Gladstone

Veterinary

Clinic

High Quality Care

for your pet

Navigation

• Home
• Surgery Hours
• About Us
• Emergency Cover
• Our Facilities
• Referrals
• Our Newsletters
• Vet Profiles
• Directions
• Find us with Google Maps

Newsletter

Autumn 2006

This year we are celebrating our 10 year anniversary! A big thank you to all clients for your continued support and trust in our practice!

Our motto hasn’t changed over these years. We aim to give you “ High quality veterinary care”. We have invested in a wide range of diagnostic equipment and our special interests are internal medicine and cardiology. Jörg Niehoegen has gained certificates in Veterinary Cardiology and Internal Medicine and Jessica Keane has undertaken special training in these areas. Claudia Niehoegen’s special interest are behavioural problems. Our main concern is of course the health of your animals and advice on nutrition, behaviour and the prevention of diseases is an important part of the service we can provide. We strongly believe in the importance of explaining medical conditions and discussing different treatment options with you so you can make informed choice

All this work is not undertaken by the veterinary surgeons alone! Gladstone Veterinary Clinic is a Training Practice. We employ nurses at different stages of their training. They watch over the anaesthetised patient while the vet operates or looks at X-rays. The nurses prepare for the operations: they autoclave the instruments so that they are sterile, wash them after the operations, draw up the anaesthetic drugs, and overall keep the surgery running smoothly. They also make sure that your animal's stay here is as comfortable as possible. They clean the accommodation, feed and water inpatients, monitor their clinical condition and most importantly give them a lot of TLC while they are with us.

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the doors of a veterinary surgery? Let us tell you about the cases we might see in a typical working day!

Sparky, a black and white tomcat, has a leg fracture that was left untreated and he has developed a big abscess on his shoulder. Unfortunately, we are unable to save the leg and have to amputate it, drain the pus and start him on antibiotics. We also castrate him as he will be much less likely to fight, and because he won't roam so far his risk of getting run over is smaller. Luckily, Sparky has found a new, loving home and is now even climbing trees again.

The Evans family bring a litter of Golden Retriever puppies for a health check before they go to their new owners. They have been wormed a few times, as has the mother, and they are all thriving. But Sammy is a bit smaller than his brothers and sisters. The vet listens to his heart and finds that he unfortunately has a heart murmur. Jörg Niehoegen performs an ultrasound scan to assess the extent of the problem. During echocardiography (heart scan) he can see inside the heart chambers, with its valves and dividing walls. Doppler technology allows him to assess the blood flow and look for turbulences. Sammy has a persistent ductus arteriosus. This blood vessel is an embryonic shortcut around the lungs and normally closes at birth. Sammy needs an operation where the vet opens the chest and ties it off. All going well, he can then lead a normal life.

Megan has come a long way to be examined. She lives in Wales, but her local vet has referred her for further investigation. She has been vomiting regularly for a few weeks and has lost quite a bit of weight. Her condition has not improved on any medication, and this big German Shepherd dog looks very poorly. After blood tests have ruled out liver and kidney disease she is put under general anaesthetic. Xrays of her abdomen show her organs in fine detail. The next step is endoscopy: a flexible tube is inserted into her stomach. Jessica Keane looks down the endoscope. There are suspicious patches on the stomach wall. She takes several small biopsies with little forceps at the end of the endoscope. These will be sent off to the lab to be examined, and Megan will receive the appropriate medication for her condition.

Charlie, the 8 year old King Charles Spaniel, has become lethargic. The owners put it down to the heat, but when Charlie had to be carried home from his walks they decided to seek professional advice. It is not that warm in the consulting room but Charlie is panting and his tongue has a blue tinge to it. Claudia Niehoegen listens to his heart: instead of going 'lu-dup' it goes 'swish swish'. This is typical for a heart murmur, a common condition in this breed. Charlie is taken to a quiet room and an ECG-machine is connected to four places on his body. The owner requests a full work-up, so echocardiography is undertaken to measure the thickness of the heart muscle and its contractility. With the appropriate medication Charlie will soon be running around again.

After a long day's work at the practice our veterinary activities often continue: we have all at some time served on the committee of the Shropshire Veterinary Association, organizing lectures locally. We did the same, on a grander scale, for the Midlands, and have also been heavily involved with the British Veterinary Small Animal Association. This keeps us up-to-date with the latest developments of expertise in veterinary medicine. Claudia Niehoegen undertakes practice inspections all over the country on behalf of the Royal College.

It's not all work though: Jessica Keane plays football for a local women's team , Jörg Niehoegen can be seen jogging on the Ercall and Claudia Niehoegen likes to relax with a good book.