MAY
-
AU G U ST
2 0 1 7
N E WSL E T T E R
Ashlea Veterinary Centre
Learning late in life that no teeth can be better
than painful teeth!
In February this year twenty-one
year old Mog came in for a routine
prescription check - during her
examination vet Kirsty became
worried that Mog’s teeth were
painful and affecting her quality
of life. Mog’s owners were
understandably concerned about
her having a general anaesthetic
at her age but equally believed
that whatever time she had left
with them she should be as
comfortable and pain free as
d in Marie’s ar ms.
Mog nicely se date
possible. Xrays of so m
Mog’s teeth - e of
be
any dental w fore
e w ill
xray all the
teeth.
Before Mog had her anaesthetic we ran a blood test to check that her
kidneys and liver were still functioning well. Fortunately her blood results were excellent so we were happy
to proceed with her dental work. Mog had an
intravenous drip throughout the procedure to
help maintain her blood pressure and010
was
connected to a variety machines that record
oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in her blood.
However the most important ‘machine’ was our
experienced qualified nurse - Marie - who
was in charge throughout the procedure.
Mog’s dental went very well with Kirsty
having to remove all of her teeth. After the
anaesthetic she recovered in our special
heated incubator and was eating chicken one
and a half hours after the operation! We asked her owners to write a few words
about the experience…
Before - teeth are covere
d
in tartar with bleeding gum
s.
ms suture d
After - w ith gu n sites
tio
at the extrac
“We had noticed that she was making a clicking noise with her mouth and wondered if she had a loose
tooth; on examination it was several rotten teeth and after a
discussion it was decided that the
best course of action was a dental
to improve the old girl’s quality of
life. Although she was continuing
to survive she was very
uncomfortable. She is now our old
Mog again, the lack of teeth has
made no difference to her
appetite or what she can eat. On
behalf of Mog (and ourselves) we
would like to say a big thankyou to all at Ashlea Vets for the
care you gave and for having
the courage to operate on
r
the incubato
ile she reco vers in
Relaxing at home
oldies“
Being monitored wh
Playtime for bunnies
Rabbits that live outdoors all
year round will naturally
adapt to the warmer spring
and summer temperatures.
However for rabbits who live
indoors over winter, its best
to gradually increase the
time they spend outside to
allow them to adapt
gradually to the change. The best advice for early
spring grazing is little and
often, to protect the ground
from over-grazing and allowing the
rabbits digestive system to get used to the increasing
nutritional content of
grass. so me
Munching away on
oi
ch
kpa
Rabbits love herbs such
as parsley, fennel, dill and
coriander which can be
easily cultivated, alongside
grass weeds such as
Yarrow, and legume
forages such as alfafa and
fenugreek, with pak-choi
for something more exotic!
More aromatic foods
include roses, lavender,
thyme and rosemary.
Enjoying the
sunshine
Border/meadow flowers
such as nasturtium, cornflowers,
calendula/marigold are popular with rabbits along with
the old favourite dandelions. To get a readily available
supply of garden thinning’s and veg trimmings, why not
exchange them for your weeding services and rabbit
manure (it makes great
compost) with a keen
gardener. Rabbits love fruit tree
branches (especially when
pruned between leaf fall and
bud burst) but remember
while fruits with pips are
fine (e.g. apple and pear),
fruits with stones are a nono (cherry and peach). They
give fantastic environmental
enrichment as they can be
Enjoying some dan delion
s
weaved between the bars
of the hutch and hung from
roofs to encourage active feeding habits. Willow branches can be weaved into archways and
screens, or into balls and toys for the winter months. ‘Foraging for food’
by Twigs Way, is a
book about how to
identify safe wild
woods for your
bunnies. This
allows you to
expand their
palate for very
little cost by
making use of
hedgerows and
A creative way to make toys
out of branches
meadows. Please
remember to rinse
any forage in warm water first to minimise the risk of
passing wild rabbit disease to your pet bunnies
through urine contamination of the plants.
Ashlea Branded Pet Food.
We’ve recently sourced two new ranges of UK-made pet food direct from the
Lancashire-based manufacturer.
Our Super Premium range offers tasty, flavourful, and easily digestible diets
for both cats and dogs. Based on meat or fish, together with either rice or
potato, the diets are tailored to both the size and age of the pet, and are
hypo-allergenic, avoiding ingredients such as egg, dairy, beef, pork and wheat gluten.
Our Grain Free range tailors the dietary-design
further, avoiding the use of any grain
whatsoever by using sweet potato as the chief source of both carbohydrate and dietary fibre.
Using meats less commonly used in the
preparation of pet foods (Duck, Turkey,
and Salmon/Trout) these diets can be
particularly useful for those pets with
dietary intolerances.
