COVID 19 – LOCKDOWN
We are heartbroken that the government advice on what is and is not essential means that we can’t offer home visits for the next three weeks (at least) except in exceptional circumstances. Human health and wellbeing outweighs animal welfare (their words).
We would ask our clients to be kind to us at this difficult time. We will be asking clients with stable pets to delay their home visit until such a time as it is deemed safe for us to visit with precautions. If you have any concerns about your pet’s health, please text or email and we will do our best to help and advise. If your pet is under our care and deteriorates during the lockdown and is unable to have conventional medications, or is already on all the conventional medications we may be able to provide treatment if the other option is euthanasia.
TEMPORARY SERVICES
Email, messenger, or telephone advice: £35
Email behaviour assessment at treatment plan (Includes assessement, plan, and 2 weeks follow up): £100
Subsequent email behaviour assessments/ treatment plans : £50
Payment is by bank transfer only: Co Op Bank, Sort Code 089250, Acc. 68066879, V Payne
COVID 19…
Yep, sorry, we have to do a post about this…
CAN MY PET CATCH COVID 19?
Short answer: No.
There is currently no evidence that pets can catch the Covid 19 strain of Coronavirus. At least one dogs has tested weakly positive, but this has been put down to environmental contamination. Sadly the dog died after release from quarantine, but he was 17 years old and vets say that age and stress were the most likely causes. It is important to remember that we have all lived with other Coronaviruses. The common cold is a Coronavirus! Dogs can suffer from two Coronaviruses; one caused mild gastrointestinal symptoms, while the other causes respiratory symptoms. Cats also have a Coronavirus. In most cats this causes mild diarrhoea, but can mutate in some cats (especially pedigree cats) to cause a serious peritonitis and often death. None of these strains are dangerous to humans.
CAN MY PET SPREAD COVID 19?
Short answer: Maybe.
The virus can live on surfaces, including your pet, for a short time. Wash your hands after touching animals, and if you are asked to self isolate, your pet should also be isolated and avoid contact with other people.
WHAT DO I DO WITH MY PETS IF I AM TOLD TO SELF ISOLATE?
Keep your pets in your home and garden. You can maintain their physical and mental wellbeing by playing indoor games and active feeding. Ensure you have an emergency plan and someone to care for your pets if you are hospitalised or if your pets need urgent care. If you have symptoms DO NOT attend the appointment yourself and ensure your practice knows that they may need to take extra precautions after handling your pet.
Please keep a 2 week supply of food and medicines for your pets, but DO NOT PANIC BUY.
ARE VETERINARY SERVICES STILL AVAILABLE?
At the time of writing veterinary practices, including Four Seasons Holistic Veterinary Care are still providing healthcare for pets. Practices may be adopting different protocols including phone triage, limiting the number of people who can attend a consultation, or asking owners to stay in their cars until their appointment.
Four Seasons Holistic Veterinary Care offers a home visit service, and our services can’t be performed by Skype! If clients wish to cancel we would ask for at least 24hours notice (otherwise a £20 fee will be applied). If clients have any symptoms of Covid 19 they MUST cancel their appointment (no fee applied).
Vets practice excellent infection control at all times… there is a lot you can catch from pets so we wash/santitize our hands between patients even when there isn’t a global pandemic!
Four Seasons Holistic Veterinary Care does not offer emergency out of hours treatment so please ensure you know the arrangements of your Primary Care Practice.
Limited advice can be given via email, but we will be asking for a fee for email advice as it is unlikely our small business will qualify for any government support.
ANNUAL HOLIDAY
CLOSED 13TH-22ND MARCH 2020
Our vet Vicky is in need of a holiday so we will be unable to take calls or answer emails from 13th-22nd March.
For non-urgent enquiries please send an email or a text message.
Remember that all patients MUST be registered with a Primary Care Practice and that this should be your first port of call in an emergency or out of hours.
OUR TRIP TO CRUFTS!
CLOSED MARCH 5TH-8TH
What is our vet Vicky doing in this photo? She is training working gundog Gadget for her trip to Crufts! That’s also why we won’t be available from the 5th-8th March.
Crufts is a must-visit for all dog-lovers. Not only can you watch showing classes, but there are activity rings where you can see flyball, agility, obedience, grooming, gundog demonstrations, and much more.
If you are thinking of getting a puppy visit the Discover Dogs area to find out which breed would be suitable for you. Or if you are interested in a rescue dog, several of the big rehoming charities have stands.
If you need a new lead, bed, dog coat…well, there are hundreds of stalls! The number of dog foods on show is bewildering, but you might find something new that suits your dog.
Dog health is well covered too with companies offering genetic testing, wellbeing products, worm egg counts and more.
