The number of dogs being rescued and rehomed from overseas has increased dramatically in recent years. This increase in popularity has occurred for various reasons, some people are drawn to a particular animal seen on social media whilst others adopt as they perceive that stray pets abroad suffer more and have a higher chance of being euthanised. Others have been denied adoption by UK rescue centres and find their only option is to look for a pet from abroad.

As a nation of animal lovers, we would all agree that adopting a pet to give it a better life is a truly admirable thing to do. However, it is important to understand that adopting a pet from overseas does come with some additional risks and responsibilities.  It is extremely important for owners to fully understand what these risks are and how they can help preserve the disease-free status of the UK to maintain the future welfare of our pets.

The main concerns regarding pets adopted from overseas are IMPORTED DISEASES and BEHAVIOUR.

IMPORTED AND EXOTIC DISEASES

Increased temperatures across the continent have led to a changing distribution of some of the “exotic” diseases and the way they are spread, including the ticks and mosquitoes that can spread them   This coupled with the increased movement of animals in recent years has resulted in an increase in the occurrence of several exotic diseases that have not previously been seen in the UK pet population. 

These diseases pose a risk not only to your pet and any other animals in your household but also to the wider UK pet population as a whole and, more alarmingly, your family and the human population. These diseases can have devastating consequences and as such, we have taken the decision to implement a protocol to ensure all our imported patients are tested for the following diseases, not only to help protect our team (who are most at risk while handling blood samples and reproductive organs during neutering surgery), but also to help reduce the chance of these diseases becoming established in the UK: 

• Canine Brucellosis 

This is a bacteria which can be transmitted through contact with bodily fluids. It can produce a range of symptoms, including lethargy, fever, swollen lymph nodes and reproductive problems. This is a zoonotic disease, which means it can be transmitted from animals to humans. There is no treatment for brucellosis and there is no vaccine currently available for dogs. In 2022 the UK saw the first case of Brucellosis transmission from an imported pet to an owner which not only resulted in the severe ill health of the owner but also the euthanasia of the imported pet along with the other dogs in the household

• Leishmania 

This is a parasite that is transmitted to dogs by the bite of infected sand flies, found in many parts of Europe. It can produce a range of symptoms, including skin lesions, weight loss, lethargy and kidney failure. It left untreated it can be fatal. To prevent leishmaniasis in your dog and protect the UK dog population, we advise using insect repellents abroad, keeping inside during peak sand fly activity and using mosquito nets or screen on windows and doors. We regularly see patients imported with Leishmania and there have been confirmed cases of transmission between dogs in the UK

• Babesia

This is a parasite that is transmitted to dogs by the bite of infected ticks, found in many parts of Europe. It can produce a range of symptoms, including fever, lethargy, anaemia, jaundice, loss of appetite, and in severe cases blood clots, organ failure and death. To prevent babesiosis it is important to use preventative tick medication and remove ticks promptly if found. In 2015/16 we had an outbreak of in Essex and sadly some dogs lost their lives.

• Ehrlichia 

This is a bacteria that is transmitted to dogs by the bite of infected ticks, found in many parts of Europe. It can produce a range of symptoms, including fever, lethargy, anaemia, joint pain and neurological symptoms, in severe cases dogs may develop bleeding disorders and also death. As mentioned above, in order to prevent this tick-borne disease, preventative tick medication should be used and removal of ticks promptly if found.

• Heartworm/Dirofilaria

This is caused by a parasitic worm called Dirofiliria transmitted to dogs through the bite of infected mosquitos and is prevalent in many parts of the world and Europe. It can produce a range of symptoms, including coughing, fatigue and weight loss, in severe cases it can develop into heart failure, breathing problems and death. To prevent heartworm, it is important to use preventative medication to kill the larvae before they mature, reducing the risk of infection, but also minimising exposure to mosquitos, by using screens on windows and doors, and keeping inside during peak mosquito activity. At the clinic we’ve witnessed first-hand the heart-breaking consequences of pets being imported with heartworm.

• Anaplasma 

This is a bacteria transmitted to dogs through the bite on an infected tick, found in many parts of Europe. It can produce a range of symptoms, including fever, lethargy, joint pain and loss of appetite. It severe cases it can lead to organ failure and death. To prevent anaplasmosis preventative tick medication should be used and remove any ticks promptly if found.

