Spread the word

Download it.

That Channel 4 programme

Grim shop meeting this evening at 188 Mill Road. It's now long enough since the Channel 4 anti-RSPCA "documentary" to assess some of its impact and donations have been hit significantly. At least one commercial house-clearance agent who regularly gave the shop old books it was too much trouble for him to sell has stopped because he now believes we've got plenty of money and aren't spending it on the animals. The antique centre round the corner in Gwydir st is apparently telling customers not to give to the RSPCA: "because they've got loads of money and don't care about animals".

I'm sure the Channel 4 programme makers thought they were very daring and anti-establishment—it would be daring and anti-establishment to cut NHS funding (after all it's got a million times as much cash as the RSPCA) and just let sick people die, but that wouldn't make it a good idea.

Ironically Dogs Today this month is featuring the Animals Count party as "the political party that wants an NHS for dogs". It would be more useful if they hadn't done their level best to destroy the closest thing to an animals' NHS that exists, although I respect Beverley Cuddy for being willing to allow honest discussion in the comments of her articles.

Branch animal welfare statistics so far this year

Rehomed: 13 dogs, 23 cats, 4 rabbits and 6 miscellaneous animals.

Veterinary treatments given: 1,110 dogs, 505 cats 46 rabbits and 26 miscellaneous animals.

67 dogs and 57 cats neutered, 44 dogs and 52 cats microchipped.

Worse and worse...

Three calls asking for help with the cost of treatment at private vets today. One I didn't feel that bad about as the owner knew about our clinic and had had the dog in question for several years, so there's no real excuse for not getting him registered. I'm reasonably happy that she did get the dog to the private vet and, while it may have left her painfully short of cash, nothing awful is going to happen because we couldn't help her.

One I felt very bad about — a hamster which had been dropped and almost certainly had a damaged spine, as he was dragging his back legs. In that situation there would be little that a vet could do other than put the hamster to sleep, and it's debateable whether spending £100 to get that done this evening rather than wait until the morning would be a good use of charity funds even if we could afford it. Still, in an ideal world this is something that wouldn't be delayed, even though spinal injuries aren't usually painful.

The third was one of those situations that really make you despair: a couple with twelve dogs, six of them not vaccinated, one with a litter of puppies. Last week one of the un-vaccinated dogs developed parvo-virus and was put to sleep. Today, the bitch with the puppies had diarrhoea with blood in it, which is one of the symptoms of parvo-virus infection. If she'd been registered at our clinic she could have been seen as an emergency — although even then there's a very limited amount that could be done to improve her chances. All I could suggest was that the owner should speak to the vet who treated the first sick dog to at least get some advice, and then take the bitch to our clinic on Tuesday (leaving her in the car so that she didn't mix with any of the other dogs).

Tiger showing off her smart new splint

Tiger went up to the Veterinary Hospital to have her leg checked today, and she now has a smart newly bandaged splint instead of the old one which had got pretty grotty where she'd been digging in her litter tray. She also had an X-ray which showed the main lower leg bone is healing nicely, but the thinner one still needs support to keep the broken ends positioned together. It should be able to come off for good in another 10 days; then three more weeks cage rest while the bones are still in a weakened state.

Tiger isn't a stray, but was signed over to us because her owners didn't feel able to cope with a cat with a broken leg. She'll be up for rehoming once she's fully recovered.

Dawn over Coldham's Common from the path to the clinic

Argghh!

Completely disastrous clinic session on Saturday. For security reasons we don't leave internal keys on the premises — which would have been fine except that the nurse due to bring them in broke down just outside Mildenhall, which is a 45 minute drive away.

Animals who needed to be admitted as inpatients could be sent up to the Veterinary Hospital as normal, but anyone who just needed medicines had to be content with a prescription to take to an ordinary chemist. Clients who'd phoned in advance to order repeat prescriptions were really out of luck, because all of those had been pre-dispensed and were sitting with the nurse in her ominously smoking car.

Everyone was impressively philosophical about this, and the only really angry client was a new referral from the PDSA who had been told treatment would be free and hadn't brought her £7 consultation fee.

