Author: admin@chameleonwebservices.co.uk

We are blown away to have received national praise from non-other than the celebrity broadcaster and renowned dog lover Paul O’Grady.

Paul O’Grady received a very kind letter of thanks in praise of Willows from Diane Chavasse following the sad loss of her beloved chocolate Labrador Rolo. In the letter Diane explained that Rolo sadly passed away whilst his owners were on holiday in Mexico.

“Although we live in Bideford, North Devon, Rolo had been staying with my daughter Anna in Solihull while we were away. There was no change in his behaviour, he was slowing down a bit but he still loved a gentle walk each day and continued to treat everyone he saw as a potential new best friend!

He was still his usual happy self but Anna got up one day and found he had died peacefully in his sleep, just one week before his 14^th birthday”.

“When Anna rang me to tell me what had happened, I didn’t really know what to do as my vet is in Devon. Willows was recommended to us by a friend and I spoke to receptionist Kizzy Barber there, who was incredibly kind and sensitive. My daughter doesn’t drive, and so Kizzy arranged for Willows facilities manager Dave Hindley to go and collect Rolo, so he could be kept at the practice until my return”.

“On return from Mexico we arrived at Willows to say goodbye, where we were looked after by Charlie Cooper who was also incredibly sensitive to our situation. My family and I really appreciated the use of the family room at Willows and were overwhelmed with how we and Rolo were treated with such respect and dignity. Seeing him brought in, bathed and laying peacefully on a rug, covered with a blanket, was something I’ll never forget. He looked like he was just asleep. His fur was clean and soft, just how we remember him”.

“I could not believe my ears when we were told there was no charge for all this care, compassion and consideration, other than for the urn and cremation. I am so full of gratitude for everything the practice did for us and Rolo. The service Willows provided was above and beyond.”

After hearing about the very sad loss of Rolo The BBC Radio 2 presenter has awarded Willows with a ‘Certificate of Thanks’ for going ‘above and beyond’ for a Diane at a time of grief.

On behalf of Willows, thank you Diane. To write in to the Paul O’Grady show was so thoughtful of you. The ‘Certificate of Thanks’ is a lovely touch and we will keep it in a prominent place to remind us all how important it is to always give the best of care to our pets and clients – and how much it is appreciated and valued.

Diane Chavasse and her beloved chocolate Labrador Rolo

The BBC Radio 2 ‘Certificate of Thanks’ awarded to Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service, in Solihull, by TV and Radio star Paul O’Grady

Little Nigel was only three months old when he was playing with his big brother and unfortunately slipped and broke his eye socket. Nigel was referred to the Specialist Orthopaedic Team at Willows. Kinley Smith, one of our orthopaedic Specialists, examined Nigel and further investigations were needed to determine the extent of the injury.

Our Specialist imaging team performed a CT scan which showed a broken bone was pressing on his Nigel’s eye (see below scan).

He was rushed to theatre where the bone was put safely back into position and to make sure it didn’t move, it was held in place with a bone plate and six screws (see below scan).

Nigel was not allowed any rough and tumble play for a few weeks, but we are very pleased to report that he has recovered extremely well and is now able to get back into his normal activities.

Mark Dunning
MA VetMB PhD CertSAM DipECVIM-CA MRCVS
RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine
European Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine

We are delighted to welcome Mark to our Internal Medicine team, where he will be working alongside Isuru Gajanayake, BVSc CertSAM DipACVIM DipECVIM-CA DipACVN MRCVS, Head of Internal Medicine, RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Medicine (Internal Medicine), American and European Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine, American Specialist in Small Animal Nutrition, Kirsty Roe, BVSc CertSAM DipACVIM DipECVIM-CA MRCVS, RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Medicine (Internal Medicine), American and European Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine, Stephanie Sorrell, BVetMed(Hons) MANZCVSc DipECVIM-CA MRCVS, RCVS Specialist in Feline Medicine, European Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine, Fergus Allerton, BSc BVSc CertSAM DipECVIM-CA MRCVS, European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine and Andrew Kent, BVSc DipECVIM-CA MRCVS, RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Medicine, European Veterinary Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine.

Mark graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1997 and after some time in mixed and small animal practices, began a residency in Small Animal Medicine at the University of Liverpool in 2000. He interrupted his residency to undertake a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. Following completion of his PhD, he completed a residency in Small Animal Medicine, again at Cambridge, and then spent four years in a private specialist practice in the south of England before moving to the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham, as Clinical Associate Professor in Small Animal Internal Medicine. Mark remains an active member of the Vet School team, teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students.

