Saucy Pet

Posts Tagged ‘vets’

A horse with colic is a situation that worrries any horse lover. So what exactly is colic? What symptoms should you look for?

Equine colic refers to pain originating in the abdomen. Normally horses will not tolerate abdominal pain very well. So if there is any disturbance of gut functioning they tend to show signs of discomfort.

Signs of irritation could be stretching, standing as if to urinate, and pawing the ground. If in more pain the horse will stand up and lie down, and try rolling to get more comfortable.

It will start sweating. In more severe cases it will stand up and down and continuously roll.

What Should You Do?
If you believe your horse has colic, you should call an experienced equine vet straight away. The vet will be able to provide rapid pain relief and decide whether further action is necessary.

What should you do while waiting for the vet to arrive? Leading your horse for a walk often helps. It may encourage his guts to start working normally and surpress any pain. It could also prevent him lying down and rolling. However if he is lying down peacefully then you should let him stay there.

It was previously thought that a horse could twist its gut by rolling. That has been proven to be probably incorrect. But it is best to stop him rolling around if you can. This way you will stop your horse causing injury himself by striking itself on the stable walls. But be careful that you don’t cause injury to yourself. Horses often forget all their normal manners when they are in pain.

There are several differing reasons as to why horses get colic. Frequently the signs look similar regardless of the cause.

What will the vet do to look into the problem? He or she will have a listen to the abdomen with a stethoscope which will tell whether there is more or less activity in the gut than normal.

Examining the heart rate gives a good idea of the severity of the discomfort and the seriousness of the colic. Normally a horse with a normal heart beat does not have a sever problem. However fast heart rates are not such a good sign.

A very useful part of the examination will be the rectal examination. By physically feeling the intestines, your vet could be able to find the root of the problem. Without doubt this is a very skilled procedure, that is potentially dangerous for both parties. But for an experienced vet the feedback it gives is incredibly useful in deciding the cause of the problem. It may reveal a blockage, or a swollen loop of intestines as a result of a loop or another intestinal issue.

In all but the simple scenarios the vet may inset a tube through the nose into the stomach. Though it sounds unpleasant but helps make the horse comfortable by releasing any pressure in the stomach. This process can also give the vet detailed information about whether the stomach is functioning properly.

Sometimes a horse is in so much pain that it isn’t possible for the vet to diagnose fully without first applying a dose of sedative.

Only by collecting all of the signs provided by a careful examination is the vet able to make an initial diagnosis. Even then it may not be possible to tell exactly what the problem is.

It might be the case that, after the first inspection, your horse requires emergency surgery. Though more usually the vet will decide to treat the horse with a fast-acting painkiller and review his condition after a few hours. The majority of examples display a quick improvement. However some will either not respond to the treatment, or they will improve at first, then start showing signs of pain again later on.

In preference to having to bring the vet out several times, it is normally preferred to move these cases to a specialist practice where they can be monitored closely and operations can be performed if appropriate.

In Conclusion
Fortunately the majority of cases respond well to medical intervention. However if surgery is needed – it is important to operate early. The likelyhood of a successful outcome is much better if the surgery is carried out before too much damage has taken place.

For more information, horses for sale and more, please visit the Horse and Pony Directory.

So you have a pet or are going to get one in the near future. If your pet falls down ill you really cannot help it personally? To put the creature down could be totally unnecessary simply because a vet could save its life and add valuable years to its life. On top of all of this there are aslo things that are possible now that twenty odd years ago would have been laughed at if you had suggested doing it for pets. Newer ways to operate on them have come into use ranging from the simple limb repair to the more skilled pets cardiology which believe it or not can even include fitting a pacemaker into your cat or dog which simply put just goes to show how far technology has come.

An animal surgery could help your pet on any of the 365 days of the year, as many have emergency clinics that you can pop into whenever you need to as well as, some having numbers that you can ring to talk to a specialist whenever you think something may be wrong with your pet, and these numbers will actually have a person who understands veterinary and can help as opposed to someone who has no idea what is wrong with your pet and is simply on the line to assure you that everything is ok.

If, sadly your pet has to be put down then you do not have to simply get up and leave, not at all. They understand that a pet is actually a member of the family so will allow you to stay on and say goodbye to your pet and help to arrange the right disposal for you it can really give you that boost to know someone is there to help out.

There are some as well that offer blood transfusion so when something serious like a road traffic accident happens your pet will be able to gain back any lost blood.

So there are many ways that an animal hospital can actually benefit your pet so it is worth considering joining one now so if something bad does happen you have someone there to help.