We hope to see some of you at Crufts, it really is a celebration of all dogs, not just the purebred show dogs. But please remember only dogs entered for the show or invited by the Kennel Club can attend.
WEBSITE WOES!
Our website and email have been down since Monday, but are now up and running again.
Please resend any emails as everything from Monday lunchtime has gone AWOL.
Thank you and apologies.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
RESOLUTIONS?
Have you made any resolutions? Lose weight, get fit, read more, take up a new hobby? Ours is to write a blog post once a month! And to upgrade the website over the next few months.
BETTER PET HEALTH IN 2020!
What could be a better resolution that to commit to improving your pet’s health in 2020?
Four Seasons Holistic Veterinary Care is here to help you every step of the way!
MOBILITY
We offer acupuncture, physical therapy, herbal medicine, and weight loss advice to aid mobility in all pet species. This is Vicky’s main area of work and one of the most satisfying. She loves working with sporting dogs as well as the golden oldies. Email health@holisticvetsussex.co.uk for a referral form.
CHRONIC ILLNESS
Would you like to manage your pet’s diabetes, epilepsy, liver problems, kidney problems, skin issues, or other chronic disease using changes to diet and holistic therapies alongside conventional treatments? Email health@holisticvetsussex.co.uk for a referral form. We work alongside your vet to improve the health of your pet.
PROBLEM BEHAVIOUR
Our vet Vicky Payne is one of a small number of behaviourists to hold a level 6 qualification in companion animal behaviour and training from COAPE. She backs this up with many years of practical experience working with dogs, cats, and small pets. Unlike many behaviourists, Vicky can assess your pet for pain and understand the behavioural side effects of illnesses and medications. She can prescribe herbal or conventional medications where pets need a helping hand to start their behavioural recovery. Email health@holisticvetsussex.co.uk for a behavioural questionnaire and a referral form.
We wish you a very happy and healthy 2020, but we are also looking forward to helping more animals and their owners when things go wrong.
EMAIL MELTDOWN!
EMAIL MELTDOWN!
WE HAVE NO EMAIL! WE ARE AWARE THAT PEOPLE HAVE TRIED TO SEND US THINGS WHICH WE HAVEN’T RECEIVED.
PLEASE BEAR WITH US AS WE TRY TO FIX THINGS!
In the meantime please text 07958142959
HOLIDAY
HOLIDAY!
Four Seasons Holistic Veterinary Care is CLOSED from 7pm Thursday 21st June until 10am Monday 9th July.
We will not be answering calls, listening to voicemail messages, checking texts, looking at emails, or monitoring the Facebook page!
Please email health@holisticvetsussex for any non-urgent queries which will be dealt with from 10th July onwards.
For urgent pet health problems please contact your Primary Care Practice.
New Year’s Resolution!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We want to say sorry for not keeping on top of the blog as well as we should have done this year. We’ve been very busy with Vicky our vet breeding a litter of puppies as well as completing coursework for her behaviour qualification.
HOLISTIC VETERINARY CLINICS:
Goudhurst Vets, Bedgebury Road on Thursdays from 11.30. Call direct on 01580 211981.
Companion Care Vets Eastbourne, Lottbridge Drove on Mondays and Fridays. Call direct on 01323 649315.
Home visits are available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays within a 15mile radius of Ninfield (Battle, Bexhill, Hastings, St Leonards, Westfield, Fairlight for example). Call or text on 07958142959, or email health@holistcvetsussex.co.uk
HOLISTIC VETERINARY SERVICES AVAILABLE:
Herbal Medicine; we use practitioner only tinctures and herbal tablets, as well as supplements from Nutravet. In most cases we produce bespoke combinations of herbs specifically designed for your pet. Herbal medicines can be used alongside conventional medicines to increase their effects, or to reduce side effects, or they can be used on their own where conventional medicines are unavailable or unsuitable.
Acupuncture: we use acupuncture extensively for musculoskeletal problems, from muscle sprains in working dogs, to arthritis in older animals. We have also had success in some spinal injury cases, and in pets with incontinence.
Physiotherapy; we frequently recommend that owners carry out exercises at home to help their pet’s mobility, sometimes we will also recommend treatment by canine therapists such as bowen therapists and hydrotherapists.
Behaviour; Vicky is a trained animal behaviourist and is happy to discuss prevention of problems in young animals, as well as helping owners understand and treat their pet’s behaviour problems. An understanding of the behavioural needs of pets also means we can help them cope with changes to their lifestyle caused by illness or injury.
Nutrition; we feel a good diet is the key to a healthy pet! We fully support those owners who want to raw feed, but can also help adapt other diets to improve health and behaviour.
Pupternity Leave
PUPTERNITY LEAVE
Just a short post today to let you know we will have very limited availability for appointments for the next 2 weeks as vet Vicky’s dog is expecting a litter!