise a part of the digital world, helping to connect people and their communities through online media.
Claire
I start at 8.30am Monday – Friday although I’m usually here before this time so I can tackle my work e-mails and get sorted before we open for the day.
We start admitting patients from 8.30am, this usually involves a consultation with myself (registered veterinary nurse) to explain the consent form, answer any queries, weigh and check the animal over before admitting, the vet checks them over when she comes in as well.
Once we have admitted a patient they are transferred to the cattery, into a warm padded kennel usually with a nice warm heat pad in also, our hospitalisation areas contain Feliway diffusers emitting a pheremone to help ease your cat and make their stay that little bit more relaxing.
The key to a good anaesthetic is to keep the patient calm and stress free. So getting patients quickly settled in their own space and out of the cramp cat carrier will let them relax a bit before we start the morning.
Another of the first, but most important, jobs is to give animals that have been in-patients during the previous night some TLC! Their kennels arecleaned out, drugs and feeds given, as appropriate, temperatures, heart rates, respirations are monitored, then Sarah (the vet) checks them over when she comes in as well.
Between 9 and 11 am consultations take place. They can be anything from boosters to blood tests, or emergency appointments. I may have to help by holding the animals, helping them to remain calm when they are nervous or scared.
Normally, Sarah (our vet) starts operations at 11 am, but of course it can run over if consultations take longer or there’s been an emergency case to deal with.
I ensure that the operating theatre is prepared: drapes, robes, instruments for each surgical procedure and sterilising equipment is checked and anaesthetic machines switched on
Each operation requires a specific set of instruments – it can be what’s called a ‘basic’ kit – that may consist of two pairs of forceps, a pair of surgical scissors, a scalpel handle, four towel clips and a pair of needle holders. We add to that as required – the vet may need some small artery forceps, a different type of scissors, some specialist instruments and so on. An experienced nurse should be able to anticipate what the vet will need for each operation, or at least have items quickly available. All of our surgical instruments are sterilised and stored in special packs that don’t let in any germs. They are carefully labelled and stored in their own place in the instrument cupboards.
Equipment and surfaces have to be cleaned up and kept sterile throughout and animals monitored. Notes and records are updated on the computer for each animal before the afternoon consultations begin.
Next, pre-meds and other medications are calculated and drawn up.
General anaesthetic can be divided into 4 phases:
Premed - is the first part of an anaesthetic. It is usually an injection under the skin of a drug which calms the patient down and makes them sleepy. It allows a smooth easy transition into the unconscious state. This phase usually takes anything from 10min to 30min depending on the individual patient.
Induction – this is when we take the patient from a sleepy state of premed into a managed state of unconsciousness. The vet will usually administer this as an injection into the vein of the front leg, which is clipped before hand to prevent the introduction of infection into the vein when injecting. A tube is placed into her throat and connected to the anaesthetic machine. From now until she is fully awake again Molly will be under constant observation from the veterinary nurse with regular heart rate, respiratory rate, anaesthesia depth and blood oxygen monitoring. This phase takes just a few minutes.
Maintenance - Molly is connected to the anaesthetic machine and a mixture of oxygen and anaesthetic gas is administered through the tube in her throat to her lungs. This allows us to keep her in a state of carefully managed unconsciousness so we can perform her surgery. All surgeons like to be efficient with their operations but care and precision are never sacrificed for speed during a procedure.
