But sometimes it’s not possible, or practical. In the UK, there are not yet enough mobile vets, so in some areas a home visit is just not an option. And sometimes it’s obvious that surgery or intensive medical care is going to be required; there are lot of things that are better dealt with in a purpose built surgery. They have the equipment and the trained staff  available who can give your pet the care he or she needs.

If your pet is really sick, they are not usually a problem to get into a clinic. If you are stuck for transport, it’s worth while asking the clinic you are trying to get to, if they know of any animal transportation or pet taxis in your area. It can be tricky getting people to agree to let you take your dog in their car, but if you are desperate and try all friends and neighbours, you will often find someone.

Cats are easier, as a lot of minicab companies have one or two drivers who will allow a caged cat, or other small pet in their vehicle. It’s always wise to ask at the point of booking though, so you don’t get a driver who turns up and then refuses to transport you and your poorly pet.

Don’t forget pets are allowed on public transport, although if they are really poorly you are probably not going to want to take them on the tube or bus. But it’s there as a last resort.

If you have a dog that is not keen on visiting your vet, it’s worth checking their collar isn’t too lose before you get to the front door, so they don’t escape. Once you are inside, let the receptionist know your pet isn’t  keen, so they can alert the vet to utilise their best bedside manner.

The biggest complaint cat owners have, is that they can’t get their cats into the cat carriers. Even a quite poorly kitty is capable of putting up a good fight; cats are sharp at all 4 corners and will bite without a second thought when they feel threatened.

Firstly, if you have a choice, buy a top loading instead of a front loading cat carrier. It’s much easier to lower your pet in through the roof than try and shove them through the front door. And once you are at the vets, it’s up to them to get the cat out, plus they will load them up for you once they have been examined. So, all you need to do is get them in their carrier once.

If all else fails, get a big towel, drop it over the protesting feline, wrap it well and place the whole bundle in the cat carrier. Your cat may be a little cross but they won’t suffocate. Just make sure all the carrier doors are locked firmly and don’t open them again until you get into the consult room.

Oh, and before you put your cat in any kind of carrier, it’s a good idea to put a good, thick layer of newspaper down on the floor…

This cat carrier advice works well for any small, furry animal really.

Please don’t take dogs without leads, or cats or any other small, furry animal  not in a cage into a waiting room. It’s important to have your pet under control in such stressful surroundings.

If you don’t, you could make an already ill animal even sicker.

There are reports of flea infestations all over the UK with this spring. It may be wet, but it’s not cold and these conditions are perfect for fleas to reproduce.

But don’t get jealous; my step by step guide to getting your very own flea infestation will have you itching and scratching in no time.

1/ Get A Cat.

Cats are more prone to fleas than dogs, especially if they are allowed outside. The way they share observation points and routes with neighbouring cats, and range over a larger territory than the average dog makes it more likely that a pet cat will bring fleas into your house, and so initiate an infestation.

I have seen many, many flea infestations where the only pet in the household is a cat. It’s much more unusual to see a full infestation in a home with only a dog, but it can happen.

Remember, any fleas you see on your pet(s) are only 5% of the problem. So if you see 5 fleas, then you can count on there being at least 500 immature fleas spread out around your animals living area.

That’s what you call value for money!

2/ Have More Than One Pet.

If you have more than one dog or cat sharing your home, you are more likely to get fleas.

All you need is one adult flea to bite one of your pets, and start to lay eggs which get scattered anywhere that pet goes, and you have the beginnings of a flea infestation.

It’s not hard to understand that the more pets you have, the more likely it is that you’ll get flea eggs in the house. And where you have flea eggs,  you’ll find larvae, pupae and newly hatched adults.

This is the holy grail of parasitic infestations; a complete flea life cycle. Once you get to this stage, your flea infestation will be with you for weeks, no matter how much you spend on pet or household treatments.

3/ Wait Until Your Pets Have Fleas Before You Treat Them.

