EHC’s to third countries are usually printed on Crown Vellum Watermarked security paper, due to reduced processing capacity the government has agreed with a number of countries to allow the printing of certificates on plain white paper. The EHC will be sent to the Certifying Officer by email to print. This currently applies to four countries Australia, Gibraltar, South Africa and USA, but more countries may be added. Please inform the importer or consignee of this change to the EHC’s as appropriate to avoid any unnecessary confusion.
As always we are happy to discuss your export requirements and how our team can help during these challenging times.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has changed many of the ways business is conducted over the last 6 weeks. Product export inspection and certification can present challenges in terms of safely carrying out the necessary checks and paperwork whilst maintain social distancing. APHA have stated that remote certification is not appropriate on any consignments beyond those already specifically authorised. This means that inspections of consignments will need to continue as they have previously.
Here at Oakhill Vets we are regularly dealing with infectious disease control for our large animal clients and understand how to protect your staff and business whilst carrying out the appropriate work in order to certify your consignment. This may include the use of PPE and completing paperwork offsite where appropriate following a discussion of your individual circumstances.
As always we are happy to discuss your export requirements and how our team can help during these challenging times.
With warmer weather comes the dreaded flies. Flies tend to start breeding around the end of March/April time (NOW!).
Not only do flies transmit diseases such as summer Mastitis and New Forest Eye, they can negatively impact on milk production (up to 0.5L/day) and growth rates (up to 0.3kg/day) through worrying animals.
In addition, they can cause signifi cant disrupti on during milking. Early intervention is key to control fly populations on farm as fly numbers exponentially grow throughout the summer; population explosions! Females can lay anywhere from 350 to 900 eggs in their lifetime and can produce up to 12 generations in one summer.
Adult flies are only 15% of the population with the remaining 85% at the larval stage so by the time you visibly see flies their populati on has already exploded. After hatching, a female fly can lay eggs as soon as two weeks later!
Control On farm control involves addressing flies both at source and at cow level.
The female fly will lay eggs in a warm, moist environment such as manure heaps, soiled straw, waste silage, brewers’ grains and other rotting organic matter. Particular hot spots on farm include the edge of the bedded pens and in calf housing. Calf pens are often prolific breeding areas as they have an abundance of pen edges, animals to bite, manure and milk. Focusing efforts to improve hygiene in these areas will reduce the number of available breeding sites. Applying products such as fly parasites or insect growth regulators can help depress larval progression.
In terms of treatment at cow level, pour on products are readily available. Spotinor is a pour on product with a standard 10ml dose per cow. It affords protection for 4-8 weeks pending challenge on farm. The product carries zero milk and 17 day meat withhold.
Our Vet Tech service can administer Spotinor to your animals as part of a bespoke on-farm fly control programme this summer. For £1.44/head the Vet Tech’s will visit your farm 3 ti mes over the fly season to apply the product, saving you both time and money by only paying for what you need.
In order to qualify for the Vet Tech service cattle need to be presented through a handling system or locking feed barrier. Spotinor is also available to purchase separately at a very competitive price. Please speak to the practice for further information on our competitive fly control package.
We use the word ‘worms’ to describe a group of parasites that live inside the body of dogs and cats. These include roundworms, tapeworms, hookworms and whipworms.
How does my pet get worms?
Most worms are picked up when a dog or cat swallows an egg or larvae from the ground, e.g. when eating grass/ sniffing. They can also be picked up from hunting rodents or eating slugs and snails, and can even be spread by fleas.
I can’t see any worms in my pet’s stools- why do I need to treat them?
Most owners do not realise when their pets have worms. This group of parasites live, breed and feed inside the intestines of the dog or cat they are infecting, so will not be seen in their stools. Some types of worm are so tiny that they can’t be seen without a microscope. Sometimes we see symptoms in pets, for example a bloated tummy, weight loss, diarrhoea or scooting their bottom on the floor, but often we do not. There is a health risk to people exposed to dog poo containing worms, especially to children, so it’s important that all dog owners are responsible in reducing this risk by treating appropriately and picking up after their pet.
How often do I need to worm my pet?
This is dependent on their lifestyle and age. Our nurses and vets are happy to advise for each individual, and can offer different types of product such as ‘spot-ons’, tablets or oral liquids. Our team are always happy to help with administering or applying the medication if needed.
