This Month at Vetrica

10 May 2004

Latest News

This page contains the latest news from Vetrica and Vetrica OnLine. It updates at least monthly, and will also keep you up to date with the latest news about animal care and welfare.

An archive of previous months articles is also available.

Dog Health Plan

The latest instalment of our pet health plans was launched on 1st May. The Dog Health Plan gives your dog an annual booster vaccination, a year's supply of flea treatment, a year's supply of worming treatment, and a health check six months after the vaccination, all for only £60. If you prefer, you can pay this monthly over 6 months at only £10 a month.

The Dog Health Plan uses Program Plus^® for flea and worm control. This excellent treatment guarantees freedom from fleas, and means that your dog will not produce dangerous roundworm eggs.

Rabbit Health

It's that time of year again when the sun starts to shine, and we see more flying insects. The warmer weather is a real danger to rabbits. Blowflies are attracted to rabbits, so it's important that they are protected against blowfly strike (maggot attack). Fortunately this is easily achieved with two applications of a product called Rearguard^® 10 weeks apart. There is a full article on blowfly strike, and a video here.

New Vaccination Recommendations

Intervet, the manufacturer of the majority of the vaccines that we use at Vetrica have just announced that the duration of immunity for dogs against distemper, hepatitis and parvovirus is now three years, instead of the previously accepted two years. This vaccine is the only one currently available to have such a long proven duration of immunity. The duration of immunity to leptospirosis remains at one year. (In fact, recent work showed that after even 13 months, the immunity to leptospirosis is starting to diminish).

This means that we are now able to modify the vaccination schedule available at Vetrica. Following the initial primary course as a puppy, the first booster vaccination is a "full" booster, consisting of distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and leptospirosis; followed by two consecutive annual boosters of leptospirosis only, with another "full" booster every third year.

The leptospirosis only vaccine is cheaper than the "full" booster, and we pass this saving onto you. The current vaccine prices are available here.

Suture-Free Operations

Photo of a spay wound closed with tissue adhesive.

This is a photograph of a spay wound that has been closed using tissue adhesive. The absence of sutures meant less time under anaesthetic and fewer re-visits afterwards.

As some of you will have noticed, for the past few weeks we've been trialing a suture-free technique of closing operation wounds. Basically, instead of using nylon sutures (stitches) to close a wound at the end of an operation, we use a special tissue adhesive to glue the two sides of the wound together.

There are a number of advantages to this technique:

It's faster, meaning less time under anaesthetic.
The animal does not have to return to have any sutures removed, meaning fewer visits to the vet.
Not having any sutures in the wound ought to mean fewer animals interfere with the wound.

Tissue adhesive will never be suitable for all wounds, but the majority probably will be. We've found it especially useful for minor skin wounds that would in the past have required a general anaesthetic and suturing. Now all we have to do is glue them back together again!

That's the theory anyway. Sometimes the reality of a new product or technique is very different from the theory. I'll let you know next month how we've got on, and whether we decide to adopt this as a standard practice.

Photo of Bailey's tummy before treatment with
Atopica®.

Before treatment with Atopica^®, Bailey was intensely itchy, removing most of the hair from her tummy. This problem had persisted for many months.

This Month's Interesting Case

Well, two cases this month actually.

First up, we have Bailey, a domestic cat. Last month we reported on Atopica^®, a new drug for the treatment of atopy in dogs. Well, Bailey has had a persistently itchy skin for many months, and despite all our efforts to determine the cause and find a treatment, we had hardly made any difference to her. Bailey was so itchy that, as you can see from the photo on the right, she was removing all the fur from her tummy. Atopica^® is not licensed for use in cats, but I thought it was worth trying it. So, after a full discussion with Bailey's owner, and despite the high cost of the drug, we gave Bailey a month's course of the treatment for the initial trial.

Photo of Bailey's tummy after treatment with Atopica®.

After treatment with Atopica^®, Bailey was much more comfortable, and had stopped removing the hair from her tummy, allowing it to re-grow.

One month later and ... what a difference! As you can see from the photograph on the left, the treatment has been a big success at treating Bailey's itchy skin. Itch is a major source of suffering in our pets. Having an effective treatment that doesn't involve using steroids is a big step forwards. Not only is Bailey's hair re-growing, but now that she's not itchy any more, she's happier, and an altogether nicer cat to be around.

Many people simply ignore the fact that their cat is pulling her fur out, especially when it's directed at an inconspicuous area like the tummy (which is the most common site). This is a serious welfare issue, but until now treatment regimes have been very limited in their success, and the side-effects of the drugs that we've traditionally used (steroids) created their own welfare problems. I look forward to relieving many more cats of their suffering in this way.

Photo of a retained temporary canine tooth.

Retained temporary teeth (especially temporary canines) are very common in small breed dogs.

Ben, is an 8 month old Yorkshire Terrier, as you can see in the picture, Ben had two canine teeth where there should only have been one! This is a very common problem; Ben was one of several such cases seen at Vetrica last month. This is what we call retained temporary teeth. This means simply that the first (baby) teeth of the dog haven't been lost like they should have been. There are a number of problems associated with this condition.

Firstly, the adult tooth should be in the location where the temporary tooth is located. This in turn causes problems with mouth conformation, and difficulty properly closing the mouth (although to be fair this complication is actually quite rare). Secondly, and probably the most immediate problem is that food collects between the two teeth, leading to bacterial build-up which can in turn damage the adult tooth, and result in the loss of both teeth.

This is usually a problem of small breed dogs - All types of terrier, Chihuahuas, Poodles and Shih Tzus (amongst others). These small breeds often have overcrowded mouths with teeth growing at odd angles within the jaw. The last thing they need is to have retained temporary teeth. It is important that these teeth are removed at any early age.