Paragon Pets January Newsletter

Lifelong care for pets providing clinical excellence, knowledge and experience

NEWS ASK THE VET

by Laura McKirdy Moving House with Cats

A client has emailed to ask if the chemical we spray on our windscreens to defrost them and put in our screen wash is harmful to animals.

This is a very good question and the answer is ‘yes’.

Antifreeze (which is supposedly very tasty) if drunk or licked from puddles, can cause acute kidney failure which in most cases is fatal.

Please only use it sparingly and if absolutely necessarily and keep it stored away somewhere secure that our furry little friends can’t find it.

Please email your questions to laura.mckirdy@paragonvet. com or visit us on facebook

Moving house can be stressful for your pets.

When I moved recently with my two cats I thought they wouldn’t notice the packing boxes. Wrong! Our male cat hates anything upsetting his routine; he started scratching the furniture and even had a wee on one of the boxes to let us know he wasn’t happy.

I used Feliway (a synthetic pheromone that helps to calm cats and make them feel more secure) and this helped but he still wasn’t entirely relaxed. They stayed in a nearby cattery the night before the big move and I sprayed Feliway around the new house, before bringing them home. They spent the first night exploring and settled relatively quickly.

January 2013

Contact us: CALDEW VETERINARY HOSPITAL Carlisle House, Townhead Road, Dalston, Carlisle CA5 7JF Tel: 01228 710208 vets@paragonvet.com TOWNHEAD VETERINARY CENTRE Newbiggin, Stainton, Penrith, CA11 0HT Tel: 01768 483789 townhead@paragonvet.com LONDON ROAD SURGERY 87 London Road Carlisle CA1 2LG Tel: 01228 591005

I kept them in for the first week or so before letting them out to explore their new garden. It’s a good idea to let your pets get used to their new surroundings, the smell of the place and the lie of the land out of the windows before you let them out. Feliway won’t work for all cats but in my opinion it’s worth a try. It can make things much less stressful - for you and your pets!

PARAGON VETERINARY GROUP Visit us at: www.paragonvet.com and please ‘like’ us on our FACEBOOK page www.facebook.com/ParagonVets.Pets

24 hour emergency service

S TA R PETS This is Ruby - a lovely, lively, Black Labrador, just 18 months old.

You would never guess to look at her that she has been through major surgery following life-threatening injuries.

When Ruby’s owner Tom Iredale first realised she was missing, he thought she was just out on the farm somewhere. But when she finally appeared a few hours later, it was clear she’d been hurt.

Tom says ‘She was on three legs and could hardly walk at all, and she had a bad cut on her foot.’

However the true extent of her injuries came as a real shock.

Tom took Ruby to Paragon’s Dalston surgery, where x-rays showed she had a dislocated hip.

Vet Ann Noble says, ‘In normal circumstances we could have manually put her hip back in.’

But x-rays also revealed a far greater problem. Ruby had a fracture of the lumbar vertebrae.

Despite being in great pain, Ruby was able to wag her tail, and wasn’t paralysed, so she was referred to Simon Roche at Kentdale Orthopaedics near Kendal for surgery. There, she had seven screws put in her back and two titanium plates in her hip - making her a true Bionic Dog! The Vets who cared for Ruby all say it’s a miracle she managed to make her way home after being so badly hurt. It’s believed she must have been hit by a vehicle, probably from behind, and then dragged herself at least 500 yards to get home.

Tom says, ‘She had her operation on the thursday and we picked her up on the monday. She’s been absolutely amazing. She’s already managing to scratch with her bad leg and she’s been good-natured throughout the whole thing. The only sign of her operation is her shaved leg.’

SNAP HAPPY!

We’re running a special Pets Photo competition on Facebook.

The winner gets a £20 ParagonVoucher to spend on toys, food, gifts or professional services!

Just go to our Paragon Pets page https://www.facebook.com/ParagonVets.Pets and follow the instructions there to upload a photo.

It can be cute, artistic, funny ... whatever you fancy!

The competition is on till the end of January and the photo with the most votes wins.

So get uploading and get your friends voting :)