Red Tractor Standards Changes

Red tractor standards

There has been an update in the Red Tractor Assurance Standards coming into effect from October 2017. A full list of changes is available on the Red Tractor website, the main changes affecting your herd health plan are listed below.

Dairy:

· Documented medicine records – all antibiotics used must be collated, and an annual review must be undertaken by the vet.

· Farm to farm sales of animals under statutory withdrawal periods for medicines must be accompanied by a withdrawal period declaration.

· Colostrum – a colostrum protocol must be put in place to ensure young stock are receiving adequate colostrum. The protocol must be added to the herd health plan. A recommendation has been added that the quality of colostrum should be tested.

Beef and Lamb:

· Animal medicines – recommendation that the highest priority critically important antibiotics are only used as a last resort and under veterinary direction.

· Farm to Farm sales of stock under statutory withdrawal periods for medicines must be accompanied by a withdrawal period declaration.

· A farm biosecurity plan must be created, implemented and updated in relation to health and performance reviews. Disinfectants across the farm should be DEFRA approved.

To find out about all Red Tractor Assurance Standards, please go to: http://assurance.redtractor.org.uk/tools-and-library

#CALFMATTERS Farm Africa Challenge

Holly #CALFMATTERS Farm Africa Challenge

Farm Vet Holly Critchley has been taking part in the #CalfMatters Farm Africa Challenge in which 100 animal health professionals are aiming to take 140,000,000 steps (70, 500 miles) by 19th October.

#CalfMatters is an initiative set up by Merial to highlight the importance of vaccination against pneumonia in calves. If you wish to donate to the cause or find out more about #calfmatters please contact Holly at the practice.

Holly #CALFMATTERS Farm Africa Challenge

The importance of regular health checks for your dog

Owning a dog is great fun and immensely rewarding, but they’re also a big responsibility.

Although you get to know and understand different aspects of their behaviour and their day-to-day routines, it isn’t always obvious to know if your dog is ill, it’s even harder to spot any potential dog health problems.

Most people don’t take their dogs to the vets unless there’s an emergency or obvious signs of illness, however a regular health check may detect issues earlier.

A health check up usually includes 10-points that include:

10 point health check dog preston vets oakhill veterinary centre

If any abnormalities or issues are found, the vet will discuss them with you and a plan for further investigation can be discussed.

Health checks every 6 months are great for your dog as the vet can detect subtle changes in your dog’s overall health. This is especially important for older dogs as these checks play a huge part in the ‘prevention is better than cure’ approach. As part of our 365 Care Plan, dogs and cats get a 10 point health check with a vet every 6 months included.

Oakhill Veterinary Centre puts an emphasis on preventative health care and our 365 Care Plan for dogs and cats was designed with this in mind.

To find out more about the 365 Care Plan click here. If you’d like to book your dog in for a health check, then please contact us.

Respiratory Disease- Cattle

Respiratory disease is estimated to cost the UK cattle industry £80 million annually through increased mortality, veterinary drug costs and most importantly weight

loss/reduced performance. Whilst the effects on clinically affected animals are obvious often the rest of the group will be affected sub-clinically resulting in reduced growth rates.

For respiratory disease, prevention is vital as many animals never fully recover from severe cases and is through a combination of good management, good ventilation, and effective vaccination protocols prior to the risk period (housing/weaning).

respiratory symptoms cattle

Respiratory disease occurs when environmental factors, infectious agents and inadequate immunity come together and tip the balance in favour of disease. In beef systems, stressful events such as dehorning and castration are best undertaken before housing or delayed until calves have been housed for at least 6 weeks.

Ventilation is key!

The minimum recommended air changes within a building of 10 times each hour, increasing in summer up to around 60 air changes per hour. High ammonia levels from manure irritate the respiratory tract and will make the animal more vulnerable to respiratory disease. Studies have shown that the ammonia levels a calf is exposed to in the first four months of life severely impact on the age at first calving, and lifetime productivity.

respiratory disease in cattle

We are offering Subsidised Ventilation Assessments in the month of September, please contact us at the clinic to arrange yours today!

September 2017 Farm Newsletter

Farm Newsletter Preston Oakhill vets

Cat Poisoning

Permethrin toxicity remains one of the most common causes of poisoning in cats, and yet many owners don’t know what it is.

Permethrin is an insecticide commonly found in over the counter ‘spot-on’ flea treatments for dogs as well as some shampoos and household flea products.

In most mammals, permethrin has a good level of safety, but for some unknown reason when it comes to cats it’s highly toxic, which means it’s important that pet owners who own both cats and dogs understand the dangers of permethrin to a cat.

