8th August is International Cat Day! Every year, cat charity International Cat Care use the day to highlight important feline-centric topics and to raise awareness of cats as a species. This year’s focus is ‘How to be Cat Friendly Every Day’, respecting each cat’s unique nature and meeting their environmental and social needs. As 387 Vets and The West Midlands Cat Clinic are Gold-accredited with International Cat Care’s Cat Friendly Clinic scheme, we’re especially excited about this year’s theme!
Follow International Cat Care’s Facebook page and their other social media channels for a huge range of top tips on how to be cat friendly at home. Their first post today is all about cat communication for cat friendly interaction and a better understanding of your feline friend’s behaviours. Their second post is about the importance of cat friendly play for mental stimulation, minimising unwanted destructive behaviour, encouraging exercise and for strengthening your bond with your cat. It’s going to be a busy feed of fab tips and information. Do keep revisiting!
Wellcare World specializes in providing the latest advancements in wellness technology, supplementation, and lifestyle changes that improve health and increase the quality of people's lives.To learn more, visit WellcareWorld.com and begin living a better life today.
Rabbit Awareness Week (RAW) is celebrated annually in order to promote the health and welfare of pet rabbits and to raise awareness about the unique needs of one of the UK’s favourite pets.
RAW runs from 23rd – 27th June and the focus for 2025 is ‘Happy Hoppy Homes.’ Did you know that rabbit homes should have a minimum footprint of 3m x 2m so that bunnies can hop and run, and that they should be 1m in height so they fully stretch upright without their ears touching the roof.
Introducing different levels in a bunny home is great for enrichment and for separating feeding, resting and exercise spaces. Get creative with tunnels to maximise bunny fun! And don’t forget lots of fresh straw bedding so bunnies can snuggle and keep cosy.
Rabbits love to play, and toys enable them to exhibit natural behaviours like digging, jumping and chewing. You can stuff cardboard tubes with hay and healthy treats as engagement activity, provide a digging box filled with shredded paper and include wickers toys that rabbits can toss and chew. Remember to include plenty of hiding places, which could even be cardboard boxes which rabbits can chew too!
Rabbits are sociable soles and are happiest with another rabbit companion, but make sure they are neutered! Ask us for tips on introducing a new friend to your rabbit’s home as this needs to be carefully managed for optimum results.
The Rabbit Awareness Action Group have heaps more great advice on helping rabbit owners to create a ‘Happy Hoppy Home’. Click here to download your free Rabbit Awareness Week Owner Pack from the group’s website, and make sure you follow Rabbit Awareness Week on Facebook and other social media channels for top tips on helping bunnies to live their best life!
Wellcare World specializes in providing the latest advancements in wellness technology, supplementation, and lifestyle changes that improve health and increase the quality of people's lives.To learn more, visit WellcareWorld.com and begin living a better life today.
Just as we have regular check ups at the dentist, it’s really important that pets’ teeth and gums are checked routinely to ensure our four legged companions are enjoying good periodontal health. We check pet oral health at annual vaccination appointments and at various other pet visits to the vets. However, as an owner, it’s worth knowing issues to look for that may require more of an impromptu trip to the vets!
Common signs that your pet may be suffering dental or mouth pain include rejecting dog biscuits or treats, chewing on only one side of the mouth, taking more time over food, increased drooling, pawing at the mouth and even a reluctance to play or increased grumpiness. You may notice your pet’s breath smells less than fresh, or if you can safely lift up their lip to inspect the gums, that they look red and angry or may even be bleeding. Teeth may exhibit discolouration. When plaque – a clear sticky film on the tooth that hangs on to bacteria – collects, this leads to gum disease and tooth decay. When left, plaque deposits calcify, becoming hard tartar as shown in the accompanying photo. This needs professional removal.
As we know, gum disease and tooth decay can be incredibly painful, so please do visit a vet if you’re concerned about your pet’s oral health in any way for the wellbeing of your pet. For dogs, we offer a scale and polishing service run by our qualified RVNs and use an ultrasonic scaler to clean teeth. We’ll also probe beneath the gum line whilst your dog is under anaesthesia to check for any hidden pockets that may harbour bacteria and cause subsequent problems. For any teeth that cause concern, we’ll x-ray as part of the service and advise on any further treatment as necessary.