Unfortunately, there is no legal requirement for pets to be tested for these diseases prior to importation and most rescue centres lack the funds to routinely run them. In addition, many of the diseases can take up to 6 months after infection to show positive on tests, so a negative test taken at the time of export does not guarantee a pet is completely disease free. Finally we must also bear in mind that many imported pets can harbour potentially life-threatening diseases yet show no outward clinical signs, we call these “Trojan pets” and they pose the risk of passing on their infections to other dogs and people and establishing these diseases in the UK. 

All imported dogs should be screened for exotic diseases before, or shortly after importation and again 6–12 months later. This testing is expensive and, if found to be positive, may require a lifetime of testing and treatment with no guarantee of recovery.

Since implementing our new protocol a few months ago we have already identified an imported pet with heartworm. Beautiful Ava (pictured) already has evidence of adult heart worms living in her heart but was symptom free and her owner was shocked to discover their beloved pet had a potentially life-threatening infection.  The treatment for this particular condition is expensive, can have serious complications and is a lengthy process, lasting nearly a year. Thankfully we have been able to start Ava on treatment promptly and she is doing well. Most owners are completely unaware of these diseases and what’s involved in their management/treatment.  Our hope is that by sharing this article we can help raise awareness on the importance of having an imported pes tested for these diseases and making prospective adopters aware of the potential heartbreak and financial impact these diseases can bring with them.

BEHAVIOUR

Another concern to consider when rescuing a dog from abroad is the behavioural risks. Many imported dogs have an unknown history, they could be street dogs or perhaps they had been abandoned. Many have never been socialised, lived in a home or been around children. It is understandable that travelling to another country and having such a dramatic change in environment and lifestyle can be traumatic for dogs. Some of these dogs find it hard to adapt to a newly domesticated life and often end up anxious or scared. An imported rescue dog isn’t always the best choice for as busy household or those with young children.

If dogs haven’t experienced a lot of handling or received affection in the past, they may not enjoy it once adopted. Some dogs will be frightened and adopt avoidance behaviours such as growling, snapping or biting. It can take a lot of time to adjust to living indoors and new owners need to be accepting of some challenging behaviours. A qualified animal behaviourist will be able to help with this transition, but the process will involve a lot of time and flexibility.

Top tips for rescuing a dog from abroad:

1. Consider adopting from the UK first, wherever possible.
2. Carefully consider the time, expense and possible disease implications before adopting a dog from abroad.
3. Consider routes, other than adoption, to help the welfare of foreign rescue dogs. You could help support a foreign charity in order to help improve the conditions and welfare of native dogs long term.
4. If you do choose to adopt then please ensure you thoroughly research the rehoming organisation to ensure it is legal. Charities should be registered and able to give you their charity number.
5. Check with the organisation to ensure the dog has been vaccinated against rabies and has all the legal documents required to travel into the UK. They will also need a tapeworm treatment prior to importation.
6. Request that dogs are also fully vaccinated for UK based diseases and had a parasite treatment for fleas, ticks and worms. Although this is not a legal requirement is highly recommended to reduce the risk of importing diseases.
7. Request that dogs are tested for diseases such as brucellosis and leishmania before travel to the UK. 
8. Enquire if the organisation will allow a meet and greet before committing to adoption. It is impossible to know a dog’s personality or how well a dog will fit in with your family from a picture or video alone.
9. Ask if the organisation will consider a trial period before rehoming becomes official, like fostering. This allows you to test the waters and get to know your dog before fully committing. Also ensure that the organisation will be willing to take the dog back if the match doesn’t work out.
10. Expect that your dog may take a long time to adapt to home living, some behaviour problems are to be expected. Consider enlisting the help of a qualified pet behaviourist at the first sign of problems to ensure you get the best advice.
11. Regularly remind your vet at appointments that your dog is imported. This will help them to consider exotic diseases and also ensure that blood samples and similar are marked accordingly to ensure the safety of lab technicians.

In summary, with the right knowledge and support, importing a pet can be incredibly rewarding. We are here to provide help and guidance, please do reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

We have been very fortunate to welcome the arrival of a number of new team members over the last year.  Our wonderful reception team has been joined by Cat and Tracy.  Both very experienced veterinary receptionists who are proving to be fantastic additions to our team.  They have they allowed Rachel to make a move from the reception desk to embark on her Registered Veterinary Nurse qualification and have also been filling Alice’s very capable shoes as she has had some time away with her beautiful new baby girl.

