The Diaries Of Sausage, The Wonder Dog.

This is me Sausage, Don’t I look handsome?

Welcome to ‘ The Sausage Diaries.’

Well! Not only do I have to go out all day to see farm animals and horses with my human Jade, I give blood like a hero…. I also work in the laboratory!! Check me out in my new scrub top!

Before farmers put their rams in with their woolly girlfriends the vets can do fertility checks to make sure they’re ready. They do a full clinical examination, collect a sperm sample and ask the rams to cough. I don’t really get the coughing thing; when the humans said it they laughed… Apparently, I wouldn’t understand because I’ve been castrated, but I don’t really know what that means either… The last time someone mentioned a “castrate” was when I was still at the rescue centre.   I was shipped off for a day trip to their vets, WITH NO BREAKFAST!  I must have eaten something dodgy before then though because I felt really funny then must have fallen asleep, when I woke up I did feel much lighter! It was a pretty rubbish day out if I’m brutally honest.

 Anyway, back to the matter at hand!

We look at the samples under the microscope to see if the little swimmers are moving well and if there are enough of them. They look really funny all moving around down the microscope.

The humans had to help me a little; I was too short to see down the microscope when it was on the worktop in the lab. It makes sense really because I am quite small, which is why I fit so nicely on to peoples’ laps. Although they do moan sometimes I’m too heavy, I can’t think why I only weigh 43 KG.

Back to the work though, we had to move the microscope on to a table that I could sit on. It’s always important to be comfortable whilst working.

 Here’s a close-up picture of the little swimmers.

 It’s not just sperms we can see under the microscope; we can see all sorts of things! We look at poo samples under there and see if there are worms and worm eggs, like this:

We can look for bacteria in samples, like these very funky looking rod bacteria:

 

Some of the little critters aren’t so pretty to look at, there’s a picture of a type of mite that can live in the feathers on horses legs.

These mites are called chorioptes equi and they can cause lots of itching and stamping. I don’t like looking at these for too long; they bring back bad memories of me having fleas…  now there’s a topic for another day!

Right! That’s all from me today! Stay tuned for another installment of the Sausage diaries and I will bring you up to date with what I’ve been getting up to.  There is much more to being a vet’s dog than just a pretty face you know.

The Adventures of Sid (our practice pet)

At last! I have had my annual dental check, It is later than ever this year, but no wonder really as it seems to be the busiest year yet with all the new projects going on.

Our new surgery at Webbs is up and running, following the official opening in April, where I was guest of honor and got to help cut the tape. We also held a dog show there on June 25th,  but don’t worry if you missed it we have lots more coming up in the next few months. On July 10th we are in Claines, Worcester with a dog show for the Macca Memorial Family Fun Day. Please come and join us, it is going to be a great day, supporting some very worthy causes. You can check out their Facebook page. We also have a dog show on the 17th July at the Jinney Ring, Hanbury, in support of the Cinnamon Trust. It is definitely time for some fun days out!

Let’s hope for a long hot summer, though as I am lying by my typewriter it is yet another rainy day in June. One of the few problems that dogs encounter during the summer (as well as grass seeds and overheating) are fleas and ticks. This year I don’t have to worry at all because my dad gave me a yummy flavoured tablet which protects me from these blighters for 3 months, that’s the whole of the summer. There is nothing worse than having these itchy little things bugging you all summer. Gert your owners to give the surgery a call and get yourselves treated.

Anyway back to the subject of my teeth, which as my regular readers will remember have given me considerable problems over the years with chronic tartar problems and various accidents. Yet here I am approaching my tenth year with a full mouth of shiny teeth, as you will see from my photo, my teeth are testament to regular brushing.

 

Well that is all I have time for today, I have some cats to chase,

 

Bye for now.

 

Sid

The adventures of Sid, our practice pet continued……..

Hi, It’s Sid here again.

Good it is finally officially, Spring! It certainly makes you feel better, don’t you think? I have lots to tell you; firstly some serious business. Babesiosis has been found in Essex; this is a killer tick borne disease and has been prominent in local and national press in recent weeks. As a result we have received lots of phone calls asking about this disease, how it is transmitted, and what you as pet owners can do to prevent your dogs from catching it. Babesiosis is a microscopic parasite which is transmitted by ticks. Common in mainland Europe, it has been seen in dogs which have been imported to the UK, or travelled abroad on holiday and back to the UK on pet passports. However, this latest outbreak has been seen in a number of dogs which haven’t been abroad. This disease causes unexplained bleeding, fever, lethargy and anaemia, which can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated quickly. The most important thing your owner can do is to try and prevent the ticks attaching to their pet. My dad stock’s a number of products which do this, with a specialised collar, tablet or spot-on preparation. We also recommend that your owners examine and inspect you after walks in the undergrowth or the countryside, and safely remove any ticks with a special tick-remover, as shown in the photo..

