The West Midlands Cat Clinic

AUTUMN FIREWORKS AND HELPING CATS COPE

It’s Halloween tomorrow! This means it’s very nearly fireworks season again, with many official events planned for this and next weekend. Fireworks displays can be a scary time for our feline friends with unpredictable loud bangs and flashes.

To help cats cope, it’s best to keep them in on fireworks night or when you know fireworks are scheduled locally. Not only does this help to muffle the noise, but it also keeps them safe and prevents them from running off to hide and getting lost. Make sure cat flaps are locked shut and that you have a couple of clean litter trays positioned by your cat’s normal exit or in their normal toileting area. Worth checking windows are closed too.

Cats are very good at taking themselves off to hide when frightened so leave them open access to potential hiding spots or places you know they like to go to curl up. This could be under a bed, on top of a wardrobe, in their cat bed, or even in the laundry cupboard. Cats are very inventive! You could place a box with familiar bedding or towels somewhere cosy and safe now to give your feline friend an additional option.

Trying to engage or coax cats out of their hiding place when they feel fearful and threatened only increases their stress, so best to leave them until they are ready to come out of their own accord. This will also save you from inadvertently getting bitten or scratched if your cat becomes reactive.

Pheromone diffusers can help to calm and reassure cats. We use them at The West Midlands Cat Clinic to reduce feline stress on visits to the vets and they work similarly in other potentially stressful environments.

Please do give us a ring on 01922 411755 if you are in need of any further advice.

Wishing you and your feline friends a safe fireworks season.

IS YOUR FELINE FRIEND A BIT TOO CUDDLY?

This still is taken from a great new Hills pet food video designed to make pet owners think about how they perceive their cat or dog’s body condition versus what the reality might be.

The charity International Cat Care estimates that between a third and 50% of cats in the UK are overweight or obese. Excess weight can creep on for a number of reasons. We may overfeed our feline friends or they may overeat; they may have become less active; perhaps they have been neutered and their diet hasn’t been adjusted appropriately to take into account their slower metabolism; or maybe they are a breed predisposed to retaining weight.

Cats with an ideal body weight have an obvious waist when looking from the side or from above. You should be able to feel their ribs and spine through light tough with the palm of your hand but not be able to see them. How does you pet measure up?

Having optimum body condition means huge health and wellbeing benefits for your feline friend. If you’re concerned your cat may be over (or under) weight, please give us a ring on 01922 411755 to arrange to chat to one of our Registered Veterinary Nurses for nutrition advice.

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 2024

Today is World Mental Health Day. To highlight the importance of workplace wellbeing, the theme set by the World Federation for Mental Health for 2024 is Workplace Mental Health.

Work can be incredibly beneficial for our health, giving us purpose, challenge, a sense of achievement and, for many of us, the opportunity to connect with others. Sometimes, however, work can cause us negative stress or make us anxious, and can be a trigger for deteriorating mental health.

Mental health in the workplace is a hot topic within the veterinary industry given the emotional challenges working in practice can bring. Sadly, in the UK, vets are 3-4 times more likely to commit su***de than the general population.

At 387 Vets and The West Midlands Cat Clinic, we place a strong emphasis on workplace wellbeing and looking after our workplace family. All team are invested in our culture and live by our collectively agreed values. We champion people’s professional passions, celebrate strengths and nurture growth and new learning. We appreciate how much a sense of community amongst team counts. We have regular catch ups, lots of forums for discussion and our monthly long coffee breaks give team a chance stop, get together and chew the cud. We have wellbeing action plans in place and if we notice someone is struggling we have strategies to support. Next year we’re planning to work through the ‘We Invest in Wellbeing’ framework, a new accreditation introduced by Investors in People, to continue to invest in positive workplace review and change.

The charity Mind (www.mind.org.uk)have a great bank of online resources to support everyday living and workplace wellbeing.

And in the words of the old adage, a problem shared is a problem halved.

Wishing you all a happy World Mental Health Day. Please take the opportunity to be kind to yourselves.

YUMMY STRESS-MINIMISING STRATEGY

6 month old rescue cats Biscuit and Bonnie were in for their second vaccinations yesterday and we thought we’d use a little distraction to help them to relax and give them a little treat while they were getting their injections.

We introduced LickiMats® into practice this summer as part of our dog friendly clinic strategy to help with positive puppy socialisation experiences at the vets and to distract anxious dogs in consults. When we discovered LickiMats® do a range for cats it was a no brainer to introduce them into cat clinic too!

The strategy is simple. Rub a bit of pet friendly paste or your pet’s wet food onto the surface of the LickiMat® which then attracts their attention, engages them and distracts them away from unhelpful behaviours or negative emotional states. You can get different LickiMats® for different purposes including to relieve boredom and entertain, to reduce stress and to slow down fast eaters.