Not only has our outstanding nursing team been boosted by the switch made by Rachel, but they have also been joined by three amazing new Registered Veterinary Nurses: Sam, Esther and Chloe.  They are fitting in very well and have allowed our nursing team to grow and develop their roles within the clinic.  Including, giving some team members the opportunity to build on their surgical skills, introducing dental radiography and opening up more space for the fantastic support the nursing team provide the wider team and clients through the nursing consults they do.

Finally, the veterinary team has also seen some changes.  Both Charlie and Ros have been busy taking some time away to introduce new babies to the world, and Sophie has started an internship at Dick White Referrals (we wish her all the best with her future!!).  While Charlie will be re-joining us soon, we have been supported in the meantime with some fantastic locums.  Many of you have met Rebecca before as she has been with us for some time but Natalia also joined us last year and has been a fantastic addition to the team.  However, Natalia will be heading back home to Greece at the end of June and we look forward to welcoming Annie, joining us from Australia, in July.  We have also been joined by Marc and Anca over the last couple of months giving us a very multi-national veterinary team!  We appreciate that one of the top needs of our clients is to be able to see a familiar face, please feel free to ask to see a preferred vet if you have one and we will always do our best to meet those needs.

Please allow us to make a long overdue introduction to our new team members for 2021, just in time for 2022!!

Let us start with our lovely not-so-new reception team member Rachel.  Rachel joined us way back in February and has done an amazing job at mastering all the complexities of life behind the front desk of a veterinary surgery.  She has spent most of her life growing up on a working farm just outside Witham surrounded by household pets indoors and farm and wild animals outdoors.  If given the option, her pet of choice would be a Highland cow, but for the meantime, she has settled for a Labrador called Kallie and a goldfish.  In reality, she would happily take any animal home!

The shift to join us at Mayne Vets was a bit of a career jump from her previous job.  Having spent 8 years working in childcare with children ranging in age from 6 months to 4 years of age she felt it was time to move into the “fur-baby” department and we were delighted to offer her a position with us.  They say not to work with children or animals, Rachel has now ticked both off her list!

Outside of work, Rachel loves baking for both humans and dogs, and we can all attest that she has made some beautiful cakes since joining the clinic.  She also loves to read and watch football (an Ipswich Town fan).

We couldn’t be happier with how well she has settled into the Mayne Vets team and she would like to pass on her thanks to all our lovely clients for being so patient with her as she learned the ropes.

Our next introduction is Charlie… our new vet.

“Charlie” (because it was too confusing to have another vet called Charlotte!)  first started “seeing practice” with us as a vet student in 2018. We could tell from the start that she would be a great addition to the team and we’re happy to welcome her to the fold when she graduated in the summer of 2021.

Charlie is another local recruit having grown up in Ipswich and studied in London. Her love of animals developed when she started horse riding at the age of 7 and she has always had a pet in the house. Given the space, her pet of choice would be a Polo pony, but at the minute she is trying to make do with Jynxy the cat and Hugo, her 2-year-old miniature wire haired Dachshund. She is also on the hunt for a ragdoll or a black fluffy rescue cat…the list goes on…

Charlie entered the Veterinary profession after a brief stint studying marketing and business. She has described her time studying veterinary medicine as a life-changing experience, sometimes amazing, sometimes incredibly hard, and often tiring, we think she has embraced the step from student to vet incredibly well and is approaching the challenges the veterinary world brings with a smile and a fantastically positive attitude.

Outside of work she is a keen yogi, loves baking and catching up with friends. She likes to horse ride when she can and loves to play polo. She has also been sharing her journey through vet school and her blossoming veterinary career via her Instagram account @vetsurgeondiaries. She tells us she is loving her time here at Mayne Vets and is enjoying getting to know all our lovely clients. We are certainly incredibly happy to have welcomed her to the team.

So, way back in 2020 we had “Review Pet Health Club” on our to-do list, and then Covid happened, and life got a little more complicated for us all for a while! But as we begin to (hopefully…. new variants aside) return to normality, we have been looking to see how we can improve our Pet Health Club in the New Year

There are some differences that might be coming sooner rather than later, such as introducing Nexgard Combo spot on to all our feline members. Finally, we finally have a “does everything” spot-on for cats that covers fleas, ticks, roundworm and tapeworm, all in one quick and easy treatment. Many of you will already have been transitioned to this product and are hopefully enjoying the convenience of a single treatment already. If you have any questions about it, please contact the team and we will be happy to discuss these with you.

