Worse and worse...

Three calls asking for help with the cost of treatment at private vets today. One I didn't feel that bad about as the owner knew about our clinic and had had the dog in question for several years, so there's no real excuse for not getting him registered. I'm reasonably happy that she did get the dog to the private vet and, while it may have left her painfully short of cash, nothing awful is going to happen because we couldn't help her.

One I felt very bad about — a hamster which had been dropped and almost certainly had a damaged spine, as he was dragging his back legs. In that situation there would be little that a vet could do other than put the hamster to sleep, and it's debateable whether spending £100 to get that done this evening rather than wait until the morning would be a good use of charity funds even if we could afford it. Still, in an ideal world this is something that wouldn't be delayed, even though spinal injuries aren't usually painful.

The third was one of those situations that really make you despair: a couple with twelve dogs, six of them not vaccinated, one with a litter of puppies. Last week one of the un-vaccinated dogs developed parvo-virus and was put to sleep. Today, the bitch with the puppies had diarrhoea with blood in it, which is one of the symptoms of parvo-virus infection. If she'd been registered at our clinic she could have been seen as an emergency — although even then there's a very limited amount that could be done to improve her chances. All I could suggest was that the owner should speak to the vet who treated the first sick dog to at least get some advice, and then take the bitch to our clinic on Tuesday (leaving her in the car so that she didn't mix with any of the other dogs).

Parvo again

Yet another rottie pup with parvovirus. Village Vets think there's a chance of saving him, so he's gone to their 24 hour surgery at Milton as an inpatient where they can quarantine him from other dogs. Blue Cross and PDSA are also chipping in as this kind of isolation nursing is horribly expensive.

Buying a puppy

And, of course the puppy with parvo died

Just had the bill for last weekend's rottie puppy - euthanasia and cremation.

PLEASE, if you take on a puppy or a rabbit: get them vaccinated. You wouldn't think it was OK not to feed them, "because I can't afford it."

If you live within our branch area and are on state benefits (including working tax credit, but not child credit on its own), you can get your pet vaccinated at our animal clinic at the reduced rate of £18 (cat or dog) or £7 rabbit.

Another vomiting puppy

Yet another owner with no money and a 10 month old rottweiler puppy, "rescued" from someone else, and never vaccinated. Puppy has had vomiting and diarrhoea for three days, and the diarrhoea now has lots of blood in it.

I've agreed that we'll cover the cost of an initial consultation, but it doesn't look good.

On Vaccinations

The Vetnurse blog has a long and excellent piece about nursing dogs with parvo-virus. It isn't worth risking a dog's life in order to save the cost of vaccination. 

Whether or not animal charities should be prepared to help with the cost of vaccinations for owners on very low income has sometimes been a contentious issue. 

On the negative side: vaccinations are a predictable expense, unlike, say, a broken leg. If vaccinations are offered at charity-run clinics and hospitals, they are potentially competing for business with private vets. This is not just unfair to those vets: it might be harming the pet owners who need to use the private vet (by decreasing the number of private veterinary surgeries so that it's more difficult to find a local vet). 

On the positive side: £30 is a lot of money for someone on benefits of £60 or £70 a week. It's always likely that they will put off getting their pet vaccinated and just hope they'll get away with it. Providing low-cost vaccinations encourages more people to get their pets vaccinated, and reduces the spread of infections. This benefits other pet owners whose animals may be at risk in spite of being vaccinated, because they're very old, or very young, or have inefficient immune systems. 

As a courtesy to local vets RSPCA clinics are expected to consult them before offering a low-cost vaccination service. We did that several years ago when we first started providing vaccinations at the Cambridge clinic and, to their great credit, every one of them backed us in spite of the risk that they might lose money by it. 

Vomiting dogs again

Yet another owner with two young, recently-acquired puppies with vomiting and diarrhoea with blood in it. It is enormously expensive to treat puppies like this effectively, because the vets have to set up barrier nursing if they admit them as inpatients. She's been quoted £300 per day, which in fact isn't unreasonable of the vet when you consider the cost of a veterinary nurse's salary; vet's salary and of completely disinfecting their isolation facilities (plus the initial costs of building an isolation unit at the practice).

