A couple of weeks ago two baby pigeons were brought into the practise after being found out of their nest. They were unable to fly or eat on their own. Garth and Rhian hand fed the pigeons until the began to eat seed and maize on their own. Their flying feathers have now grown and they have lost most of their baby fluffy feathers. The two pigeons have been flying around the practice to allow them to use their wings. We are hoping to release the two birds today near the practice so we wish them luck!!!

A condition seen frequently in certain breeds of dog is a luxating patella. This occurs when the knee cap slips sideways out of the groove that it is supposed to slide up and down in. This could be due to the leg being out of alignment in the vertical plane, the groove not being deep enough to hold the knee cap in place or the ligament on one side or the other being too loose to maintain tension on the knee cap. One or more of these factors may play a role in each individual dog with the problem.

Today we corrected a luxating patella in a tiny Japanese Chin dog. In this case, the alignment was still fairly good but the groove was very shallow and one of the ligaments to the side had stretched. The surgical correction involved moving the knee cap out of the groove and then cutting a section of bone and cartilage out of the groove to deepen it. The knee cap was then replaced in the groove and the side ligament tightened to hold everything in place more securely.

Despite being a very sensitive little dog, he was quite happy on the leg post surgically and we look forward to a complete recovery and a massive reduction in the chance of arthritis in the knee when the dog gets older. Unfortunately the other back leg has the same problem and will have to be operated on in a few months once this leg is fully recovered.

Today Pet's Choice took its staff and families White Water Rafting near Bala Lake. We camped next to the river the evening before and were eaten alive by midges!!! The rafting took place at 8.30a.m. on the Sunday morning- a great cure if you have a hangover- he he!!

Once fully kitted out with safety equipment, we were driven up to the start point in a bus with the raft in tow

All kitted out with wet suits, buoyancy jackets,                   Garth confused with safety talk

helmets, instructor, raft and paddles.

Now you see them......................................now you don't