Scooby a very cheeky rabbit visited us recently due to a sore leg. Scooby had to have an X-ray on his leg to see if there was any obvious broken bones or fractures. X-raying a rabbit can be very challenging due to their size, and easily stressed nature. X-rays are like light except they can travel through the body. For an x-ray a rabbit will lies under the x-ray machine which sends a beam of x-rays through the rabbit’s body onto a photographic plate. When the film is develope

Meet Nelly a Dwarf Hamster who visited the surgery due to a sore back leg. Nelly needed to have an X-ray to see if there was any damage to her bones, we would usually sedate or give patients a general anesthetic to position them for X-ray Nelly was far to small for this. A cardboard tube was used to place tilly in and wrapped around her so she could not move allowing us to x-ray her. Nelly was very brave and no broken bones were found Nelly is now home recovering well. Did yo

On Saturday we met Clover for the first time. Clovers owners brought her to see us as she had what looked like a small would on the inside of her leg, Clover was admitted so we could examine the wound more thoroughly. Once Clover was under anaesthetic we could see a large wound that would need stitching, the cut was very deep and had cut through the medial thigh muscle and there was lots of hair tracking into the deep fascia so a drain was placed to drain infection from the s

Jaz came to visit us due to a very swollen ear. The ear had filled with blood causing an aural hematoma. An aural hematoma is a clot of blood that collects between the skin and the cartilage of a pet’s ear flap. It’s typically caused by overly aggressive ear scratching or head shaking that results from an ear infection. Dogs and cats can both suffer ear hematomas, though dogs (particularly those prone to skin allergies and ear infections) are more prone to them. Surgical rep

We recently saw Poppy the Yorshire terrier who visited us with lumps near her teats, Poppy had a mammectomy. Lumps found in the region of a dogs teats is usually a benign or malignant tumors of the mammary glands. They occure more often in female dogs that aren’t spayed  and another risk factor for development of mammary tumors is obesity. In fact, mammary gland tumors are the most common type of tumor diagnosed in entire female dogs. The mammary glands' function is to produc

Meet daisy the beautiful Boston terrier. We have seen Daisy this week with a painful eye which had high ocular pressure due to glaucoma as it could not be medically managed the decision was made to remove the eye. Daisy has been very brave and is recovering at home with lots of TLC. Glaucoma is a condition in which pressure is placed on the eye, causing inadequate fluid drainage in the eye. If the condition becomes chronic or persists without treatment, it will eventually c

Bonny visited the surgery and after consultation with Steven she was found to have a Grade 3 left sided heart murmur, she was admitted for a heart scan with Steven. The scan showed Bonny had mild cardiomegaly, mitral valve regurgitation and mild pulmonary valve regurgitation and Mitral valve disease stage B2. Bonny has been started on medication for her heart and we hope shes feeling much better. Having advanced veterinary equipment allows us to offer the best veterinary car

Belle visited the surgery for her 2nd vaccination and scabs on her skin. Tom our veterinary surgeon preformed skin scrapes and hair plucks on Belle to establish the cause of the skin issues. skin scraping is the process of removing some skin cells to look at under the microscope. It helps identify some skin parasites, especially mites, and sometimes fungal conditions like ringworm. A blade is rubbed across the skin and the sample of cells and skin is mixed with oil and prepar

A favourite past time for pets is chasing bees and wasps in the garden, Lily got a little more than she bargained for when the bee decided to chase her and sting her paw. If your pet is stung and starts to have difficulty breathing or showing signs of an allergic reaction like swelling, fitting excessive drooling call us Immediately. We can administer an injectable steroid or anti histamine medication to provide immediate relief (usually within about 30 minutes) and reduce th

Ariel the ferret recently visited us due to a lump growing on her back, after further investigation it was decided the lump must be removed due to the rapid rate of growth and ulceration. Ferrets have to be monitored very closely during an anaesthetic as they can develop hypothermia, heat pads and bubble wrap are used to help keep them warm during surgery. With any lump removal the veterinary surgeon must make sure they obtain good margins, Lumpectomy margins are the rim of n

As we are currently spending more time at home during the pandemic with our cat we are seeing more and more cats with feline urinary stress or feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) signs of this are: *straining when urinating *incontinence/loss of bladder control *urinating outside of the litter box *crying out in pain while urinating or attempting to urinate *licking themselves *reduced appetite *blood in urine Most cats will show the above signs when they have reached

Bella visited us for intermittent lameness on her back leg, after an initial investigation of X-rays at our Adlington branch, Bella was diagnosed with medial patella luxation. Bella was than transferred to our Standish Orthopaedic site. Medial patella luxation is a condition where the patella (knee-cap) does not stay in its normal position in the groove on the end of the femur (thigh bone) and will pop-out, or luxate, to the medial (inside) surface of the knee.  For most cats

We have been treating creatures of all sizes this week. Meet Yoshi a Rat who was in to be castrated. The General anaesthetic procedure for a rat is very different to a dog or cat, Yoshi was inducted in a chamber with Oxygen and aesthetic vapour. He was then removed from the chamber and maintained on a mask this allowed for improved airway control. The nurse has to continually check Yoshi vitals including colour of mucous membranes (particularly for abnormal pallor or darkness

Riley decided to open his owners bin in the night and ate a large amount of tin foil. Riley was admitted for x-rays and we were able to locate tin foil in his stomach. The Tin foil was removed under general anaesthetic using Endoscopy which a minimally invasive procedure. An endoscope is a flexible tube with a camera attachment. The tube is placed through the mouth into the stomach. After the foreign body is located, a grabbing instrument is inserted through the endoscope. By

Meet Bailey who visited us with a sore leg he had damage to her cruciate and had a surgical procedure called a TPLO One of the most common injuries to the knee of dogs is tearing of the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL). This ligament is similar to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in humans. There are actually two cruciate ligaments inside the knee: the cranial cruciate ligament and caudal cruciate ligament. They are called cruciate because they cross over each other insid

This stray cat was brought in by its new owner due to a nasal discharge, breathing difficulties and eye issues. After examination it was found to have a whole in the roof of its mouth. This called cleft palate. A cleft palate typically looks like what it sounds like: a hole in the roof of the mouth. That hole may be larger or smaller and it may vary in location (closer to the front or back of the mouth), but most are readily identifiable at birth. Some cleft palate defects ma

**Easter Toxins** WARNING Whilst a majority of us are looking forward to an Easter egg hunt in our own house or garden #stayhome Make sure chocolate eggs, treats and hotcross buns are out of reach of our pets. Chocolate contains theobromine, which is toxic to dogs. Raisins, saltanas, currants and grapes can cause fatal kidney failure in dogs. Some spring bulbs and plants are poisonous to dogs, and some can be fatal if eaten. **Easter eggs** Chocolate contains a chemical call

Vivienne attended the surgery last week as she was very lethargic and her owner was very concerned. Further tests were carried out and we found Vinenne had a Pyothorax. Pyothorax is an accumulation of fluid that contains an infectious (usually bacteria) agent and immune system cells in the space surrounding the lungs and heart. A small needle was placed into the chest to withdraw some fluid, and to relieve the pressure surrounding the lungs and heart and allowing Vivienne to

Apollo visited our Tyldesley branch for a rare procedure called a Laparoscopic assisted Abdominal Cryptorchid castrate. The testes develop near the kidneys within the abdomen and normally descend into the scrotum by two months of age. In certain dogs, it may occur later, but rarely after six months of age. Cryptorchidism may be presumed to be present if the testicles aren’t palpated in the scrotum after two to four months of age. In most cases of cryptorchidism, the testicle