You would of never of guessed it but the day has come where you are finally witness to one of the most bizarre inventions of our time. Pet Airways is an airline dedicated to transport pets from place to place. At the moment the operation only runs in America and that is it but they have big plans to make the business go world wide.

This is quite a large aspiration but I think that this may catch on. OK - It may be a bit of a crazy idea but this business idea has some real potential and I want to see how they are going to develop their business in the future months and years.
Experts are worried that putting animals under that kind of strain will cause an increase heart disorders. Pet airways have already announced that there will be an on board animal cardiology vet to take care of any flight trouble. Animals health is very changable and it is important to consider every avenue when taking their safety into consideration.

At the moment, Pet Airways serves New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles and charges just £91 for a one way fare which is very competitive against the US Airlines prices to take your animal on a flight.

Pet Airways claims that it offers a very different and unique service for animals. Dogs and cats will fly in the main cabin of a freight plane that has been re-arranged and lined with carriers in place of seats. The animals, up to 50 at a time will be escorted to the plane by attendants who will check them every 15 minutes during the flight to make sure they are ok. Local animal hospitals from around the area have been in support over the idea to take animals in the sky by plane and think it is a great idea.

The idea is to add more destinations on to their flight schedule as soon as possible. Within the next year, Binder hopes to develop over 25 desitinations onto their current roster.

Have you been thinking recently about getting a pet for the home? What really is the best to have and why?

Firstly you need to think about whether there are kids involved or not. It is best not to get a pet if you have kids on the way as sometimes the animal can get jealous of the attention it has lost and the child has gained so if this is the case wait until your child is at least 2-3.

A dog is known to be a good choice for a family. If you are thinking of getting a dog then it would certainly be wise to get one of the bigger breeds like a Golden Retriever or German Shepherd as they are not only very friendly, family dogs they will also help to guard the home when you are out or asleep as their barks can be very scary for intruders. Be careful as in the case of a German Shepherd they are not very friendly towards anyone outside of the immediate family but get used to any guests you have so do not worry they are not as horrible as they sound or look in those police videos you see.

Of course if you are not a big family or do not like the big breeds of dog simply buy a smaller breed.

If you do not like dogs then maybe a cat is what you need. They are not really good for families with young children as they are really only interested in themselves and have little time for playing.

Of course if you do not like the idea of any of these pets then maybe a rabbit, hamster or even a goldfish would be better for you. They provide company for the home.

Do not forget that once you have the pet it will need a lot of care. Join an animal hospital so that the animal surgery within it can help your pet if it has an accident or suffers from health problems. Some of these can even do pet’s cardiology which can even involve fitting a pacemaker into your pet.

My best friend’s cat died last week. Needless to say she was more than a little upset, but then he wasn’t just a cat he was family. He was her companion, her confidant and her friend. She only found out he was ill about a month ago when she took him to the vets in Sussex and they found a lump in his stomach, she would have done anything and paid any amount of money to save him but unfortunately they had found it too late.

In the end the decision was out of my friend’s hands, but for a lot of people when their pets get ill or are injured they are faced with a horrible decision. Obviously there is no NHS for pets, and for those without pet insurance it’s an extremely costly business (my friend paid almost £90 for a blood test that didn’t even help to identify the problem). Of course most people would do anything to save their pets and money is no issue when it comes to helping such an important member of the family.

And for those who can afford it there is no end of veterinary help available, from basic medicines and physiotherapy for pets to specific animal cardiology and ophthalmology facilities. If the illness can be treated it will be treated, and there is every chance that the unfortunate animal will make a full recovery. But what about when a pet is suddenly injured or taken ill and their owner really can’t afford to foot the (often huge) bill? It’s hardly fair that one innocent animal’s life should take priority over another because of the size of their owners’ wallets.

One cat owner from Brighton took on this problem in a new way when his beloved cat Mumble was seriously hurt in the street and needed urgent treatment to survive. Rory O’Connor had no pet insurance, and Mumble’s treatment at a veterinary hospital in Sussex was estimated at around £1000, much more than he could afford, but he couldn’t bear to just watch her suffer. So as what he called a ‘last ditch effort’ Rory started a group on Facebook, inviting all his friends to spread the word about Mumble’s plight and asking everyone to make small donations of £1. At first he thought he’d have no chance of success but his plea seemed to touch the hearts of thousands of facebook users. People on his friends list told all their friends about it, and within a couple of weeks he had raised enough cash to pay the bill for all of Mumble’s treatment in full. She made a full and fast recovery, and all thanks to the overwhelming support of friends and the power of social networking!