As mentioned above, once you see your pet scratching or actually see fleas on them, you’ve already got a household of blood-sucking guests just waiting to hatch or pupate.

And if you go away on holiday while you have a household flea infestation, the life cycle continues up until the pupal stage, then stops. Before they hatch, the pupae need signs that  there is something nearby for them to feed from.  These signals of humidity, vibration and carbon dioxide stimulate the baby fleas to hatch, but if these signs are absent, everything stops until you get home from holiday and walk into the room. Then suddenly all those pupae get the signal to hatch and emerge, ready to leap on the closest warm blooded thing to feed.

So if you arrive home from holiday, and suddenly notice tiny insects using your ankles as a snack bar; congratulations, you are now the proud owner of a household full of newly hatched fleas.

4/ Don’t De-flea All Of Your Pets.

Just treat the ones that come inside the most, or the easiest ones to treat, or just the dogs, or even just the cats. But don’t treat them all.

That way, the untreated ones can reinfect the treated ones, and your house can still get infected as well.

Despite your spending good money on flea treatment for those pets you do treat, you’ll be dealing with a flea infestation before you can slap your ankles and start scratching.

5/ Treat Your Pets With ‘Alternative’ Remedies.

Don’t bother buying tried and tested veterinary approved flea treatments.

They are expensive and if they can kill fleas, then who knows what they are doing to your pets and household?

Instead go online and google ‘natural flea treatment’. Instantly, you’ll have half a dozen proven remedies to hand.  If the first one you try doesn’t seem to work, then just move onto the next.

By the time you’ve run through the entire list, you’ll be being bitten by hungry fleas every time your feet touch the ground.

Of course, if you’ve come to this post looking for information telling you how NOT to get fleas, then you’ll need to read this post, instead

You are most likely to need to show your pet’s vaccination card if they go into a kennel or cattery. Some dog training classes will ask for proof of vaccination as well.

A vaccination card should be filled in correctly, and signed, by your vet and as such is a legal document. You should keep it in a safe place, but if it does go missing don’t get too stressed out.

An original vaccination is a valuable document but it can be replaced. Get in touch with your vet and they will happily write you out a new one. If you have switched vets at some point during your pet’s life, your present vet may only be prepared to include details of the vaccinations they have given themselves. Don’t panic; double check with the organisation asking to see the vaccination card but most likely they will only be interested in whether your pet was vaccinated during the last 12 months.  However, it is possible a vet may charge you for this service.

Things can be trickier if your pet is a rescue animal and the history is unknown. A lot of rescue organisations and shelters vaccinate animals themselves before they re home them, so it’s worth contacting the organisation you got your pet from. It’s highly likely they will be able to get you a replacement card.

If you have got a rescue animal from a private source, and have no way of finding out where they were last vaccinated, you may have to just bite the bullet and get them vaccinated even if you know the last vaccination’s Duration Of Action isn’t up yet. It’s not recommended to have vaccinations too close together but it’s unlikely to hurt your pet, just the once.

And when you have that new card, remember to put it somewhere *really* safe!

Now is the time to ring around a few and get some quotes.

Remember that premiums for pets living in and around London may be up to twice as much as for pets living out of London, and that it’s often cheaper to insure an animal listed as a ‘crossbreed’, than it is to insure one with a listed purebred parent.

Once you have found an insurance policy that appears to tick all your boxes, then work your way down the following list and make sure you know exactly what is, and isn’t covered by the policy you are considering. Don’t be afraid to ring the company concerned and ask questions if the small print seems open to interpretation.

Dental work. The majority of dogs and cats will need dental work at some point. Animals won’t just lie back and open their mouths, even for a simple scale and polish. An   anaesthetic is usually needed and the cost will be at least £200. Dental work, and even gum disease are often excluded, especially with annual policies.

Pre-Existing Conditions. The time to insure your pet is when they are young and healthy. Most insurance policies exclude previous conditions, so changing companies once you’ve reached the payout limit for one isn’t an option. It’s worth checking whether cancer is treated as a blanket exclusion or whether the policy considers different types of cancer  to be different conditions, deserving individual amounts of cover.

