News - Page 5

For the month of May we are celebrating our wonderful veterinary nurses and what empowers them to be great at what they do. 

May is a month to celebrate, with three bank holidays to look forward to, including the May Bank Holiday, the coronation of King Charles III and the Spring Bank Holiday. Rest assured, we will still be here for you and your pet; however, the way you access care for your pet might differ from normal.

Pets, just like humans, can suffer from allergies. Allergic reactions in pets are often caused by environmental factors, such as pollen or dust as well as certain foods or insect bites. As a pet owner, it's important to be aware of the common allergies in pets and the symptoms they may experience.

On 1st September 2023 our regulatory body, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) introduced new guidance on prescribing prescription-only medicines. There was a grace period until 1st January 2024 for some classes of medication including parasiticides (flea, tick and worming treatments). The new guidance requires that a clinical assessment, which usually entails a physical examination of your pet, be performed every time antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals and parasiticides are prescribed.

The guidance is an important step towards ensuring responsible antimicrobial use and reduces the veterinary impact on the wider issues of global antibiotic resistance and decline in insect populations.

Your pet will need to have seen a Veterinary Surgeon for an in-person consultation to make an appropriate parasiticide treatment plan personalised to their lifestyle and risk. We will aim to do this at regular, routine vaccination and health check appointments to reduce the need for additional appointments. However, a separate 'parasiticide check up' consultation may be required. 

We will enter a prescription 'authorisation' of our recommendations onto your pet's clinical notes, which can then be used to issue medication for the following 12-months. Once this authorisation is in place you can order parasiticide treatment as you previously have done so. 

We are offering a consultation fee of £51.94 for a 'parasiticide check up' consultation. This is free for members of our Pet Health for Life (PH4L) plan. 

For long term prescription medication which is not an antimicrobial/antiparasitic, our usual policy of requiring a regular examination usually every 3-6 months continues to apply. The medication review consultations will be charged at our usual fees. 

You can read the full guidance from the RCVS on their website

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Here at Wildbore Vets, we are committed to providing the best quality healthcare for your pet.

The majority of the nation gets excited to be eating Easter eggs or chocolate for breakfast, lunch, or dinner or perhaps all three! But we need to careful and ensure our pets don’t get a hold of any, as chocolate could be dangerous for our animals, especially dogs!

Is your cat microchipped?

If you are a cat owner in England, you will be legally required to ensure your cat is microchipped by Saturday 10 June 2024, if it is older than 20 weeks old, following the Government’s announcements on Monday 13 March 2023. Failure to comply may result in a fine of up to £500. If your cat is already microchipped, it is also part of the law that your details associated with the chip must be up to date.

When we think about weight management in pets it can be easy to focus on their exercise routine and how active they might, or might not, be. However, getting them out for their daily walk is only part of it, and in fact what they eat from one day to the next plays an equally important role.

Brushing is by far the best method of keeping your pet’s teeth clean in Huntingdon and is more successful if taken in stages. Ideally, it would help if you brushed your dog’s teeth at least once daily or three times per week  at a minimum to help remove plaque and prevent tartar build-up.

Keeping our pets safe is important to all of us as pet owners. They trust us with their care and protection and, as well as feeding, exercising and cuddling them, that includes identifying them so that we can be reunited if we are parted.

Grooming is an important part of pet welfare and wellbeing and should be carried out regularly.