Archive for September, 2015

30 Sep

Travelling from the UK to France and beyond with Your Pets – You need a Plan B.

cute travelling dog imageWhat are the options?

There are a number of ways you can travel from the UK to France. It is important to be aware of alternatives in case there is a problem with your travel arrangements e.g. if you are late for any reason and miss your ferry or for example, if there is industrial action, bad weather, or technical issues at the port causing cancellations

Dover to Calais is the most popular route with 10 sailings daily with DFDS ferries and 23 sailings daily with P&O. The crossing time is 1 hour 30 minutes
Nearest alternatives are: Dover to Dunkirk (with DFDS) and Folkestone to Calais (via the Eurotunnel- Le Shuttle).

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23 Sep

A few words with Mary Bruno

mary 1

A key member of our Alcombe team, Mary has provided outstanding care to Alcombe patients, clients and employees for 30 years – her first day at work at the Ealing surgery was 23rd September 1985.
Very talented in clinical work, she was also always extremely calm, kind and fair and moved quickly up from staff nurse to Head nurse and then to Practice Manager and the administration of our growing multi branch Practice, still giving invaluable advice and support to the whole team after 3 decades.
She took time out of her busy day to tell us a bit more about herself.

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22 Sep

Kennel Cough

What is Kennel Cough?

Kennel Cough is the name given to a very contagious condition that can be viral, bacterial or both. The disease is known as Infectious Tracheobronchitis. It is a very common and highly infectious upper respiratory tract disease that can be contracted by dogs of any age or breed.

Coughing Dog

The term ‘Kennel Cough’ can be somewhat misleading as dogs that have never been to kennels can be affected. The term was given as Kennel Cough can easily spread when dogs are in close contact like in kennels. Other high risk areas can include local parks, training classes, boarding and any situations where dogs are in close contact.

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16 Sep

If you have found a cat that might be lost or stray here’s what to do:

found cat1

• If the cat will let you approach him, make up a paper collar with a note on saying: “If this is your cat please call this number…”, so that you can ascertain whether the cat is definitely stray. Place it round the cat’s neck and secure the two ends with a small piece of sellotape (don’t put sellotape right round the whole thing as that can be dangerous if the cat gets caught up anywhere). Self-adhesive paper collars can be obtained from the Cats Protection by contacting their Lost and Found Helpline 07889 976463

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10 Sep

Taking good care of your rabbit – Part 3

How can I make sure that I have a Happy Bunny?

Part 1 – Ring the Changes:  VARIETY!

 rabbit part 3

 

Just like humans, rabbits become bored if their environment remains the same, so consider an

occasional change of scenery. However, be careful as too much change can be stressful.

Wild rabbits’ survival depends on an intimate knowledge of their surroundings in order to escape

from predators, so structural changes to your pet rabbits’ ‘warren’ should be kept subtle, such as

changing their toys and regularly providing new ones.

 

Here are some easy ways to give your rabbit variety and to stop them from becoming bored:

  • Tunnels (that are wide enough for the rabbits to pass through easily)

rabbit part 3 tunnel

 

 

 

  • Suitable toys (there are many rabbit toys available commercially; ensure any you buy are safe and that your rabbits use them)

 

 

 

 

 

rabbit part 3 ball

 

 

 

  • Digging Box i.e. A planter filled with earth for digging
  • Platforms for hiding under and climbing on
  • Constant access to safe hiding places (such as cardboard boxes)
  • Games, such as food items in brown paper which they have to unwrap
  • Put food in multiple places so they have to move around to find it

 

rabbit part 3 food

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Use food balls (the treat balls made for cats work well) to feed their nuggets as they will spend longer eating and have fun chasing them around.

 

 

 

rabbit part 3 5

04 Sep

Big Tick Project

 

MSD have written a great post about the Big Tick Project and how you can help.

download

 

 

While I find ticks interesting creatures, I don’t want them on my dogs, in my house or on me,’ so says Chris Packham, TV wildlife presenter. If you don’t want to see ticks on your dogs, contact us today and ask about tick prevention.

 

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