Read our Spring 2017 newsletter here
Included in our spring newsletter: Keeping your pet in shape, what happens when your pet becomes overweight, rabbits teeth – a growing issue and caring for your older cat, some top tips. Read our Spring 2017 newsletter here.
Young Veterinary Partnership
This is a short video clip of the use of a pheromone- Adaptil- for firework related anxiety in dogs.
Image courtesy of Bill Longshaw; freeigitalphotos.net
More than 80% of owners say their pet is afraid of firework noises. Signs of stress in dogs include trembling, shaking, hiding behind furniture, barking excessively, and trying to run away. Cats are much better at hiding their anxiety, but symptoms may include excessive meowing, refusal to eat, hiding, or vertical scratching and spraying.
Often mild reactions to fireworks can be managed with a pheromone (scent) spray; called Feliway in cats and Adaptil in dogs. These products can be purchased from our surgeries.
More severe reactions in dogs may be managed with a combination of sound desensitisation, using CD’s such as Soundsscary, and Adaptil. Occasionally tranquilizers may be prescribed after consultation with your vet, but these are generally used as a last resort.
Further tips for reducing firework anxiety include:
i. Provide a den or hiding place; this works best if it is a place previously chosen by your pet when they have been frightened before.
ii. Plug a Feliway diffuser or Adaptil diffuser close to the den at least a few days before the fireworks start.
iii. Try to ignore behaviour such as whining and crying, panting or pacing. Pets can pick up on their owner’s anxiety, and if you try to soothe them it can reinforce the belief that fireworks are something to be afraid of. It is also important not to scold them.
iv. Close doors and windows, close curtains and turn on music or the TV to mask some of the noises.
v. Keep cats indoors and have them microchipped in case they escape.
Please contact any of our surgeries in West London for further information or a consultation. Please see www.youngvets.co.uk for contact details.
We have recently seen another dog with lungworm infection. This dog showed signs of heart failure, as the worm can infect the large arteries (pulmonary arteries) around the heart. This caused high blood pressure in the pulmonic artery which in turn caused heart failure to occur.
This is a video of the heart with a leaky tricuspid heart valve cause by the high blood pressure. The heart is on its side and the top chambers in the picture are to the right side of the heart. The colour flow shows leaking of blood back across the leaky heart valves. Normally the bottom chambers (the left side of the heart) would be bigger than the top right sided chambers, but due to the heart failure you can see that the top chambers are bigger.
Lungworm is becoming more prevalent in West London due to foxes spreading the disease. It is spread to slugs and snails and if your dog eats a slug or snail or the slimy slug trail lungworm infection may occur. We strongly recommend that owners treat dogs monthly with Advocate to the back of the neck to prevent this disease. Please see www.youngvets.co.uk for contact details of our nearest surgery to you.
We can perform ultrasound scans at young veterinary partnership, to confirm pregnancy and viability of pups from about 4 weeks. The normal pregnancy duration is 9 weeks.
This is a scan at about 8 weeks pregnancy.
With the Easter festivities coming up, there is always the risk of a dog being tempted to eat one of those tasty Easter Eggs !
Are Easter Eggs poisonous to dogs or cats ? Chocolate in general can be poisonous to dogs but it is the theobromide content in the chocolate that is poisonous. This is higher in dark chocolate (roughly 9x higher than milk chocolate). If a dog eats more than 1gm per kilogram body weight of dark chocolate, it can be poisonous and will require immediate treatment. So an average 30kg Labrador would need to eat 30gms or more of dark chocolate to be poisonous.
The symptoms of chocolate poisoning are vomiting, diarrhoea, trembling, restlessness and excessive thirst.
Chocolate is also potentially poisonous to cats, and other animals such as rodents and rabbits.
We suggest you keep your Easter Eggs to yourself this Easter !
If you have any concerns about possible chocolate poisoning please contact us. See www.youngvets.co.uk for your local young veterinary partnership contact details.
Heart disease is common in many breeds as they get older. The two common problems seen are a leaky heart valve (mitral endocardiosis) and a weakened heart muscle (dilated cardiomyopathy). It is important to have at least an annual check up by your vet to detect any new heart murmur which may indicate the start of a heart problem. Investigations often include x-rays and an ultrasound scan which can look inside the heart at the heart valves, and the heart muscle. Certain breeds such as Cavalier king Charles Spaniels and Dobermann dogs are more susceptible to heart problems, and may need checking more regularly as they get older.
This is an ultrasound of a dogs heart, a commonly performed procedure at Young Veterinary Partnership. See our website www.youngvets.co.uk for contact details of your local surgery.
Lungworm or Angiostrongylus vasorum is being seen more commonly in dogs in our region of West London. It is spread from foxes to slugs or snails, and if a dog eats a slug or snail or licks the slug “trail” it can become infected. This can progress to a life threatening infection, which can cause coughing, lethargy , bleeding or even heart failure.
It can be prevented by a monthly treatment of a spot on to the back of the neck – Advocate.
Have a look at this video which explains the life cycle
Advocate monthly spot on
For more information or to contact your local surgery see
Bonfire night is fast approaching with the associated fireworks and this is the time of year that we get lots of enquiries about how to manage dogs that are fearful of fireworks.
My tips are
Dog appeasing pheromone