Our other two new introductions are both associated with a move towards becoming a more environmentally friendly clinic. We are hoping to introduce a delivery service for your worming and flea products direct to your post box. Not only will this be more convenient for you, it will also reduce the “travel time” of the products from production to use reducing the environmental impact. We are also adding a further free of charge bonus.  Via our work with ecooffset.org and Investors in the Environment, we are working at reducing the carbon footprint of the clinic. While in the process of reducing our carbon footprint, we are also looking at offsetting the carbon footprint of the clinic.  While doing so we will also offset the carbon “paw” print of our Pet Health Club patients! The team at eco offset have worked out the average carbon footprint of dogs and cats, enabling us to channel money towards environmentally sustainable projects that we will share with you, our Pet Health Club members, when the new scheme is launched.

So, please keep an eye out for any emails coming your way in the New Year. At this stage, we are planning the relaunch for March/April depending on what chaos 2022 brings, but we will keep you updated as plans develop.

Christmas has arrived and at Mayne Vets that heralds the arrival of the “I’m really sorry but my dog has eaten…” calls. 

Unfortunately, as much as we all love Christmas, it is a time to be extra careful around your pets. Mince pies have taken an early lead this year with the lovely Cody and Dave pictured below have snuck in a pie or two already. However, we also normally expect a late surge of chocolate poisoning in the fortnight leading up to Christmas.

So as a little reminder of what to be wary of lying around the house at Christmas:

Grapes, raisins, currants, and sultanas:

There are so many things around at Christmas time containing grapes and raisins that sometimes it seems they are everywhere. The other difficulty is that the toxic component to these products is poorly understood. We do know that toxicity can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, and kidney failure, but there is no known correlation between the amount eaten and the toxic effects.  This means that some pets may not show any symptoms, while another pet ingesting the same amount may end up hospitalised on intravenous fluids. Similarly, a pet may have eaten raisins before with no clinical effect, but then develop clinical symptoms the next time having eaten a much smaller amount. 

Chocolate

What would Christmas be without a box of chocolates!  Unfortunately, the theobromine in chocolate is poisonous for both dogs and cats (although cats are normally far too sensible to eat chocolate!). The symptoms of chocolate toxicity can vary from simple vomiting and diarrhoea, through to twitching and seizures, right up to organ failure. Luckily, there is a much clearer correlation between the amount of theobromine ingested and the toxic effect, so it easier for us to know how much treatment a patient will need. Having said that, it is always far better to make sure you do not leave chocolate unattended… we always feel it is such a waste to see it lying in a pool of vomit at the veterinary surgery!

Onions and Garlic

Again, another food toxicity for both cats and dogs in all forms. The toxin in these foods attack red blood cells and can be harmful whether eaten raw or cooked. So, watch out for the stuffing and the gravy, and keep an eye on who is munching the leftovers and “cleaning” the plates.

Plants

Don’t forget festive plants such as Mistletoe, Ivy, and Lillies. All to be found at Christmas time and all can result in an unwanted trip to the vet. Mistletoe and Ivy can both cause gastrointestinal symptoms, but Lillies are the biggest worry as they can cause seizures and can even be fatal to cats. Best to keep these out of reach of your pets too.

Blockages

Foods, plants… what else do we need to avoid?? Well, nothing too much, except Christmas cracker toys, tree decorations, silica gel sachets, candles, tinsel and ribbons… all of these have had to be surgically removed from a beloved pet’s intestine at some stage over Christmas. Surprisingly, ribbons are the ones that can cause most trouble as, they tend to cause most damage to the intestines if swallowed.  Not to be outdone, cats are the most common culprit here, those ribbons are just too tempting to pounce on!

As always, if there are any concerns with any of the above, please contact us, or our out of hours team at Vets Now, straight away. We hope we haven’t made you want to cancel Christmas; we certainly plan to have a chocolate and mince pie fuelled Christmas break! But just note of caution to be wary of what is lying around at pet level because nobody wants a trip to the vet at Christmas time!

We are very pleased to introduce our two newest team members, both of whom you may have already met as they are not all that new to the clinic!