Please contact us for advise on which of our range of tick preventative products would be most suitable for your dog, for advice on how to remove ticks safely, or to discuss any clinical signs your dog may have. Please feel reassured that my dad and all his colleagues are aware of this rare but emerging disease, and are on the look out for it, but thankfully haven’t seen any cases yet.

Now on a much happier note, on April 16th we have an open day at our Webbs surgery. I can’t wait! There will be lots going on and fun for all. We will have all sorts of different animals to show you. I am hoping there will be some young chicks and some lambs, definitely some tortoises, and of course, yours truly.

It would be great to see lots of you coming along and joining us. We can give you a grand tour of the new surgery at the same time, BONUS! We will also be microchipping. Don’t forget it will be law by then so if you have not been chipped yet, tell your owners to bring you along and we will chipped and compliant with the law. It only costs £10.00 and your owner would struggle to get it done any cheaper!

Well that’s all for now.

 

See you soon.

 

Sid

The Adventures Of Sid, our practice pet continued…………

It is an exciting time for us all at the moment. Our Webbs surgery is open! If you would like to call in and see us, you would be very welcome; I have been quite the regular and have checked it all out for us canines. It looks fantastic and we pets are finally allowed through those big sliding doors and into the store. Look, here I am having a good look, and waiting for some visitors.

Watch this space for details of our open day which will be held on April 16th, you will all be invited. I have high hopes there will be some cake.

Here is my dad with our 1st patient at Webbs, a beautiful flat coat retriever called Ria.

Did you know that on April 6th this year Microchipping dogs will become compulsory. If you have not had your microchip done yet, tell your owners that it is now urgent. Hundreds of us dogs are now chipped; in fact most of the dogs that come into our surgeries are. Come on cats, you need to catch up! Although it is not a legal  requirement for cats, you still need them.

These chips are routinely scanned when your vaccination is done. Be sure to update the Petlog register if their details change though. We have had several animals come in and have the chip, but alas! The owner’s phone numbers have changed. I do feel sorry for these guys as they head up to the dogs home.

Another important topic, spring is in the air. Now we have had several problems with some of us canines getting carried away around sheep. Please behave canine companions! Ask your owners to keep you on leads, particularly now as it is lambing season. We don’t want any upset farmers this year.

Bye for now, See you all soon

Sid

 

 

 

 

The Adventues Of Sid, Our Practice Pet Continued…..

Hello everyone.It’s me again. Sid! Welcome to my 1st blog of 2016.Where to start with bringing you all up to date with my adventures, that’s the big question. I will tell you about Christmas first. It was terrible. It all started promisingly, when i found out that rather than a bunch of boring humans coming for Christmas dinner, my best friends from next door, Blue and Ruby were coming. Brilliant, I thought, a chance to impress my girlfriends with my party tricks, especially the one where I dress myself up in bandages.

 

Things started to go wrong a couple of days before Christmas when the 3 of us were out hunting squirrels in the woods. One minute Blue and Ruby were hot on my heels, the next they were nowhere to be seen. When I turned around I soon found them both in a heap with blood everywhere. Even though I couldn’t do much to help I thought it best to stay with them until a human arrived, (preferably my dad.) There are definitely advantages to having hands instead of paws in these situations as well as a vet for a dad.

Well to cut a long story short, they were both rushed to my dad’s surgery where Ruby had her leg stitched up under an anaesthetic. Blue was even worse off, poor thing. She had to go on an intravenous drip and there was even a possibility she may even lose her leg. I am pleased to say that didn’t happen in the end. However, she will have to have lots of bandage changes before her leg is completely healed.

They still made it round for Christmas dinner although they were very sorry for themselves and I decided my bandage trick may have been in bad taste. Still, I made sure their turkey didn’t go to waste. As for Sputnik, that cat of ours, he ate and drank his way through Christmas without a care in the world.

Since then Ruby has made a full recovery and Blue is on the mend.

Now for some VERY exciting news. My dad and the rest of the team are opening a brand new surgery in Webbs of Wychbold. It should all be happening on the 15th February, and I cannot wait to go inside and have a look instead of having to wait outside in the car. Apparently, we four legged friends will only be allowed in the pet areas which is a bit of a shame as I love all those shrubs, and a visit to the cafe would have been  a real treat, but never mind at least we will be able to choose our dog food with our owners.

 

Well bye for now, See you soon.

 

 

Sid

 

 

The adventures of Sid, our practice pet…….continued.