So — thank you to everyone attending on Saturday for being so understanding. We're going to be discussing with the Vet School how to set up some better emergency arrangements without compromising security.

Why subsidised veterinary care is part of our work

Occasionally people complain that we spend lots of money helping people who really ought to have thought whether they could afford pets, or at least whether they could afford to have so many of them. There are several reasons why this service is essential:

• It's much better to help otherwise good and caring owners to keep their pets than to force them to give them up for rehoming—particularly in the case of older animals who would spend a long time in kennels. There is no point spending even more money just to punish the owners.
• If there is no source of help then people may panic and do irrational things. They may abandon animals, or simply hope that the problem will go away if they ignore it. This can sometimes result in extreme suffering, for example if the animal has broken bones.
• A major part of the "law enforcement" side of the RSPCA involves prosecuting owners who didn't seek veterinary treatment for their animals, or who allowed their animals to breed until they had far more than they could look after. If we are to be tough about enforcing owners' "duty to care" we have a corresponding obligation to make it possible for them to care.

But... I would like to see some of the people we help recognise that our funds are not a bottomless pit. Many of them do take on more animals from a genuine desire to rescue them, but it does put more and more strain on us.

Where we are in Cambridge City


View RSPCA in Cambridge in a larger map


Map showing the location of our clinic and shops.

Waiting their turn at the clinic on Saturday

Very busy Saturday (which was why Nicola ended up waiting so long with Neville.) The pic shows Izzy the lurcher, back in for a re-check of the surgery on her neck. She's lucky to be alive as her jugular vein was punctured when another dog attacked her (hence dramatic pink bandages round her throat). Nice to see her looking so well now.

Injured staffie

He was found in Milton Country Park by a member of the public and taken to Village Vets for first aid. They think he's definitely got a broken jaw and possibly a fractured leg, so we're covering the cost of first aid with them and one of our volunteer drivers is going to transfer him to the clinic tomorrow morning.

No details yet about his general appearance, other than that he's very friendly. If he might be yours, please contact Village Vets (before tomorrow) or email rosemary@rspca-cambridge.org.uk (after then).

Clinic licensed for another two years

Steve Cheetham, the RSPCA Chief Veterinary Officer inspected our clinic yesterday, and we've been informally told that we've passed and will get our licence to run for another two years. I'm awaiting the full report to see whether he's recommended any things we ought to improve. All RSPCA branch clinics are visited every two years to check that they are being run in a proper and professional manner and that we are complying with the law on storage of medicines etc.

Particular thanks to Paul, our cleaner, who does a sterling job keeping our surroundings hygienic and safe for the animals.

View Larger Map


Clinic entrance off Whitehill Road

Sadly StreetView doesn't seem to think it ought to walk down private roads. We are the first turning to the right of the driveway, behind all the greenery.

Animal welfare statistics for February

During February 2009, we treated 309 owned (199 dogs, 97 cats, 5 rabbits and 8 miscellaneous small animals) and 34 unowned animals (3 dogs and 31 cats) and rehomed six cats and one dog. We neutered 20 dogs 15 cats and 19 rabbits.

Bramble clearing working party March 29th

We're going to make a start on clearing the brambles and piles of brush in the area at the back of the animal clinic on Sunday March 29th. Start 9 am (yes - I do know this is the day the clocks go forward), finish around 1 p.m. This is the fire exit route for the rooms to the rear of the building, so we need to keep it free of obstructions.

We could do with more volunteers (turn up any time between 9 and 1). You'll need gardening gloves, and it would be very helpful if you could bring secateurs or loppers.

Traffic to our main website

 If you came to this page searching for a PDSA clinic near Cambridge, please read the information about using the Cambridge RSPCA Animal Clinic. There is no PDSA clinic locally, but the RSPCA clinic is available to help pet owners on low income.

The list of keywords which brought readers to our main website's page with our policy on help with veterinary treatment costs tell an interesting story. Here's the list in full. (I think the first one really wants the University of Pennsylvania Vet School, but can't spell it.) 