Sophie

Sophie is our newest vet and joined the practice in August.  However, many of you may recognise her as she has been seeing practice with us for over seven years now, throughout both school and university!  Having graduated from the University of Nottingham earlier this year we were delighted to be able to offer Sophie a position on our team as we already knew she was going to be a fantastic vet!

But what else is there to know about her?  Well, she’s originally from the area and, having graduated from Nottingham, she was keen to move back and is now living in a village just outside Colchester.  However, she has not moved back alone!  During her time at university, she and her housemates adopted a cat called Tiggy.  Tiggy very quickly formed a deep bond with Sophie (most likely because she was in charge of feeding her!)  and now she never leaves her side when she’s home.  Sophie also has a soft spot for rabbits and has had several as pets over the years.

Outside of the world of veterinary medicine and pets, Sophie really enjoys cooking and regularly creates new dishes for family and friends.  Her best lockdown purchase has been a new pizza oven which she has been using as much as possible.  She has always loved to bake and is working on perfecting her sourdough loaf.  In addition to cooking, she also enjoys keeping fit and healthy by playing many sports, including netball, swimming and skiing and she has completed a couple of half marathons.

Rebecca A

So Rebecca A is now the third Rebecca we have in a clinic of 16 staff members!  If in doubt, call for a Rebecca, someone will come!  

Again, she is a not-that-new newbie.  Rebecca first officially joined us back in 2017 when she started the 5-year long journey to become a Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN).  The first 2 years are spent gaining a level three advanced diploma in animal management with a one day per week placement at a veterinary practice.  However, the next step is a three-year course as a Student Veterinary Nurse at the end of which you can apply to the RCVS to become a RVN.  This involves a full-time placement at a veterinary practice with one day a week spent at the college.  Unfortunately, as this training is much more intense, we are only able to offer one student nurse position at the clinic at any one time so Rebecca has been patiently waiting for a year for a position to become available.  We are delighted to announce she has now been able to start her course and you can expect to see her smiling face around the clinic much more

As for pets, her first pet was a Golden Retriever called Benson, so she will always have a soft spot for Golden Retrievers! However, typically vets and nurses end up taking home the waifs and strays from the clinic and Rebecca is no exception.  Her cat, Oscar was brought into the clinic having been rejected by its mother and hand reared by one of our nurses, Ricardo (see “Oscar turns One” for the full story!).  When he was healthy enough to go home, Rebecca couldn’t resist him and so has now added “shy cats” to her list of animals she has a soft spot for.  We suspect that list will only get longer with time!!

We couldn’t be happier to have Sophie and Rebecca join our team and we hope you will join us in welcoming them to our clinic.

Spike Whitbread, 2yo British blue RTA cat

Spike’s year did not start the way he hoped! On the 1st January, he was found at the side of the road by a member of the public, following a suspected road traffic collision. He was rushed to VetsNow by these good samaritans and received stabilisation treatments for significant head trauma. Fortunately, Spike had a microchip and his owners had their contact details up to date so they could be traced. Unfortunately, he had a fractured jaw and damage to his left eye.  The swelling to his face was so bad it took some time before the full extent of his injuries could be established. 

When he came to Mayne vets, we continued the treatment and investigations. He had multiple jaw fractures and was unable to eat.  One of our vets managed to stabilise the fractures and a feeding tube was placed in the side of his neck.  This allowed us to feed him and give oral medication without him moving his jaw, giving it time to heal. The swelling to his eye was still very significant making it difficult to fully assess, although we were all very concerned at the extent of the damage. Spike was stabilised enough at this point to head home, and his owners did a fantastic job of nursing him! Our nurses taught them how to use his feeding tube, keep the surgical sites clean, monitor for infection, give medication, apply multiple eye drops – the list goes on! We saw him for regular check ups to assess how he was improving.

After a week, Spike decided he had had enough of his feeding tube and decided to remove it. He had been starting to vomit and the decision was made to refer him to Dick White Referrals. There he had further investigations which found he had inflammation of the stomach, intestines and oesophagus. More medications were needed to treat these problems and Spike managed to start eating/lapping up a liquid diet without the need for a feeding tube. Whilst at DWR an ophthalmologist confirmed our fears, that there was nothing that we could do for his damaged eye, and the best option was removal. Spike was sent home to his owners after a couple of days of treatment at DWR to continue healing and prepare for a major surgery. 