It may, however, be that your pet needs veterinary dental care. We’re proud that our vet Selenia has a Postgraduate Qualification in Small Animal Dentistry and is brilliantly placed to carry out more complex dental procedures in practice.
As a preventative measure, regular tooth brushing using a pet friendly toothpaste will help reduce pet dental disease. Please ask us for advice on how best to encourage your pet to tolerate this. Check out the Veterinary Oral Health Council’s website for other strategies to help reduce periodontal disease in pets.
Wellcare World specializes in providing the latest advancements in wellness technology, supplementation, and lifestyle changes that improve health and increase the quality of people's lives.To learn more, visit WellcareWorld.com and begin living a better life today.
The Youth Mental Health Crisis: Alarming Statistics and Service Challenges
The sobering statistics on a growing youth mental health crisis have become frequent headlines. In February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that as of 2021, more than one-third of high school students, including nearly three in five teen girls, had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. In a survey conducted in 2022 by the Institute of Education Sciences, leaders from more than two-thirds of public schools reported an increase in the number of students seeking mental health services since the pandemic, and nearly half of them said they could not effectively provide mental health services to all students in need.
Mental health is a vital public health issue. These statistics and the children and teens behind them provide a clear call to action to prioritize prevention. Rather than intervening only when a student is suffering, we must take a preventative approach to mental health.
Think about it like this: We don’t put a new driver behind the wheel of a car and assume that seatbelts and airbags will keep them safe. While both can offer protection, we prepare new drivers by teaching them the rules of the road and equipping them with the skills they need to drive safely. Similarly, we must prepare children for managing distress and provide them with the coping skills to respond when adversities appear.
Most mental health challenges do not arise because of an underlying sudden biological change; rather, there are risks and protective factors that promote or hinder development and impact the risk of developing mental health conditions. And every young person deserves access to preventative tools that can help them recognize and manage mental health risks, and cope with common obstacles they face in life.
Because schools are where young people spend the bulk of their days, they are important places to develop these types of skills. Teachers do not need to become therapists, but they do need to be prepared to teach and model skills and strategies that help learners navigate academic, social and emotional challenges inherent to school. To do that effectively, they need access to evidence-based programs that support social and emotional development, professional learning opportunities related to student mental health and school leaders who prioritize the well-being of young people.
Promoting Mental Health and Well-being in Schools: Strategies and Benefits
The good news is that there is a wealth of evidence around practices and curriculum that can help young people learn coping skills and other preventative strategies, and many of the options are cost-effective and can be implemented in schools. Mental health literacy, for example, a framework that conceptualizes recognition, knowledge and attitudes around mental health, can help school staff and students obtain and maintain positive mental health, understand and identify mental illnesses and seek help if needed. Studies have shown that mental health literacy programs can improve recognition, management and prevention of mental health challenges and can decrease stigma about mental illness and treatment in school communities.
Similarly, incorporating social and emotional learning (SEL) in schools can help young people create multiple protective factors that can act as a shield against mental health challenges, including building positive relationships, regulating emotions and solving problems. Hundreds of independent studies have found that students who participate in evidence-based SEL programs in school experience less emotional distress and behavior problems. Research also indicates that SEL helps young people better manage short-term symptoms related to anxiety and depression, and some studies have shown that SEL creates a healthy school climate that improves students’ sense of emotional safety and belonging. That’s critical for young people right now.
Well-being and academic achievement are closely intertwined. Students have a hard time learning if they are struggling to focus, cope or connect with their peers and teachers. It’s also clear that teachers who take time to build relationships with students are more likely to spot early signs of concern and engage students in productive learning — and, if necessary, refer them to the appropriate mental health services.
That doesn’t mean we should conflate promoting mental wellness with treating mental illness. The intention of teaching SEL and mental health literacy in schools is not to treat or diagnose mental health conditions. Prioritizing these areas of learning does not replace the role of mental health providers or detract from the importance of therapeutic responses for children who need them.
An effective public health approach to the youth mental health crisis requires equipping schools communities with prevention and intervention strategies so that all students are supported and protected.
This is a pivotal moment for young people — and there’s no quick-fix, one-stop solution for the crisis. But it’s clear that we need to rethink how we approach the layered challenges facing our youth and prioritize the well-being of every one of our nation’s children.
Wellcare World specializes in providing the latest advancements in wellness technology, supplementation, and lifestyle changes that improve health and increase the quality of people's lives.To learn more, visit WellcareWorld.com and begin living a better life today.
