By John Garrahy MVB MRCVS
It’s that time of year again! Halloween and the weeks preceding can be very stressful for many animals, but this is especially true for the lovely golden retriever, Harry.
Harry has been visiting us at Treaty Vets since he was a puppy, and not a year has passed that he hasn’t had an issue at Halloween. At the same time every October, Harry becomes seriously subdued, refuses to go on his walks, and as time goes on he becomes destructive at home, barks incessantly and soils in the house- all typical symptoms of anxiety. As you can imagine, this was very distressing for Harry’s owners too and for years they tried various supplements and even sedation in an effort to help him cope.
Eventually, we introduced Harry to a product called Zylkène and finally got the results we were looking for!
Zylkène is a complementary feed for cats and dogs, which contains a natural product, derived from casein, a protein in milk. It is a molecule well known to promote the relaxation of newborns while being fed by their mothers. Launched in April 2008, Zylkène has become a familiar product for veterinary surgeons, behaviourists, nurses and pet owners for use in helping pets cope when facing unusual and unpredictable situations or before occasions such as a change in their normal environment. With just once daily administration, Zylkène is very easy to give and because Zylkène is a product derived from milk, it is also very palatable and well accepted by both dogs and cats. You can read more about Zylkène here www.zylkenepet.co.uk
Ideally, Zylkène needs to be administered for a few weeks before required. In Harry’s case, his owners begin administering it in September every year and even though Harry becomes a little anxious in the few days around Halloween while the fireworks are loud, he is his usual happy self most of the time, enjoying his walks and playing with his sister, Maggie! Harry’s owners are delighted with the results and swear by Zylkène!
If your pet suffers from anxiety at this time, get started on Zylkène asap. At Treaty Vets we see so many injuries related to dogs getting stressed and panicked and getting lost at this time of year.
We recommend you keep your pet indoors during Halloween, but please make sure your garden is extra secure as a panicked dog will do anything to escape! Here are some more tips from Hill’s Pet Nutrition to keep them safe at Halloween….
If you are worried about your pet’s behaviour this Halloween, or if your pet suffers from anxiety at any time of year, please don’t feel like it’s a hopeless case! Pop in and have a chat with any of our staff to discuss the various helpful options available.
Be like Harry and have a safe and fun Halloween everyone!
Meet Ted! Ted is a terrier cross who was abandoned at the side of a busy road where he was hit by numerous cars. As you can see from his x-rays, Ted suffered severe injuries to his pelvis and had a broken hip, which required numerous surgeries to repair. Attached image of x-ray. We were unsure if Ted would ever regain the use of his back legs, but he always had a positive outlook! Ted had daily physiotherapy for weeks and a lot of TLC from our nursing team. Despite the pain he must have been in, he never complained once, made a great recovery and got a fantastic new home where he now lives with his best friend Toby and his favourite human, Grace!
3 years later Ted is a cheeky chap who spends his days chasing birds, cats and any other fast moving animal he can find! Despite his bad start to life, Ted always adored people and never held a grudge after being abandoned at the side of the road.
Our Facebook followers will be very familiar with the beautiful Maggie, who was hit by a car in Limerick City and brought into us by a kind member of the public. Maggie had serious head injures and was unconscious when she arrived. She had lost a lot of blood and had fractures to her jaw, skull and pelvis. Maggie was not micro-chipped and was not wearing any collar and despite the huge amount of publicity her photo’s received online, nobody ever came forward to claim Maggie.
Maggie received intensive emergency treatment and came around that evening. Even though she was receiving strong pain relief, she must have been so sore, but she still purred every time we gave her rubs and cuddles. She was a fighter from the very beginning!
After weeks of TLC and two surgeries, Maggie was a fit and happy young cat and ready for re-homing! We were all so attached to Maggie, but were delighted when she got a fantastic new home with the O’Sullivan family.
Meet the lovely Zelda! Zelda is a 10 year old fox terrier x who was rescued as a puppy by her owner Louise. Like most terriers, Zelda is a busy little dog and in June last year she ruptured her cruciate ligament in her back leg, a very common injury in our canine companions. A lot of dogs require surgery for this condition, but Zelda is an older lady and also has a heart condition, so the long surgery and anesthetic were not advisable for her. We decided the conservative approach would be in Zelda’s best interest, including medical management and intense rehabilitation.
Zelda began her rehabilitation programme with our own Veterinary Physiotherapist, Karen Kennedy. Her sessions included the use of Massage Therapy, Pulsed Magnetic Therapy and Laser therapy to provide pain relief and promote healing. Zelda then began strengthening exercises to regain the strength and range of movement in her joints while also improving her core strength and stability. With more strength and more balanced and correct movement, Zelda would hopefully avoid any re injury in the future!
With the help of her very dedicated owner, Zelda’s super motivated attitude and commitment have paid off and she is now back in action and spending a lot of time having fun in her favourite place – the beach in Liscannor!
We wish Zelda all the best in the future. If you have a pet with canine cruciate ligament disease or with any other condition affecting their mobility, contact the Hospital to see if physiotherapy would be of benefit.
