Meet Susann
The lady that is on the ground and providing updates on patient journeys!
Meet Zorro a 3 year old German Shepherd
I’m not sure where it all started, but without my caring family I know where it would have ended up.
Over the past few months, I have started to slowly lose weight. I have always been on the lean side, which my human sister says is good for my joints, specially my hips as Shepherds may be prone to hip issues later on in life.
Seeing that I was losing weight, mommy started feeding me more. Mommy changed my food between the various veterinary brands, but nothing seemed to work, Mommy even started giving me a multi-vitamin supplement in the hopes that something would boost me, but to no avail. Despite the weight loss, I was still a bouncy happy dog and loved going to dog school on a weekly basis.
I know what you are thinking, I need nutrient rich food to keep up with my energy demand… Trust me, we have tried them all. So, my human sister said I need to go see one of the vets at her work so that we can get to the bottom of this. She is always looking out for me, so I trust her judgement and agreed to go see Dr Ryan the medicine specialist.
Meet Mila a 6 year old Pekingese
Since the last time I shared a story with you I have celebrated a birthday and what a beautiful day it was, a bit chilly but what else can one expect from winter. Shortly after my birthday it all started going what you humans call downhill. Most of you would say it was due to old age, but I consider myself a spring chicken at 6yrs old.
I’m not exactly sure what I did or exactly how it happened, but I somehow managed to injure my right eye. It had a really large laceration and looked like it was popping out of its socket.
Meet Nugget an African Pygmy Hedgehog
I have been having a few issues with my ear lately. I am not sure why, but it seems to be very sensitive and as a result I have been starting to walk around with my head tilted.
When mommy came home from work, she noticed me walking with my head tilted to the left and immediately knew something was wrong. I am normally a very active critter specially at night (seeing that I am a nocturnal animal) but today I just felt off.
Meet Bullet a 3 year old Bull Terrier
I spend most of my day roaming freely on the farm. As “baas van die plaas” I have a very important job. Head of family security is not a role to be taken lightly.
Late one afternoon I was doing my perimeter rounds when I spotted a Wildebeest grazing to close to the border. I went over to see if everything was in order when all of a sudden, the Wildebeest stormed towards me and pointed his deadly horns in my direction.
The dance classes I had as a puppy came in handy and I darted from one foot to the next before twirling around to avoid being stabbed. I felt a rush as I twirled and all of a sudden, I was a bit light headed. I figured I was out of practice and shrugged off the dizzy feeling.
As I looked up, Ozzy (the Wildebeest) started rambling on at such a fast pace I could not make out a single word he was saying. All I heard was “I’m Sorry”. Sorry for what?
Meet Peanut a 13 year old Dachshund
Going to the vet is nothing new to me. I recently visited my local vet for a fibula fracture and that’s where my journey begins. My local vet took x-rays to determine the extent of my fracture and saw something strange going on.
The x-rays showed some sort of intra-abdominal mass. My vet discussed this with mommy and referred us to Valley Farm Animal Hospital. As you can imagine I was really nervous after hearing the news.
As we were on our way to the car, mommy took out her phone and made an appointment for me at Valley Farm Animal Hospital. My heart was beating in my chest and I started panting as I realised this was something serious otherwise mommy would not have made an appointment so quickly.
Meet Kian a 7-year-old Domestic Cat.
As the ago old saying goes “Curiosity killed the cat”, well, in my case it warranted a visit to the veterinarian.
As always, I was taking my morning stroll in the garden just like every other morning. At my age, staying fit and health is really important.
While strolling through the garden I stopped and smelled the flowers. Very relaxing, I must say. My first stop was the rose bushes. Each vibrant colour had its own unique smell, each one sweeter than the one before.I was mesmerised by the various fragrances that met me on my walk.
Meet Sky a 5 month old Basset
When I was still an itsy-bitsy-teeny-tiny puppy my mommy noticed that I was often pawing my one eye. My eye would always have a discharge and it would seem that my eye was irritated.
My mommy was very concerned about this and took me to our local vet. Our local vet referred us to Valley Farm Animal Hospital to go see Dr Lo-Ann the eye specialist. When we got in the car mommy immediately phoned them and made an appointment for me.
My eye still felt irritated, but I found comfort in the fact that wouldn’t be long before my eye appointment and hopefully a cure for the irritation.
When the day of my appointment finally came, I was both nervous and excited.
Meet Hakima a nearly 3 year old German Shepherd.
