Vet Pets Magazine

JUNE, 2016

Sophie’s choices: tOp product picks!

AND MUCH MORE

INSIDE...

How To Care For Your Hunny Bunny!

BEST PET PRODUCTS!

A Vet’s Story: Saying

Goodbye To A Beloved Pet

Vet Pets Magazine

SOPHIE’S CHOICES

Teddy Maximus pet accessories

We adore these beautiful dog carriers, leads, beds & other accessories for the pampered pooch in your life! British-made and super

chic, Teddy Maximus is a brand that’s definitely worth checking out.

www.teddymaximus.com

Top product picks by our in-house reviewer Sophie, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

PS! We adore Sophie’s beautiful pastel portrait above! It is by Amanda Stuart of Edie & Reggie. Thank you Amanda! x

Dog Treat Company: Joie de vivre

We’re loving these scrumptious treats from the lovely people over at The Dog Treat Company!

‘Joie de Vivre’ is a liver treat with added beetroot, echinacea and an organic rooibos infusion to create a treat crammed full of antioxidants, high in vitamin C, a natural

immunity booster and has both antiviral and antibacterial properties.

Other treats include a special Corgi themed version. Tins are £5 each or £14 for three.

www.thedogtreatcompany.co.uk.

More Sophie’s Choices on P14 - 15 !

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Dolly is an eight year old English Springer Spaniel, both her and her brother Dave, also a Springer, belong to Lynda Dunn

and her husband, Roger. They have had Dolly since she was a puppy, but unfortunately in 2011 she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis.

Treating the condition involved regular injections of Cartrophen along with Cosequin tablets, which would have cost the Dunns’ a fortune had they not been members of the ‘Healthy Pet Club’.

The couple have not only saved money on Dolly’s injections and daily medication, but they have also had the benefit of making

further savings on her routine treatment, check-ups and vaccinations including Kennel

Cough. Dave was re-homed with Mr and Mrs Dunn when he was approximately 4 years old. About 6 weeks after he joined the family, he started to show signs of not being well and he lost a quarter of his body weight.

Luckily, Dave had been signed up to the Healthy Pet Club as soon as he was adopted. This was a good thing too as he was eventually diagnosed by their vet with whipworm and successfully treated.

Lynda explained: “We are now

obviously very concerned about the risk of reinfection, and the peace of mind we gain from knowing that we are saving on regular flea and worming treatment and check-ups is priceless. Unfortunately, he has also been diagnosed with osteoarthritis so our medications will be increasing as a result.

“Being a member of the Healthy Pet

Club is so worthwhile, especially if you have a dog or cat with a chronic condition that needs regular medication.

“Knowing that we are saving on the various treatments and check-ups gives us peace of mind. I can’t even begin to estimate how much we have saved, but needless to say, it’s a lot!”

To find out more about the Healthy Pet Club, visit: www.thehealthypetclub.co.uk/

Advertorial

How the ‘Healthy Pet Club’ helped Dolly & Dave

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WWW.ARTYLOBSTER.COM

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Why You

Should

Find A

Buddy

For Your

Bunny!

Vet Pets Magazine

We find out why social isolation is so damaging to rabbits and what owners can do about it.

When David and Feona Bell set up their rabbit rescue charity five years ago, they assumed they’d be welcoming a handful of animals a year. But in the first week, they ended up with 10, and today they have more than 80 rabbits – and an ever-growing waiting list.

“I’m still surprised by the sheer number that need our help,”

says David, who runs Fairly Beloved Rabbit Care with wife Feona from their home in Kirkintilloch, north east of Glasgow.

“Most owners buy them on a whim and treat them like a throwaway household item, chucking them out when they’re fed up. They have no idea how complex a rabbit’s needs are.”

Sadly, it’s not an isolated story. According to Burgess Pet Care, the pet care specialists behind Rabbit Awareness Week (RAW), which runs June

18-26, rabbits are the UK’s third most popular pet after cats and dogs, but they’re also in the unenviable position of being top of the league when it comes to abandonment and neglect – thanks in part to the disregard for their complicated day-to-day needs.

