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Practice Hours: 01653 618303

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Testimonials

Testimonials

What’s in a dogs name?  We take a look at a range of common dog breeds

During the peak of the pandemic whilst home schooling my two primary school age boys I learned a good word- portmanteau!

This is when a word is made by blending the sounds and combining the meaning of two others. Common examples we all know are brunch (breakfast and lunch) or ginormous (giant and enormous).

I quickly realised the dog world is full of such examples these days. Not a day goes by without me seeing a Cockerpoo, Cavapoo or a Labradoodle.

When I graduated in 2004 – I only saw a pedigree or a proper cross breed – a Heinz 57, a mutt! (I have one of these myself!) But some time later, maybe around 2010, we started to see more and more Labradoodles (Labrador Retriever x Poodle).

The two way cross had been around for some time – first reported in America in 1955, but suddenly hit real popularity, considered a good choice for people with dog fur allergies, also nice natured and attractive dogs and with the theory that crossing the two breeds creates ‘hybrid vigour’ and reduces the likelihood of inherited health defects.

Then came the rise of the Cockerpoo (Cocker Spaniel x Poodle) also attractive, fun, nice natured dogs but smaller than the Labradoodle and probably an easier family pet/companion dog for many due to the smaller size- with an average weight of 12-15kg compared to the 30kg average weight of the Labradoodle.

The popularity of these two way cross breeds, sometimes called designer crosses, is now huge in the UK and can still keep us vets on our toes when we see a new two way crossbreed- trying to work out what it could be.

Here are a few we see:
Jug- Jack Russell Terrier x Pug
Pomski- Pomeranian x Husky
Dalmador- Dalmatian x Labrador
Cavapoo- Cavalier King Charles Spaniel x Poodle
Golden Doodle- Golden Retriever x Poodle
Cavachon- Cavalier King Charles Spaniel x Bichon Frise

Any guesses for Puggle or Shorkie is made up of?!

There are many more lovely ‘designer cross breeds’ out there and they all make great pets- family friendly and fun.

If you are thinking of getting a dog and would like advice our nurse team are always keen to talk you through choosing the right addition for you family. Just give us a call or drop us an email.

Photo of nurse Ellie Kifts Yorkshire bred ‘designer cross breed’ Douglas the Australian Labradoodle- what a handsome fellow he is!

Written by Vicky Williams, BVM&S  MRCVS

World Spay Day

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Today is #WorldSpayDay highlighting the importance of getting your pets neutered, spayed, or castrated.
 
Although referred to in different ways, they all essentially mean the same thing. Spay is typically used to refer to females, castrate for males, and neutering as a general term.
 
The process is a simple surgical procedure administrated by a vet that removes the reproductive organs and declares a pet/horse to be sterile.
 
This has several benefits for both you and your pets & horses. It is a relatively short procedure (always done under general anaesthetic) with a brief recovery period afterwards, but it has lifelong benefits.
 
Pets & horses will live a longer and healthier life through various health benefits of the procedure, as well as you doing your part to prevent overpopulation.
 
If you wish to chat to the team about spaying, neutering or castrating your small pets or horses, give the team a call on 01653 618303.

Meet Junior, our vet Amelia’s horse.

When Amelia purchased Junior she knew he had kissing spine. She x-rayed him as a 4 year old and again at 7 years old. The second x-rays showed some improvement. 

As a 7 year old he was given steroid injections in his back which gave him about a 10% improvement.

Junior had an accident cross country and started to lose confidence.

His main symptoms (‘bad’ behaviour) were predominantly on the lunge. He would buck when going into canter, change behind in canter alongside lots of tail swishing.

Last year Amelia started an acupuncture course of 6 sessions once per week. Junior has since moved onto a maintenance programme which progressed from having acupuncture every fortnight, then every month and he now has acupuncture every 6 weeks on average, or as and when the ‘bad’ behaviour on the lunge returns.

Junior has a varied programme of work from lungeing, schooling, hacking, lessons and he also competes.

