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Summer 2020 newsletter
The last few months have brought unexpected challenges for many of us, as we have adapted to measures to address the coronavirus pandemic. As we write this newsletter it is hard to predict what the summer months will look like but this seems a good opportunity to say thank you to all the Dacre House staff who handled the changes admirably - some accepting being furloughed, others reducing their hours or adjusting their working patterns so that we could continue to provide care for our patients. Also to say thank you to our pet owners, for your patience and understanding in the face of new protocols at the clinic and postponed procedures.
With the warmer weather we are once again seeing more patients with skin problems; more fleas and more ticks. Itchy skin can be a very frustrating condition and left unchecked can quickly escalate, as scratching, licking or rubbing leads to further skin irritation. We have more and more options for managing skin disease and, like many problems, treatment is best started early, so please don't hesitate to contact us if your pet is affected. Similarly, taking preventative measures against fleas and ticks is much better than waiting until they are seen. Finally, rabbit owners will be pleased to know that there will soon be a combined myxomatosis, RHD-1 and RHD-2 vaccine available, meaning rabbits can be protected with just a single injection.
Spring 2020 newsletter
Wishing you all a very happy start to the new decade! Also, thank you so much for your incredibly generous givings of chocolates, cakes, cards and letter which turned our staff kitchen into an Aladdin's cave of goodies over the Christmas season. Your support is hugely appreciated by the team with your comments of thanks on social media and cards a great morale boost.
In January we welcomed back our Head Nurse, Emma, from maternity leave. She is quickly getting us in check again with her wonderful organisational skills and eye for detail. Holly, who covered Emma's maternity leave, is remaining on with the team to help with an increasing caseload. Our dogs and cats are frequently in the limelight, so a few notes on rabbit health in this newsletter! We recommend that rabbits are vaccinated against two deadly infectious diseases - myxomatosis and rabbit viral haemorrhagic disease (referred to as RHD or VHD). There is now a new strain of RHD in the UK, RHD-2, and we sadly saw a number of cases last year. Please speak to one of our team for information on these vaccines. In addition, as the weather warms up, we strongly recommend all rabbits are checked twice a day for any signs of flystrike. Flies are very attracted to rabbits if they have soiled bottoms - here they lay their eggs which rapidly hatch out into maggots. Flystrike can appear very suddenly and is a true rabbit emergency.
Winter 2019 newsletter
In September we welcomed Scottish vet Abigail to our team who recently graduated from the University of Glasgow. Having always lived in Glasgow she was keen to move near London to explore a new area and family connections. Abi enjoys all aspects of small animal practice and has a particular passion for dogs - her family have two German pointers back at home and Abi hopes to get her own dog when she is more settled into the area. In her spare time, Abi enjoys playing hockey, tennis and going hillwalking.
Bradley has been busy around the practice – we are pleased to say his raspberry pi's ('little computer boxes' to the non-IT savvy among us) are a success, meaning no more big computer terminals, a little more space on our shelves and lower energy consumption. Bradley enjoys nothing more than to move wires around and has put some new trunking around the walls and sorted the tangle of wires under the reception desk. He also had a light bulb fitting session to brighten up the dull days (never a dull day at Dacre House but it was getting a bit dismal as the days grow shorter). Bradley finally came round to Liz's idea of painting a bit of green around the place, a lovely calming colour around our surgery and kennel areas.
Head nurse, Emma, is enjoying maternity leave but can still be spotted in the clinic from time to time keeping on top of her admin - we captured a delightful moment on camera when Finley and Joel met one another whilst mums were at work. Meanwhile we are hugely grateful to Helen who is working hard with the nursing team to keep things in order until Emma’s return to work in the new year.
Finally, huge congratulations to our long-standing receptionist Bev who became a Grandma back in September when her daughter Maria gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Leilani.
Autumn 2019 newsletter
During the busy summer months we have been blessed with some fantastic locum staff, assisting our team and enabling us to operate at full capacity whilst covering staff holidays. You may have met Matt who has returned to the area after working in Devon for over 10 years and Ben, who was a regular with us during his training a few years ago. In addition, Diego (who is now working with Vets Now, our out-of-hours service) has returned to help.
Our latest exciting investment is a new operating table to assist Jane in her echocardiography (using ultrasound to assess the heart) - please do speak to Jane or one of the team if you are interested in this service.
Look out for our seasonal advice on fireworks in the waiting area and on our Facebook page. We stock Yucalm, Pet Remedy, Feliway and Adaptil which can all be bought over the counter without prescription - do speak to any of our staff for advice. We particularly recommend thundershirts, making dens and using desensitising CDs as excellent preventative measures for minimising stress in pets during this season. Where these options are insufficient our vets can also discuss available prescription medications.
Finally, the computer enthusiasts among you may be interested to know that Bradley is working on replacing a number of our computer terminals with Raspberry Pi's, improving our digital security as well as saving space and electricity!
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To all the lovely vets and nurses. Thank you so much for caring for our beautiful Ben. You have all been so great, we are so grateful. Thank you so much. All our love and thanks...
"Many thanks go to you today, you've been so kind in every way." To the vet who looked after Sooty - A BIG THANK YOU...
Thank you for looking after Max!
To Bradley and the team. Thank you so much for looking after Jasper over the years.
...just to thank you ALL for the care you gave our dog when she was sick. You were fantastic and I will come back again and recommend you to all my friends, as you were recommended to me. Dotty is doing good at the moment, and if that changes you will be the first to hear about it. Thank you again.
