To celebrate our 5th birthday Hollybank is giving £1 of every vaccination we carry out this year to The Joshua Tree charity.
In our first month we have already raised £285!
We will keep you updated this year as we continue to support this local charity. To find out more about about The Joshua Tree go to www.thejoshuatree.org.uk
Many of our pets suffer from noise phobia. In particular, firework phobias can mean a stressful time for our dogs and cats, not only in November, but over the New Year celebrations as well. Signs of phobia can range from hiding away to destructive behaviours.
Whilst there are things we can do to help manage these times for our pets, in the long run we want to try and directly address the phobia itself. One of the most effective ways of helping our pets with this is sound desensitisation. This involves a very slow build-up of sound, starting at a level which the animal can barely hear and can still associate with a positive experience. The easiest way to do this is with sound phobia CD’s which can cover a range of sounds and sound phobias, and have an easy progression to follow, which you can tailor to your pets progress.
It is important that we carry out desensitisation at a time when there will be no interruptions from actual fireworks, as desensitisation is a gradual process which relies on positive experiences during all progressive stages. Firework phobia is fear based and so any desensitisation relies on an environment where fearful episodes do not take place.
This means that this time of year is ideal to start desensitisation, with plenty of time before the firework season starts. If you would like more information, or would like to chat to one of our vets about how to get started please call us on 01606 880890.
…Your Pet is Microchipped?
A microchip is a small chip, the size of a grain of rice, that is placed under the skin with a needle a little bigger than a vaccination needle. Microchips have a unique number which we will register to your personal contact details onto a national database. This means if your pet was ever lost and picked up by the police, the dog warden or taken to any vets, they can be scanned to obtain the microchip number and your details can be accessed by contacting the database. We routinely microchip dogs, cats and rabbits.
Microchips can be placed in a normal consultation with either one of our veterinary surgeons or nurses. No sedation or local anaesthetic is required and we routinely microchip young puppies and kittens. We first use a handheld microchip scanner to scan your pet. This ensures that there has not already been a microchip placed (this is especially important if the history of your pet is unknown). We will then place the microchip between your pet’s shoulder blades and scan your pet to check it is in correctly.
The whole procedure takes only a couple of minutes. Occasionally microchips can migrate underneath the skin a little and, rarely, they will migrate further around the body. When scanning to see if a pet has a microchip the whole of the animal’s body is routinely scanned to ensure one is not missed if it has moved.
In 2016 it will become law to have your pet microchipped. Although it is not currently a requirement (unless your pet is travelling abroad) we do strongly recommend getting your pets microchipped so we can return them to you safely if they do ever become lost.
