SimplyCats Vet Clinic Blog

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!

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!

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.

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!

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

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!

A few days ago we held a client evening in Durham, aiming to educate our client owners of older or geriatric cats on the best nutrition and healthcare for them.

It was a very informative evening with a talk first by Louise from Royal Canin to discuss the nutritional requirements for the older cat. This was then followed by a presentation from our resident vet, Sarah Middleton on health problems associated generally with the older cat. A lot of the symptoms described by Sarah rang true with some clients…some having ongoing problems such as renal failure or diabetes and they were able to ask further questions that they may have forgotten to ask during a consultation. They in particular found the evening very informative and it made aware the need to monitor their pet’s progress by regular check ups with the vet.

We had a ‘buffet break’ which was kindly sponsored by one of our drug reps – Mick from Novartis.

This was then followed by our Registered Veterinary Nurse, Penny Dyer who introduced her new nurse clinics aimed specifically at the geriatric patient.
As with all our client evenings it is a great opportunity for like-minded people to congregate in an informal manner and we would welcome suggestions from our clients for future topics that they would like to see covered in evenings such as this.

We had an unusual customer the other day in the back yard at SimplyCats – a very hypothermic snow cat. It remains in quite a critical, frozen state, but will hopefully make a full melted recovery if we ever get a thaw!!

Taliah enjoyed dressing up as a witch for Halloween. She looks so cute !
If anyone has any cute pictures of their cats, send them attached to an e-mail to: caroline.pallister@simplycats.net and we would be pleased to include them in our future publications and on our website blog.

The Young Ones winner this month is Pippa Magee – a lovely tortie and white queen. Pictured below Pippa are the other lovely kittens – Fifi, Tom & Jojo who also visited us in September. Book your kitten in now to commence its vaccination course and he or she could be in with a chance of winning October’s competition to win a voucher worth £10 to spend on any product or service here at SimplyCats!

Claire

I have just returned from a lovely holiday to USA. We went to Memphis to visit the home of Elvis Presley (I am a HUGE fan) and have previously been in 2007. We had planned to go back again this year with my Mam and Dad but very sadly, I lost my Mam last July so we decided that my husband Keith, my Dad and myself should still go, as that is what Mam would have wanted. It was strange without her but we managed to have a good time and remembered her every day. We moved onto Las Vegas after Memphis and that really was something to see…..an experience you could say . We also went to the Grand Canyon, which was spectacular.
I have eaten too much but I suppose that’s what holidays are for and I am now trying to lose the extra pounds I have put on.

My best friend’s Mam and Dad looked after my two cats and my Dad’s cat while we were away. They only live 3 doors down from my Dad so she just came up to the house to feed and clean them all.

When we arrived back, my Dad’s house looked like a bombsite!  My Dad’s cat Tibby had broken through the cat flap and my oldest cat, Maisie had followed him out…problem being, Maisie is a house cat and dosen’t go out. Anyway, when my friend’s Mam came the next morning and discovered the cat flap broken, she panicked, but to everyone’s suprise Maisie came trotting up the garden path and straight into the house.

My kitten, Megan had been such a good girl and hadn’t made any attempt to go out, she was just curled up on the settee. Only problem was they had been in Dad’s cupboard and pulled all sorts out, there was ornaments all over and hairs on everything….oh well the joy of being a c at lover I suppose.

Joanne

Cats will drink water from the strangest of places – puddles, the toilet, bath, sink, even the shower tray.

Being guilty of all of the aforementioned, Caroline decided to purchase a cat water fountain for her cats.

This was especially for Maisey who is the worst offender, climbing into the sink while Caroline was getting washed and licking the water from the tap as it is flowing.

Here is a picture of Maisey licking the actual fountain, rather than drinking out of the reservoir itself.

Caroline can now get washed in peace and can recommend the use of water fountains for similar offenders.

Caroline

Maisey strikes again at Caroline’s house sleeping where she shouldn’t.

This time on the piano stool which is covered in a velvet-like fabric, perfect for attracting cat hairs! Despite pushing the stool halfway under the piano.

Maisey still manages to squash herself in and deposit the required hairs, ready for the posterior of the next piano-playing victim!!

Caroline

It’s time for Caroline to share some more nature photography shots – the close up of the bee on a foxglove was taken in July after much waiting and near misses from stings!

The photo of the poppy field is above Rainton Meadows. For those of you who live locally will know that is is a nature reserve created from the old pit works.

Caroline