Happy Birthday to us!
Paws Indoors is 21 years old!
This year Paws Indoors is celebrating its 21st Birthday.
Rosie founded the business in 2004 and look how we have grown! We now have our own bijoux hospital and an increasing base of lovely and loyal clients. Over that time we have added two nurses, two vets and three admin staff, a portable ultrasound and laser machine, blood testing and lab equipment, x-ray facilities and pet health plans.
Our ethos hasn’t changed. We are still independent, and plan to stay that way, meaning that we are closer to our clients, and our team are dedicated to providing you with a better veterinary experience, listening to your concerns and empowering you to provide care that suits your circumstances and aims.
Rosie started the business when she was a single parent and Vicki, her youngest was just a baby. Some of our clients may remember her as a cute ( but naughty) blond haired moppet. She’s now all grown up and just completed her final year at Uni.
We are planning some celebrations involving CAKE and would love to hear from any clients who have a 21 year old pet. We are also planning a
Pet photography competition!
Details to follow in next month’s newsletter.
Late Spring, evening dog walks, cats on the prowl, maybe even some sunshine!
As the year rolls on the team at Paws Indoors becomes busier. I think in Winter, we all hunker down, but as the weather improves everyone, including our pets, go out more, to enjoy the fresh air, new growth and extended daylight, which is as it should be. But all this increase in activity means more cuts and scrapes, more fighting amongst the cats, more pollen – more itching, and more parasites – even more itching! And have you noticed how many deer there are about?
Lovely to see, but deer are responsible for the increase in tick numbers. Now the weather is warmer and the grass is longer, the ticks will be about in abundance. Check your dogs and cats regularly for ticks, especially around heads, paws and armpits! Ticks carry many disease, including Lyme’s disease, which is , in fact, more dangerous for people than dogs. If you notice you have been bitten and see a target shaped rash around the bite, please seek medical advice.
Year round tick and flea treatment for dogs.
There are many preventives available for fleas and ticks, including a new,
once yearly flea and tick treatment. This is given as an injection, meaning peace of mind, knowing that your dogs are covered for the year. The injection is available as part of our Pet Health Plans
Unfortunately the injection is not licenced for cats. We have several safe and effective preventives for cats, so please do get in touch.
Free trial of treatment for older cats and itchy dogs.
We have successfully been using a monthly injection to treat arthritis in older cats. This is a common condition, the symptoms of which often go unnoticed or get put down to old age. If you have noticed that your cat is becoming less active, slower to move, has difficulty going up or down stairs or is less able to jump up to its favourite windowsill or bed, they may have arthritis. One of our clients told us that not only was her cat moving better but that she had ‘ got her cat back’. Cats in pain withdraw and stop playing. Once their pain is treated, they can go back to enjoying the things in life that they always used to.
We can offer you a free trial of the injection to see if it suits your cat. They will need a visit from the vet to check that they are suitable and that their symptoms are due to arthritis and not a different condition.
Similarly for dogs; some suffer greatly with itchy skin. The monthly injection helps alleviate the itching and keeps them more comfortable. Itchy skin can have many causes so again, we would need to get one of the vets to assess your dog to see if the treatment is suitable for their condition.
If the trial is successful then your pet can continue with treatment on a monthly basis. For older pets and pets that have regular injections such as these , we have a consultations included subscription plan which reduces the overall cost of consultations and helps you budget for your pets vet care needs.
Community involvement
We are keen to get involved with our local community and are very happy to be sponsoring the Friends of Hempnall School effort to raise money to buy new play equipment for the children. They are looking to raise about £20,000 in total. The friends committee is also celebrating a milestone birthday and will be having a community event on the 29th June, with live music, raffle , bar and BBQ. Please come along and support them if you are local.
We will be running a teddy bear hospital on the day. This is to give the children a chance to play at being vets and vet nurses, so encourage any little people to come along to have a go at bandaging their toys and learning about how to keep their real pets healthy.
We are also sponsoring the Mill Bar beer festival on the 4th and 5th of July. More details here Facebook
Feedback Regarding Insurance
We love to have any feedback from clients and after last month’s newsletter we heard several stories where clients had had a less than satisfactory experience with their insurance companies.
To minimise the chance that your claim falls foul of the insurance company small print, leaving them wiggle room to not pay, we would suggest reading the whole policy carefully and paying attention to the following.
- When treatment needs to be undertaken e.g. before the end of the year, the end of the policy or within a certain time frame, once suggested by the vet.
- What exclusions apply, and under what specific circumstances will they not pay out.
- What annual checks, treatments or examinations are required.
- Do you need to call their own triage line – particularly important for out of hours emergencies.
- What the company considers to be accidents.
- Under what conditions they will or will not pay out for dental treatment.
Please then let us know so that we ensure that we can make appropriate supporting notes in your pet’s record.
Keep in touch!
As always, we are keen to hear any views, suggestions or feedback. Email us at info@pawsindoors.co.uk or call the surgery on 01508 498718.
If you have any animal or community related news that you would like included in the next newsletter, please let us know.
Lots more news and pet care tips are available on our Facebook page or on Rosemary Smith (@paws.indoors) • Instagram photos and videos
best wishes
All the team at Paws Indoors.