Our Staff have been trialling the foods on their own pets so please ask
them for their advice! As our introductory discounts come to an end, both
the Super Premium and the Grain Free diets will become discounted to
members of our Healthcare Plans and will be subject to a loyalty purchase
scheme.
Puppy parties
We love to help you to have a great relationship and
loads of fun with your pets. What better way to start
that than with a party - a puppy party! All puppies
that have their initial vaccinations at the clinic are
invited to join us for three free weeks of socialisation
and basic training. They are run by our nurses and
enjoyed by both owners and puppies!
Week 1: We play, learn to sit, lie down and how to be examined.
Week 2: We play, learn to stay and leave and practice our sitting and lying down skills!
Week 3: We play, have a friendly competition to see who will stay the longest, learn to
recall (outside if it’s nice) and practice walking on a lead. Every puppy who attends gets a
goodie bag and a certificate.
It’s a great opportunity to
socialise with other puppies
at what is a key time to
learn how to make friends
and interact; we find it often
makes a big difference to how much dogs enjoy
coming to see us if they’ve attended the classes.
Ask at Reception for more details.
It can be tough being a vet’s pet
- Murphy, the Barker’s rescue cat,
was called in as an emergency
blood donor - he was very well
behaved but was sedate d while
we took the blood as sitting still
that long would be to much of a
challenge for him! He was back
out hunting the next day with no
ill effects The picture on the left is Murphy
donating blood and the picture on
the right is a blood testing card.
Cats have 3 blood types - A, B or
AB. Murphy was group A.
Nominations for Veterinary Awards
We were delighted to be nominated for the PetPlan Veterinary
Awards earlier this year. Thank you so much to all those who
nominated the
practice and
individuals. We
all value your
opinions really
highly and
things like this
help us know
that our hard
work and our
efforts to be the best veterinary
practice we can be for you and your pets is working. Please let
us know if you can think of any ways we could be better!
Ashlea Vet Centre Ltd
Unit 2b
Port Road Business Park
Carlisle
CA2 7AF
Tel: 01228 549177
www.ashleavets.co.uk
www.facebook.com/ashleavets
Surgery Times
Mon, Tues & Thurs
9am - 6.30pm
Wed & Fri
9- 6pm
Saturday
9am - 3pm
Consultation by appointment only
For emergency advice or attention
beyond these hours phone the
practice on 01228 549177 and
listen to the message for the duty
vets number
Staff News
back to
to welcome a few familiar faces
This year we have been delighted
ine d and
ember Marianne Mo ore who tra
the team. Many of you will rem
ore she
worked with us for ten years bef
night
ncy
rge
eme
went to Yorkshire to do
d the
ieve
ach
she
work. In her 5 years there
in
sing
Certificate of Veterinary Nur
Emergency and Critical
Care, so we are
delighted to welcome
such expertise back into
the practice . Marianne
will be working part
time with us as she
now has an 18 month
old daughter, Isabelle In May we will also be
welcoming back Karen
Steel. Karen had
Marianne
Veterinary Surgeons
retired down to Devon
Chris Barker MRCVS
Kirsty Barker MRCVS
her family returned
with husban d Dougie but when
Morag Liddon MRCVS
lisle area they have
fro m abroad to settle in the Car
Laura Askew MRCVS
ng grandparents.
Kathryne Hodgson MRCVS
hea ded north again to enjoy bei
on reception
Receptionists
Karen will be once again helping
.
ays
urd
Christine Coulthard
especially on Sat
Karen
Natalie Murphy
y Gale. Lyn dsay
dsa
Lyn
ing
Lyndsay Gale
com
wel
us
saw
y
uar
Jan
practice and joins us
Nurses
p
has previously worked in a local
be helping the nurses in the pre
Rowena Batey RVN
mal Nursing Assistant - she will
Ani
an
ion.
as
ept
rec
on
e
Katy Clarke RVN
will also see her cheery fac
roo m (chief of cuddling!) and you
Rebecca Campbell RVN
Marie Coleman RVN
Lyn dsay is splitting
Marianne Moore RVN
her working week
Student Nurse
between working for
Jess Taylor
us and running her
mobile pet gro oming
her on Facebo ok business “Happy Hounds“ - find
MobileDogGro oming
www.facebook.com/HappyHounds
It’s also great to have Vet
Laura return after her
maternity leave with
Benjamin (as well as big
sister Maymi ). She will be
working Tuesdays,
Thursdays, alternate
Fridays and some
Lyndsay
weeken ds.
Laura
Some of you may already
who has helped us while
have met our locu m vet Gem ma
ma will be continuing
Laura was on maternity leave. Gem
to cover everyone’s
to help over the coming sum mer
holi days!
have baby number two in
to
due
is
alie
Nat
Receptionist
; we’ll let you know
July, joining big brother George
more when he or she arrives!
www.ashleavets.co.uk
www.facebook.com/ashleavets
Gemma