Latest news and updates from Warren House Vets

Pets, just like humans, can suffer from allergies. Allergic reactions in pets are often caused by environmental factors, such as pollen or dust as well as certain foods or insect bites. As a pet owner, it's important to be aware of the common allergies in pets and the symptoms they may experience.

Read below to learn more about these common allergies and what to look out for!

IMPORTANT UPDATES

Dear clients due to planned maintenance work being completed at our Rochester branch we will be providing all Veterinary Care temporarily at our Walderslade branch from Monday 5th August until further notice.

To book an appointment at Walderslade, please visit our online booking tool or call any of our Warren House branches. 

We thank you for your patience and understanding during this time and hope to see you and your pet very soon!

From all of the team at Warren House Vets.

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PRESCRIPTIONS UPDATE

On 1st September 2023 our regulatory body, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) introduced new guidance on prescribing prescription-only medicines. There was a grace period until 1st January 2024 for some classes of medication including parasiticides (flea, tick and worming treatments). The new guidance requires that a clinical assessment, which usually entails a physical examination of your pet, be performed every time antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals and parasiticides are prescribed.

The guidance is an important step towards ensuring responsible antimicrobial use and reduces the veterinary impact on the wider issues of global antibiotic resistance and decline in insect populations.

Your pet will need to have seen a Veterinary Surgeon for an in-person consultation to make an appropriate parasiticide treatment plan personalised to their lifestyle and risk. We will aim to do this at regular, routine vaccination and health check appointments to reduce the need for additional appointments. However, a separate 'parasiticide check up' consultation may be required.

We will enter a prescription 'authorisation' of our recommendations onto your pet's clinical notes, which can then be used to issue medication for the following 12-months. Once this authorisation is in place you can order parasiticide treatment as you previously have done so.

A 'parasiticide check up' consultation is free for members of our Pet Health for Life (PH4L) plan.

For long term prescription medication which is not an antimicrobial/antiparasitic, our usual policy of requiring a regular examination usually every 3-6 months continues to apply. The medication review consultations will be charged at our usual fees.

You can read the full guidance from the RCVS on their website.

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Here at Warren House Vets, we are committed to providing the best quality healthcare for your pet. 

If you are not registered to our Pet Health for Life preventative healthcare plan, do check our website to find out how you can save money and relax, knowing your pet's treatments are kept up to date.

For more information about our clinics, please visit our website here.

The majority of the nation gets excited to be eating Easter eggs or chocolate for breakfast, lunch, or dinner or perhaps all three! But we need to careful and ensure our pets don’t get a hold of any, as chocolate could be dangerous for our animals, especially dogs!

What should you look out for this Easter?

Is your cat microchipped?

If you are a cat owner in England, you will be legally required to ensure your cat is microchipped by Saturday 10 June 2024, if it is older than 20 weeks old, following the Government's announcements on Monday 13 March 2023. Failure to comply may result in a fine of up to £500. If your cat is already microchipped, it is also part of the law that your details associated with the chip must be up to date.

Brushing is by far the best method of keeping your pet’s teeth clean and is more successful if taken in stages.

When we think about weight management in pets it can be easy to focus on their exercise routine and how active they might, or might not, be.

Keeping our pets safe in Kent is in important to all of us as pet owners. They trust us with their care and protection and microchipping can help with keeping them safe. A microchip identifies your pet as belonging to you. It contains a unique reference number which links to your details as an owner, stored on a central database. By scanning this microchip, this data is then accessible for the person scanning your pet.

As we head into the festive season, we want to reassure you that we will still be here for you and your pet, however, with some slightly different opening hours than normal.

Just like us, our pets feel the cold; whilst we can indulge in hot drinks and wrap up in layers and warm up by the fire, you should also consider how to keep your pets happy and warm as the temperatures start to fall.

Over the last year, we have seen our costs increase significantly and we have absorbed the majority of these additional costs to try and support our customers during difficult times. However, with costs continuing to escalate, our prices need to increase to offset at least some of these higher costs.

These changes will be implemented from 28 November 2022.

Please note that all existing estimates prior to 28 November will be honoured for four weeks.

If you have any questions, please speak to a member of the team.

Thank you for your continued support.