Death. You won’t want to even think about this if you have a brand new pet, but some insurance policies do pay for your pet to be put to sleep if they are very sick, or badly injured. Some cover cremation or burial, and others will pay for a replacement. The latter will obviously only be necessary if you paid a lot for your pet in the first place.

The PET Travel Scheme. If you regularly travel to other EU countries with your pet, you should make sure any policies you are looking at cover them while out of the UK. Please note, that for any cover to be effective, you will need to have a Pet Passport and to have followed DEFRA’s guidelines for travel. Some insurers also offer to cover the costs of replacing a lost pet passport or any quarantine expenses that may arise from such a loss.

Holiday Cover. Sod’s law dictates that your pet is most likely to become ill or injured just before, or during, your well-deserved holiday. If you would like to be covered for this eventuality, there are policies that will pick up the tab if you have to cancel or shorten your  trip because your pet becomes poorly.

Lost and Found. If your pet goes missing, you will want to do everything possible to ensure they are safely found. Some policies will cover the cost of advertising with flyers, posters or in the local press. Other policies will even cover the cost of a reward, or a replacement if the worst happens and your pet doesn’t return.

Boarding Fees. If you are called away from home suddenly, or are unexpectedly admitted to hospital, you may have no choice but to put your pet into a  cattery or kennel.  Some policies will cover these fees, but often there is a minimum number of nights. Other policies will pay for a dog walker if you are unable to exercise your pet for any reason.

Accidental Damage. Some policies do offer protection against ‘accidental damage’ by pets, but  the fine print often says they exclude any damage caused by ‘biting, scratching, fouling or urinating’. You are likely to be already covered for accidental damage through your house insurance, so it’s worth checking that first before you shell out for a more expensive pet insurance policy.

You may be able to negotiate a different price by doing without some of the benefits normally offered on a policy. And there is often the option of reducing your monthly premium by increasing the excess you will pay in the event of needing to claim. It’s always worth asking.

Look out for the final instalment of my pet insurance advice series coming next week.

There are so many things to consider.

So, I’m doing the sensible thing and writing a blog post on the topic.

First of all, pet insurance is a gamble. You  pay out money each month and you might get it back in payouts or you might not; but since 1 in 3 pets will visit their vet unexpectedly each year, there is a fighting chance of you being able to claim.

But Pet insurance is not essential. If you can find at least £400-500 in a hurry if your pet has a horrible accident, or becomes seriously ill, then you may not need it. But if this amount is out of your reach, or you’d prefer to be able to claim the money back again, then you should take out insurance.

There is also the option of self-insuring. This is when you put a sum of money  into a pet fund regularly, so that if, or when, your pet needs veterinary attention, you can afford it.  You have to be diligent, and of course the cost comes out of your pocket, but if your pet stays healthy, then you get to keep the money yourself.  You need to consider what will happen if your pet needs treatment before you’ve saved up enough money to pay for it; would you go into debt to pay your vet or would your pet have to be put down?

Also be aware self insuring means you may not have 3rd party insurance, in case someone sues you as a result of your pet’s behaviour. Cat owners can’t be sued in this way, as cats are considered ‘free spirits’, but if you have a dog, it’s worth while checking to see if your household insurance provides 3rd party cover.

If you have already decided you need pet insurance but just haven’t got around to it yet, then now is the time to take it off the to do list.

One of the reasons that people put this task off again and again is that it seems too complicated. It seems like there is just too much choice. Before you start looking at different policies and different companies, make sure you understand what you need.

