Argyll Veterinary Clinic - Your vets in Barnstaple, Braunton and Ilfracombe

Happy birthday Roundswell!

inside_rw Hard to believe, but our Roundswell surgery is 5 years old this month! It is now a thriving, busy surgery with many patients registered. All the original staff are still there, plus some new faces.

We are going to have a birthday party on March 10th between 3 and 5pm. There will be refreshments, competitions and a cake stall. David Kennard will be there with Mist, his TV star sheepdog, and Heather Carol will have some of her rare small rodents on show. We are also hoping to raise some money for our 'Charity of the Year', Shelterbox.

We are holding an art competition for children with the subject 'My pet' which can be in any medium - the winners of the different age categories will be announced at the party. Please drop your entry in to the surgery by Saturday 6th March.

So, come along and have a cup of tea and a cake with us to say thank you for your support over the last 5 years and raise a toast to the next (twenty-)five!

Happy New Year

view_from_office Happy New Year to all! Here is the view from our Braunton office window. The surgery seems to have been running on skeleton staff for some time now, with Christmas and New Year bank holidays and then, just as normality was resuming, the snow hits us!

My family have really enjoyed the sledging but I think everyone is getting a bit fed up with the ice now. At the practice, our staff have been struggling heroically to get to work. Fortunately, we have managed to treat every animal in need, somehow or other, but with talk of the sub-zero temperatures persisting for the forseeable future, it will continue to be tricky.

See the blog for a few Christmas stories...

Can you help?

blackcat2 Hayley, our head nurse, has lost her cat, Sooty, in Ilfracombe. Sooty is a 7-year old black female who is quite timid. She was lost on Thursday 19th November in the Highfield Road area. She is microchipped, so if you see a black cat which could fit her description and is new to the area, please bring her to the Ilfracombe surgery so we can scan for a chip, or give us a call at any of the surgeries. Hayley and her family miss her very much and are offering a cash reward to the finder.

Other phone numbers if you have any information are 01271 814737 and 07909774115.

Lungworm in Dogs

There is a relatively new danger for dogs in the UK – lungworm. It seems to have been imported with travelling dogs and perpetuated by the warm, wet climate. Foxes carry the infection and, in combination with slugs and snails which carry the larval stages of the worm, spread it to our dogs.
Read more...

Sounds scary.....

fireworks1 Well, another Bonfire night has come and gone. It seemed to me that there were far fewer massive explosions in our neck of the woods than there usually are; whether that was due to the foul weather, the law limiting firework purchase, or the fact that all the Braunton shops seemed to have agreed not to sell them, I'm not sure. I have to say that I was delighted. I'm not a firework fan anyway, but seeing the effect they have on my collies and knowing the number of our patients upset by them also makes me concerned for wild and farmed animals, and for old people, some of whom, having lived through the war, must be severely traumatised by the explosions.

Dogs seem to be the pets most affected by noise, and some breeds more than others - collies and German Shepherds seem particularly prone but any dog can be affected. The anxiety seems to get worse with age, up to the point where the dog loses its hearing, which can come as a blessed relief!

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