Mistakenly placed in the same ‘easier to care’ for category as small animals like guinea pigs, hamsters and gerbils, many of them suffer solitude and isolation by living alone in small hutches. Indeed, such is the cost of isolation, this year’s RAW campaign is encouraging

Rabbits are social creatures and also need space for a good quality of life.

Vet Pets Magazine

the 57 per cent of rabbit owners who own single rabbits to find #BuddiesForBunnies at local rescue centres.

“They actually have more in common with larger animals in terms of everyday care,” says David, who relies on an army of 40 volunteer foster-carers to house the relentless flow of rabbits.

“They’re as complex as dogs or cats and surprisingly emotional creatures, grieving for companions who pass away and pining for company when left alone.”

In the wild, rabbits live in large, sociable communities and have daily contact with other rabbits

– but it’s a different story for their domesticated cousins.

A 2014 study by The British Veterinary Association, showed that hutch rabbits living on their own exhibit “boredom, frustration, fear and misery”, with many owners unwittingly keeping them alongside guinea pigs in an effort to socialise them without realising these are unsuitable companions.

For David and Feona, good rabbit care comes down to a simple acronym – SHEDS i.e. shed loads of ‘Space, Health, Exercise, Diet and Stimulation’.

So as well as a varied diet and permanent access to a secure run, owners should interact

with their single rabbits for at least 2 to 3 hours per day, playing games (they love knocking down plastic bowling pins), stroking them on the forehead and back (rather than the tummy, tail or ears) and having quality time after lunch when rabbits are at

their most relaxed.

If you see hyperactivity and aggression in your rabbit, it’s definitely a signal that it could be unhappy, but other rabbits may vent their frustration by becoming withdrawn.

Nevertheless, regardless of how much time you spend with your rabbit, no person can replace the companionship of a real rabbit.

“The best method is to re-home a companion rabbit from a rescue centre and try bonding,” says Suzanne Moyes, vet and Technical Director at Burgess Pet Care.

David & Feona Bell from Fairly Beloved Rabbit Care

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Dr Moyes adds: “Try to choose a rabbit that complements your own rabbit’s personality, of a similar age and of the opposite sex, but ensure both are neutered for obvious reasons”.

Introduce rabbits to each other gradually - putting them in nearby enclosures so they can sniff each other and become used to each other’s smells. To help them bond more, you can change the litter trays as this will also help the rabbits get used to each other’s smells.

After a while, short meetings should be arranged between the bunnies so they can become more comfortable with each other but be ready to separate them if there seems to be any tension. Repeat this until the bunnies are relaxed around each other, you can even feed them at the same time to foster that bond.

“When the rabbits are happy to groom each other and lie together than you can leave them unsupervised. This can take hours to months depending on the personality of your rabbits, and local rescue centres will be able to offer support and advice during this process,”

says Suzanne.

At Fairly Beloved Rabbit Care, David and Feona have a good method for checking whether people are serious about taking on a new rabbit.

“We tell them, ‘if you’re going to look after a rabbit properly, with all the right food, equipment and medical care,

it’s going to cost you up to £1,000 a year’,” says David.

“That’s about the same price as a car over its lifetime.”

It might seem a harsh lesson – especially as the couple has such a long waiting list – but they’re passionate about finding the right home and the right companions for their beloved bunnies.

“If anyone is wavering, this usually stops them in their tracks,” says David.

“And ultimately, it means we have one less rabbit that needs rescuing.”

For more information about David and Feona’s

work, and for lots of useful advice and information, visit

fairlybelovedrabbitcare.org.

Rabbit Awareness Week runs from June

18th-26th. To find out more, visit

rabbitawarenessweek.co.uk.

Dr Suzanne Moyes

“The best method is to re-home a

companion rabbit from a rescue centre and try

bonding (with the resident rabbit) .”

Vet Pets Magazine

It’s a beautiful June morning. The sun shines. But as I sit on the patio having my customary eleven o clock mug of coffee, a tear runs down my cheek. My hand slides down the side of the chair, to where our little terrier would normally be stretched out basking in the warmth of that sunshine, his lips curled back in

a contented smile. But no longer. Arthur-Rex (pictured left above with Pip) is dead. Cruelly taken from us three summers ago.

