April 2025: Spring is officially here!
- The Woodbridge Vets
- Apr 2
- 5 min read
Hello everyone and welcome to our April newsletter.
Spring is officially here, and with it comes blooming flowers, warmer weather, and new adventures with your furry friends. This month, we are focusing on keeping your pets safe and healthy during the Easter break!
Meet The Team
We are delighted to introduce you to our new member of staff to our veterinary nursing team.
Hannah graduated from Writtle College with a degree in Wildlife Conservation before moving to Surrey to train as a veterinary nurse. Since qualifying in 2022, she has gained experience in both small animal and referral practices. Hannah has a particular interest in medical cases and is especially passionate about developing her skills in anaesthesia.
Outside of work, Hannah enjoys baking, gardening, and going for walks in nature. She shares her home with two rescue cats, Tess and Locke, as well as four Australian tree frogs.
Pet First Aid Awareness Month
In April the weather is starting to improve and many of us are usually looking forward to getting outside all the more with our pets. Unfortunately this means that the possibility of an issue striking when we are not at home increases (where we don’t have all of the things we need immediately to hand). April marks National Pet First Aid Awareness Month so we would like to share some tips to help you feel a little more confident if you were to ever experience this.
When performed correctly first aid can be a helpful tool to help the patient reach a positive outcome and as quickly as possible. Here we have a quick rundown of things to consider as well as a few steps you can safely take first before you can get your pet to someone for professional aid.
First Aid Essentials
The first step is to always make sure you are not putting yourself at any risk, pets in distress can react unpredictably.
Try to remain as calm as possible, at some point you will likely be on the phone to someone who will be asking where you are, what exactly has happened, when did it happen and all of those key details are easily lost in a state of panic.
If you are heading out then make sure you have your phone with you and it has plenty of charge so you can contact someone for help, access maps if needed, and take photos if appropriate.
If you are away on holiday then the next most important thing will be the name, location and contact details for the nearest veterinary practice!
In any emergency situation you should always call us (or your nearest practice) immediately!
If it is out of hours then please call MiNight Vets.
There will always be someone you can reach for help.
First Aid Kit
Having a basic pet first aid kit in the car for when you are out walking can be really useful and there are lots of commercially available
options out there.
Some of the essential items to include are:
Plenty of fresh clean water. This could be used as drinking water / to clean or flush a wound / wash off any potentially harmful substances
Gloves
Pet-safe antiseptic wipes
Basic wound dressings and bandages, cotton wool pads, microporous tape
Tick removal tool or tweezers
Two or more clean towels - one to dry and one to help keep them warm. Something like a large towel or blanket can also be made into a stretcher if you have someone to help you.
A spare lead (for dogs)
Some First Aid Scenarios
Minor cuts & scrapes
Where possible try to clean the area as gently as possible with fresh clean water. If there is a minor bleed, applying a gentle pressure bandage will help slow, or even stop it.
Bandaging will also keep the wound clean, providing a barrier to anything more getting to it and stop the temptation for them to lick at it.
Bites / stings / swellings
Try to make a note of what the culprit was where possible - if it was a snake, you can always take a picture if you have your phone handy.
Take a photo of the bite location, this will not only help you find it again later but it will also be useful to track the extent of any swelling and when it happened (from the time stamp of the image) - for this you will need to include something to provide a scale - depending on where it is you could use a coin or hold your hand close to the swelling and get a picture every 5 minutes if possible or appropriate.
If it is a snake bite then the less they need to move the better. We don’t want to encourage any extra blood flow around the body if you are rushing them back to the car as it could take the venom further faster causing more harm. If you can safely carry them then please do so, being careful not to touch the bite area as it could be very painful!
Heatstroke
Heatstroke can be serious. If you suspect your pet may be suffering from heatstroke the best thing you can do is to place a towel over them which has been soaked in cold water, remembering not to cover their head. Get them to the nearest vets as soon as possible. You can always keep a towel over them during the journey.
Easter and Bank Holiday Pet Safety
It’s not uncommon for our furry friends to chomp on something they shouldn’t. And with the long Easter weekend and bank holiday break fast approaching, it’s worth being extra vigilant - especially if you are one to celebrate by stocking up on chocolate treats.
The most obvious Easter hazard is chocolate. If you’re planning on egg hunt for the kids, make sure your hiding places are well out of paws reach. Chocolate is toxic because the cocoa solids naturally contain theobromine - which doesn’t affect us humans, but is poisonous to our pets. Cocoa powder and high quality dark chocolate, which can contain the most cocoa, pose the biggest risk to pets.
The symptoms you might expect to see following a toxin having been eaten may include vomiting, an upset stomach and dribbling. In extreme cases your pet may appear sleepy, or wobbly on their feet or perhaps even collapsing. These can be brought on by a change in their blood pressure / heart rate or body temperature.
Kidney and liver damage are also a potential risk.
If (you suspect) your pet has eaten something they shouldn’t then please give us a call straight away. If your call is outside our opening hours you will be transferred automatically to MiNight Vets, based at Melton Vets, who will be ready and able to help you.
In the meantime you are welcome to use our Symptom Checker or the Poisons Guide to brush up your knowledge of what to look out for, both are available via thewoodbridgevets.com.
Bank Holiday Opening Hours
Thursday 17th April - 08:00 - 18:30
Friday 18th April (Good Friday) - CLOSED
Saturday 19th April - 08:30 - 12:30
Sunday 20th April - CLOSED
Monday 21st April (Easter Monday) - CLOSED
Tuesday 22nd April - 08:00 - 18:30
If you would like to read more on patient's stories and get a glimpse of what's happening behind the scene at The Woodbridge Vets, please give us a follow on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
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