Brachycephalic means short nosed, and is a description for many of the popular pet breeds, such as Bulldogs, Pugs, French Bulldogs, Pekingese, Lhasa Apso and Shih Tzu, which have the characteristic short or squashed nose appearance.
Brachycephalic dogs are increasingly popular pets around the world, but despite their popularity they can be affected by health problems linked to their head and body shape.
Two of the main problems are:
Breathing problems
Dogs with Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS) make more noise when breathing, even at rest, which may sound like snoring, snorting or wheezing. This can be made worse on excitement or stress, including heat stress. Care must be taken to prevent overheating of brachycephalic dogs in particular, as this can lead to severe breathing difficulties and collapse.
The main areas of concern in these dogs are:
Narrow nares (nostrils) mean more effort is needed to breathe
An overlong soft palate (the roof of the mouth) can obstruct the entrance to the airway, which can cause ‘choking’ noises and again make breathing much more difficult.
These two problems, if necessary, can be surgically corrected by one of our vets, but if severe and left alone, the increased effort to breathe over time can cause secondary problems such as laryngeal collapse, and swelling and enlargement of the tonsils, vocal folds and muscles at the back of the mouth – which further increase the effort required to breathe.
Tracheal hypoplasia (small windpipe) mostly seen in English Bulldogs
The Kennel Club and University of Cambridge Respiratory Function Grading Scheme helps breeders of Pugs, French Bulldogs, and English Bulldogs lower the risk of producing puppies affected by breathing problems.
If you are concerned about breathing in your dog you can book in for a BOAS assessment with our registered assessor, vet Lisa Steinhage, at our Conway Drive branch, who will be able to assess and advise you further. More information is found on our website on the link below:
Due to the shape of their eyes within their face, brachycephalic dogs can be prone to eye problems, as the large eyelid opening means they cannot blink completely which can lead to drying of the eye surface, resulting in irritation and even ulceration. The good news is that many eye problems can be managed medically or surgically so if you have any concerns please book in with one of our vets who will be able to advise you further.
Billy the Pug (left picture before and right picture after surgery) suffered with repeated ulceration of his eye, so our vet Lisa Steinhage performed an operation called a medial canthoplasty to make the eyelid opening smaller and increase the protection of his eyes and he’s never looked back!
During these unprecedented times, we are closely following the guidance issued by our governing body, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). We are entirely committed to protecting the health of the public, our clients and our staff, whilst maintaining the highest possible standard of care for your horses. As of Tuesday, April 14th the RCVS have relaxed the restrictions placed on the veterinary industry. We have considered this information very carefully and whilst we will continue to provide advice on a case-by-case basis, we feel that the following guidelines contain essential information on our practice policies from April 14th:
We will be returning to performing annual vaccinations to horses that are due (please delay making an appointment if your annual vaccination is not due within the next 3 weeks). We will not be performing 6 monthly booster vaccinations (other than 3rd vaccines of the original course).
We will continue to see any horse in an emergency situation and any horse who’s welfare is compromised.
We will also be able to perform other essential veterinary work that cannot be delayed for a further 3 weeks, please ring to discuss any concerns you have with one of our vets in the first instance.
We will not be performing routine dentistry or other routine procedures which are non-essential.
Upon our vet’s arrival at your yard. For our mutual protection we would appreciate that the following social distancing/hygiene measures are taken:
We will meet one allocated person at the yard only (client), who is not self-isolating, high risk or displaying any COVID-19 symptoms.
Both the vet and client will sanitise their hands and wear gloves.
The client will hold horses for us whilst maintaining social distancing measures, and avoiding face-to-face contact if at a distance of less than 2m (for instance as the horse is being injected).
These measures are extremely important, as the safety of our clients and our staff remain the top priority during this time.
We are also expecting the phone lines to be busy on Tuesday morning, so please try to delay your query/appointment booking unless it is urgent.
THANK YOU ALL for being so patient and understanding during these difficult times, we are all in this together!
