Just refused my first request for welfare assistance

I've just had the first request for help that I've had to turn down since the suspension of welfare assistance at private vets.

This was a dog who'd been in a fight the previous evening, and his injuries were at least not life-threatening, although it is definitely not good practice for bite wounds to be left two days before treatment. Maddeningly the owner had previously been to our clinic with a different dog, and if she'd only registered this dog he could have been seen today. To her credit she realised this and was very upset and cross with herself.

Welfare assistance at private vets

With great regret Cambridge branch committee have decided there is no realistic alternative to suspending help with the cost of veterinary treatment at private vets for owned animals.

This does not affect branch help with first aid for strays whose owner is not known.

Over the past five years the demand for emergency financial help at private vets has more than quadrupled, and the amounts of money required for each treatment has more than doubled. This is just not sustainable without a gigantic increase in our income, which has not been possible in spite of our best efforts.

Treatment at a private vet is enormously less cost effective than using our branch animal clinic, and most of the time there is no good reason why the animal's owner could not have got their pet registered there. The vets who contract to provide services to our clinic will treat out of hours emergencies provided the individual animal involved has been registered at the clinic previously. Animals can be registered provided that the person who owns them is on a means-tested state benefit (which includes working tax credit, job-seeker's allowance and state pension and carer's allowance, but not child tax credit on its own).

Our animal clinic is at 1 Pool Way, Whitehill Road, Cambridge CB5 8NT and it is open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (8.30 am - 10.30 pm). To register an animal you need to bring proof of current benefits and a £7 consultation fee, and the animal must attend to be checked over. Sick or injured animals can be seen for the first time on these days, and they will then be treated as registered. Animals must be brought to the clinic at least once every two years to keep their registration current.

We have not come to this decision lightly, but the only possible alternative would have been to put a strict limit to cover the vet's consultation fee only. This would still strain our funds and it would mean that we would frequently be achieving nothing beyond reimbursing the vet for part of the cost of putting the animal to sleep. The number of animals put to sleep using RSPCA funds is frequently used in campaigns to discourage donations to the RSPCA, so in the interest of our overall ability to help animals it would be preferable to stop help at private vets entirely rather than continue at a low level.

Continuing saga of the dog with the prolapse

She had her surgery last Wednesday but my sigh of relief was a bit premature. Owner phoned yesterday afternoon to say she was very dull and not eating or drinking. Unfortunately, because we got the op. done by the private Clarendon Street vet (as her owner didn't have any way to get to the Madingley road site) and it was now the weekend, the closest available cover was the 24 hour vet at Milton. Managed to arrange for her to be taken there, and fortunately it seems she's simply uncomfortable because of the double operation (to replace the prolapse and spay her to stop it happening again). This morning she's gone back home on stronger pain-killers and the vets say she's bright and lively.

Very relieved, as, although vaginal prolapse looks horrible, it's not actually life-threatening or hugely painful (although it's probably pretty uncomfortable). I would have felt really bad if we'd pushed the owner to get the operation done and the bitch hadn't survived.

Fingers and toes crossed that nothing else happens.

NB: this is why I need to have a mobile phone. MI5 are welcome to listen in, but they would be very bored after a bit.

Going down the tube fast...

If this turns out to be true, I'm not going to be able to replace the branch emergency contact mobile phone either - it's an elderly pre-payment Nokia mainly used by me to provide a means for clinic patients to contact us for veterinary help outside normal working hours. It's also the most convenient way to provide a 24/7 branch contact for emergency help with the cost of seeing a private vet. Bother, bother, bother.

Dog breeding

Bleary-eyed after being woken at 2.30 am by a caller needing emergency help because her little yorkie bitch was suffering whelping complications I am reflecting on the question of charity help for owners who are intentionally breeding animals. More specifically, I am very unhappy that this little creature was not spayed after experiencing exactly the same problems in her previous pregnancy. 

Widespread availability of options for low-cost neutering has thankfully made routine euthanasia of unwanted puppies and kittens almost entirely a thing of the past. Less cheerfully, it's meant that puppies and kittens have a monetary value, which is good for the individual pup or kit, but has implications for anyone running a charity clinic providing veterinary services. 

We do refuse to vaccinate litters of kittens or puppies if it's obvious that the owner is intending to sell them for financial gain, but we can't refuse treatment for an animal in distress. Pedigree dogs are in the news at the moment, so here's my two-penn'orth: I would like the Kennel Club to refuse registration to any puppies of a subsequent litter born to a mother who required veterinary treatment in order to survive her previous pregnancy. That wouldn't harm the puppies in any way, but would reduce their financial value and so decrease the incentive to continue breeding from unfit bitches. 

July statistics

Just got the records for July collated. During the month, our branch:

Provided low-cost veterinary treatment for 205 dogs, 115 cats, 11 rabbits and 14 miscellaneous small animals.

Rehomed 4 dogs, 3 cats and 2 birds.

Microchipped 11 dogs and 10 cats

Neutered 13 dogs, 12 cats and a rabbit

Our total outgoings were £16,904 (this amount also covers wages for our three shop staff, rent for the charity shop in Newmarket and our annual audit fee). We raised £7,811, mostly from sales at the charity shops and clinic fees.

Parvovirus again

Another phone call last night: 9 week old puppy, vomiting, lethargic. Owner never been to a vet, and, presumably, puppy never vaccinated by the breeder. Owner has no money and didn't realise that charges escalate after 6.30 pm when normal surgery hours end and all the local vets go over to emergency rates. It's worth stressing this - in normal surgery hours £50 will cover a private vet's consultation fee and some first aid treatment. After 6.30, you're talking about £75 just for the consultation fee.

Being vaccinated at 8 weeks old via our clinic might not have protected that puppy altogether, as she would only have had her first jab and there wouldn't have been enough time for much immunity to develop. BUT it would have meant she was registered and therefore eligible to be seen by the out of hours emergency service for a £30 charge.

Yet another this morning, via the Haverhill vet. Sadly, put to sleep on the vet's advice.