As well as using them in our consults rooms, we stock LickiMats® in our waiting room in our feline enrichment accessories sales area. Our team love them, particularly Casper the fish mat! Ask us all about them when you are next in!

AUTUMN 24 NEWSLETTER OUT NOW!

Catch up on all the latest news at 387 Veterinary Centre and The West Midlands Cat Clinic in our new newsletter. There’s been a lot going on! See photos of our downstairs extension work – we’ll show you upstairs next time! Catch up on the latest in team news and individual and practice achievements. And if you missed it first time round, find out which one of our team helped teach an international feline masterclass this summer. Click on the link below to read!

https://wmcatclinic.co.uk/autumn-24-newsletter-out-now/

IT'S BRITISH VETERINARY RECEPTIONIST APPRECIATION DAY!

Happy British Veterinary Receptionist Appreciation Day to our amazing reception team! Here are Laura, Angie and Nikki, today’s front of house reception team superstars! A shout out to Clare too who is off today, and Beth who is on maternity leave. We love you all!

The recognition day was first championed by the British Veterinary Receptionist Association (BVRA) in 2019 to recognise the importance, diversity and challenge of the veterinary receptionist role. As well as being the first port of call for owners contacting the practice, booking pets in, dealing with owner queries and following up appointment reminders, receptionists liaise with our clinical teams to offer administrative support and update records when pets join us from other practices. They unpack orders, rotate stock, help with preparation of items (food and meds orders) for collection, help with managing clinicians’ diaries and so much more. It’s an incredibly rewarding job seeing pets at set intervals on their life journey and getting to know pet owners. As well as being here to celebrate pet highs, team are also here to offer support at sadder times.

Thank you to our fabulous team for all you do to help support pets and pet owners and the rest of our 387 and West Midlands Cat Clinic team. We would be truly lost without you.

BE ON THE LOOK OUT ...

Have you ever seen a luxating lens before? This is where the lens (the part of the eye that enables us to focus) detaches from the ligament-like structures holding it in place causing it to move somewhere it shouldn’t. In this case, rather than sitting behind the iris (the coloured part of the eye), the lens has popped out in front of it and is essentially floating on the front of the eye. The cloudiness indicates damage.

In certain cases, where the eye is still able to see, the damaged lens can be removed to give the patient some sense of shapes and light through the affected eye. In our patient’s case, unfortunately we needed to remove the eye as it had become non-visual and was too damaged to leave in situ.

If you notice your cat’s eye or eyes have taken on a cloudiness, do book a vet appointment. Cloudiness may indicate cataracts, but can also be symptomatic of ocular trauma and eye disease. Sight is such a precious sense for our pets, so it’s always best to get anything unusual checked out.

WE'RE RECRUITING FOR AN RVN!

With two of our Registered Veterinary Nurses going on maternity leave in Spring 2025, we’re looking for an experienced, qualified nurse to join our fantastic highly skilled clinical team.

The successful candidate will work a 4-day week and take a share of Saturdays on rotation. There’s no out of hours. You’ll have the opportunity to work in the only purpose built cat clinic within a 30 mile radius as well as being part of the clinical team nursing an increasing number of in-patients with our new dental operating suite and additional sterile theatre now up and running.

We’re really passionate about creating a nice place to work and are proud to be an Investors in People platinum business. We champion individual growth as well as whole practice progression and our workplace ethos is one focused around the importance of team, inclusivity, compassion and respect.

We are committed to opportunity for all and welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds. If you feel you’re the right person to join our amazing team we’d love to hear from you!

https://www.vetnurse.co.uk/veterinary-nurse-jobs/permanent-registered-veterinary-nurse-staffordshire-15179

KEEP UP WITH PARASITE PREVENTION!

This is 13 year old tortoiseshell Patty who came in to see us today for her topical flea treatment as she’s not very keen on letting mum do it at home. As you can see, Patty prefers to stay in her carrier on her visits as she can snuggle here and it helps her feel more secure. We weigh Patty in her carrier and treat her in situ to avoid causing her any additional stress. And we have Dreamies and Lick-e-lix on hand to reward her as a treat!

Even though we’re moving into Autumn, it’s really important to keep up your cat’s parasite prevention treatment. If your cat has carried fleas at any point, there may be eggs lying dormant in your carpets and soft furnishings that will love the central heating coming on!

Do ask us about the most effective flea and parasite treatments for your feline friend’s lifestyle. And if giving your cat flea and worming treatment is a problem, we can help with that too!

OUT AND ABOUT

It was an exciting day on Saturday as local cat charity Kool Cat Rescue invited us to share their stand at The Cat Show Live at the NEC in Birmingham. Our vet Emma represented The West Midlands Cat Clinic and was on hand to talk about our feline-centric clinic and the care we’ve given to kittens and cats brought in to the practice by the charity. Huge thanks to Jules and Mitsy, who run the charity, for this fantastic opportunity.