Oakhill Equine Vets is a 12-vet dedicated, equine-only team. We are extremely lucky at Oakhill to have a highly qualified equine veterinary team with 111 years experience between them! Guy and Rosie are both European and RCVS recognised specialists in Equine surgery and lameness. We also have two vets with RCVS advanced practitioner status, Jess and Leona. Leona has a certificate in Internal Medicine and the rest of our outstanding team are studying towards a further 7 certificate qualifications between them!
Oakhill has a fully-equipped surgical facility including state of the art arthroscopy equipment, anaesthesia recovery box and advanced anaesthetic monitoring equipment. We host an array of specialist equipment including MRI, digital radiography, multiple endoscopes and a dental oral endoscope, in order to achieve the highest possible standards of care for your horse.
Due to the depth of team experience and the quality of our equipment at Oakhill, we offer an extensive referral service to other practices across Lancashire, Cumbria and Cheshire. We have two vets on call 24/7 to ensure that we can attend any emergency promptly within our practice area.
We are dedicated to providing a 5* level of service to you and your horse. Our team is also focused on providing education to clients regarding their horse’s care via phone advice, social media, informative newsletters and client talks. No matter what the problem is, we are here to offer a professional and compassionate service to our valued clients.
Laminitis is an incredibly painful and debilitating condition which, in severe cases, can result in the loss of the affected patient.
Laminitis is defined as inflammation of the laminae which in turn results in pedal bone instability meaning that the pedal bone may sink (founder) or rotate.
The primary clinical sign of laminitis is a gait abnormality which can vary vastly in severity from being foot sore or a little pottery (exacerbated on the turn), to those that are unwilling to move, to those the spend increased amounts of time lay down.
Other clinical signs include any or a combination of the following: increased digital pulses, heat in the feet, weight-shifting, rocking back into a ‘saw horse’ stance and sensitivity on hoof testers to name but a few.
Concurrent foot abscesses are a common secondary condition.
90% of cases in the UK occur secondary to an underlying endocrinopathy- Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) and/or Equine Cushing’s Disease.
Laminitis may occur at any time throughout the year although Spring turnout is a particularly ‘at risk’ time due to the sugar levels in the grass combined with many horses exiting the Winter months having gained weight and ultimately having some degree of insulin dysregulation (EMS).
This year, the corona virus pandemic provides further concern given the fact that many such patients are spending more time at grass or are being turned away to grass and are receiving less exercise meaning that weight gain is inevitable and the risk for EMS increased.
Weight management is vitally important to try prevent episodes of laminitis and may include limiting time at grass, use of a grazing muzzle, soaking hay, double netting hay and exercise provided there are no current clinical signs of laminitis.
If you have any concerns that your horse has clinical signs of laminitis, EMS or Cushing’s disease or if you want weight management advise, please call us for a chat. Further information on all three conditions will follow in future presentations.
Causes diarrhoea, weight loss, dehydration and death
Usually in lambs eating grass at 6-12 weeks of age
High-risk lambs are ones challenged concurrently by coccidiosis, newly weaned, triplets or had low colostrum intake
On pasture grazed by lambs last spring
Lamb-lamb spread, adults are immune
A sudden cold snap followed by a warm period causes the eggs to all hatch together after over-wintering on the pasture
The faecal egg count doesn’t rise in a flock sometimes until days-weeks after exposure as it is larval stages causing disease, so a FEC in early spring can be a false negative if clinical signs are being seen
Acts rapidly and can cause high incidence of lamb mortality
What you can do to avoid Nematodirus affecting your
flock:
Don’t graze at-risk lambs on pasture that had lambs on last spring
Following the Prime Minister’s announcements and advice from our professional bodies, we are moving to a service where we no longer provide any ROUTINE veterinary care. This is to ensure the health and safety of our staff and our clients, and to strictly adhere to social distancing policies as set out by the government.
We will be providing care to ANY ill or injured animal in order to preserve animal welfare. Please contact the surgery as normal with any concerns you have regarding your horses’ welfare. We may only need to offer phone advice, and any horses that require treatment in order to preserve welfare will be examined. These decisions will be made on a case by case basis and the handler of the horse will need to confirm they are free of COVID 19 symptoms prior to our attendance.
We will continue to offer our normal 24 hour emergency cover. Your horse’s welfare is paramount to us and we thank you for your understanding at this difficult time. If you have any questions or would like to speak to a vet, please contact the office on 01772 861300
