Rabbit Awareness Week (RAW)

23rd – 29th May 2011

The Nurses at Cockburns are offering advice for all our clients about general rabbit care. This is the year of the rabbit and we want to make sure they no longer get the RAW deal!

Bring your bunny along to our practice for a free health check by the nurses. We will discuss your bunnies home, diet, worming, fleaing and vaccination so book your apointment now.

The right diet

Bunnies like to feed little and often so make sure there’s plenty down all day for them to munch on. They require high levels of fibre like hay to keep their guts working and help to break down theire fast growing teeth. They also need plenty of fresh water and exercise to keep them trim so make sure they have toys to play with.

The right environment

Dirty hutches can lead to fatal diseases such as fly strike, where flies lay their eggs on the rabbit which turn into maggots, burrowing into your bunnies skin! To minimise this risk you need to make sure your hutch and bunny are clean, especially around the summer months. A net curtain across the front of you rabbits hutch can prevent flies from getting into the hutch. Flies, mites and mosquitos can spread diseases  like myxomatosis.

Worming

We’re all used to worming our dogs and cats but did you know its important for your bunny too? Its helps prevent against nasty parasites like E.cuniculi which can be fatal.

Vaccination

Vaccination is crucial in the prevention and control of diseases. Rabbits can be vaccinated against the fatal disease Myxomatosis from 6 weeks old and is usually given twice yearly. VHD or Viral Haemorrhagic Disease can also be vaccinated against and is reccomended by our vets.

National Vaccination Month (May 2011)

During the whole of May we will be participating in National Vaccination Month for Rabbits. This means if your bunny has gone over-due their Myxomatosis vaccination by 9 months, you are entitilled to a 2nd vaccination free of charge. The myxomatosis vaccination is a 6 monthly booster and should be repeated twice a year. Come in to the practice or print off your NVM voucher at www.nvmonline.co.uk and bring it in to claim your second dose free of charge. Your bunny must be over 9 months old and not vaccinated for 9  months. You can bring more than one rabbit in but you will a voucher for each one. Vaccination is the only proven way to protest against serious and fatal diseases.

Ask at our vets for more information or book an appointment today!

National Pet Month

2nd April-2nd May

We at Cockburn Veterinary Group are proud to be supporting National Pet Month this year

National Pet Months aims are:

• promote responsible pet ownership
• make people aware of the benefits of pets for people and people for pets
• increase public awareness of services available from professionals who work with animals
• raise awareness of the role, value and contribution to society of working companion animals

We are offering free advice from our qualified Nurses on caring for your pet so if you have any queries, don’t hesitate to visit us or call us.

Diet

Ensure your pet is on a complete diet. Feeding pets a dry diet can help to maintain their healthy teeth but not all pets enjoy this. So long as they are recieving a complete diet a wet diet is fine. A mixture of wet and dry is also acceptable but can be difficult to monitor their calorie intake. Make sure you monitor their weight if you find they ‘put on’ easily. We run FREE Weight clinics here at Cockburns so if are struggling we will be happy to help.

Exercise

Enusre your pet is getting plenty of exercise. Your dog will need regular walks thrughout the day. The length of walk will need to be increased with the size and energy levels of your dog. Your cat, if an indoor cat, will need to have plenty of toys and things to do to keep them busy.

Grooming

Your pet will need grooming whether short or long hair. At certain times of the year your pet will moult more often and will need the dead hair removed. We have a range of brushes available at cockburns so ask if your unsure which to use.

Flea and worming

It is important to prevent your pet against fleas and worms as these can cause serious health problems if left untreated. Fleaing is nice and easy and can be done as a spot on treatment on the back of the neck. A worming regime can also be very easy with a small tablet once every few months in their food. Ask at our reception where they are more than happy to help you create a personalised plan for you and your pet.

Insurance

This can be vital for your pet. If the worse should happen, its nice to know that your insurance is there to cover the costs of your vet bills. Make sure your cover includes a ‘lifelong policy’ and not a ‘per condition’ policy. If your pet should present with a condition such as Diabetes, this will require medication on a daily basis and can be very costly over a year. A ‘lifelong policy’ will cover the condition to a certain amount a year for the life of your pet. A ‘per condition’ policy will only cover to a certain amount and then no more. Make sure you shop about first before you commit but it is highly reccommended by all our vets and nurses.

Vaccination

It is essential for you to vaccinate your pet yearly against infectious diseases. Look below for more information on this.

Check out all our Nurses clinics to see what else we can do for you.

Visit National Pet Month Awareness website for more information:

http://www.nationalpetmonth.org.uk/events/overview

We are also running national Pet Month alongside our:

Vaccine Amnesty Month

If your cat or dog has not been vaccinated in the last 18 months then they’ll qualify for a resart of their vaccination course (2 doses) for the price of a single booster! Your pet will also recieve a full health check.

Its important to keep these up-to-date to prevent your loved one from becoming infected with harmful diseases. It is the only proven method of protecting your pet against the common infectious diseases which have no specific cures. Distemper, hepatitis, feline leukaemia and enteritis, the classical fatal diseases of dogs and cats are not as common as they used to be (thanks to vaccines!) but it still remains as important to vaccinate them as they are still present.