He has published widely in the field of veterinary medicine and continues to have a broad interest in internal medicine. Mark particularly enjoys the challenges posed by gastrointestinal, endocrine, haematology and renal medicine and is excited to be joining the outstanding team at Willows, being able to provide both exceptional and compassionate care for cats and dogs and their owners attending the clinic; along with providing an outstanding service to the referring veterinary surgeons. He particularly hopes to see lots of Norwegian Forest cats and Irish Wolfhounds, his absolute favourites!

Ear infections are a very common condition for dogs and in particular spaniels, the infections can often be difficult to manage as they do not respond effectively to treatment which in some cases may mean that surgery is required. Thankfully this was not the case for Harry, a six year old cocker spaniel who developed an ear infection in both ears in the summer of 2018

Harry had been visiting his local vet to have the persistent ear infection assessed when tests revealed that he was carrying Pseudomonas bacteria, a form of bacteria that can be very resistant to treatment. Initially Harry underwent several deep cleans of both of his ears, but unfortunately the infection did not get any better.

As the condition failed to improve, Harry was then referred to Jon Hardy, a Specialist in veterinary dermatology at Willows. Harry’s consultation with Jon revealed that both ears were filled with a brown, slimy discharge which raised concern about the severity of the infection and worry that the ear drum(s) may have ruptured. A CT scan was carried out to examine Harry’s ear canals and a fibre-optic flushing device called a video-otoscope was used to examine the ear drums in detail. The scan showed that both ears were extremely inflamed, but that both ear drums were undamaged. As such Harry’s prognosis was cautiously assessed with the possibility that he may have to undergo surgery to fully treat the condition.

The slimy discharge at the entrance to Harry’s ears before the procedure

A normal, not inflamed ear canal in another dog for comparison

Harry’s inflamed ear canals

Harry began treatment to break up the slimy discharge in his ears using specially formulated drops to try and kill the resistant bacteria. We are delighted to say that Harry’s ears responded amazingly well to treatment! With such a positive outcome it was no longer necessary for Harry to undergo surgery as both ears were no longer inflamed.

Harry is now happily back at home and enjoying life with his family, with no ‘excuses’ for not hearing his parents!

Harley is lovely young Cocker Spaniel who didn’t have a great start to the New Year as she was unfortunately hit by a car. She was taken to her own primary vet but, due to the extent of her injuries, she was referred to our dedicated Specialist emergency and critical care service (ECC).

ECC Specialist, Ludivine, examined poor Harley on arrival at Willows in Solihull. Due to the impact of being hit by a car, Harley had several injuries and her breathing was severely affected when she arrived. Harley was admitted to our intensive care unit for supportive treatment and further investigations of her injuries. Harley’s breathing difficulties were caused by a pneumothorax which occurs when air leaks from the lungs and gets trapped in the chest cavity. An urgent chest drain was required to stabilise Harley before further investigations could be carried out by our multi-disciplinary team.

Once Harley had been stabilised, our Specialist diagnostic imaging team did a full body CT scan which revealed the extent of Harley’s injuries; she had a severe haemorrhage (bleeding) in her abdomen, severe lung contusions and her head CT scan showed several skull fractures (which were luckily harmless) and an ear canal avulsion. Having been stabilised by our ICU team and receiving one-to-one supportive care, Harley‘s clinical status improved quickly and this enabled her to have further treatment for her other injuries. Unfortunately, her hip had been dislocated due to trauma and also required surgery.

Luckily for Harley we are a multi-disciplinary referral centre with Specialists across lots of clinical areas. Therefore Harley was able to stay with us in Solihull to have all her other injuries attended to. Brave Harley had surgery for her hip dislocation with our Specialist orthopaedic team, as well as surgery on her ear with our Specialist soft tissue team – all of these surgeries were done under general anaesthesia and were monitored by our dedicated Specialist anaesthesia team.

Harley was a star patient during her stay and her good spirits gave our team a lot of happiness and she received a lot of love from us too. She went home one week later walking with some lameness and doing very well! We wish her a wonderful life with her wonderful owners!

Esther recently surprised her family and the staff at Willows in Solihull when she underwent investigations for persistent sneezing and discomfort around her nose. A CT scan revealed a 12cm long stick in her nasal cavity which thankfully was able to be retrieved with the aid of rhinoscopy (a camera study of her nose). Quite how the stick managed to get stuck in this location remains a bit of a mystery!

We are delighted to report that Esther is now recovering well from her procedures and is getting back to her mischievous ways and enjoying playing with her toys!

CT scan carried out by Willows Imaging Team reveals a 12cm long stick in Esther’s nasal passage

The 12cm stick was almost the same size a ball point pen!