Recovery – Time to wake up! Surgery over and all is well, the anaesthetic gas is turned off and The patient continues to have oxygen delivered via the tube in the throat. As patients starts to come round from a state of unconsciousness to sleepiness the last of a painkiller injections are usually given, the tube is removed from the throat and the patient is returned to the kennel. As the patient is awake now and holding their head up we can leave them to recover from their anaesthetic, but the vet and nurse in charge of kennels always keep a quiet eye on all recovering patients. Recovery time is hugely variable on the individual and procedure involved sometimes taking minutes, sometimes a lot longer. We always aim for a quiet steady recovery back to normal, much like waking up from a long deep sleep. This can be helped a lot by keeping the recovering patient in a warm, quiet, dimly lit area, with as little fuss as possible. Some pets can have quite dramatic responses during their recovery from an anaesthetic. As many of the drugs we use have a similar affect as alcohol has on human behaviour, on occasion, we may see staggering about the kennels, seeing imaginary objects or vocalising (“singing”) from some patients, sometimes called “the happy drunk recovery”!
After patients have recovered, I offer the patients a small meal as they will have been starved overnight so they are probably very hungry by now
I then clean, package and resterilise surgical instruments, we use an autoclave in practice to sterilise our instruments using steam sterilisation. I then ensure all surfaces etc. are clean and ready for use, re-stock supplies, syringes, needles etc.
In-patients are monitored constantly throughout the day as most of my work is undertaken in the room directly next to the cattery, and if the door is closed there is a large window so I can keep a close eye on all the in-patients.
Post operative instructions are then completed ready for discharge. I ensure that all clinical notes are up to date and the account is ready for the discharge appointment. We ask owners to normally call around 2pm for an update and find out what time their cat is ready to go home.
I then arrange a discharge appointment for owners to collect their cats and I can explain post operative care and answer any questions they may have. In all cases we like to keep all patients in for as long as possible post anaesthetic to make sure there are no problems with the surgery and to monitor for signs of pain or discomfort. This care has to continue for the first night at home so we always advise to make provisions for a familiar warm and quiet place to let your pet sleep off the effects of their anaesthetic. In most cases after the first 12hrs they are back to normal, but in some cases it can take a bit longer.
Then, there’s more tidying and cleaning ensuring that everything has been cleaned thoroughly and all equipment has been put away correctly and is ready for use next time.
There’s a lot of time spent tidying up! More importantly, though, there’s a lot of time spent with the animals-they can be a bit groggy after the anaesthetic and need reassurance. When the owners come to collect them, we like to spend some time with them, to talk about their pet’s operation and after care and make sure they are OK too!” That is one of the main attractions of a small veterinary practice; we know our patients and clients by name. We are aware of pets’ backgrounds and health-often caring for them from birth to death
There is a great misconception about qualified veterinary nurses and student veterinary nurses. On average it is thought we cuddle animals all day and clean up after them. I have put up some of the going on to clear up the misconception but decided to put up a bit more information on exams.
Well we do a lot of cleaning up but as to cuddling animals all day.
Inpatients need temperatures, pulses, respirations checked, kennel’s cleaned, body functions monitored, medications given.
Veterinary nurses are the anaesthetists for the vet and at times scrub in as assistants usually to hold pull or do whatever is required by the vet. We carry out lab work, and basic vein puncture for various tests or to place iv catheters.
If we are on nurse clinics that means discharges, post op checks, pre op admits, geriatric clinics, dental checks, general cat care, diet clinics, anal gland express, nail clips etc.
In smaller veterinary practices we are also cleaners and receptionists, so you will often see me ‘manning the fort’ on the reception desk at SimplyCats.
Being a qualified veterinary nurse is not a role to be taken lightly.
Here is a basic outline of some of the modules I studied to become a veterinary nurse.
Year one
Year two
I also had to complete portfolio of case studies in each year of my studies. On all areas of veterinary care including; surgical, medical, behavioural, exotics, health and safety, pharmacology, client care etc.
A registered veterinary nurse (RVN) is required to complete mininmum of 45hrs CPD (continuing professional development) over 3 years.
Badge presented to all qualified Veterinary Nurses - I do not wear mine due to our uniform having no lapels.
Claire
SimplyCats would like to thank everyone for their kind donations towards Garfield’s treatment.
The donations have been so generous and we cannot thank you all enough.
Please click here to see Garfield’s full story and for more photos.
Claire