News

Thursday, 25 January 2018 - 2:18pm

Poppy is a 9-year-old cheeky, energetic and adventurous Labrador.  She has always been at her happiest charging around on outdoor adventures, including big mountain climbs.  However, her owners noticed that while she was still keen to run like crazy, she was suffering afterwards because she had been overdoing it, with noticeable limping.   Her ability to cope with her usual exercise was thus starting to reduce.   

On examination we localised pain to her elbows and on radiographs we...

Wednesday, 24 January 2018 - 6:26pm

DID you know that St Boniface Vets offer appointments that are 50 per cent longer than the standard veterinary practice?

Vets at St Boniface pride themselves on taking time to care; Ben Dart, Lead Small Animal Vet said 'we feel by adding extra time to a standard consult we can offer a more thorough history taking and a more in depth clinical exam, to take the time for you and your pet to be assessed in a non rushed, calm environment.'    

It is amazing what happens in just 15...

Wednesday, 24 January 2018 - 5:39pm

English beef and dairy farmers can have their Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) test results uploaded to the national BVDFree database without charge until the end of March*.

The offer is open to all farmers who are registered with the BVDFree England scheme and is available for all results uploaded by the following labs: APHA, Biobest, CIS and NML. Farmers can register with the scheme at bvdfree.org.uk. The aim is to grow the number of searchable BVD statuses on the existing 65,000 strong...

Wednesday, 17 January 2018 - 4:34pm

Through February, March and April St Boniface Farm Vets are running a series of meetings addressing cattle fertility and healthy calf production. The series begins with calf rearing and the promotion of rapid growth to produce an efficient and healthy heifer. Trouw Nutrition are...

Friday, 29 December 2017 - 3:09pm

Mya is a super bouncy, full of beans, springer spaniel that lives life at a thousand miles per hour.

She had presented a number of times for intermittent episodes of diarrhoea since being a puppy. One occasion, that slowed her down recently, was a particularly horrible bout of diarrhoea, that led her to become quite dehydrated and unwell. So unwell, she had to be hospitalised and treated with fluids and a lot of medication. It was quite a worrying time for her owners, but with all the...

Friday, 29 December 2017 - 9:51am

As the dark evenings and winter weather seems to drag on and on, horse owners are often forced to change the management of their horses – with more time in the stable, less grass to eat and fewer daylight hours to ride in, some simple steps can help keep our horses in top condition until Spring!

Rugging Up

As the weather turns colder, owners are often tempted to rug their horses and ponies to keep them toasty warm – especially with exciting new rug designs on...

Wednesday, 27 December 2017 - 6:25pm

Sadie and Deanna assist Clare and the equine team for all appointments at Wolfgar Farm; so we thought it would be a great opportunity for you to hear more about them and their wonderful horses.

Sadie owns Rowan, a 10 year old Welsh Section D.

He is a cheeky character!  They enjoy hacking around the Devon countryside, and also enjoy competing.  Last year they took part in their first British Eventing (BE90) events and are hoping to do more this coming season...

Wednesday, 27 December 2017 - 6:13pm

Winter Respiratory Disease - Causes

The wintery weather often affects our horses’ respiratory health just as it can affect us.  Generally over winter horses are stabled for longer periods of time which can mean they may be exposed to increased levels of airborne dust and other irritants.  This can result in airway irritation and trigger an inflammatory response, resulting in coughing, wheezing, nasal discharge or reduced exercise tolerance.

To reduce the impact...

Wednesday, 27 December 2017 - 6:03pm

What is “Mud Fever”?

‘Mud Fever’ is a common skin condition usually affecting the legs of a horse, typically the heels and pasterns.  Most commonly seen during wet winter conditions, Mud Fever, which is also known as greasy heel, cracked heels or scratches, is more correctly termed Pastern Dermatitis. 

Pastern Dermatitis is caused by bacteria including Staphylococcus and Dermatophylus species.  These bacteria live on the healthy skin of horses without causing a...

Friday, 22 December 2017 - 3:26pm

This New Year sees us trying to help out our arthritic and uncomfortable older, limping and creaky companions.

We would like to share with you our arthritis campaign, running between January and March.  As part of this, we would like to offer a FREE arthritis check; including running through a structured questionnaire that’s been revolutionary in investigating arthritis through a standard approach, but also a general catch up to explore how your...

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