These two puppies aren't insured or vaccinated and they're not registered either with the PDSA (for help with treatment at a local private vet) or with our own clinic in Cambridge — and in fact we wouldn't be able to have them admitted to the University Vet School who provide our hospital facilities because of the risk to their private patients.

I've agreed that we could help with the cost of giving the puppies intravenous fluids at the private vet, followed by home nursing by the owner, which will at least give them a chance.

Sadly, this is the situation we see over and over again. If you buy a puppy, ask for proof that the mother's vaccinations were up to date, and ensure that the puppy is vaccinated at 8 weeks (preferably by the breeder before leaving the mother) with a follow-up booster according to your vet's advice. Never, ever buy from an establishment where puppies are brought in from multiple sources — mixing different groups of puppies means spreading any infection. Make sure any adult dogs who will be in contact with the new puppy are up to date with their vaccinations. Take out pet insurance to cover vet bills, (or register the puppy with the PDSA, RSPCA or Blue Cross if you are on benefits and can't afford insurance).

Parvo yet again

Another puppy with parvovirus. Treated with fluids at the clinic on Thursday and Saturday and again this morning as an emergency.

And again

Swayne & Partners phoned again this morning to say the last dog owned by the family with the original parvovirus infected puppy has started vomiting, and the one they saw yesterday has died.

Arguably the family have committed some kind of offence under the Animal Welfare Act by failing to provide adequate care for those five dogs, but frankly nothing we could do to them would punish them more than the consequences of their failure to get any of them vaccinated.

More Parvo

Vet phones in to say another dog belonging to the family with two parvo-infected puppies is vomiting. They've got no money, so I've agreed to cover basic supportive treatment - given in their surgery car park as they daren't have something that infectious brought into their building to put the paying clients' animals at risk.

Parvovirus again

Another phone call last night: 9 week old puppy, vomiting, lethargic. Owner never been to a vet, and, presumably, puppy never vaccinated by the breeder. Owner has no money and didn't realise that charges escalate after 6.30 pm when normal surgery hours end and all the local vets go over to emergency rates. It's worth stressing this - in normal surgery hours £50 will cover a private vet's consultation fee and some first aid treatment. After 6.30, you're talking about £75 just for the consultation fee.

Being vaccinated at 8 weeks old via our clinic might not have protected that puppy altogether, as she would only have had her first jab and there wouldn't have been enough time for much immunity to develop. BUT it would have meant she was registered and therefore eligible to be seen by the out of hours emergency service for a £30 charge.

Yet another this morning, via the Haverhill vet. Sadly, put to sleep on the vet's advice.

Parvovirus

Just to reiterate the warning on our main website:

Any dog whose vaccinations are not current could be at risk of contracting canine distemper or canine parvovirus. The disease is particularly dangerous to younger dogs who have never been vaccinated and is very often fatal. If your dog or puppy is not vaccinated please consult your vet - IT IS NOT WORTH risking a £500 vet bill and a dead dog at the end of it for the sake of saving the comparatively small cost of vaccination. If you are on benefits or state pension and really cannot afford the full cost, you may be eligible to have the vaccination given at our clinic at a lower rate than a private vet would need to charge.

If your dog is not vaccinated and starts vomiting or has diarrhoea DO NOT let them mix with other dogs and phone your vet for advice. If you have more than one dog, keep the sick one away from the ones who are still healthy. Contact your vet by phone for advice before getting the healthy dogs vaccinated - they may be carrying the disease and it is important that they are not brought into contact with other dogs.

Many people assume that being vaccinated as a puppy means their dog has life-long protection. This is not the case, although your vet may advise some variation from a schedule of yearly vaccinations for elderly dogs or dogs with certain health problems. In case of doubt always consult your own vet for advice which is personalised for your particular dog's state of health.

Users of the Cambridge RSPCA animal clinic must bring proof of benefits or paperwork such as a bank-statement which shows that they have a very low income each time they visit the clinic. If you are unable to bring your pet yourself it's fine for a helper to bring them for you, but the helper must show proof that you are in receipt of benefit and needs to have a signed note from you confirming that they are bringing the animal on your behalf.

Damn!

Yet another dog with vomiting and diarrhoea; the third in two days. It's almost certainly an outbreak of parvo-virus, just to make our lives complete.