The house has been bustling lately in preparation for my babies. You see, I am expecting a litter of puppies soon. I am so excited about becoming a mommy.
My mommy has been very supportive and has been guiding me through all the do’s and don’ts. We have been monitoring my temperature, taking measurements and doing breathing exercises daily.
With my due date around the corner my tummy has ballooned and I need to make frequent bathroom visits even during the night. Everything was going according to plan until mommy noticed a slightly odd-looking discharge after one of my bathroom breaks.
Meet Cody an 8-week-old Border Collie
I have not been with my new family for very long but I already love them. I have met so many new things in the last few days.
One of them is a large shiny thing with panels that opens. My new mommy picked me up in this large shiny thing. She opened one of the panels and then placed me inside the shiny thing on some sort of sofa. Mommy called this a car seat – whatever that means.
Meet Layla a nearly 7 year old Golden Retriever
Like all Beagles I love sniffing and exploring. But lately I have had to cut my exploring short due to a very irritating but somewhat personal issue.
As soon as we are out on a walk, I can’t go 2 min without needing a bathroom break. It has become very annoying having to want to urinate every few steps. I am not sure if any of you have noticed, but a decent bathroom is pretty hard to find these days.
Mommy has also noticed that I have been needing a break more often than before and decided to take me to the vet for a check-up. Mommy booked an appointment for me with a lady vet.
When we got to the clinic the vet immediately introduced herself and made me feel at ease. She spoke to me softly and told me she knows how uncomfortable it is discussing urinating issues with a stranger. Mommy and I sat and chatted to her for a few minutes before she took me to the back.
Meet Layla a nearly 7 year old Golden Retriever
My eyesight has slowly been getting worse lately.
Mommy had me at our vet for a check and we got referred to Valley Farm Animal Hospital to see the eye specialist. One early morning, mommy, Lambie and me were off to meet with the eye specialist. (Lambie is my stuffed sheep toy – he goes everywhere with me).
When we met with the specialist my sight was already very hazy, but I could still see enough to not bump into things. As we made our way into the consult room mommy led the way. The vet introduced herself and explained to mommy what she wanted to do during my exam. I don’t like the dark very much so I held on to Lambie when she switched off the lights to examine my eyes.
Meet Bon-Bon a now 6 month old Yorkie female
Let me start you off on a few random puppy facts before we get into my story.
Did you know that a puppy’s ears don’t have external opening, these only “open” after the puppy’s eyes open?
- Normally a puppy’s eyes will open when they are around 10 to 14 days old.
- It’s actually very amazing to experience.
- A puppy will only be able to crawl around for the first two weeks of life and then after their eyes open, they will start walking around.
It totally makes sense that the external ear canals would only open once the puppy is fully mobile to prevent creatures and environmental gunk from entering the ears while puppy is crawling around.
Isn’t nature just amazing?
So, my story takes us back to when I was 2 weeks old. Just after my eyes opened for the first time and I was able to see the light of day and what a beautiful light it was. The light seemed somewhat distorted as my one eye was struggling to focus. My mommy had my eye checked at the vet and it seemed that I had an abscess. We got some medication and we were making our way home.
Over the next few weeks my motor skills started developing, I was moving about more and even discovered my voice. When the time came, I said my goodbyes to my biological family and moved into my new family home. Life was great. I was being spoiled rotten.
Meet Mila - A 5 year old Pekingese
It all started on a green patch of lawn a few days ago. Daddy and I were playing like we normally do when suddenly I felt a sharp pain and cried out. Daddy asked me if I was ok and I put on my brave face and carried on. Daddy could see that I wasn’t feeling up to it and said that is enough play for one day.
We went inside and I snuggled next to mommy on the couch. I woke up around suppertime, but wasn’t really hungry. I was still feeling off sorts after our play session earlier so I decided to rather go back to sleep, which was totally not like me.
Meet Tinkerbell - A nearly 6 year old blind domestic cat
I’ve been blind since kitten so I know my way around, but mommy is very paranoid when it comes to the outdoors, so myself and my siblings are strictly indoor cats, meaning that my days are mostly filled with lazing around on any sunny spot I can find in the house.
So yesterday while mommy went to work, I explored the house like so many times before and you won’t believe what I found. Up high on one of the kitchen shelves there was a creature lurking. At first the creature did not move, but I could smell he was there, unlike my siblings who did not even notice him. I took it upon myself to rid our home from lurking creatures and I skilfully climbed the kitchen counter, manoeuvring my way to within inches of him. I obviously outsmarted the creature as it did not see me coming.
