Penmellyn Vets St Columb

🐰Neutering 🐰

Rabbits thrive then living in pairs or groups, so it's vital they are neutered.
Neutering not only stops unwanted litters and fighting behaviours its vital for their health as females especially as it removes the risk of uterine cancer and phantom pregnancies. Having both male and female neutered will stop the un-neutered one from pestering the other which can trigger fighting.

Neutered rabbits can still chase and mount each other (this behaviour doesn't lead to fighting), this is normal behaviour and is the rabbits sorting out the dominant one.

🐇Rabbit Nutrition🐇
🚜85% of the rabbit’s diet should be good quality hay, they should be eating roughly their body size in hay a day.
You can’t give your rabbits too much hay, they also forage, nest, play and nibble on it throughout the day.

What do we mean buy good quality hay? – Good quality hay should be dry, sweet smelling and free from grit, dust and mould and stored in a dry environment. It's worth noting that Alfalfa is not considered hay and should only be given as a treat as it is high in calcium.

Why do rabbits need hay? – Rabbits teeth grow constantly, when eating hay rabbits chew in a cross action (like cows chewing the cud in the field) which helps to wear down their teeth.
🥦🥕🥦🥕🥦🥕🥦🥕
10% of the rabbit’s diet should be fresh vegetables. A multitude of plants are safe for rabbits to eat, it’s up to you whether you get them from the hedgerow (if foraging for your rabbit please wash the plants before giving to your rabbit) or the supermarket.
Broccoli, spring greens and parsley are as tasty to a rabbit as dandelions from the garden.

You can find a list of fruit, veg and plants safe to feed your rabbit on the rabbit welfare association website www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/recommended-veg-and-herbs

🐰 It's day one of Rabbit Awareness Week 2024🐰 –
Today they're hopping right into Companionship and how having a
friend affects their health.

Rabbits love company, and as prey animals they rely on their
other warren mates to help them look out for danger and to keep
warm in colder weather.
They choose to spend time with other
rabbit's, single rabbits tend to feel more anxious as they will be
looking out for danger 24/7 and so can never really relax because
they have no one else helping to look out for danger.

Single rabbits can display negative behaviours such as bar biting,
having a companion can significantly reduce stress and studies have shown that
rabbits value the company of other rabbits as much as they value food!

Now that is saying something as rabbits really value food! 🥦

Rabbits and Guinea pigs?

Housing rabbits and guinea pigs is not advised because they have different
nutritional, and exercise needs also rabbits and guinea pigs crave the affection of their own species. However, if you already have a paired-up rabbit and guinea pig please don’t separate them.

Penmellyn Vets are running free Rabbit Nurse clinics until 5th July, all bunnies will leave with a free 'goodie bag' so get in touch to book.

Staff Pet Saturday!

With Rabbit Awareness Week starting on Monday, we decided to introduce you to some of the Rabbits that live with our wonderful team 🐰🐾
We'd love to see your Rabbits in the comments!!!

We want to help keep your pets smiling for Summer ☀️⛱

Pawsitively sparkling smiles for just £249!*

Keep your pet’s teeth gleaming and their health in check with comprehensive dental cleaning.

Dental disease can severely impact your pet’s health, causing:

🦷Painful teeth and gums
🦷Difficulty chewing
🦷Smelly breath
🦷Liver and kidney issues

For just £249* we'll thoroughly remove harmful plaque and tartar, stopping gum disease, tooth decay and bad breath in their tracks. Think of it as an expert-level scale and polish.

* To find out more and read the full T&Cs, click here
https://www.penmellynvet.co.uk/about-us/offers/dental-cleans-campaign?utmcode=

Meet Jack🤎
Jack is a gorgeous older boy who has been diagnosed with diabetes. He was recently hospitalised for monitoring of his blood glucose, for which we placed a Freestyle Libre device onto his skin. This continuous glucose monitoring device is easily placed and tolerated and allows us, as well as owners at home, to monitor trends for up to 14 days. Readings are taken via a smartphone or a dedicated reader and results can allow us to adjust medication as necessary which is very important in the management of diabetes.
Jack was the perfect patient and will continue to undergo monitoring to ensure that he is on the correct dosage of insulin and continues to respond well.

If your pet has diabetes and you would be interested in knowing more about Freestyle Libre, please contact the surgery or speak to your vet at your next consultation - we would be happy to discuss the benefits with you!

Psssst...

