JULY PET
Bettie- 11 years old

BREED‍ Bichon frise ‍

HOW WE HELPED Our Pet of the Month for July is little Bettie, who is currently under the care of the Cambridge and district RSPCA. Bettie was bought into the surgery by team member and RSPCA fosterer Anna at the start of May, along with brothers Arthur and Archie. The previous owner was no longer able to care for them, and they were overdue some TLC.  All three dogs were washed and clipped, treated for fleas and worms, nails trimmed, and overdue vaccinations given. 

Bettie also had severe periodontal disease. This is a bacterial infection caused by plaque and tartar build-up. Symptoms include red, swollen and sore gums, tooth and bone loss, and in severe cases, damage to major organs as the bacteria multiply and spread to other parts of the body. Once Bettie had settled into her foster home, she came in for dental treatment. 8 teeth were extracted and the remaining teeth were cleaned and polished. Bettie went home the same day with pain relief and has made a really good recovery. 

Bettie is booked in for neutering in a week’s time, and once fully recovered, will be off to her new home, which she will share with fellow Bichon Frise Candy! Bettie is a sweet little dog, who has endured all her treatment with such good humour that we thought she deserved a special mention.  

We also want to highlight the work of the local RSPCA, who do a fantastic job caring for local pets in need. The local RSPCA groups are fully self-funded and are run purely by committed volunteers.‍ ‍

‍ ‍

JUNE PET
Stanley - 12 years old

BREED‍ Standard Ferret ‍

HOW WE HELPED Stanley is an exceptionally friendly boy who acts more like a dog than a ferret! At 12 years old, Stanley is an old man but that doesn’t stop him doing his daily walks on the lead and getting into mischief. He is a placid boy, who is frequently bullied by other ferrets so prefers to live inside and socialise with his humans and their dogs. Stanley has a very impressive sock collection that he stashes around the house, along with other bits of treasure he finds on the way.

For an older Ferret, Stanley is in very good shape, but has been suffering with a recurrent lump on one of his testicles. Like lots of animals, ferrets can be prone to lumps and bumps as they age. In most cases these are benign cysts or fatty lumps but they can be a little more sinister so Stanley’s owner was keen to get him checked out. Fortunately Stanley’s embarrassing lump was a fluid filled cyst. We had to drain it a few times before it finally subsided, but Stanley was very tolerant!

We love seeing Stanley at the vets, but are very happy that he has made a full recovery and is back to stealing socks and hanging out with his canine companions!

‍ ‍

‍ ‍

MAY PET
Reggie - 8 months old

BREED Labrador Retriever

HOW WE HELPED Reggie is a big softie with an even bigger appetite, who loves chasing birds and rabbits on walks, although they always manage to stay ahead of him. His favourite things are swimming at the beach, carrying sticks and balls wherever he goes, and spending time with his family friends Nero, Luka, and Archie on long walks. Full of energy, love, and wagging tails, Reggie brings smiles wherever he goes!‍

Reggie was not quite his usual happy self a few weeks ago, when he came into the surgery with a very sore paw. He had been chewing the paw on and off for a few weeks, and intermittently limping. He was not keen to have the paw examined, so a few days later, with no obvious improvement, he was sedated so we could have a better look.

We found a tiny puncture wound next to one of his pads, and an X-ray confirmed the presence of a small foreign body under the skin. A small incision next to the wound allowed removal of a very thin piece of wire, which had obviously worked its way under the skin and been causing significant irritation and pain.

Reggie came in for a post-op check the following day, and because the wound was so tiny, the wire so thin and our vet so skilled, the paw had almost healed! Reggie is now back to being his usual happy, bouncy self. Welcome back Reggie!

‍ ‍ ‍

APRIL PET
Metu - 4 months old

BREED‍
DSH

HOW WE HELPED Meet Metu (pronounced mee-too) our Pet of the Month for April. Metu lives with sister, Nala, and loves nothing more than pestering his owners for cuddles and causing general chaos!

Metu came into the surgery a month ago with a sore right eye. He was squinting, but there were no signs of infection. Closer examination revealed a deep scratch, possibly from another cat. Initially, with pain relief and eye drops, the eye seemed to improve, but a week or so later a corneal ulcer developed.