Snatched after eight years of delightful companionship. And my heart is still heavy

with grief. When we first met, we were on a family holiday together - my wife, Maxeen, and daughter Rebecca who was 27 at the time. It was the last

day of a week's stay in Tobago. We were lying on sun loungers on Rex Turtle beach when a commotion down on the shore line made me sit up. Squinting against the sun, I could just see a tiny young dog being chased by a pack of mangy brown hounds. The terrier hurtled up across the beach and dived under Rebecca's lounger, turning to yap at the strays which stopped to circle round before leaping away as Rebecca sat up and shooed them off.

Malcolm and new dog Dora

I’m Missing My Mutt!

July 5 marks Pet Remembrance Day when people across the country will be paying tribute to beloved pets who have passed over the Rainbow Bridge. Retired vet and author of Pets Aplenty MALCOLM D. WELSHMAN writes poignantly about his own personal experience of losing a special companion animal.

Vet Pets Magazine

To my horror, she then leaned under the lounger and scooped the little terrier up, making reassuring noises as she did so. All I could think of was Rabies. Fleas. Lice. Mange.

But when the young dog looked up at Rebecca and licked her face, his destiny was sealed. A call through to the local rescue society established that it would be no problem shipping the dog back to the UK for us.

And within seven months, to include six months in a local quarantine kennels, Arthur-Rex arrived at our home in West Sussex.

We reckoned he was about eight months old and was apprehensive as to what our 10 year old Jack Russell would make of him. We needn't have worried. After the initial wary sniff they gave each other, they immediately became close buddies. The beanbag in front of the Aga was shared. Mock dog fights each morning, chasing each other round the kitchen table, pinning each other down by the ear or locking jaws; and king-of-the-castle leaps on and off the settee of an evening. Joyful entertainment for everyone. When Pip passed away two years' later, Arthur-Rex became even more special and

commanded an even greater place in our hearts.He was a smart looking dog. We guessed half Chihuahua, half Tobagian feral hound. He had a domed head, pointed ears, slightly bulging brown eyes, and perfectly symmetrical facial markings in tan and black. As he matured he developed a thick tan mane and his curled tail became a plume of fur. Extremely photogenic. And indeed, his pictures sported many of the features I had begun to write: and when my first novel, Pets in a Pickle, was published, Arthur-Rex appeared on the back cover. His own dog blog soon

National day: Pet Remembrance Day takes place on Tuesday July 5

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followed; and on Twitter he built up several hundred followers who were greeted on first contact with a high five paw.

He went on to make an appearance on Channel 5 news as part of a healthy heart campaign to show that having to walk a dog is good exercise for you. Newscaster, John Suchet remarked, 'What a splendid little dog.'

And Arthur-Rex's stoicism and his gentlemanly behaviour impressed Cesar Millan, the international dog whisperer, when they were first introduced to each other after our terrier had been flown out to Madrid to appear in a new TV series called Leader of the Pack. I was nervous at meeting such a famous man with his wealth of knowledge of dog behaviour.

'Look,' said Cesar with a smile as Arthur-Rex turned to look up at me and gave me a reassuring lick of my hand.

'I can see you two are great buddies.'

He was right. Oh so right. And during the three days of filming for the show, Arthur-Rex won over everyone's hearts. On being introduced to Dora, the little Yorkie-cross terrier that was up for adoption, he soon demonstrated who was top dog. Dora bounced up to him in a frenzy of tail

wagging. He gave a perfunctory gruff 'woof' which clearly stated he was having none of it and then

trotted off round the pen to mark out his territory leaving little Dora clearly bemused by the distain he was exhibiting.

'Perfect,' cried Cesar Millan.

'Just the sort of companion Dora needs. A mature dog who'll stand for no nonsense. Keep her in her place without being aggressive.'

