Welcome back to our vet Emma and our Registered Veterinary Nurse Rachael who both attended International Cat Care’s 2025 World Feline Congress in Edinburgh last week. The event lasted three days, and included lecture streams, seminars and practical sessions given by leading feline experts to help advance feline wellbeing across the veterinary industry and beyond. Topics covered were as diverse as happy vet visits, managing feline behaviour issues, how to best care for poorly newborns, when to use antibiotics, nutritional management of cat diseases, trauma surgery, wound management and much much more! A special shout out to Rachael who was invited by International Cat Care to work for their team as a support volunteer. We’re very proud of you Rachael!
Some of you may remember that International Cat Care came to do some photography and filming last year in our interconnecting West Midlands Cat Clinic. The fruits of their labour are now live! Working in conjunction with Ceva who produce Feliway, the charity has launched a series of training videos to help veterinary professionals reduce stress and improve health outcomes in feline patients. You can imagine Rachael and Emma’s delight on seeing at congress that the West Midlands Cat Clinic spotlights in the promotional literature for the new online cat handling training series! Rachael herself and our Clinical Director Hamish in our West Midlands Cat Clinic have top billing in their literature! We’re super excited that our cat clinic is being recognised on the world stage!
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.
With today being the 80th anniversary of VE Day in Europe, many of us will be commemorating the date in some way, with VE Day events planned locally, nationally and internationally.
It’s a particularly significant day to champion the important role that dogs and cats played in World War II in serving and protecting their nation. Whilst cats were often used for pest control, dogs were employed as guards of posts and supplies, to act as messengers, to transport medications to injured soldiers and to undertake search and rescue activity. Some dogs were even trained to jump out of planes alongside their platoon! All animals played an important role in boosting general morale.
As part of their schools education programme, the Dogs Trust tells the remarkable story of Sarge the dog and his role in WWII. Determined to find care for him after their house was badly damaged in a bomb blast in 1941, Sarge’s family offered their dog to the Civil Defence Service as a way of ensuring he would be looked after. The Civil Defence Service pledged to return dogs to their owners after the war.
Sarge went from domestic pet to search and rescue hero in the Blitz. When he alerted his handler to an unexploded bomb, Sarge then went on to international acclaim, being sent to France to clear the area for the D-day landings in 1944 and remaining abroad, saved countless human and doggy colleagues overseas with his keen instinct and heroics. When he eventually returned to Britain, Sarge was reunited with his family who couldn’t believe the activity their family pet had undertaken. A true doggy hero. Click here to read about Sarge’s story in more detail.
Pets continue to play a hugely significant role in our lives today as companions who have the ability to make life feel better all round. Many have more formal roles in supporting the wider community.
Do give a special hug to your pet today to thank them for their companionship, and also in remembrance of the valiant efforts of their ancestors in helping to shape the lives we lead today.
Photo of dog sniffing out Blitz survivors: Imperial War Museum
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.
A big shout out to our Registered Veterinary Nurse Paige who is currently looking after these two tiny house guests. The kittens were found on a farm having been abandoned by mum and were brought in to the practice yesterday. They are still so young that they have yet to open their eyes but they are super strong and are happy to let us know when they are hungry! They need very regular bottle feeding which we’ll all be helping out with during work hours. Paige has volunteered to be mum overnight and this weekend until the babies go into longer term foster care with cat charity Voices 4 Cats on Monday. We wonder if they’ll open their eyes before the weekend is out! The kittens will be in excellent hands and we look forward to hearing how they get on!
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.