6 weeks after the initial accident, was the day of Spike’s enucleation (surgery to remove his damaged eye). This is often a difficult surgery for any owner to come to terms with.  Luckily our patients take it in their stride, and are often much happier once the eye needing removal has gone. They bounce back incredibly quickly and adapt amazingly well to having a decrease in vision. Spike’s surgery went very well.  While he was under anaesthetic we also removed a tooth which had been fractured in the accident, and had a thorough check of his jaw fractures, which were all healing perfectly. 

Throughout his time with us, VetsNow and DWR, Spike was a model patient, tolerating everything we asked of him. Cuddles, purrs and head rubs were in constant supply from Spike, in spite of everything he was going through. This was a story with a happy ending, unfortunately they do not all end this way. Spike’s owners had kept his microchip details up to date.  This meant they could be contacted when he was initially found and Vets Now had full permission to initiate treatment promptly. Spike’s owners also had good insurance for him.  As we are all aware, medical care does cost a lot of money, especially when it involves out of hours and specialist referral centres.  Luckily, Spike’s insurance meant the medical and surgical treatments needed were possible without having to worry about finances.

Since then, Spike has continued to heal well and we hope he manages to keep himself out of any further trouble.  It has been an honour to treat him and the team are so pleased to have been able to help him recover back to his normal self.

As 2020 finally starts to draw to a close and an end to the Covid-19 nightmare suddenly seems to be one step nearer, it might be a good time to take stock and look forward to the challenges that still lie ahead.  While we will all be delighted to (hopefully!!) see some return to normality at some stage in 2021, we must also acknowledge that Covid-19 has left a recession in its wake.  We, as pet owners and veterinary professionals, may have to face some very difficult decisions over the coming months as money remains tight for a lot of us.  Many of those decisions are going to be emotionally heart breaking for both owners and veterinary staff alike but we can prepare for them and hopefully we can avoid having to make too many difficult choices.

The solution?  Insurance.  Unless you are fortunate enough to have several thousand pounds sitting in the bank on the off chance your pet may get sick, it is really important to have good quality Pet Insurance.  We appreciate it does seem like it’s an expensive investment, but at some stage it may well be worth it.  We ask you to consider the cost of insurance for a pet as you would the cost of pet food.  A necessary cost for the health of your pet, in the same way you consider car insurance a necessity for your car.  

However, the world of Pet Insurance can be confusing and there are some key points that owners need to understand about pet insurance to ensure it is there for them and their pet when they need it:

1. It is really important to have insurance cover that will cover a condition “for life”.  Not just the “pet” for life; but the “condition”.  That way, if your pet develops diabetes at 5 years of age, the costs (up to £100-200 per month) are still covered at 8 years of age and onward.

2. If you have opted for a “condition covered for a year”, aka an annual policy, make sure you understand the policy fully.  Is the condition covered for 12 months from time of diagnosis, or is it only covered up until the policy re-news?  A typical example of this could be if we find a lump on a dog at its annual health check.  Many owners prefer to hold off on surgical options to see how quickly the lump grows.  However, if the lump grows and you decide to go ahead with surgery following the next year’s health check, you may discover the condition is no longer covered.  It is important to know what you’re covered for and when that cover runs out

3. Ideally you want your pet to be covered for at least £6000-£8000 per condition per year.  But the more, the better.  If anyone is a fan of Supervet, they know the costs of seeing a specialist will burn through £6000 fairly quickly!

4. Don’t shop around.  Many of us are used to shopping around every year for the cheapest car or home insurance quote.  However, doing this with pet insurance is risky.  When you switch providers most policies have a clause that prevents them from covering any pre-existing issues.  When we submit an insurance claim, one of the first things the company will do is request a full clinical history (which they are entitled to request).  If they then link the issue we are claiming for to an issue the pet had prior to starting the insurance with them, they will not settle the claim

5. Don’t cancel.  Yes, the insurance company will increase the premium and/or the excess as your pet gets older.  Yes, you may have had insurance on your last 4 pets and never needed to use it.  Yes, your cat may never go outside.  And yes, we are in a recession and money is getting tight; but please don’t cancel your insurance.  The cost of insurance goes up with older pets because older pets get sick and need treatment.  We often hear of owners opening a policy when they get a puppy or kitten, be lucky enough not to need it for 10 years, just to then cancel it when they’re likely to need it the most.  And regardless of the age of the pet, there’s no harder discussion in the veterinary world than trying to balance up “what can be done” with “what can we afford to do”.