Having said goodbye to the Kool Cat Rescue team on Saturday, we said hello to them again this morning as this bundle of loveliness arrived in need of their care and support. Thank you so much for taking them in to foster them. We are sure they will have no trouble finding loving forever homes.

PHONES ARE WORKING

We’re pleased to let you know our phone system is now back up and running. Thank you for your patience while the network issue was being fixed.

PHONE ISSUE

There has been a major outage of our phone network which means our phone system and internet access is currently down. Huge apologies for any inconvenience. Engineers are working to fix the issue as quickly as they can. In the meantime, if you need to contact us, please use our PetsApp messaging facility. If you have not yet downloaded the app you can chat with us directly using the chat box on our website. We will let you know when we are back up and running as normal. Thank you for bearing with us.

RCVS ASSESSMENT THIS WEDENSDAY

It’s not often we feature a dog on our cat clinic website but we wanted to let you know that our 387 (and West Midlands Cat Clinic) team have an assessor in on Wednesday to see if we are eligible for additional governing body awards. We have already submitted a large bank of evidence for Client Service and Team and Professional Responsibility Awards with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Many thanks to those of you who have completed a customer satisfaction survey in support of this over the past month. On Wednesday, our assessor will be on site to chat to team and see our practices and protocols first hand.

Additional RCVS Awards allow any practice accredited through the RCVS Practice Standards Scheme to demonstrate how their practice excels in specialist areas. There are 9 additional awards. We are currently applying for Client Service and Team and Professional Responsibility.

The Practice Standards Scheme is a great initiative to help teams run veterinary practices to the highest standards of veterinary care. Choosing an RCVS-accredited practice for your pet gives you the reassurance that your furry friend is in great hands. RCVS practices are rigorously assessed every 4 years to ensure standards are maintained. 387 Veterinary Centre has been an RCVS accredited practice since 2009.

These two additional RCVS awards will enable us to show our governing body how much we’ve invested in our service provision, clinical excellence, team training and customer care over and above their standard framework recommendations and our interconnecting cat clinic feeds into all these areas.

We promise to keep you posted on how we get on!

SNUGGLY SISTERS

This is Beauty and Biscuit who came in together for their neutering procedures to keep each other company. They were so snuggly and adorable together we just had to take a pic!

Did you know that kittens reach sexual maturity around the age of 4 months? This means that they are able to breed and produce kittens themselves. Neutering your kitten prevents unwanted pregnancies, keeps antisocial behaviour associated with sexual maturity in check and reduces the risk of your cat contracting certain diseases.

The charity International Cat Care have produced lots of information around reasons for neutering male and female felines if you are not planning to breed from your cat, as well as covering what neutering procedures involve and when the best age is to neuter your cat. Click on the lick below to find out more:

https://icatcare.org/advice/neutering-your-cat/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw28W2BhC7ARIsAPerrcItoDY9JO310UHQTfygUZ6N3pXazrgoC_nghjES9HkhBsO6wjeLBA4aAg6TEALw_wcB

HAPPY BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND!

We hope you and your pets have a happy, healthy long weekend wherever you may be and whatever you may be planning.

Both 387 Vets and The West Midlands Cat Clinic will be closed on Bank Holiday Monday. If you need to see a vet urgently when we’re closed, please continue to phone the practice and follow the answer machine instructions.

If you have a non urgent query, check out the advice pages on our websites for lots of guidance and support. All our registered clients also have access to our complimentary VidiVet facility - a 24/7 vet-led triaging service. You should have a PetsApp message or e-mail from us detailing how to set this up if you haven’t already. Great for checking if your pet needs to see a vet and how urgently.

We’re open as normal on Tuesday morning. Have a great weekend and fingers crossed the sun shines!

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL CAT DAY!

It’s here! International Cat Day is recognised every year on 8th August and this year the theme is ‘Celebrating Cats’ – no better reason to take some time out today to lavish extra attention on your favourite feline! It’s also the perfect day to spend a few moments considering how our cats make life that little bit better, whether it be through companionship, how they make us smile, the joy of hearing them purr or simply how cute they look when they are all curled up sleeping!

The charity International Cat Care, custodians of the event, are championing the day to bring cat advocates together to share their love of cats. We’d love to hear what you most love about your feline friend!

SAVE THE DATE!

Cancel all plans for Thursday! If you don’t, your cat might cancel them for you! International Cat Day is held on 8th August and for 2024 the theme is ‘Celebrating Cats’. The charity International Cat Care, custodians of the annual event, are asking anyone with an appreciation for cats to take some time out this Thursday to celebrate the feline species and the unique bond we have with them.

Click on the link below to find out more about International Cat Day and to see how International Cat Care celebrate and champion cats worldwide all year round with great advice and support.

https://icatcare.org/international-cat-day/

GOOD LUCK AMY!