The search "why do people give up their pets to the rspca or pdsa" confirms my belief that the average animal-loving member of the public has really very limited knowledge about animal charities—in this case, not enough to know that the PDSA is a purely veterinary charity.

veterinary schools for treament in pennsylvaina free/small paymen
spaying clilnics in cambridge uk
cambridge pdsa clinic
cat emergency help for people on low income
do veterinary colleges do free operations
rspca free injections for cats
rspca put to sleep policy
vetinary treatment for people recieving benefits
vets offering free treatment
why do people give up their pets to the rspca or pdsa
animal sleep vet cost
cambridge rspca clinic
cambridge rspca vets
cambridge vet spay
can i get help from rspca
can i get help with vet fees with tax credit
can't afford vet fees
cheap vet treatment
cheapest vet in cambridge
cost of vet treatment
cost of vets treatments
do i still pay vet fees on family tax credit
emergency animal care policies- refuse help.
financial help with vet treatment
free treatment at rspca
free vet cambridge
free vet treatment for people on benefits in cambridge
free vet treatment rspca
free vet, tax credit
funds to help pay for veterinary cost
help paying vet fees
help to pay pet costs on low income
help to pay vet fees
help towards cost of dog injections for those on low income
help vet fees
help with cost of pet treatment
help with costs for treatment for dogs
help with emergency vets out of hours no money
help with payments for animal operations
help with vet costs
help with vet fees
help with vet fees low income
help with veterinary costs
how expensive are vets
how many animals will the rspca clinic treat for each household
how much does the rspca charge for treatment
income support vet costs
low income help with vets
low income vet fee help
low income veterinary cost help
no nhs to pay for pets
payment help for animal boosters
pdsa and free vaccations policy
pdsa reduced cost dog neutering
private vet
putting down an animal simply because owners can't afford treatment
reduced rabbit vet costs
registering for rspca clinic
rehoming transferring ownership
rspca cambridge registering for clinic
rspca donation vet in cambridge
rspca help cost of putting of putting a dog to sleep
rspca how can i get redcuced fee vet fees
rspca rules on putting animals to sleep
rspca treating dog bad?
rspca vets costs
some examples of how the rspca have helped animals
spay a bitch private vet
tax credit vet discount
tax credits help with vets costs
vet colleges free operations for dog
vet costs
vet fees cheaper with tax credits
vet fees putting down
vet pay rate
vet treatment for people on low income
veterinary treatmetn help
vets offering easy payments
vets payment help
what the most that a dog could cost at a vets
why do rspca put animals to sleep
will rspca fund dog vacinations
will the rspca help with costs

Cat with broken jaw

She was picked up as an injured stray over the weekend and taken to Vet24 for first aid. They established that she'd got a broken jaw and probable nerve damage or crack in one front leg, so they gave her pain relief and fluids and asked me to arrange for Nicola to take her to the RSPCA clinic in the morning.

Got it all sorted, then later that evening they phoned to say an owner had turned up and would do the transfer herself as she was already registered with the clinic. Next day, at lunch-time, Vicki phoned asking if the cat was still expected as it was past closing time and they wanted to go. Phoned Vet24 and they confirmed the cat had been collected together with her notes. Where is she?! 

They'd noted down a mobile number for the owner, so I phoned that. 

Weird conversation with the owner who was clearly now completely spaced out and unaware that her cat had basically just had pain relief; she might seem "fine" now, but she wouldn't be once it had worn off, and anyway she wouldn't be able to eat with her jaw flopping loose.

Phoned the NCC and asked for one of the local inspectors to visit and check what was going on. Upshot is that the kitty is now back at Vet24 and hopefully will be transferred (by us) to the clinic for her surgery on Thursday.

Busy day

Fortuitously, I'd already booked to take a day's leave so I could do the RSPCA stand at the University Careers Service "working for a charity" event, so I was available when Marion phoned this morning to say her road was completely iced up and she couldn't get her car out to cover reception at the clinic this morning.