His regular schooling work has a strict regime:

  • a good groom to help promote blood circulation
  • lunge/in-hand work before being ridden which will start with 10 minutes in walk followed by 10 minutes in walk & canter with regular breaks
  • 20-30 minute ridden schooling work

This regime is only for Junior’s schooling work which might be once or twice per week.  However, this means that Amelia can keep a close eye on him and when the ‘bad’ behaviour starts again it’s time to book him in for his next acupuncture session.

Junior is doing really well and he’s loving his jumping, thanks to Amelia’s strict routine and his regular acupuncture sessions.

Find out more about the benefits of acupuncture to your horse – click here!
Call the practice on 01653 618303 to discuss acupuncture for your horse with our team.

Alice and Big B tell us their story about how they have managed to overcome big B’s fear of needles, working closely with Catriona and the team at Station House Vets.

My horse Big B has long had a nervous disposition. Visits from the vet, farrier and other equine professionals have been a trigger for her anxiety in the past, in fact any change to her daily routine can often be a cause for her to get upset.

Being nervous, for years Big B required sedation for clipping and dental work, all of which along with her routine vaccinations, involved one of her biggest fears – needles!

I realised I was going to have to do something about this fear when about 6 years ago my previous vet was trying to sedate her for clipping and she knocked him across the stable into the wall with just her head – she is over 18hh and being a shire cross, she is extremely powerful and although not nasty when she is panicking you don’t want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time as her spatial awareness goes out the window. The next time the vet returned to see her he was wearing his hard hat and body protector and I knew if I didn’t address it properly it was only going to be a matter of time before me or the vet got hurt.

The first thing I decided to do was to create a routine for B, for anything to do with needles so she knew what to expect and could feel as prepared as possible. I knew she needed to be able to go out as normal on a morning and so I would arrange a time for the vet to come mid morning so she could have some time in her field before hand then come in to her stable in peace. She loves to be scratched and it always calms her down and so basically I would stand and scratch her for about 10 mins before the vet came helping her to relax. Importantly I also needed to remain calm, if I were to get tense then B would immediately know something was wrong and would start to worry, so I found singing or talking to her while waiting helped! I would tell my vet to come to the stable so she didn’t need me to leave her and he would walk in not speaking and just jab her with no faffing or wafting the needle around before hand. This improved the situation, but we would still find she was not totally settled and sometimes she would still jump or shoot up against the wall.

A big turning point was when I took B for a week long holiday where we tried our hand at positive reinforcement training. B absolutely loved this. She is very intelligent, and encouraging her to investigate scary things for herself with no pressure and the option to stop if she wanted really improved our relationship and confidence in each other.

Shortly after this I also moved vets to Station House Vets, Catriona became B’s main vet and this is where the improvement really started. I explained B’s nervousness to Catriona and the big difference was that she also took time to create a relationship with B so that B also began to trust her, not just me. When visiting our yard for other horses, sometimes Catriona would pop and see B in her stable while she was passing, not for a veterinary reason but just to say a quick hello and give her a treat so that she wasn’t always seeing her for something unpleasant.

B is also a frequent visitor to Station House so this has helped! Catriona is very patient and never rushes with B or raises her voice, she talks to her quietly and calmly and after any injection always gives her a treat and a fuss. This year we have been able to jab her just stood outside while chatting – she has come a very long way. It also meant that when she needed to go to Rainbow for lameness investigations, nerve blocks could be carried out with less stress than it would have previously involved, Catriona took the time to speak to the vets at Rainbow and let them know about B’s worry with needles so they too could be prepared.

Working on this also gave me the confidence to tackle other things that B found frightening, I no longer need sedation to clip her, she can be hot shod without panicking and I can worm her without a headcollar. It didn’t happen over night; it was years of patience, routine and reward but the improvement from 8 years ago is huge and I am very grateful to Catriona and the other vets at Station House who have since also had to jab B and followed the same routine to create the calmest environment for B and the safest environment for me and for them!