Have you heard? Penmellyn is taking part in rabbit awareness week from 24-29th June Rabbit Awareness Week 🐰

We have unfortunately had a deceased cat brought in to us at the St Columb Major hospital.
He is a young neutered male ginger cat, no microchip or collar. Found near St Dennis.
Please contact the practice on 01637 880307 for more information.

Did you know we offer rehabilitation clinics at our St Columb Major hospital?

If your pet has had orthopaedic surgery, is suffering with a soft tissue or muscular injury, has osteoarthritis, is slowing down, or you are just looking for some conditioning ideas, this service is for you. Our clinics are run by Meg Richards RVN NCert Physio and Georgie Lamb Cert VNECC RVN , with the aims to improve strength and mobility, reduce pain and increase quality of life for our beloved pets.

Within your bespoke appointment, tailored to your pet's individual needs, you can expect a combination of gait analysis, massage, range of motion physiotherapy, laser therapy and prescriptive exercise, to work with you to achieve set goals. You will then be given individualised exercise to incorporate into your daily routine between appointments.

If you would like more information on this service, please contact the surgery on 01637 880307.

🐱SPECIAL OFFER🐱
Yesterday was the deadline to comply with the new microchipping law for all owned Cats in England.

Microchipping is the best way to ensure you are reunited with your pet if they should get lost so, to help all our owners comply with the new legislation we have been offering to Microchip your cat and register them on the national database for a £15.

✨If you have missed the deadline we are extending this offer till 30th June 2024✨
Please get in touch to book your Cat/Kitten to be Microchipped 🐈‍🐈
https://www.penmellynvet.co.uk/book-an-appointment -type

Failing to comply with the law could see owners receive a fine of up to £500.

Meet Moon 🌙
This pretty girl came in to be spayed a few weeks ago! She was very well behaved and has recovered perfectly since, she loved having lots of fuss off our nursing team🐾🩶

🐾Millie🩷
Here we have the lovely Millie!
Millie came to see one of our veterinary nurses at the start of May to be weighed, to discuss diet and socialisation and to collect her monthly flea and worming treatment. She was the best girl 🥇

📆 Save The Date!

Our next CPD event will be on Wednesday 12th June! This talk is open to both vets & nurses, and we would love to see as many of you there as possible!

Free to attend and food provided! 😊

Spread the word! 🗣️

Unfortunately our Newquay branch have had a deceased 6-12 month old female Bengal cat brought in by a member of the public.
Found at Bramble Close in Newquay.
Please call the Newquay practice on 01637 871680 for further information.

Our Newquay practice have been handed a stray tortoise. If you believe this to be yours please contact [email protected] with your address and a photo of your missing tortoise. Penmellyn Vets, Newquay

Next up we have Becky🐾
Becky joined Penmellyn in October 2009, just before qualifying as a nurse. She has worked as an orthopaedic nurse, rota nurse and at the St Austell branch before heading off travelling in 2015. While travelling in Australia, She worked on a horse polo farm and at the RSPCA hospital in Sydney. She re-joined the Penmellyn team after returning from her travels in 2017. She is now the clinic nurse at St Columb and loves helping our clients with their pets during her consultations.

Becky has a noisy bengal called Maui and a Staffy x Labrador named Darcy that she enjoys taking for beach walks. In her spare time she also enjoys horse riding, climbing, exploring Cornwall and looking after her dog exercise padddock.

Here we have another member of our nursing team, Holly!

Holly has been with us for a year , and has been a registered veterinary nurse for 18 months. Holly has many interests within veterinary nursing, she enjoys caring for and treating our inpatients , monitoring anaesthetics, performing physiotherapy, and so much more.
Within the veterinary nursing career, it is common for our nursing team to progress in areas of interest, Holly, like many members of the team enjoys all aspects of the job and is interested in finding her preferred field in the future.

Meet Boycie🐾
Boycie came to see us at the start of the month for a sore on his paw, and he travels in style 😎
Boycie has been travelling on his owners bike since a puppy and absolutely loves it!