That certainly summed up dear Arthur-Rex. So very stoical. Nothing fazed him. There was once an overnight stay at a five star country hotel, voted the best pet friendly hotel in the UK by AA members. Arthur-Rex was given five star treatment with a tray of treats and black poo bags tied with gold

Newscaster, John Suchet remarked, 'What a splendid little dog.'

Gone but not forgotten: Arthur-Rex

Vet Pets Magazine

ribbon. He took his opulent surroundings in his stride - majestic, sparkling chandeliers, heavy velvet drapes and a quilt-covered bed, onto which he immediately sprang to settle down between the tasselled cushions.

I pause as I write this and sigh, picturing him that day. He was 'King Arthur', clearly relishing his status. What a far cry from his beach-bum days in Tobago.

When dear Arthur-Rex succumbed to a acute respiratory condition on his return from Madrid - it killed him within 48 hours despite intensive care treatment and hospitalisation in an oxygen tent - there was no question of where he was to be buried.

Across the lawn from our back kitchen window is an immature oak tree. A favourite spot of Arthur-Rex's. He used to enjoy basking in the sun near this tree, reminiscing of his days on a Caribbean beach perhaps? He'd move into its dappled shade should it get

to hot for him on the open lawn.

Arthur-Rex was laid to rest there, wrapped in his favourite tartan blanket

under which he used to snuggle in front of the Aga. A heap of blanket would greet me every morning. I'd gently ease it away to reveal Arthur-Rex, sprawled on his back, legs in the air.

I'd tickle his tummy saying, 'Morning Arthur-Rex.'

He'd gaze up at me withthose warm brown eyes of his and his lips would curl

back in a broad, delightful grin.

I'm crying now as I recall those mornings.Such sweet memories of our

dear little terrier.

But I'm sure Arthur-Rex is still the stoical little chap he always was as he now stretches out on a pillow of cloud in doggy heaven, broadly grinning from ear to ear.

He’s forever in my heart.

Bless him.

Malcolm D. Welshman is

author of Pets Aplenty published

by Austin Macauley Publishers 0207 038 8312 at £7.99 Kindle

version £0.97 www.malcolmwelshma

n.co.uk.

Vet Pets Magazine

SOPHIE’S CHOICES

Tickpick by LongpawsTickpick is a key sized device that any dog walker can clip to their key-ring that helps

remove ticks from the dog’s coat following a walk.

This simple but effective device was developed in conjunction with the

Worldwide Veterinary Service and a portion of sales go to this charity. £3.75.

www.longpaws.co.uk

More top product picks by our in-house reviewer Sophie, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

Wellybix dog treats We’re loving these hand-baked dog treats from Wellybix based in beautiful Teesdale. They are

full of natural, wholesome goodness and packed with garden herbs.  

No artificial preservatives, colours, artificial flavour enhancers, added sugar or salt and are analytically tested and approved by a

veterinary laboratory. They come in a variety of flavours from peanut butter to chicken. £3.25.

www.wellybix.co.uk

Rugs & Mats by Howler & Scratch

A great selection of rugs, runners and mats - including this cute ‘Hungry 2 Mat’, which

measures 40x60cm, priced £9.99.www.howlerscratch.co.uk

Vet Pets Magazine

The Healthy Dog CookbookAt a time when people are questioning the

ingredients in many commercially made dog foods, here’s one solution: serve up dinners for your pooch that you’ve lovingly cooked

yourself! Recipes range from Western Stew to Turkey Dinner.

Includes nutrition panels with calorie information & other advice from a canine

nutritionist. Published this month at £7.99 & available

from all good bookstores.

Animals of the First World War

This moving book is filled with stories of how animals played a pivotal role in the war, including, not least,

cats and their importance in many aspects of wartime life, from being mascots to offering comfort 'back

home'.

The book also goes beyond the battlefield and explores the role pets played in the war, and the plight of

animals on farms, zoos and in the street. The result is a wonderful collection of stories that will

shock, delight and move you in equal measure.

‘Animals in the First World War’, by Peter Street, is available from The Royal British Legion’s online store, The Poppy Shop, at www.poppyshop.org.uk for £6. All

proceeds raised from the sale of products on The Poppy Shop go directly to The Royal British Legion.