National pet dental health month

 
To celebrate pet dental health month we are offering free dental checks* to the end of February for all our clients – great & small!
 
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Our small animal clients are invited to book in with our vet nursing team for a pet dental health check.
 
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And for our equine clients we are offering a free dental check – alongside an already planned appointment or visit; just let us know in advance if we’re coming out to you so we can ensure our equine veterinary team have their dental equipment with them.
 
The small animal dental checks are ideal for clients with young dogs and cats as we can show you how to brush their teeth. It is important all pets’ teeth get regular attention but those who are middle aged and senior dogs should receive special attention.
 
Like us our pets teeth health deteriorates with age, so it’s important we are doing everything for them. At the small animal dental checks you will also receive a dental information pack.
 
While visiting the practice for your checks, we have some a range of dental health products you can buy – including tooth brushing kits and other products to help with your pets dental health.
 
Learn more about dental health on our website:
Small animals :
Horses :
 
Call the practice on 01653 618303 to book your free dental small animal check or free equine dental health check now.
* free dental health check. Any dental work over and above the check will need to be paid for.

Meet Rosa and Elspeth.

I brought Rosa our welsh section D 15 year old mare into see Amelia for a lameness work up after a period of time off and treatment didn’t seem to be doing the trick for her.  She was still refusing to jump and wasn’t happy in her work.

 
Rosa is primarily used as a hunter and my mum’s hack.
 
Amelia worked Rosa up, assessing her thoroughly using the facilities at station house. It was decided that her earlier diagnosis of osteoarthritis was still causing her lameness.
 
As a next step we opted to use stem cells. Rosa was medicated early July 2021 and after a 8 week rehab programme was sound enough to increase her work load for the first time in over 18 months.
 
Since treatment Rosa has been able to maintain a high level of work and has hunted regularly throughout the season. She has even restored her love for jumping.

Its time to pre-order sweet itch vaccines for your afflicted ponies & horses as we have to import them from abroad for you.  This is only available to clients who are registered with us.

So it’s important for us to know who needs them well in advance.

If you have an affected horse or pony, you know that the signs usually develop when the culicoides midge become active with the warmer weather, ie March onwards.

The vaccine is not 100% effective with 1/3 of animals not responding, another 1/3 are much improved and the final 1/3 are perfect.  We can’t tell you which will be successful.

For sweet itch we do two injections two weeks apart, ether at the practice or we can arrange a visit to you. The cost of the vaccine is £75 each injection (which includes the import cost and associated admin), plus the cost of the visit if needed.

Find out more about sweet itch treatment and management here.

To pre-order please contact us now at:
Email – prescriptions@stationhousevets.co.uk
Tel – 01653 618303

In light of the latest COVID guidance issued, we are updating our COVID procedures.

As of today, Thursday 27 January 2022, we ask that clients continue to wear face coverings/masks at all times within our premises.

Our team continue to wear their face masks at work.

We won’t be allowing you (our clients) back in to the consult rooms just yet but you are welcome in the waiting room and reception area; we just ask that you do continue to wear a mask if you can.

We will review these protocols again at the end of February 2022 and provide a further update.

We want to continue to do whatever we can to protect our team as well as their families and loved ones, and ensure we can continue to provide the ongoing care and support for your pets.  We also have a responsibility to continue to protect you – our wonderful clients.

Thank you once again for your patience and support.

Best wishes, The Station House Vets Team
Email: admin@stationhousevets.co.uk

 

 

We are looking for a 2022 Station House Vets Equine Young Ambassador.

We’d love entries from any of our young clients who are of Pony Club age so that we can follow your journey with your pony/horse throughout the year.  We will provide you with some branded goodies and discounts in return for you providing us with regular updates and photo’s on how you and your four legged friend are doing throughout the year, for our social media and our blog.

If you’d like to be considered for this exciting new position/role/venture, please email us a photo and a short synopsis of you and your pony/horse and why you think you should be our Station House Vet Young Ambassador.

Entries close Monday 31st January. Emails to be sent to rachelreedeeles@outlook.com