Bunny love... - Willows Vets

A warm welcome to Amy
We are delighted to welcome
Amy Knapman to our team
of general practice vets.
Bunny love...
... how to keep your rabbit safe from disease
At Willows we recommend an annual vaccination to help to protect your
rabbit against two infectious diseases – myxomatosis and viral haemorrhagic
disease, both of which sadly are fatal in the majority of cases.
Myxomatosis can cause painful swelling of the
eyelids, ears, face and genitals, and affected rabbits
can also develop a secondary bacterial infection.
Myxomatosis can be carried by mosquitoes and
flies which can travel long distances on the wind.
Viral haemorrhagic disease can cause sudden
death with few or no symptoms at all. Even if you
do not live near a population of wild or domestic
rabbits, your pet rabbit could still be at risk from
these potentially lethal infections.
During the 15 minute appointment you will have
with us for your bunny’s vaccination, one of our
primary clinic vets will take a detailed history,
including information about your rabbit’s diet,
appetite, and housing. Your vet will also perform a
thorough clinical examination, weigh your rabbit,
and check his or her teeth – dental disease is very
common in rabbits, and overgrowth of the teeth
can cause pain, loss of appetite and debilitating
illness. We can look for early clues of underlying
dental disease such as weight loss, faecal soiling or
a ‘messy bottom’ which occurs when the mouth
is too painful for the rabbit to remove faeces, as
they would do normally. Runny eyes can also
occur when tooth roots press on the tear ducts,
and drooling may be seen secondary to oral pain.
Irregular swelling of the jaw will also be checked
for – this can arise where tooth roots are too long
or where a tooth root abscess has formed. We
will also use a small inspection instrument to
help us to detect any sharp painful spurs on the
teeth and possible ulceration of the tongue.
We think that it’s a good idea to weigh rabbits
twice a year and for a vet to examine their teeth –
rabbits teeth are constantly growing, so problems
can develop quite quickly.
At Willows we offer a reduced price mid-year health
check, 6 months after the annual booster vaccination,
so we can check your rabbit is in tip-top condition and
discuss any concerns you might have.
Call us on 0121 712 7070 to book an appointment.
Having worked in high quality
general small animal practice for
almost three years, Amy joined
our team of Interns in March 2014.
Amy was keen to gain exposure
to the wealth of experience and
cutting-edge knowledge offered by
Willows’ renowned Specialists who
see patients sent to us by other vets.
As part of her Internship, Amy also
worked in Willows’ primary clinic
out-of-hours emergency service.
This operates 365 days of the year,
providing care for our clients’ pets
when they urgently need attention
at nights, at weekends or on
public holidays.
Amy will be coming into the primary
clinic team in April. She commented
“I am delighted to be joining the
first-opinion veterinary surgeons at
Willows. I have worked closely with
them during my Internship year,
and I am really looking forward to
becoming part of such a dedicated,
friendly team, and continuing to
provide the highest levels of care for
our clients’ pets.”
Pebbles’ pebble...
Pebbles the cat was presented to Noella Cooper, one of
Willows’ general practice vets, one evening last Autumn.
Pebbles’ owner had noticed that her breathing had
Professor Rob White, one of Willows’ soft tissue surgery
been very laboured throughout that day. Pebbles
Specialists, was on call that night and he was able to
was very depressed and not feeling herself at all. On
use fluoroscopy (moving X-rays) to visualise the stone
examining Pebbles, Noella found that she had some
whilst Pebbles was anaesthetised. He then carefully
lacerations on her tongue and a very wheezy sounding
inserted some special long-handled forceps into Pebbles’
chest, although the cause of Pebbles’ noisy breathing
windpipe to grasp and successfully remove the stone.
was not immediately apparent. Noella was concerned,
She made a good recovery and is now back to normal.
and admitted Pebbles to the hospital for further
investigations that evening. An X-ray of her chest
We will probably never know how Pebbles came to inhale
revealed that Pebbles had a pebble or stone lodged in
her pebble, but we do think she deserves a prize for being
her windpipe (the trachea) – in other words she had
the most appropriately named patient we saw at Willows
breathed in the stone, and it was a minor miracle that
in 2014!
she had not choked on it. The lacerations on Pebbles’
tongue may have been the result of her scratching at
herself in an attempt to dislodge the stone, after she
had accidentally inhaled it. It was evident that the
stone certainly could not be left where it was, and
that it required urgent removal.
Pebbles at home after
her operation
Long-handled forceps
inserted into Pebbles’
windpipe to grasp and
remove the stone using
fluoroscopy (moving X-rays)
An X-ray of Pebbles’ chest showing a pebble or
stone lodged in her windpipe (the trachea)
Beware the Easter bunny!
