Looking after our wellbeing and mental health remains a hot topic in the veterinary world as the industry continues to experience significantly higher levels of suicide and depression than the general population.
This World Mental Health Day, we’d like to raise awareness around a fundraising challenge members of the 387 team are currently undertaking in support of Vetlife. The Vetlife charity works to ensure those in the veterinary community are aware of signposts to the right help if stressed, overwhelmed and struggling to cope. Vetlife fully fund their own 24/7 helpline, have a dedicated Health Support Team, and can offer financial aid, on application, to members of the veterinary community struggling to make ends meet.
11 members of the 387 team are currently participating in Vetlife’s ‘Active October’ campaign. Our target is to cover 700 miles this month through exercise, and we’d love to raise a pound for every mile. Our dogs are already loving the extra long dog walks and, as well as raising money for a worthwhile cause, it’s great for our physical and mental wellbeing too!
If you’d like to support our challenge, please click here to donate. By supporting us, you’ll be supporting the wellbeing of the wider veterinary community too.
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 Irish Wolfhound Gillighan who came in to see us having caught his tail in a van door. Mum bandaged him up and brought him straight down to see us for treatment. As a show dog, everyone was keen to try and preserve his full tail so that he would remain eligible to compete.
Tail wounds can struggle to heal: not only do dog tails have limited protective tissue, but they are in constant use as part of a dog’s mode of expression, which often means lots of wagging! Gillighan’s tail didn’t heal as we had hoped so had to surgically remove the damaged tip.
The three year old is now all better, the op site has healed, his fur has grown back and, excitingly, his tail remains long enough for him to continue to show. You can imagine our delight to receive a WhatsApp message from Gillighan’s owner last week to tell us he’d won silver in his show category. What a stunning superstar!
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 fabulous French Bulldog Ronald who came in to see us this morning wearing a pumpkin themed collar. Fantastic! He was more than happy to pose for a photo as we tempted him with treats to show off his seasonal collar. Ronald sat beautifully, and enjoyed having a few doggie biscuits as a reward for being such a good boy as you can tell from the pics!
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.
As an accredited Dog Friendly Clinic with Dogs Trust and The British Veterinary Behaviour Association, we’re super keen to help make in-patient visits as stress-minimal as possible. We phone owners ahead of patient admit to go through a care plan which includes questions about pet preferences and behaviours so that we can adapt care in practice accordingly. We ask that pets bring items from home with them for comfort and the familiar smell of home. A favourite blanket and teddy is perfect. We’ll also ask if owners can provide a portion of their dog’s favourite food for post procedure. Whilst we’re happy to provide food, we find pets often prefer what they and their tummy are used to. We have raised water bowls for bigger breeds and older pets.
In kennels, we make sure patient spaces are comfy and cosy. We drape towels over the front half of the kennel door too. Whist no kennel faces any other, this gives patients an extra sense of security if they want to tuck themselves away. We have three walk-in kennels on ward in addition to a host of other kennels to accommodate larger breeds, as well as a completely separate walk-in isolation kennel which we use for especially anxious patients, as well as medical cases warranting separation. We play gentle soothing music on ward and we keep treats and licki mats to hand for encouragement where some form of food is allowed.
We have a secure, enclosed toileting area directly off kennels. We have a patch of astro turf in our run for dogs who prefer to toilet on grass. If dogs like to potter before toileting, no problem. If they like company, that’s no problem too! We have dedicated kennels nurses specifically responsible for in-patient care and comfort.
Here are gorgeous Bez and Jasper beautifully modelling a few of our Dog Friendly Clinic inpatient initiatives. Both brought their teddies who were also given a health check during their stay!
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.
Summer time is fantastic for long days and lovely dry dog walks but do be mindful that if walking through meadows or other areas with long grass that it’s prime grass seed season. Grass awns are barbed and can easily become lodged in your pet’s fur and painfully hook into their skin. Common problem areas are ears and between the toes, but we’ve removed awns from noses, cheeks and even necks!
This is 8 month old Shih Tzu Milo who managed to get a grass seed very painfully lodged under his third eyelid. You can see the offending awn in poor Milo’s eye. We were able to very gently tease the seed out and have given Milo eye drops to sooth the trauma site. Milo was a very brave boy! See the spikey grass seed below!
It’s worth giving dogs a quick groom on return from summer dogs walks to remove any loose seeds that may subsequently cause issues. This will stop them potentially reseeding in your garden too. As summer is the height of parasite season, it’s also a great opportunity to give your pet a quick once over for any nasty creepy crawlies that may have targeted your pet as a tasty host!
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.