Are you looking for cover for one off injuries, short-term mild injuries or  minor surgery after a mishap? Then look at policies that pay out per condition, within a time limit. These Annual Policies often seem cheap when compared to more comprehensive cover, but check the fine print to make sure they are really what you need. Pay out limits can range from £1000 to £10 000, but remember, a year after the condition first occurred ( not diagnosed), you will not get another penny, even if you’ve received just a fraction of the possible maximum. Annual policies are best if you are worried about the initial high cost of diagnosis or treatment for your pet but feel you can afford any ongoing treatments yourself, after the year is up.

If you want a policy that pays out per condition, but don’t want to rely on the problem being resolved within 12 months, then consider a Per Condition Policy with no time limit on it. This cover is best for short to medium term illnesses, major (but not specialist) surgeries, and one-off injuries of most descriptions.  These policies will be more expensive than the time limited ones but cheaper than lifetime policies.  A good minimum limit for cats is £3000 per condition; aim for £4000 for dogs.

Lifetime Policies are the creme de la creme of pet insurance as they offer the most comprehensive cover. They are also the most expensive, but will be worth it if your pet needs specialist surgery or develops a complicated long-term illness.  With a life policy you can claim for the same condition again and again. The amount of money available for payout is reset each time you renew the policy.

Once you’ve decided what kind of policy you want you can start looking around at what’s out there. But don’t head straight for google and type in ‘Pet Insurance’; ask for recommendations.

Talk to friends and family, other dogs walkers or cat-owning neighbours. Ask on Facebook or Twitter if necessary. Ask them who they are with, and how much they pay? Have they ever had to claim? Have they had any problems with them?

If you are lucky, the same company names will come up again and again, with people recommending you try or avoid certain companies. WRITE THESE NAMES DOWN!

Then have a look at the various review sites and see what they throw up. Be aware that some of the rants on these sites should be viewed objectively; if people are complaining about an insurance company because it didn’t cover their cat’s dental treatment, or stopped paying for a condition after a year, then this could be an example of insurance confusion. It’s possible they purchased a policy that didn’t cover dental treatment as a rule, or an annual policy. It’s up to the client to read the small point and make sure they know what is, and isn’t, covered.

But as you read through these sites, take note of any names that repeatedly crop up as  non payers or as consistently losing paper work.  Also, if you are interested in a company that seems quite new, make sure it’s not underwritten by a company that is well known for avoiding payment whenever possible.

Unfortunately, due to Financial Services Authority regulations that came into force in 2005, most vets are unable to advise on exactly which policies are worth their weight in gold, and which aren’t worth the paper they are written on.  So it is up to you to do your research; thank goodness for the Internet!

Once you’ve done your homework, and got together a list of recommended policies that you want to investigate further, come back and check out Part 2.

Examples include:

A caller rang to complain that a neighbour’s power shower caused their dog to go to the toilet.

A concerned resident who thought gulls were in their area were radioactive – it turned out that nearby garden lights were illuminating them and turning them green.

A lady phoned in to complain that the blackbird in her garden didn’t sing.

—One caller rang to cancel a visit as their dead tortoise had ‘come back to life’.

Another caller rang in concerned about the talking meerkats on the Compare the Market advertisement.

—A caller requested the RSPCA to come and get their dog down the stairs as it was too heavy for them to carry.

—Finally an inspector was called out to deal with a report of improper killing of ferrets dumped in a bag. On arrival the inspector found a fake mink shawl.

If I am honest, I would have to say that I have dealt with many call outs just as weird as many of those. You talk to the caller, explain the limits of what you can and can’t help with and suggest a solution or two if possible.

The phone calls that really annoy vets are the ones that should have been dealt with before the holiday or weekend. The dog that’s been scratching for a week and has finally ripped a hole in itself, the cat that has been throwing up for a few weeks and is now refusing to eat anything and the animal that has been limping for a month but now refuses to weight bear at all.

Do yourself and your vet a favour.  If you notice something going on with your pet for more than 24 hours, then ring  your vet, during normal office hours, and ask for some advice. Not only is it annoying when vets have to see non emergencies out of hours, but it will cost you more.