We very sadly said goodbye to our student nurse Amy Mothershaw on Friday. Amy has been with 387 Vets and The West Midlands Cat Clinic since 2021. We remember carrying out her interview on zoom, back in the days when we weren’t allowed to admit clients into practice. Amy has spent the last three years working on her Level 3 Veterinary Nursing Diploma, spending one day a week at college whilst working at the practice. We have loved watching her skills develop and she has excelled in all her qualification exams to date. Just the final practical exam results to come but we have no doubt that Amy will have aced them! Thank you very much for all your hard work during your apprenticeship with us, Amy. We wish you happiness and success in your new job, and look forward to hearing all about your first position as a Registered Veterinary Nurse!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Huge congratulations to our RVN Sharon’s husband Mark who completed a 150 mile circular cycle ride at the weekend in aid of Kats Cradle. Mark cycled from Willenhall to The Horseshoe Pass in Denbighshire with colleagues from The Walsall Roads Cycling Club to help raise money for the Coven based charity. Kats Cradle bring feline strays and re-homes to our practice for general health care and emergency treatment.

Thank you so much Mark for all the training and preparation that went into your fundraising cycle and not least for the event itself. We’re glad the sun shone for you and that the conditions were kind. You can see photos from the day on our website! (https://wmcatclinic.co.uk/congratulations-3/)

If you would like to donate, it’s not too late! Click on the link below to access Mark’s just Giving Page to help support local cats in shelter waiting for their new forever homes.

Help raise £1000 to help the kats cradle cat rescue Weʼre raising money to help the kats cradle cat rescue. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

EPIC FUNDRAISER

Most of you will know our RVN Sharon, either through her nursing activity or her role managing pet insurance claims for the practice. This weekend, Sharon’s husband Mark will be taking to his bike to complete a gruelling 150 mile cycle ride to raise money for Kats Cradle rescue. The Coven-based charity is a regular visitor to the practice, bringing in feline strays and re-homes from across Staffordshire and the West Midlands for routine health care and emergency treatment.

A member of the Walsall Roads Cycling Club, Mark will be completing a circular route from Willenhall to The Horseshoe Pass in Denbighshire. We are keeping our fingers crossed for good cycling conditions and a safe journey.

If you would like to support Mark, we’d be incredibly grateful. Click on the link below to access Mark’s Just Giving page, or scan the QR code. Huge thanks in advance. Updates on Mark’s event to follow!

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mark-carter-777

PHONES ISSUE

Apologies if you are trying to get hold of us by phone. There has been a major service outage with our provider and technicians are currently working to fix the problem. We hope the issue will be resolved soon.

If you need to get in touch with us while our phones are down, we are contactable via our PetApp messaging facility. If you have not yet downloaded the App, you can message us using the chat box on our website and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Many thanks for your patience.

WINNERS!

It’s a big day of competition results today, not least who won the ‘How many dog biscuits in the jar?’ competition from our stand at yesterday’s Chez Fest! For all of you desperate to know just how many biscuits we did actually squeeze into a medium sized glass jar, the answer was an impressive 517!

A huge thank you to everyone who took part. Congratulations go to Dave Bradley who wins an interactive slow feeder, a Licki Mat boredom buster and packet of treats for dogs with a brilliant guess of 513, just 4 biscuits away from being spot on. And congratulations too to Sue Mead who wins our equivalent cat package. We hope your pets like their goodies. Please pop in to the practice to collect!

SEE US AT CHEZ FEST THIS SATURDAY!

We're super excited to be part of Chez Fest this Saturday in Cheslyn Hay Park. The event is being organised by Cheslyn Hay & Great Wyrley Running Club to help promote health and wellbeing locally. Come along between 11am and 5pm for a variety of fun activities and entertainment and to have the opportunity to chat to exhibitors and stall holders at the Rosemary Road site. We'll be there championing pet health and wellbeing and will be sharing top tips on how to minimise feline and canine stress on visits to the vets. Please do come and say hello as we'd love to see you!

CUDDLES!

This is adorable ragdoll Loki who was staying with us yesterday for his castrate. He was really chatty and enjoyed popping his arm out from his cat kennel to try and get attention! Here he is purring and having a cuddle with our SVN Charlotte. Both Loki and Charlotte seem equally delighted!

RACHAEL TEACHES AT ISFM CONGRESS

We were super excited when our Registered Veterinary Nurse Rachael was asked by the International Society of Feline Medicine to take part in their recent European Congress in Malta. Working alongside two ISFM nurses , Rachael helped run the ISFM practical masterclass, talking about and demonstrating cat friendly interactions for positive outcomes to help train attending delegates in minimising feline stress in vet practice We are so proud of you Rachael. What an amazing honour and testament to your great knowledge and huge passion for cats.