Cats are most commonly poisoned after their owners mistakenly use a dog product on the cat, but they can also show mild signs after close contact with a recently treated dog.

Signs of poisoning

Signs usually develop within a few hours, although they can sometimes be delayed by up to 72 hours. It can often take 2-3 days for the signs to improve.

The effects of insecticide poisoning in mild intoxications include; paraesthesia (pins and needles) caused by direct contact with permethrin, which may result in paw flicking, ear twitching and uncontrollable contractions of the cutaneous trunk muscles.

If your cat begins grooming the contaminated area, you may notice hypersalivation and vomiting. In cases of severe intoxications severe muscle tremors, seizures and / or depression may be present.

Treatment

If you think your cat has come into contact with the substance, it’s important you that any remaining product should be washed from your cat’s hair coat (or clipped in long haired cats) using cool water, NOT warm water as this will increase absorption of the product.

Controlling the convulsions is often difficult, and your cat may need to be hospitalised for several days.

The Veterinary Poisons Information Service reports that 15% of cases of insecticide poisoning result in death or euthanasia. However, cats that receive immediate treatment typically survive and usually suffer no long-term effects.

Prevention

If you do own both cats and dogs, the easiest way to prevent any kind of permethrin dangers is to only use licensed flea treatments on your cat, but also check your dog’s flea treatments to make sure it doesn’t contain the substance.

Household treatments such as flea sprays may also contain permethrin, therefore check the label before spraying around your home, if you’re still unsure- talk to your vet about which products can be safely used.

If you do need to use a flea treatment on your dog that contains permethrin, the safest option is to keep yours pets apart until the dog’s treatment has dried. This is to prevent mutual grooming, which could result in poisoning if your cat became exposed to sufficient product. There may be advice on this situation on the packaging of the dog product.

If you suspect your cat has been poisoned, please get in touch.

Do you have a brachycephalic dog?

Brachycephalic dog breeds are increasing in popularity, but one thing most new owners don’t realise is that they can be quite a challenge to care for.

What is brachycephalia?

Brachycephalia means ‘shortened head’ and refers to the dogs flat and wide skull shape. The appearance of the head appears as though the skull has been severely compressed from front to back, they will also appear flat faced with short noses.

Ownership of brachycephalic dog breeds have increased by 3104% since 2007 according to Kennel Club Figures, the rise could be a result of more celebrities being pictured with these dog breeds, resulting in a dog ‘trend’.

Popular breeds that are classed as brachycephalic include:

Boxers
Bulldogs
Boston Terriers
Pugs
Shih Tzus
Chihuahuas
Chow Chows
Pekingese
Lhasa Apso
Bull Mastiffs
English Toy Spaniels

(Please note, not all breeds affected are listed above)

The reason that these breeds may be more challenging to care for is due to the number of health conditions they can possess.

Although these flat-faced dogs are cute, their short noses can also cause breathing problems. These dogs often suffer from snoring and snorting, and although these may seem harmless, it could be an indicator that their airway is becoming partially obstructed, and this can become worse over time.

These dogs have been bred mainly for their looks, but the flat-face look is a result of a smaller upper jaw, in which the tissues inside are bigger than the jaw can allow. The airway problems that result from this overcrowding are collectively known as ‘brachycephalic airway syndrome’.

Brachycephalic airway syndrome

This syndrome refers to a particular set of upper airway abnormalities that affects these particular dog breeds. This syndrome is also called brachycephalic respiratory syndrome, brachycephalic syndrome or congenital obstructive upper airway disease.

The upper airway abnormalities that occur in this syndrome include:

Stenotic nares
Elongated soft palate
Hypoplastic trachea
Everted laryngeal saccules

A dog with brachycephalic syndrome may be affected with a combination of one or more of these abnormalities.

Signs & symptoms

Not all brachycephalic dogs will have all these symptoms, but if your dog is presenting more than one symptom, it’s important to get them seen by the vet as soon as possible. The following signs and symptoms you should keep an eye out for are:

Dyspnea (breathing difficulty)
Noisy/labored breathing
Stridor (high pitched wheezing)
Continued open-mouth breathing
Extending of head and neck to keep airway open,
Sitting up or keeping chin in an elevated position when sleeping
Sleeping with toy between teeth to keep mouth open to compensate for nasal obstruction
Cyanosis (blue/purple discoloration of the skin or gums)
Sleep apnea
Stress and heat intolerance.
Snoring/gagging/choking/regurgitation/vomiting
Collapse

If your dog does any of the above, and you’ve come to think of it as ‘normal’, it’s still worth visiting your vet to check their health. Symptoms generally progress with age and typically become more severe as they age.

What other problems do brachycephalic dogs have?