And before you trot out the I’ve Got Insurance card, just remember that your excess for the following year is going to increase proportionally to what every you’ve claimed previously. In other words, sooner or later you pay for it.

This slightly grumpy New Years blog entry is brought to you courtesy of the dozens of people who kindly phoned me over the holiday period, even though I don’t usually see their pets, as the animals concerned were not right, not eating, needed their anal glands squeezed, wouldn’t come out from under the bed and seemed cold.

All the relevant vets had After Hours provision in place, their clients just didn’t fancy having to leave their nice warm homes and drag their poorly pets to an unfamiliar clinic miles out of their way.

Unfortunately for them, I felt exactly the same way.

The television series was incredibly popular in the late 70′s and the 80′s, and was not-so- loosely based on the books by Alf Wright. Alf Wright, was, of course the ‘real’ James Herriot and his books were semi-biographical. Something you’d have to be very careful about doing in today’s society.

I adored these programs and have tried to indoctrinate my children into their simple charm with little success.

So I was delighted to see the BBC has revived James, and has now gone back in time to chronicle his days as a vet student in Glasgow.

There are only 3 episodes and program description for the first part reads:

‘James Herriot begins his first term at Glasgow Veterinary College. After blundering his way into the case of a suffering dray horse, he learns his first lesson in veterinary medicine: you treat the owner, not the animal.’

That last phrase suggests that despite the many amazing advances in the field of Veterinary Science over the last 70 years, some things never change.

The 9pm time slot suggests it’s probably unsuitable for children as young as mine, but I’ll certainly be watching tomorrow night.

And it does seem a long slog at the time. But as with most professionals, a vet’s education doesn’t end at graduation.

All practising veterinary surgeons must maintain and continue to develop their professional knowledge and skills, in order to make continuous improvements to the standard of service they provide to their patients and clients.

Currently the recommended minimum CPD is 105 hours over three years . This is an average of 35 hours per year.

Just because I work part time, doesn’t mean I get a reduction in the amount of CPD I have to do. And because I work for myself, I don’t have anyone paying me to go on highly specialised courses. Quite a lot of what is out there is irrelevant to me anyhow; what I need is someone to come up with a course solely for us mobile vets.

The usual cost for a day of CPD is between £300-400, depending on what is being discussed, so you can see that CPD is not cheap.

Fortunately, there are many useful, free courses out there, and private, self directed  learning can account for 10 hours a year. This can include reading relevant journals and papers, and even  researching conditions online.

But sooner or later, you have to pay something and this is where conferences give good value for money.

I have attended the London Vet Show for the last 2 years, and tomorrow and Friday I will be there again. It’s easy to get to for me,  doesn’t require overnight accommodation and there is always plenty for me to see and do.

And when you work alone, as I do, it’s always good to have a chance to meet up with other vets, even if the vast majority of them are surgery-based.

The Old Boy is not severely phobic. He doesn’t destroy things, but he does follow us from room to room painting and holding his tail between his legs. When he really can’t cope, he goes upstairs and hides in the shower.

We’ve always just managed his fear by ignoring his behaviour and letting him follow us around when he wants. I’ve tried a DAP diffuser, but it didn’t seem to help, and I don’t want to try drugs as his last blood test showed he has raised liver enzymes.

His behaviour doesn’t really  impact on us, but it’s clear that he’s scared by fireworks. So when I read about Thundershirts, I thought they might be worth a go.

A Thundershirt is basically a pressure wrap in the form of an easy-to-put-on dog coat. All the fastenings are velcro, and once you’ve read the instructions and put it on a couple of times, it’s easy enough. Slow, constant pressure has been shown to reduce anxiety in many species, and it seems it can help with sound phobic dogs.

I thought it might be difficult to get it on a panicky dog, but after The Old Boy had it put on once, on the Sunday before Halloween, he started to come downstairs looking for it as soon as it got dark. And when I had it in my hands, his tail would go from being tucked between his legs to wagging.