We hope these tips have been helpful.  It’s hard to write an up-beat and cheery article when discussing pet insurance and recessions, but we are always keen to help our clients ensure they have the right protection in place when they need it.  For a happier view on insurance why not have a read of our article about Spike, he had a start to the New Year that nobody would want but is back to loving life after some wonderful care from the team here at Mayne Vets as well as some excellent nursing care at home from a very loving (and relieved) family!

This is a condition that can affect both dogs and cats. It can be very distressing for both our pets and owners alike. Separation anxiety in pets is triggered by distress from being separated from their owner with whom they have a strong bond. Dogs especially are very social animals so being alone does not come naturally for most of them. This disorder is more commonly seen in younger dogs but can occur at any time in a pets life, especially during a period of change.

During this pandemic our lives have been affected in many ways. This in turn, has affected our pets.  Where a lot of pet owners would normally be away from home due to work and life commitments, they are now at home with their pets much more.

Our pets can react to this change in different ways. Most of our pets will be very happy to have us around more and enjoy all the extra affection and quality time.  However, a few may find the change harder to adjust to. They may find the new routine disruptive and even potentially stressful. In these cases, it is good to try and give your pet a little space every now and again. 

Alternatively, they may have become more dependent on our companionship causing a potential problem when life begins to return to “normal”.  Or you might have purchased or rehomed a pet during lockdown, and their entire experience in their new home has been with family members in the house.  Now that a lot of us have returned to school and work, we are expecting to see more separation anxiety issues developing.  

Our pets are very sensitive to our emotions and sometimes, if we are finding a situation stressful, they can end up feeling more stressed, anxious and unsettled as well. As we (hopefully!) move towards a return to normality, we may find that our pets find this hard to deal with.  They have become used to, and enjoyed, our constant company and attention; but this may lead to signs of separation anxiety as they struggle to adjust to the change.

Signs of separation anxiety show in a range of signs but common behaviours observed are as follows:

Dog Behaviours

Destructive or disruptive behaviour, barking, howling, pacing, salivating, panting, drooling, trying to escape, digging, urinating, defecating inappropriately and perhaps even eating their own faeces.

Cat Behaviours

Urinary spraying, inappetence, destructive behaviour, excessive vocalisation.

If you have noticed any of these signs, then there is a possibility that your pet may be suffering from separation anxiety. However, it is worth noting that some of these signs can also be due to an underlying medical issue that needs addressing. Our vets are always on hand to give your pet a health check if you have any health concerns before presuming the cause is separation anxiety.

If separation anxiety is believed to be the cause, then there are things that can be done to help your pet feel safe and secure when you are not around. The aim is to teach your pet that being alone is a positive experience where they can rest and relax, rather than feeling scared or like they are being punished.  Treating separation anxiety normally involves a multi-layered approach using training and behavioural techniques alongside pheromones, calming supplements and acupressure vests if indicated. This process should be done gradually, and each pet will respond at their own pace, so it is important to give them time and to not rush the process.

Tips to help. 

• Ensure your pet is getting enough mental and physical stimulation.  A tired and content pet is more likely to settle.
• Prepare a ‘safe’ place for your pet to be left alone in (bed area, cat hide, dog crate) and line with a piece of clothing that has your scent
• Provide environmental enrichment (leave a radio on at a low volume, puzzle feeders, food filled toys like kongs etc) 
• Spray bedding with a pheromone spray, give calming supplements or place acupressure shirt if using 
• Minimise environmental stressors, such as dogs reacting to passers-by, or cats reacting to other cats in their territory (curtains can be closed etc)
• Remember to always provide fresh water

When starting to acclimatise your pet to being left alone; initially leave your pet for only a short period of time whilst you are still in the house (go into a separate room for example).  This can then be built up for longer periods of time and progressed to leaving the house from short to longer durations of time.

If you are still in lockdown, pre-empting your return to ‘normal’ could minimise the onset of any signs of separation anxiety. Start introducing your pets to alone time well in advance using the tips above.

Separation anxiety can be quite complex to treat and working out triggers and tailoring treatment to the individual pet will have maximum impact on treating it. Please don’t hesitate to call us at the clinic for further guidance and we can also direct you to local behaviourists who can support both you and your pet during this time if needed.