Next up on introducing you to some of our nursing team, We have Leah!
Leah is one of our student veterinary nurses and has been with us for almost 3 years. Leah started as an animal nursing assistant, she then progressed into her veterinary nursing course and is almost at the end of her second year.
We asked Leah what her favourite part about being a veterinary nurse is, this is what she said:
‘I really enjoy performing physiotherapy and massage on our orthopaedic patients in recovery, i enjoy watching their improvement throughout recovery and helping with enrichment factors during their stay too, such as spending time with the patient outside and giving them lots of fuss and attention, until they are ready to be reunited with their owners’
Below we have some pictures of Leah with a recent patient we had in for spinal surgery, enjoying some massage and physio out in the sunshine ☀️

By 10th June 2024 all domestic cats in England and Wales need to be microchipped and registered on the national database by law.
We are offering 1/2 price Cat Microchipping until 10th June to help you prepare 🐱

Vet Nurse Awareness Month🐾

This year, the campaign theme is progression so we thought we would start by introducing you to one of our veterinary nurses Meg🩺
Meg started with us 4 years ago as a veterinary nursing assistant, she then progressed onto the student nursing course, and has now passed all of her exams and assignments and received the amazing news that she is officially a qualified veterinary nurse!🎊
We asked Meg what her favourite part about being a veterinary nurse is and here is her response -
“I love how challenging, varied and rewarding vet nursing is. There’s nothing better than nursing a patient back to health and watching them reunite with their owners”

A huge congratulations again, Meg!

Keep your eyes peeled for who is next..🐾

🌸Spring Giveaway🌼
To celebrate the sunshine, we have decided to do a giveaway!
To enter the giveaway please like, share and comment which hamper you would like to win🌻
We have a choice of cat, dog and rabbit options available🐱🐶🐰
We will be announcing the winner on this page on Friday the 24th of May☀️🎊
**WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THIS FACEBOOK PAGE - PLEASE DON’T RESPOND TO ANY SCAM LINKS**

Look at the handsome Milo who was recently in with us.🖤
Milo has recently been diagnosed with Addison’s disease, this is also known as hypoadrenocorticism. This is when there is a deficiency of essential hormones made by the adrenal glands. Addison’s disease is quite uncommon in dogs and can be life-threatening if left untreated.
Milo was admitted into the hospital as he had a bad case of diarrhoea, weight loss and was overall not himself.
After starting his new medication and treatments consisting of intravenous fluid therapy, anti-sickness medication, pro-biotics and a lot of love from our team, Milo started to feel a lot better, he was eating well, brighter out on his walks and feeling a lot happier in himself.
Milo will be on life-long medication and frequent checks, but with this treatment he will be able to lead a normal life.
Addison's disease is sometimes called 'the great pretender' as it can look like so many other conditions.
The main signs to look out for are frequent gastrointestinal signs such as vomiting and diarrhoea, increased thirst and urination, lethargy and in some cases collapse.
Addison's disease can be tested for by a blood test.

We are pleased Milo made a good recovery and is back to his normal self at home🖤🤎

Unfortunately we have had a deceased tabby and white male cat brought into the hospital by a member of the public last night. Not microchipped, found on the highway to Wadebridge.
Please call the practice on 01637 880307 for further information

Meet Slinky, Bandit and Trevor who were recently in with us to be microchipped!
They were so well behaved and got lots of fuss and attention off our team🧡💛

Reggie🤎
It was a real team effort when Reggie came to see us from Rosehill Vets in Plymouth.
He had presented to them with a large soft swelling under his jaw which they suspected was a salivary mucocoele (a collection of saliva as a result of a damaged salivary gland or duct). The treatment for an uncomplicated salivary mucocoele is surgical removal of the affected salivary gland, but Reggie's proved to be a little more challenging!
Back in 2017 Reggie had been in a road traffic accident and sustained a fracture to his lower jaw which was repaired using a plate and screws. When soft tissue surgeon Lindsay anaesthetised Reggie to examine him she noted that there was evidence of infection around this metal plate and she suspected that this infection could be the cause for the damage to his salivary ducts (and the resulting mucocoele). Diagnostics Vet James performed a CT scan to gain as much information about the plate and the infection as possible, and swabs were taken to see what type of infection Reggie was experiencing.
The CT scan confirmed that there was infection around the plate and a second visit was scheduled with Orthopaedic Vet Christian to remove the plate in October. This was followed up with a long course of antibiotics (carefully chosen from the results of the swab) to completely clear the infection.
Finally in January - all healed from his plate removal and infection - Reggie returned to see Lindsay to finally have the affected salivary gland and duct removed. This was successful and we're very pleased to report that Reggie is doing very well. He was a super patient throughout his multiple visits!

This week we said goodbye to the lovely Jess who has been with us every Wednesday for 2 years on a practical work placement. We wish her well for the future at Duchy College in Callington! 💐