Chocolate is not only toxic to dogs but also cats,
rodents and rabbits.
relatively non-toxic. Symptoms of chocolate
poisoning include vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration,
The toxic component in chocolate is a substance called
hyperactivity and a rapid heart rate. In extreme cases
theobromine. The severity of the poisoning depends on the
convulsions (fits) can occur, and liver damage may develop in
amount and the type of chocolate ingested. Dark chocolate is
the longer term. So, do take care to keep the products of your
more toxic than milk chocolate, whereas white chocolate is
Easter egg hunt under wraps, and well away from your pets!
Newly introduced
New-style
pet passports
introduced
The start of 2015 saw the introduction of
new-style passports to the Pet Travel Scheme.
The Pet Travel Scheme (known as PETS) allows cats, dogs and ferrets to come back into the UK after a trip within the
European Union (EU) without the need for quarantine. Some other countries around the world are also included in the
scheme. The list of countries is changing all the time.
If you are thinking of taking your pet on holiday within the EU, it is worth planning well in advance because certain
criteria must be met. These are:
Your pet must be 12 weeks of age or older
He or she must have a microchip
He or she must have an up-to-date vaccination against rabies
You must wait a minimum of 21 days after the rabies vaccination before you leave the UK
A PETS passport must be issued
When you are travelling, security checks are carried out at the borders, and your pet will need to travel back into the UK
by an approved route.
If you are travelling with a dog, you will need to arrange to see a vet while you are overseas and on the way back to the
UK, so that your dog can have tapeworm treatment. The timing of this treatment is critical – it must be 24 to 120 hours
(i.e. 1 to 5 days) before coming back into the UK, and a vet will need to record this within the relevant section of the
PETS passport. This treatment is not required for cats or ferrets.
The new PETS passports, issued from January 2015, include laminated pages to help increase the security of the Pet Travel
Scheme. New rules have been introduced, requiring vets issuing the document to provide extra contact details. If your pet
has an old-style passport, however, there is no need to get an new one – they are still valid until all the treatment spaces
within the passport are filled up.
For those who are hoping to take their pets further afield, outside the EU, it is worth remembering that other countries
may have strict entry requirements. It is best to start preparing for this several months in advance.
Wherever you choose to go, we recommend that you consider the need for treatment for ticks and biting insects. These
bugs can transmit potentially life-threatening diseases, against which UK pets will have very little immunity. There are
effective, easy to use insecticidal spot-on treatments available or, alternatively, medicated collars. It is no longer a legal
requirement for pets to be treated against ticks when entering the UK, however.
At Willows Veterinary Centre all three of our general practice vets are fully trained to issue passports. We recommend that
you arrange a pre-travel appointment well in advance so that you can enjoy a stress-free trip.
Full details of the Pet Travel Scheme, including a list of participating countries, can be found at:
www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad
£10 off Booster Vaccinations!
Throughout 2015 we are continuing to run our popular ‘£10 off booster vaccinations’ offer. Just
bring along the Voucher which comes with your booster reminder, and book the appointment within
a month of the booster’s due date, and you will qualify for a £10 discount! And remember that
before we give the booster, and during a full 15 minute appointment, our vet will take a history
of your pet’s health and carry out a thorough physical examination to ensure that all is well.*
(*Please note that to qualify for the £10 discount, you must present a valid voucher, and the booster must be given within a month of its due date)
Willows’ general practice team has recently been looking after a
group of dogs from the Charity, Love UnderDogs. Last Christmas,
the staff at Willows gave generously, helping Love UnderDogs
to send food, bedding and other vital supplies to dogs in a rescue
shelter in Romania.
www.loveunderdogs.org
Love UnderDogs was set up to help
neglected and homeless dogs from a
dog shelter in Romania. The charity’s
re-homing programme is part of a
bigger effort, aimed at changing the
management of stray dogs in
Romania, starting with a pilot
operation in a dog shelter in Brasov,
in the Transylvanian mountains.
Having previously had a poor reputation,
the shelter in Brasov is now an exemplary
facility where dogs are properly cared for
and no euthanasia of healthy dogs takes
place. Love UnderDogs contributes to
neutering campaigns, local education
programs, support and supervision at the
shelter. They also send supplies, collected
by their supporters, over to the shelter
every month, as well as giving funds for
vaccinations and medical care.
Dogs at the Romanian shelter
Zara with two new arrivals in the UK
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Willows Veterinary Centre
& Referral Service
Highlands Road Shirley Solihull
West Midlands B90 4NH
Telephone: 0121 712 7070
www.willows.uk.net
Love UnderDogs also relocates a number
of Romanian dogs to the UK every year, in
order for them to be re-homed. The team
at Willows performs health checks on all
new dogs coming in from Romania. Because
a few of these dogs have quite complex,
ongoing medical problems, they are not
infrequently referred by our general practice
vets to one of Willows’ Specialist teams,
ensuring that they get the very latest and
best in veterinary care.
Shannon with Mowgli and McKinley