Yippee, it is summer and I think that summer is the favorite time for most dogs, with extra walks and long holidays on the beach, but it is also one of the busiest times at the surgery, as I know only too well. So here are my dad’s top tips for a trouble free and safe summer.

GRASS SEEDS are probably one of the commonest reasons for us dogs to have to visit the surgery. They get trapped in the long hair around our feet and ears and then work their way under the skin, which is very painful, so get your owners to check these places after walks. You could even consider getting beach ready and having the hair trimmed around these areas if your not as sleek and short haired as me. Even cats can get grass seeds stuck in their eyes; there is just no limit to the places these little blighters can get.

HEAT STROKE is also a big risk at this time of the year especially in dogs because of the way that we have to pant to keep cool, and especially in older dogs or dogs with breathing issues. So don’t be a mad dog, go out in the early morning when it’s cooler or if it’s really hot, don’t go out at all, just stay in the shade and chill like I do.If you do get to hot, ask your owner to put a damp blanket over you and sit you next to a fan or you can even get them to buy you a special jacket which does the same. Of course don’t get shut in the car by accident!

TICKS are an increasing problem every summer, especially since the pet passport scheme came in, also we seem to have lots of dogs rescued from Europe at the moment. Ticks can give you a nasty bite and can sometimes give you horrible diseases. I do see a few around the area but if you are going on holiday to foreign parts such as Wales, Scotland or the Lake District I would definitely pick up some preventative treatment from the surgery. There are lots of different repellants to choose from now, from chewy tablets to drops on the back of the neck. It is so much better to be safe than sorry. And look! I’ve even got a picture of a tick my dad fished off a dog earlier, just so you can see just how horrible they are. Often we have special offers on during the summer for treatments.

Lastly FLEAS, are always a bigger problem at this time of the year. I’m sure most of you now use year round prevention, especially if you are on one of our health plans, but if but if not I would certainly recommend doing it now.

So have a great summer and try not to worry too much. If you have got any questions why don’t you just ask your owner to speak to one of our nurses or vets and have a chilled and trouble free holiday.

Bye for now.

Sid

The Adventures Of Sid Our Practice Pet, Continued………………………….

Hello everyone,

Well I have been busy. The bank holiday saw me as guest of honor at the local scout camp; 100 scouts descend on my house for 3 days camping. They have a great time, but the work that goes on behind the scenes, I have to patrol the site, picking up any scraps, checking that all food is properly cooked and edible, and lastly making sure that nothing goes to waste which can be recycled. This last job is my favorite but occupies hours of my time and it is always a relief to return home to bed after supper.

Last week saw the sponsored walk from our Claines surgery. It was a great day out. We walked along the river with swimming stops and photo opportunities. I demonstrated my favorite trick of bounding through the long grass as fast as possible in huge circles (I overheard one person describing me as ‘magnificent’.) Finally we returned to the surgery for cakes, raising over £400.00 for Sheila Tremellan and P.U.P.S, a charity which helps puppies which have been abandoned. Thank you so much to everyone that came along and supported the day, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope you did too. Watch this space for next years date!

I still manage to maintain these high levels of activity despite my advancing years. Few people would believe it, but I am 8 years old now which puts me into the category of a senior dog. Because I have my yearly vaccine at the surgery this means that I get a free 6 month check up as well as a urine test all as a part of the senior health program that they run. To date I have had no problems to report, apart from my usual issues with dental hygiene, but it does give me the confidence to continue with my busy social program. For more information on senior health checks just visit our website at http://www.mbgvet.co.uk

Bye for now

Sid

The Adventures Of Sid Continued………………………..

