Shelby is a 7 year old Bischon Frise. In late 2016 she was brought to the Animal Hospital very off form and with a high temperature.
We routinely see cases like this and usually an antibiotic and an anti inflammatory rectifies the problem.

This was not the case for Shelby however………..

Several weeks later all Shelby’s lymph nodes were swollen and she had lost a lot of weight. This is a very worrying sign and and rings a lot of alarm bells. Despite weeks of treatment and further tests here in the Animal Hospital Shelby continued to deteriorate.
Eventually we sent her to the Referral Hospital in UCD, After many investigations Shelby was diagnosed with a problem with her immune system.

She was put on immunosuppressive treament along with other meds. Gradually over the coming months she slowly returned to her old self.

At a check up several days ago she was in fab form. She continues to receive daily meds and will probably do so for life…….

Holly is a 2 and a half year old cavachon.

At around 6 months old Holly started scratching excessively. So much so that she regularly caused her skin to bleed and become infected.
A change of food for a few weeks made no difference so blood samples were taken for skin allergy testing.

Results confirmed that Holly is extemely sensitive as to what she eats – she is allergic to beef,chicken, lamb, turkey and amazingly not to pork. The indoor allergy tests confirmed her intolernce to house dust mites.
Treatment has vastly improved Hollys itchiness but has not cured it.
This is what we regularly find at The Animal Hosptal, Tallght – we can manage but not cure skin allergies.

The main treatment that Holly is getting – on an ongoing basis – is a special low allergy food. Her owner has also purchased a high powered Dyson Pet hoover to keep dust mites to a minimum.

TIP – if your dog is scratching excessively from a young age – initially try a food change to see if that helps.

A) From September 1st 2015, all pups MUST be microchipped, registered and certified. This must be done either by the time they are 12 weeks old or before they leave the property on which they were born. In fact, it is illegal to sell, supply, buy or take ownership of a pup that does NOT have a certificate of microchip.

B) All of the above applies to ALL dogs from March 31st 2016.

As an owner you must ensure that all the details on the database are always correct and up to date. If changes occur, the database must be informed of these, eg address, contact number etc. These changes are then recorded on your new certificate.

Many of you will have dogs that were microchipped before the start of these regulations and may be asking yourselves what happens now? For a start, they do not need to be microchipped again, but you must assure:

• that your dogs details are stored on an approved database.
• the details are correct
• a new certificate is issued by the database.

The main reasons for these changes are to reduce Ireland’s stray dog population and to try to eliminate puppy farming.

Foe more information, or to answer any of your questions, please contact one of the team at The Animal Hospital on 01-4515930 or email us at vet@animalhospital.ie

Please note these regulations do not apply to cats.

She will have her stitches in til next week and then she will be ready for a home of her own. She was a fantastic mother and now she deserves someone to mammy her! Call into the clinic if you would like to meet her.

These beautiful babies will be 8 weeks old on Friday the 9th Jan. Their Mammy was brought into The Animal Hospital as a stray and it was soon discovered that she was heavily pregnant. One of our nurses took her home for a few weeks to let her have her babies. They are now away from Mammy and well used to being played with and handled. They are still too young to start the vaccine course but are ready for a forever home of their own. They have been vet checked and wormed. The top kitten tabby/white colour is a male and the black and white kitten is a female. If you would like to come and meet them please contact the clinic on 01-4515930.