The ulcer was growing and we were worried that surgery might be required if there was no improvement. Vet Rachel, decided that Metu might benefit from some serum eye drops. This involves taking a blood sample (from a donor cat in this case as Metu was too small and wriggly!) spinning it down to separate the serum, and then using this serum as therapeutic eye drops to allow rapid healing of the damaged tissue.

Happily, after a few days of treatment, administered every two hours by Metu’s dedicated owners, the eye began to heal, and surgery was avoided.

Little Metu was so brave that we thought he deserved POTM status.

Congratulations Metu!

MARCH PET
Daisy - 14 years old

BREED
Labrador

HOW WE HELPED
Daisy is a sweet older lady, whose proudest moment was winning a first prize rosette for “Dog with the waggiest tail” at the village fair. Daisy suffers from selective deafness … she doesn’t come in from the garden when called but can somehow hear the fridge door open from the other end of the house!

Daisy has always been a very active and healthy dog. As she has aged, Daisy has struggled a little with stiff joints and severe arthritis in her right elbow. This is a common problems for older dogs, and larger breeds such as Labradors, can be particularly prone to problems.

Daisy’s aches and pains were managed with anti-inflammatories, as and when needed, for a year or two, until the vets suggested she try a new treatment called Librella. Librella is a monthly injection that uses monoclonal antibodies to treat the pain associated with osteoarthritis. Daisy has been having the injections for a couple of years, coupled with joint supplements, and still enjoys her short, daily walks.

Daisy has a really kind nature. She is very much a part of the family, having grown up with the children. She is even pleased to see us when she comes into the surgery for her regular check-ups, greeting us with a tail wag, hoping for a treat, so we thought she merited a special mention!

FEBRUARY PET
Sprout - 19 months old

BREED‍
Fancy rat

HOW WE HELPED
Sprout was brought in to us as a stray in a very bad way. She was very skinny and couldn’t stand up properly. Maria the vet inspected her mouth and found her teeth were misaligned and very overgrown, causing her pain and preventing her from eating hard food.

After a rather drastic dental, Sprout quickly found her appetite and has come on leaps and bounds. She still struggles to eat hard foods so is supplemented with human baby food and home cooking and is starting to regain weight and strength.

Sprout also has a neurological condition which makes it hard to control her movements. This means mealtimes can be messy, as she often ends up wearing her dinner, but this doesn’t prevent her enjoying her food (especially when Spag Bol is on the menu!)

Sprout is now living her best life with our receptionist, Anna, and her large menagerie.

Congratulations Sprout! ‍

JANUARY PET
Bill - 11 years old

BREED‍ Domestic Long Hair

HOW WE HELPED Handsome Bill lives with his brother in central Cambridge. He loves sitting in the sun watching the world go by from the front window and aiding on occasion with office work. ‍ ‍

Bill is a bit of an enigma, who had us all rather worried for a few days. His owner bought him in because he had stopped eating. His physical examination found nothing abnormal, so suspecting an underlying infection, Bill was given pain relief and a long-acting antibiotic.

We saw Bill again a few days later. He was still not eating and was now slightly dehydrated. The vets suspected pancreatitis, but were not sure if this was the main problem or a secondary condition. Bill’s owner was due to go away so we offered to hospitalise Bill, give him some appetite stimulants and IV fluids, take bloods and possibly perform an ultrasound examination if there were no improvement.

Bill’s blood results showed a few changes but nothing conclusive. Happily over the next few days, with lots of TLC from our nursing team, Bill slowly regained his appetite and seemed a lot brighter. Given his improvement, no ultrasound was performed, so Bill remains a mystery, but his owner is thrilled to have him home and we are equally happy he’s is feeling so much better!‍ ‍

DECEMBER PET
Harvey - 15 years old

BREED
Lurcher

HOW WE HELPED
Rescue dog Harvey was adopted by his current owners (then aged 93) in 2016, after they lost their much loved lab.

Harvey settled well, and is great company. He has always loved his walks and food, once managing to almost help himself to the Christmas cake (the sound of the tin hitting the floor gave him away!)