Before and after photos of Esther show the discomfort caused by the stick

Esther is now back to her happy healthy self at home

Siblings Dave and Skud are 4-year-old Hungarian Vizslas and have been inseparable since birth. It goes without saying that things like walking, playing, eating, and sleeping have always been done together. However, when Dave and Skud reached their first birthday, they started experiencing something altogether new. Unfortunately, this was not something mischievous or fun – instead, it was the frustrating and very undesirable issue of itchy skin problems.

Dave particularly suffered from sore, itchy feet, but also had bouts of painful and infected ears, whilst Skud also had sore ears but tended to come out in spotty rashes all over her body. These skin problems were occurring throughout the year, although both seemed to have worse symptoms in the summer.

Dave and Skud were initially seen by Willows’s primary care vet, Noella Cooper, who treated the infections and ruled out parasites as a cause of the problems. In addition, Dave also required courses of ear drops to treat his ear infections. As both dogs were suspected of having allergies, Noella also recommended special diet trials to see if a food allergy was responsible for triggering the skin problems – but despite undertaking these measures in both dogs, their skin problems continued.

Dave’s itching was so bad that he was started on a powerful drug called Ciclosporin. This seemed to help, but the dose had to remain quite high to keep him comfortable and stop the infections coming back. Skud’s spotty rashes were being kept at bay with courses of antibiotics, but her owners were very keen for her to avoid needing antibiotics in the long term.

Both Dave and Skud were therefore referred to Willows’ in Solihulls dermatology Specialist Jon Hardy for further investigations of their allergies. After examination and a thorough review of both dogs’ histories, the diagnosis of atopic dermatitis or ‘environmental allergy’ was confirmed. This is an allergic reaction to environmental substances that results in skin disease, and is all too common in UK dogs.

Contact us at Willows in Solihull for further details

Dave and Skud were both scheduled for intradermal skin testing to identify what they might be allergic to. This is rather like the skin prick-testing performed on the forearm of people with allergies. Both patients were given a light sedative and a small patch of hair was clipped from their chests. A range of purified extracts of substances including dust mites, the pollens of trees, weeds and grasses were then injected into the skin and, after waiting a short period of time, the size of the reaction to each substance injected was then measured.

Intradermal skin test – each bleb is the site where a different purified test allergen, such as pollen or house dust mite, has been injected. The blebs are measured to gauge the degree of sensitivity of the patient to each substance.

Luckily, both Dave and Skud showed positive reactions to only a few substances on intradermal testing, as this means that desensitising vaccine treatment (immunotherapy) can be made up for them to try to treat the problem. Immunotherapy involves an injection course that aims to ‘desensitise’ the body to the allergic substances. Whilst this treatment does not work in every dog with environmental allergy, it can provide a very effective ‘drug free’ way of controlling skin disease. Dave and Skud have become the first dogs at Willows to undergo this type of allergy testing and they are both due to start their vaccine treatments any day now!

Long-haired cat Jaffa came to visit primary care vet Georgina in November 2018, as he had been vomiting every day after eating. Blood samples did not give any clues to Jaffa’s problem so he was admitted for an ultrasound scan of his stomach and intestines.

The ultrasound scan revealed Jaffa’s problem to be a Trichobezoar, which is a mass of hair, blocking the exit of his stomach and preventing food from passing through into the intestines.

Jaffa’s owner was understandably keen to avoid surgery if possible, so the Trichobezoar was removed endoscopically, using forceps fed through a flexible camera, down the throat, by our Internal Medicine Specialist, Andrew Kent.

Jaffa was started on a special fur ball diet to try to prevent recurrence but unfortunately, his attention to appearance was too great and his owner brought him back to see Georgina early in February 2019 as his vomiting had started again. At this point there was no choice but to remove the source of the problem. Jaffa’s beautiful coat had to be clipped away to ensure his continued health, and although he was not pleased with his new hairstyle, Jaffa was spotted showing off his new jumper to the nurses later that day.

Further information about our Specialist Internal Medicine service, the internal medicine team and our internal medicine pet health information sheets.

Mila is a beautiful young cat who was referred to the Cardiology Team at Willows in Solihull by her usual vet as she was feeling very unwell and her vet had a suspicion that she may have fluid within her chest cavity. She also had some persistent bleeding from where she had previously had blood taken.

Mila was seen by the Cardiology Team to look for the cause of fluid within her chest cavity, and they were able to confirm this was not due to heart disease, so the investigation continued with the Medicine Team. Further investigation and blood tests revealed that Mila was suffering from severe blood loss due to rodenticide poisoning. The Critical Care Team worked fast to stabilise Mila whilst we organised a feline blood donor to help us save Mila’s life.

Here at Willows in Solihull, we have Specialist teams covering many different disciplines which makes the care of our patients truly exceptional. The team approach of our Medicine, Cardiology, Emergency and Critical Care services all under one roof ensured a speedy recovery for this lovely girl.