SimplyCats Vet Clinic Blog

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.

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.

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

Spring is in the air…. well the sun is out and the grass is starting to grow and hopefully this constitutes the onset of Spring. I for one will not be sorry to see the end of the long cold dark nights and now that the clocks have gone forward it means being able to spend more time outdoors with my animals.
Also at this time of year many more cats are making a move to venture outdoors to enjoy the sun and participate in their feline adventures! As some of these outings can be very exciting and require a lot of concentration our feline friends may venture further than they intended and a lot of owners find peace of mind knowing their beloved cats have been microchipped in case they get lost.
This is a simple and relatively painless procedure which can be carried out here at SimplyCats.
Further information on the subject of microchipping can be obtained by visiting our home page, clicking the link for information sheets where the microchipping info can be found.

Carol

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.

From 4th April 2011 we are introducing free geriatric nurse clinics here at SimplyCats for our feline clients aged 7 or over.
This will include a weight check and complete a ‘well cat’ questionnaire which will help to highlight any areas of concern.
We will also perform a free urinalysis and give advice on correct diet for the mature cat.
To book your appointment please call the surgery 0191 385 9696.

We named this little cat “O’Mally” when he was brought in as a stray by a member of the public from the Penshaw area. Approximately 3 years old and according to the member of the public who brought him to us, he had been living rough for quite some time

His tail had an open fracture on arrival at the surgery which was causing him a considerable amount of pain and distress. This wound had originally alerted the member of the public that something was wrong with him. After phoning the RSPCA, he was instructed by them to bring the cat to us here at SimplyCats Vet Clinic for initial treatment.

However, after examination by Sarah, our vet, the tail had to be partially amputated to limit the risk of infection, leaving a cute stump of about 4 inches. She also castrated him whilst under anaesthetic, and he is now looking for a new home.

Unfortunately the local branch of RSPCA’s rehoming centre was full, and unable to take him from us, leaving the majority of our vet’s work in this case to be a goodwill gesture….

On a brighter note we have now managed to secure him a place in a foster home until he finishes his recuperation, organised through Cats Protection Gateshead Branch

All the local rescues, including Cats Protection are full of cats like O’Mally needing a second chance. If you feel you would be able to offer a loving home to a cat in need, please contact the surgery on 0191 385 9696 and we will give you the relevant rescue contact details for your area

One of our clients had a cat called Iffy due to give birth at any time. Watching her closely for signs of labour, her owner phoned us to say she had started with her labour.
After some hours had passed, poor Iffy had given birth to two kittens but was growing steadily tired.
Iffy’s owner brought her down to SimplyCats to see if there were any other kittens still inside. After an examination and ultrasound it was determined that there was at least one other kitten left still to be born.
As Iffy was so tired and had not progressed within a certain timescale, it was decided that she should undergo a caesarean section.
The kitten was born, very weak and cold – and unlikely to survive due to being in distress whilst inside Iffy.
Iffy was, however, an excellent mother who recovered quickly and was able to feed successfully all three kittens. At her post operative check we took some photographs – the kittens are SO CUTE!

As you can see from the picture, Caroline’s fat cat – Dubby had a great Christmas dinner. After a couple of glasses of wine and his willpower dulled, Caroline’s husband fell victim to the ‘feed me’ face and threw down a yorkshire pudding onto the floor. Dubby immediately leapt onto the pudding, steadying it with his paw.

He actually looked rather funny as he tore off strips, much like a lion on the savannah eating its kill !

To follow he ate a sprout in one lick….needless to say Caroline had a few sharp words to say to her husband as she looked in the litter tray later on…..ewww

The moral of the story is “if your cat is on a special diet, don’t feed him extras, such as yorkshire pudding and sprouts as

a) he will put on weight and
b) you would not like to see / smell the litter tray afterwards, and
c) cats are not meant to eat human food”

Last week I noticed Megan had a sore eye and didn’t seem herself so I brought her in to see ‘Aunty Sarah’
Sarah gave her an examination and said she had a viral infection so gave her tablets, Metacam and some eye drops. She has suprised me by taking her tablets better than I thought……well I had to wrap her up in a towel but there you go. A couple of times the tablets ended up stuck on my dressing gown but they went back down and all was well. I found her one morning, drinking the cold remnants of my coffee from breakfast time…..her head was almost lost in the mug bless her ! Anyway all is well with her I am pleased to say.
Maisie, my oldest girl is very well at the moment – she gave herself a fright the other night though. I was watching TV and all of a sudden I heard a great commotion. Megan was asleep with me on the settee and suddenly Maisie came hurtling down the stairs and into the sitting room attached to a Primark carrier ! She has been snuffling about in it and got it stuck so she had taken off with it attached and came downstairs like a whirlwind. Poor Megan got the fright of her life and followed Maisie all over until I could get it off her. No one was hurt I am pleased to add. Just one very perturbed pussycat, one startled younger sister and one now wide awake Mam

We have a selection of Pet Odour Eliminator Candles on sale at SimplyCats in time for Christmas. They are great for all household pet odours. The enzyme formulated candle attacks and removes the odours when burning – and left unlit without the lid on provides a gentle scent to refresh any room in the house.

Available in a variety of scents and colours such as festive ‘Mulberry & Spice’, ‘Creamy Vanilla’, ‘Watermelon Slices’, ‘Pineapple & Coconut’, ‘Clothesline Fresh’, ‘Vanilla & Rose’, ‘Hot Apple Cobbler’, ‘Fresh Strawberries’ and ‘Lavender’ – they burn for approximately 70 hours and are great value at £9.18 each. Buy one for yourself and one for a friend for £16.00 and SAVE £2.36 !