For him, it seems to have helped quite a lot. He isn’t panting and seems more relaxed. He’ll actually sleep beside us while the fireworks go off, but if we move rooms, he will often come too. Having said that, he spend most of November the 5th curled up in his bed sleeping happily, after a couple of trips downstairs to check we hadn’t abandoned him.

So, on the basis of our experience, I’d have to recommend the Thundershirt as worth a try. I don’t know how it would work in severely phobic dog, or one who suffers from any other phobia, but for our 10 year old collie cross with moderate sound anxiety, it’s helped a lot.

If you have a dog who doesn’t like loud noises, then it might be worthwhile seeing if Santa will bring them a Thundershirt in advance of the New Year celebrations.

I purchased a Large Grey Thundershirt from Amazon for £33.72. I would recommend you go for a smaller size if in doubt as the L size is a little loose on my 28 kg collie. If you do buy one, please come back and let me know what you think.

We live in Greater London and fireworks are no longer confined to one night, or even one weekend. They go off for months around here! They usually start in October, carry on through November and December and tail off after January.

We have a sound phobic collie so for him that’s 4 months of terror. Our poor old dog stays upstairs, either under our bed or in the shower(!), unless the fireworks are very close. Then he comes downstairs and sits pressed up against us and pants. 

I was worried that our younger dog would copy his behaviour and develop a sound phobia as well, but so far, she seems fine.

Our old dog is obviously frightened by fireworks but at least he’s not destructive in his efforts to hide from the noise. And he’s not alone. About 50% of the UK’s dogs suffer from noise phobia, the most common reactions are to fireworks, thunder or firearms.

Owners of sound phobic dogs often choose not to seek help for their pet’s condition, believing they will grow out of it. Only 4% of dogs do recover spontaneously; the rest suffer with each firework season and may get worse as time goes on.

But your four-legged friend doesn’t have to suffer. There are things you can do to help a sound phobic dog. When Bonfire Night is so close, there is no point in embarking on any long term therapy, as it’s crucial that patients are not exposed to their fears while undergoing treatment.

Short-term management is the way to go during Autumn. When fireworks are going off. don’t lock your dog in a small space or try and restrain them, as blind panic can make a dog destructive or aggressive. Provide them with unrestricted access to where ever they want to hide. Don’t attempt to comfort your pet, but try and stay relaxed as your dog will take behaviour cues from you. Stroking them and comforting noises will just reaffirm their belief that loud noises are something to be scared of.

Don’t forget that your vet can prescribe drugs that will can help a sound phobic dog cope.

ACP used to be the drug of choice for sedation of these dogs bu  it is no longer recommended.  We now know, that unless it is used at an extremely high dose, that it does nothing to lessen the impact of loud noises or reduce the animal’s level of anxiety. So, dogs treated with ACP may be immobilised, but they are completely aware of any sounds around them and respond emotionally as they would were they not sedated.  Because of this ACP can actually make a drugged dog’s phobia worse.

Your vet may prescribe Diazepam, which is useful for sound phobias, as at low doses it causes events to be less clearly remembered and so will not worsen your pets phobia. At higher doses it can make them less anxious and cause sedation. Alprazolam is another human drug that can be used to reduce anxiety and help a sound phobic dog forget an otherwise terrifying event. Both drugs can have variable onset of action and effects, so should be trialled first during a quiet, non-stressful time and a drugged dog should never be left home alone.

A DAP Diffuser may also come in useful for a mildly anxious dog. If your dog is so scared he or she is destroying your house, or urinating inside, then it’s unlikely to be much help. But if your pet is only panting and hiding in response to fireworks, then a diffuser will at least give them an area of the house where they will feel less anxious.

By treating your dog’s phobia behaviourally, with drugs and with a DAP diffuser, you and your dog will get through this years firework season, but once it’s over,  it is important to treat the problem so that it is less severe in the future.

Behavioural therapy, sometimes combined with medication or pheromones, can achieve this and I will post about this in more detail at the end of January.