29/11/2011 by admin.

Unfortunately one of our client’s cats escaped from its basket on the way to our surgery yesterday.  The owner is obviously very worried and wants to find her cat again.  It was a young male castrated black and white domestic shorthaired with a black spot on its chin.  It is ID chipped but hasn’t got a collar on.  It escaped in our car park so is in the centre of Belper.  If anyone sees a cat matching this description please let us know or bring it in for us to scan.  The owner will be very grateful.

 Just something to think about – is your cat basket safe and secure and suitable for your cat or could the same thing happen to you? (we hope not)

 Lets all keep our fingers crossed for a good outcome!

Posted in M&T Mutterings | No Comments »

16/11/2011 by admin.

It’s amazing what you read: apparently the average Veterinary Surgery employs the equivalent of 6 full time vets and each vet should have 85 rabbits registered to them.

This is surprising for two reasons, 1) because we didn’t realise just how small we are and 2) because we don’t keep checks on how many of each sort of animal we have registered …… perhaps we should?

On the first point, we don’t care We know that whatever the ‘experts’ say our smallness is part of our charm. We have time to talk to our clients, to know about what is going on in their lives not just what is going on with their animal’s health, we can have a sense of being part of the community AND WE LOVE IT.

On the second point, do you as our clients care how many of what sort of animals come to us? Obviously you want us to know enough about your animal to be able to treat it to a high standard and so the fact that we see that type of animal frequently is important but is it enough if our expertise is gained through seeing one poor animal who seems to get everything which is going? What good is it to our familiarity with a particular species if all of them are healthy and never come to the surgery?

As usual the ‘experts’ measurement of ’success’ seems simplistic to us.
We think we have achieved success because we earn enough to pay the bills ( we are not profit driven like some larger surgeries) and because we have very few animals who get stressed when they have to come and see us. Happy clients and animals and happy staff, we all win from that.

Posted in M&T Mutterings | No Comments »

02/11/2011 by admin.

Now is the time of year when our pets start getting scared by fireworks. It starts with Nov 5th and continues through to New Year on an intermittent basis and that is a long time.

According to research 80% of pet owners say their animals are adversely affected by fireworks so here are a few tips which are cheap and easy but may help your pets have a happier time when there are whizz-bang-flashes around.

1) Close the curtains so that bright lights outside are made less obvious. Put the room light on as well. Anything to reduce contrast between bright and dark moments will be helpful.
2) Put some ‘noise’ on in the room, if the telly is normally on then use that but perhaps have the volume slightly higher than normal; or you could put on music which is familiar to your pet. Again the aim is to reduce contrast between when the firework goes off and when there is a lull.
3) If your pet is of a type which can be distracted by food then try to feed them at that time, for example give the dog a favourite chew which will keep him busy and contented for a while. If not easily distracted by food then try some other distraction such as giving a cat a catnip mouse to play with, or covering a bird so it thinks it is time to sleep ( this will also act as another layer of light/noise muffling)
4) Do not make an especial fuss of them. Changing their amount of interaction with you may make them think that what is going on must be scary because you are acting oddly too. They may interpret changes in your behaviour as fear on your part so it is important that you project calm and confidence …. and stay relaxed even when your pet is quaking.

Of course your pet needs to be inside with you for these strategies to work! So don’t forget to move outdoor small furries into the house and get cats and dogs in well before it goes dark.

Posted in M&T Mutterings | No Comments »

17/10/2011 by admin.

Less than one year to retirement!

Roger and I will be retiring at the end of Sept 2012 and we can’t wait We will miss the fun and laughter with our clients and their pets but are happy we will be leaving them in good hands. Katherine Reynolds, who you will all know, is going to take over as boss ably  supported by all our lovely staff but especially Dom who is taking on a lot more responsibility.

Roger has now stopped consulting completely, unless of course an emergency comes in and there is no-one else available. He is even handing over his acupuncture patients to Katherine and acupuncture is the area which fascinates him most at the moment, I do wish I wasn’t so afraid of needles!

During this final year we will be progressively handing things over to Katherine and Dom and supporting Katherine in her wish to carry on Marshall and Till with the same principles and attitudes of which we have always been so proud. To indicate her commitment to ‘the old ways’ she will be retaining the name Marshall and Till for the business and we are delighted for her to do so.

Posted in M&T Mutterings | No Comments »

18/08/2011 by admin.

Oh my tail and whiskers, it is that time of year again!

Heat and humidity make bunnies’ bottoms sticky, flies circle,land and lay eggs in the matted mess and then the horror starts. As the eggs hatch and maggots start to search for food they have something succulent close to hand. Fly maggots have either chewing or hook-like mouth parts depending on species, the chewers chew and the hookers tease apart skin and flesh and both of them make their way through the skin and into the flesh of their unfortunate host. Unless stopped these holes get bigger and bigger and eventually the animal’s life can not be saved, which is sadly what happened to our last client of the day yesterday.

Please bunny owners, check your rabbit’s bottom every day and help keep it clean and dry if it can’t manage on its own ….. and please all other pet owners realise it isn’t only rabbits which can be at risk. Any animal with matted, dirty, food encrusted or constantly wet (ie sweaty bits) could be attractive to flies as places to lay eggs and that is where the problems begin.

Posted in M&T Mutterings | No Comments »

12/07/2011 by admin.

        Our new star is a rainbow, or so we are told. The waiting room seemed so empty without Stevie we have had to go and SPEND MONEY to get a replacement ….. it will take Roger weeks to get over it!

He has been christened Walter after the founder of Marshall’s Veterinary Surgery, which later became Marshall and Till when Roger became a partner in 1978 (and how long ago that seems now).

Budgie Walter is 4 months old and, as you can perhaps see, his under body shades like a watercolour wash from  green to a beautiful blue: the green is more obvious in real life. He is quite vocal and so we are hoping to teach him to talk, ideally he could answer the phones for us but we think the handset may be a bit toooooo heavy for him: perhaps we could rig up a headset …………………………..

Posted in M&T Mutterings | No Comments »