He's now an old boy and spends most of his day dozing on the sofa. Despite his size and his age, Harvey is a really healthy boy, visiting Patrick just twice a year for his checkup. He knows exactly where he is when the car pulls up at the surgery, and tries his very best to drag his owners in the opposite direction. We don’t take it personally!

Congratulations Harvey!

NOVEMBER PET
Douglas - 16 years old

BREED Yorkie X Toy Poodle X Lhasa Apso X Daschund!

HOW WE HELPED Meet Douglas, proud winner of the 2022 ‘Scruffiest article’ class in the West Wales show! Douglas is a Hairy Maclary lookalike, who rules the roost. Despite his tiny size, he loves ‘savaging’ his squeaky toys, and in his youth, he could jump like a flea! His least favourite things are visiting the vets (he particularly objects to Patrick!) and Greyhounds, after being attacked in his youth.

We have seen rather a lot of Douglas in the last month or so. He came in for a dental in October to remove multiple loose teeth and the built-up calculus that was causing his very smelly breath. He was just starting to recover when he developed an anal gland abscess, requiring antibiotics, lots of pain relief and intravenous fluids to get him back on track. Luckily Douglas is a very resilient little dog, so cute and full of character that we are always happy to see him, even if the feeling is not mutual!

Congratulations Douglas!

OCTOBER PET
Chloe - 2 years old

BREED Chihuahua Cross

HOW WE HELPED
Chloe was presented to us in April, totally paralysed from the waist down following a traumatic injury. Sadly, her owners felt they were not able to provide the life long care she would require.

Happily our star fosterer, Anna stepped in. Despite having at least 9 dogs at home at any one time, Anna never says no to one more, and doesn’t let a little detail like paralysis stand in her way!

After numerous hospital appointments and a huge amount of help from local charities and an anonymous donor, Chloe has made a miraculous recovery. The first sign of recovery was a tiny wag at the tip of her tail. She slowly gained the use of her hind limbs, and now scuttles around in her own unique way. She will still require extra care for the rest of her life (and is very lucky to have Anna on hand to provide this) but this does not stop her being the happiest dog you will ever meet.

We definitely thought she deserved a special mention. Congratulations Chloe!

SEPTEMBER PET
Maisie - 4 months old

BREED Labrador

HOW WE HELPED
Maisie is a typical Labrador puppy - cheeky, sweet and absolutely obsessed with food or anything that she can chew... Pebbles, sticks, gravel, socks and bird poo are all fair game as far as Maisie is concerned.

We saw Maisie back in August, aged just 3 month old. She had woken up, vomited, and was very subdued. We managed to take one conscious X-ray which showed fragments of something dense in her intestines. Maisie returned the following day for sedation and more X-rays which revealed foreign bodies in her colon and abdomen. The next day Maisie was still vomiting and quiet. We were concerned that something had got stuck in her digestive system, which could have required emergency surgery, so took a third set of X-rays.

Fortunately Maisie’s symptoms settled over the next few days and surgery was not required.

Maisie’s owners describe her as completely unrepentant! That may be so, but we are always happy to see such a sweet little face in the surgery!

AUGUST PET
Bill - 4 years old

BREED Crossbreed

HOW WE HELPED Bill’s owners adopted him three years ago from North Macedonia., via a local rescue organisation, Strays Without Borders. When Bill first arrived he was quick to love his owners, but scared of everything else! With lots of love and patience he has made excellent progress, and will even tolerate some fuss from Harriet in the surgery waiting room (though not yet in the consult room!)

Bill has struggled with skin problems for the past few years. Until the end of last year, his allergies were well managed, but shortly before Christmas Bill started loosing hair and his skin became increasingly scaly and sore. All the usual tests came back negative, but Bill was loosing weight and increasingly lethargic. A referral to the vet school led to a diagnosis of Leishmaniasis, a disease spread by sandflies, that can lie dormant in the system for years. Happily, with the right treatment, Bill is now regrowing his lovely coat and is so much brighter and happier.

Strays without borders have been an ongoing source of support for Bill’s owners. You can read more about their work on their website

Home - strayswithoutborders | UK