After hiking across the white hell that is Coldham's common* I got my chance to practice my rusty skills on the client records system—fortunately to a fairly scanty waiting room, as I rapidly discovered that it has evolved quite a lot since I originally did the training course on the basis that it would be handy to have someone who lives close who could cover in an emergency. Even more fortunately, Tina who also lives just down the road, did get in so there were two of us to kick the printer every time it jammed again.

Finished just after twelve, then another hike into town to set up the info. stand, which may have meant some students who planned to see it in their lunch hour were disappointed. However it was really well attended with lots of interest in volunteering as well as possible job opportunities.

*Anyone viewing from Canada can be considered to have laughed enough by now. In our defence, the problem with British snow is that there's not enough of it and it's not cold enough. Most of the time cars are driving on a very thin layer of ice with a nice surface lubrication of wet slush, so tyre chains probably wouldn't help much.

And, of course the puppy with parvo died

Just had the bill for last weekend's rottie puppy - euthanasia and cremation.

PLEASE, if you take on a puppy or a rabbit: get them vaccinated. You wouldn't think it was OK not to feed them, "because I can't afford it."

If you live within our branch area and are on state benefits (including working tax credit, but not child credit on its own), you can get your pet vaccinated at our animal clinic at the reduced rate of £18 (cat or dog) or £7 rabbit.

Another cat

Not very full details yet as Vet24 phoned immediately after the finders had brought the kitty to them. The cat is all (or almost all) white and about four or five years old. No collar or chip, and I don't think they'd definitely confirmed the sex, although they spoke about "him" which suggests they think this is a neutered male. He's apparently fairly bright, but has a probable pelvic fracture, so "the other Rosemary" is going to pick him up from them early tomorrow morning on her way in to do reception at the clinic.

Held together with 'laccy bands and bits of string

Many of the people who come into contact with us for one reason or another get very frustrated because they feel we're not delivering the standard of service they expect. Conversely, many of the people we pay to provide some of those services aren't at all happy about the degree of pressure they're working under and the way the public often expect them field complaints about aspects of the RSPCA that aren't anything to do with them.

Clinic this morning was a case in point. One of our clients had bred some puppies from his bitch and one of them had diarrhoea. As the puppy was only three weeks old he was a bit reluctant to bring it to the surgery and he'd got it into his head that we ought to be able to diagnose and prescribe on the basis of a stool sample. He phoned in; argued with the volunteer receptionist about this and she took his number so that one of the vets could call him back. They were horrendously busy that morning and didn't get finished seeing patients until mid-day, at which point they still had several animals needing to be admitted to the hospital as in-patients and a string of other telephone call-backs to make.

By this time, Mr X. was pretty peeved that he'd not been called back yet, and decided to phone me on the out of hours number. All I could do was reiterate that the puppy really needed to be seen (otherwise there's no way to tell whether it's getting dehydrated) and that I would leave a message asking the vets if it was possible to call him a.s.a.p. Strictly speaking at this point I was asking them to bend the rules as the puppy a) could have been taken to the morning session and b) wasn't registered with the clinic (although its mum is) so isn't covered by our agreement with the Vet School to see registered patients outside normal hours in an emergency. Twenty minutes later he still hadn't got to the top of the urgent call-backs and phoned me ranting and raving that we didn't care about animals and why should he have to wait when his puppy was ill.

I am afraid that the answer is that you get what you pay for. Our annual turnover is around £200,000, which is a frighteningly large amount for a group of volunteers to raise. It relates to an annual demand for help for around 3,000-4,000 individual animals—less than £100 per animal. That means we have to do things on the cheap wherever possible. Our value to the University for student teaching means they charge us a lot less than a commercial rate for veterinary services, but it does mean consultations take longer (because the qualified vet needs to discuss the animals' conditions with the students). If we could pay the University enough for them to employ an extra vet at each session that would decrease waiting times, but that would mean raising at least another £40,000 every year. Similar considerations explain why our telephone availability is less than perfect (we're mostly volunteers taking calls in our spare time, not paid reception staff).