Cat’s With Thyroid Problems
One benefit of modern veterinary medicine is the prolongation and increase in quality of life for our patients. For example, the average domestic cat can now expect to lead a long and healthy life into their late teens. However, unfortunately with age can also come some challenges, and one such challenge which is becoming more […]
Cats May Have Contracted TB From Eating Raw Pet Food
Following on from our article “Should You Feed Your Dog Raw Meat”, there has been a timely article on a related topic in the national press this week. A study carried out by vets at the University of Edinburgh has found that cats may have contracted TB from eating a “natural” raw food diet. This […]
Cat’s (And Dog’s) Eyes
The evenings are drawing in as we near the darkest day of the year. I’ve begun to notice that it is getting darker and darker as I drive home from work. The headlights of oncoming cars on the road are glaring more noticeably than they did even a few weeks ago. Yet even on the […]
Cat Scans
In our last column we covered ultrasound scanning as a way to image your pet. This week, we’re going to look at another way of seeing inside the animal body: the CAT Scan. “CAT” is an abbreviation of “computed tomography”. This is derived from the Greek words “tome”, meaning “slice”, and “graphi” which means “to […]
Cat Scan Or Lab Test Anyone?
There is a fairly old joke about a bloke going to a doctor complaining of a mystery illness. The doctor is stumped so he turns to a cat who paws at the man, slowly shakes her head and walks off. The doctor then asks a Labrador to give the man the once over. The Labrador […]
Calf Pheumonia – Autumn 2024
It’s that time of year again for the farmers of Lecale – the time to start preparing your herds for housing during the winter months. As covered in previous issues, a big threat to the health of cattle at housing is calf pneumonia. We have seen a lot of pneumonia in the past weeks even […]
Blue Green Algae Is Back
The dog walkers among you may have noticed signs in local beauty spots that Blue Green Algae is back in our lakes and ponds. But what is this stuff, and is it dangerous for your dog? Blue Green Algae is not actually algae at all. It is a type of bacteria called cyanobacteria. It is […]
Blue-tongue
Blue-tongue is an insect-borne disease of ruminants – sheep, cattle, goats etc. It is a virus (BTV) spread by the culicoides midge. Originating in warmer climes, over the early part of the 21st century it is working its way up to the countries of Northern Europe. Several cases have been identified in Britain over the […]
Beltaine
So finally May is here – and summer has begun! Our ancestors celebrated this month as the feast of Bealtaine. This feast traditionally begins on May 1st – May day. Various activities are associated with this day – from washing your face in the dew to maintain a youthful complexion, to various animal-related practices. It […]
BBQ Season
The sun is (almost) out in Lecale, and lots of you will be blowing the cobwebs off your barbecue in the hope of lighting it for one or two evenings this summer. Barbecues are very popular in this part of the world, in spite of the climate. It’s as if just lighting one will raise […]
Artificial Intelligence In Veterinary Imaging
This week we will continue to look at imaging in veterinary medicine. We have covered ultrasound, CT scanning and MRI scans. Most readers are familiar with the older imaging technology – x-ray imaging, which has been around for about a century and is available in most veterinary practices. But now we will turn to the […]
Arthritis In Cats
Arthritis is inflammation of any joint. We are familiar with this disease in people, and dogs, but did you know it is common in cats too? In fact, by the age of 6 years, around 60% of cats have arthritis. And by the age of years, over 90% of cats suffer from arthritis. Arthritis causes […]
Are Pets Good for YOUR Health?
Pets are great. They are good fun, and they often complete a family. But could they have a hidden benefit – do they in fact hold the elixir of life, the holy grail – do they help you to live a longer, happier life? For years anecdotal stories and common sense seem to suggest that […]
Animal Hybrids
One definition of a hybrid animal is the offspring of two related species. These animals have been common throughout history, initially found in the wild, but also bred by humans for specific purposes. Hybrids can be stronger and bigger than both their parents. They can also, sometimes display a phenomenon called “hybrid vigour”. The mixing […]
A brief History Of Veterinary Epidemics – A Hopeful Tail
We are living in the first global pandemic that the vast majority of us have ever seen – in the human sphere. The last disease that earned that title was the Spanish Flu of 1919. However, we have seen and seen off serious epidemics in the veterinary world before. Most of us remember the Foot […]
Keyhole Surgery
Keyhole surgery, also known as laparoscopic surgery, is a minimally invasive technique used to explore the abdomen in both humans and animals. It is a technique which is becoming more and more widely available in people, and is now making inroads into veterinary medicine. Keyhole surgery is different from “traditional” surgery in that instead of […]
Are Birds Living Dinosaurs?
Are Birds Living Dinosaurs? I was asked to examine an emu the other day. Now, if you’re wondering what an Emu is – it looks like a small ostrich, native to Australia. Why I was asked to examine this large, flightless bird is another story. But what I want to talk about this week is […]