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.
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.
Is your senior cat living their best life? We’re now offering special senior cat health and wellness clinics at our interconnecting West Midlands Cat Clinic to help your feline friend make the most of their nine lives!
Conditions like diabetes, thyroid trouble and heart and kidney disease are more common in older cats but can be difficult to spot early-on. At our senior cat clinic, we’ll chat to you about your senior superstar’s lifestyle, habits and behaviours and run blood profiling, blood pressure monitoring and urine analysis to screen for common age-related illness indicators. When you collect your feline friend a bit later in the day, you’ll have a 30-minute discharge appointment with a vet, where your feline friend will have a full vet health check and our vet will chat to you about any findings and recommendations from your’s cat’s visit. You’ll get a copy of your cat’s health assessment to take home.
Just like an MOT, we recommend annual attendance at senior cat clinics for cats over 10 years old to help keep your feline friend in the best of health. This is 10 year old Willow, our first attendee, enjoying treats in the consult room! As a ISFM gold cat friendly clinic, we believe all of our feline visitors deserve special treatment!
To find out more about our Senior Cat Health and Wellness Clinics, give us a call on 01922 411755.
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.
Bonnie’s owner brought her in to see us as she had noticed a change in the five year old’s behaviour. The cockerpoo had stopped greeting people, was snapping at other dogs on her dog walks and had started weeing and pooing in the house. She also seemed unnaturally anxious and her owner wondered whether she might be in pain.
We gave Bonnie a thorough examination. She seemed healthy body-wise but when we looked in her mouth, we could see that Bonnie had clear signs of periodontal disease (gum inflammation and receding gums). She also had a fractured canine tooth. Dental X-rays confirmed that Bonnie had attachment bone loss around several of her teeth. The dark areas in the accompanying x-ray photos indicate bone loss and problem areas underneath the gum line in stark contrast to the healthy teeth alongside where the gums and bone fully cushion the tooth and root.
Our vet Selenia, who holds a postgraduate certificate in small animal dentistry, operated on Bonnie and ended up removing the six compromised teeth. She also fixed Bonnie’s fractured canine using restorative methods, shaping and then sealing the tooth to prevent further issue down the line.
We are delighted that 2 weeks post op, Bonnie has stopped toileting indoors, is eating and drinking normally and is much more herself. It turns out that Bonnie’s poorly teeth were literally the root of her problem. We are glad you are feeling better beautiful girl!
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.
This is Cola having extra special cuddles today pre-op. She is practice manager Rachel and our vet Hamish’s cocker spaniel and is in for lip fold surgery. Cocker spaniels can be particularly prone to lower lip infection as they have an excess of skin that folds in on itself, trapping moisture and bacteria, causing this area to become sore and smelly. Whilst this can be managed in many cases with medicated wipes and a barrier cream, as soon as Hamish stopped using this treatment method on Cola, her problem returned. The best solution for Cola is to have the excess fold of skin removed to prevent ongoing bacterial build up and discomfort.
If you notice your dog is smelly around their mouth, please do get this checked out. Whilst it could be an easily treatable lip fold issue, an unpleasant smell can also be a symptom of dental disease. Taking action will help your dog to feel happier and healthier, and means doggy cuddles will be extra lovely without a smelly doggy mouth!
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.