Hi Sid here again,

I never cease to be amazed by the advances in technology that go on at the surgery. The latest gizmo that they are using now is a pet activity tracker and the idea behind it is to measure how much us dogs and cats move around. This enables the vets to see how effective various treatments are, such as arthritis or heart medications, or even just to show the benefits of losing weight. They do this by measuring the levels of activity before and after.
So, being the natural athlete that I am, I volunteered to be a Guinea Pig and try one of these things out. There is just a little black thing that is clipped on my collar and then sends a signal to my dad’s computer telling him how active I have been each day. Seemed like a good idea in the first place, but I’m not sure mine is working properly; at the end of the first day it said that I had been 16% active and 84% lazy. See what I mean, it can’t be working properly! Anyway, the second day Sam decided to take me running to improve my activity levels but I got bored after a few minutes and ran home. I’m not really designed for long distances. The good news was that as well as still being 84% lazy I was now only 11% active and 4% DYNAMIC! In hindsight, I’m not sure these trackers are such a good idea, it seems more like big brother is keeping an eye on us poor dogs and cats who are just minding their own business and saving their energy in case of emergencies.
Last week my dad and I took Sam off to Yorkshire for a couple of days of walking.
We went for a walk at Bolton Abbey, a beautiful place. Sam decided to go across some stepping stones that cross the river, Dad decided they were too scary for him but I followed bravely. After a couple of slips I soon got the hang of tiptoeing across, but the stones were very uneven and a long way apart, We safely made it to the other side and after a short celebration we set off back with Sam leading the way, and then I lost my footing and although I was swimming desperately into the current my slim little legs were making very little progress and I was barely able to keep my head above water. Sam ran back as quickly as he could and soon explained to me that if I headed sideways, I could climb back out onto the next stone, which explains why the picture does not show a drowned rat walking carefully across the stepping stones, but yours truly.
Anyway I lived to tell the tale but unfortunately smelled so bad that I wasn’t allowed in the hotel and had to spend the night in the car. Yorkshire is not my favorite place.
Here are some dates for your diary. Our dog shows are coming up May 4th on Vines Park. June 27th at Webbs, July 19th at the Jinney Ring and September 13th on Vines Park. I do hope to see you all there.

See you soon

Sid

The Adventures Of Sid The Practice Pet………………

Hi Everyone, Sid here again.

Well it has been a busy month in my world, one thing after another. Oh no! What happened to poor Sid this time? I hear you asking. Well this time it wasn’t my fault. I was rushed into the surgery to give blood in order to save the life of another poor dog that had eaten some rat poison by mistake.

Young Ted had got himself into a right sorry state and was very sick by the time my Dad and his team set to work I can tell you. He was very weak and had passed blood in his motions, (never a good sign if you ask me.) Poor Ted, he was also breathing heavily. After a blood test it was revealed that he was unable to clot his blood and that the heavy breathing was likely to be due to bleeding into the lung cavities. He had some treatment, but still my mate Ted became weaker. So Super Dog Sid, as I like to call myself, stepped in and donated a unit of my full bodied red blood! That pepped young Ted up no end; by the end of the transfusion he was feeling much better.

He wasn’t out of the woods though, he’s still on treatment now, but hey a happy ending all thanks to me. The surgery has a few dogs on it’s books as prospective blood donors. Like humans dogs have different blood groups and if they have more than one transfusion the blood given needs to be matched against the patient. In order to be a regular blood donor a dog has to have several attributes, all of which yours truly possesses. He has to be large enough to have the blood to spare, very fit so that the blood taken can be quickly replaced and also a calm and relaxed disposition. Sight hounds, such as greyhounds or lurchers, have particularly high numbers of red blood cells and to top it all off, my blood group makes me a universal donor. A pretty useful guy to have around as i am sure you will all agree.I really am a real live action hero!

Bye for now.

Sid

The adventures of Sid the practice pet continued……..

Hi, Sid here again,

And a very happy Sid I am too! We have had half term so I have been to the beach and when we get back, as spring is just around the corner , and we have just had valentines, Sputnik is being neutered. Ha about time too! That kitten pounces on my tail as if it was a mouse, so neutering him may bring him down a peg or two. Neutering pets is very important you know, as much as I hate to talk about it, there are many health benefits to having us neutered, especially us dogs. I know I have already told you this before  , but in case you have forgotten, my dad does keyhole surgery at our Claines clinic. It’s an amazing piece of equipment and it makes the operation to neuter the girls so much less invasive. They don’t have as much pain and the recovery time is much quicker. So lads, if you live with a female and she has keyhole surgery…..and then moans about the pain….well she’s exaggerating take it from me.

At the time of being neutered Sputnik is going to have a microchip put in. A brilliant idea for cats, with their ability to disappear off adventuring. They’re certainly not faithful pets like us dog’s. Microchipping dogs will become compulsory on April 1st next year and this month (March) is the last month that the surgery is offering free chipping for dogs, in association with the Dogs Trust. So if you have not had your microchip done yet, tell your owners that it is now urgent, or you will miss out.

Hundreds of us dogs are now chipped; in fact most of the dogs that come into our surgeries are. Come on cats you need to catch us up! These chips are routinely scanned when your vaccination is done. be sure to get your owners to update the petlog register if their details change though. We have had several animals come in that have the chip but alas! The owners phone numbers changed. I do feel sorry for these guys as they head up to the dogs home.

We do look after you at my dad’s surgery, however young or old you are, puppy classes are a hoot. Meet Beanz in the picture below, he loved it.

Every Wednesday night at our Droitwich Surgery all young pups are invited along for a bit of a party. Boy do they know how to party! These classes are free to clients having their puppies vaccinated at the surgery.

Well that’s all for today,

See you all soon.

Sid