Eyes and Eyelids: Brachycephalic dogs’ eyes tend to protrude out of their skull a bit more than other dogs. Sometimes it’s difficult for eyelids to close over their eyes (even while sleeping), this can lead to a lack of lubrication over the cornea and can also cause corneal ulceration.

Teeth: Brachycephalic dogs have the same number of teeth as other dogs, but less space to fit them all, which can lead to periodontal disease.

Treatment

Usually your dog will not require active treatment unless it shows signs of clinical problems. pug laboured breathing

Treatment will vary depending on the type, cause and severity of the problem(s). Surgery, such as shortening an elongated palate or widening the nostrils, can prevent some breathing problems. Your vet will monitor the dog’s breathing, pulse, heart rate, temperature and other factors when surgery is performed.

How can I help my dog?

You can help your brachycephalic dog by protecting it from warm, humid weather and keeping its weight in check as obesity can worsen respiratory problem.

It’s important you schedule check-ups for your pet, this will not only monitor their overall health, but also offer you advice on diet and exercise, to give you peace of mind and to also keep your canine happy.

The importance of Vaccinations: when should my kitten have its first vaccination?

Bringing a new kitten into your home can be a big step, but also very rewarding. Now you’ve decided you want to share your home with a new kitten, you have on average the next 14 to 15 years with your new feline friend.

Over this time frame a lot can happen that can affect your cats health, but there’s serious and common diseases that can be avoided.

Vaccinations

Having your kitten vaccinated is very important as it prevents against some serious and common diseases that can prove costly. It also prevents them from passing on diseases to other animals.

When it comes to getting your kitten vaccinated, in general, an initial vaccination course is made up of two separate injections three to four weeks apart. In the UK, most kittens have their first vaccination at nine weeks and the second vaccination at 12 weeks. After this, kittens and cats usually need ‘booster’ vaccinations every twelve months.

What do vaccinations protect against?

The vaccinations your cat receives will vary, but in the most part they cover a combination of serious and common diseases, which include:

-Feline Infectious Enteritis (FIE, feline panleukopenia, feline parvovirus)

-Feline herpesvirus (FHV-1) and feline calicivirus (FCV)- Cat flu

-Feline chlamydophilosis (Chlamydophila felis, feline chlamydophila infection)

-Feline leukaemia virus (FeLV)

These diseases are thankfully fairly uncommon amongst vaccinated animals these days, but this is mainly due to the widespread vaccination regime in operation. In areas where animals aren’t vaccinated, these diseases are very common and often fatal to the animals affected.

“I’ve read that annual vaccinations are a way for my vets to make money and are not needed”

Ultimately it’s up to you to decide if you want your cat to have annual vaccinations. Annual vaccinations are important as viruses change over time (think flu), by vaccinating your kitten/cat annually, this will provide them the best cover.

If you live in an area with low vaccination rates, many of the diseases listed above are still common. It’s heart breaking to see an animal die of a readily preventable disease and while they may have had their two vaccinations early on in life, they could still come into contact with new diseases that weren’t around then, this is why it’s important for your cat to keep up to date with annual vaccinations.

Are annual vaccinations expensive?

Annual vaccinations aren’t going to leave a hole in your purse; in fact they can prevent against any costly treatments.

Our 365 Care Plan which includes annual vaccinations* can be paid in easy and affordable monthly direct debits. (Click here to view the full 365 Plan).

Are kittens vaccinated when adopted?

This would depend entirely on where the kitten was adopted. Cat centres such as Cat Protection and the RSPCA will vaccinate a kitten or cat before they move to their new home.

If your kitten has come from a private breeder or anywhere else, it’s important to ask the person who has been looking after the kitten/ cat if they’ve had them vaccinated, if they say yes- make sure they provide you with a vaccination record.

FREE CUSHING’S LAB TEST FEE

TALK ABOUT LAMINITIS – FREE CUSHING’S LAB TEST FEE* FOR HORSES

Past ‘Talk about Laminitis’ test results show that you should look out for any of these clinical signs in your horse:

Laminitis
Abnormal or delayed moulting
Muscle wastage
Periorbital fat (fat round the eyes)
Increased drinking and urinating

To claim your free Cushing’s lab test fee, generate your voucher code at www.talkaboutlaminitis.co.uk, then call us to make your appointment.

Oakhill blood sampling fee, visit fee and postage still apply. Offer available from 1st June 2017 – 31st October 2017.

Each voucher is only redeemable against an ACTH blood test where the patient has not previously diagnosed and being treated for PPID and is not valid for repeat testing /case monitoring.

Calf Plans

CALF PACKAGE VETS PRESTON