On Sunday the 19^th of November, we ran an ‘open house’. We opened our practice doors to you, welcoming pet owners to take a guided tour of our new Yeovil surgery! Clients saw behind the scenes and experienced a day in the life of their pet at our vets.

I think it’s fair to say the day was a huge success. We saw plenty of people and their pets, many familiar and also some new faces. Our Nurses had put together demonstrations in the laboratory showing what we can test in-house from blood to parasites. They also displayed our digital X-ray machines and provided talks on dentistry. One of our Vets discussed how anaesthesia and surgery works in our practice for your pets. Finally, I presented an ultrasound demonstration on a little cavalier named Wilbur with heart disease. This allowed me to show the problems Wilbur has, how we diagnosed him and what medications we have used to successfully stabilise him. I have scanned him many times before and he just falls asleep every time. The question every group asked was “is he asleep or have you sedated him?” My 4-year-old son even asked if he was still alive!

We diagnosed Wilbur as having Preclinical Mitral Valve Disease. This means he has a leaky valve causing his heart to enlarge but he has yet to show signs of heart disease. A recent study called the EPIC trial showed that diagnosing these dogs and starting them on certain medications, could delay the onset of heart failure by on average of 14 months; a long time in any dog’s life. Wilbur has been stable on medication for nearly two years and continues to do well.

We can do a similar ultrasound assessment of large breed dogs with Preclinical Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Again, diagnosing them before they develop clinical signs of heart disease. More information on these studies and illnesses is available in the blog section of our website. This is where there are many articles which have been written by both myself and Mark over the years.

Our open house included complimentary teas, coffees and cakes provided courtesy of The Little Box of Delights Mobile Catering. These proved very popular!

We’d like to thank everyone who attended and appreciate the warm feedback and many thank you cards we received. If you missed our open house and would like to see behind the scenes, please don’t hesitate to ask and we can make arrangements. I suppose now though, we need to start planning our next event!

Many of you will read this article either just before or just after Christmas in which case I would like to wish you all and your pets on behalf of Newton-Clarke Veterinary Surgeons, a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.