So, it is the end of February. The 3rd of March actually, as I am a bit late writing the blog this month. February was a good month in the practice. Not quite as busy as our orthopaedic heavy December and January, but that is okay because it means that we are also succeeding at our other mission: Keeping Pets Healthy!

Preventative healthcare is just as important as reactive healthcare. Meaning the fact that we can dispense your cat’s flea and wormer that is safe, tailored to you and great value is just as important as the fact that we can fix his broken leg. Because, well, they all impact on Fluffy’s quality of life. And that is the big thing. From neuterings, to weight clinics, to dental checks, February was a month of maintenance.

We launched our Vets Deliver service whereby you can get your flea and worming products delivered to your door on a monthly subscription service. We have passed our wholesale discounts onto our customers and it works out at £10 per month for cats, £12 for dogs less than 20kg and £16 for dogs bigger than 20kg. We have kept it simple, and easy. I never wanted to offer a “healthy pet club” because I find they often sell / discount a wide range of things people don’t need, or forget to pick up, and it is a better policy to just offer really reasonable prices and a first class level of service. That said I guess I must admit people do like being able to budget monthly and get it delivered to the house. Plus if covid-19 really hits in, at least you won’t have to leave the house to get Fluffy’s Bravecto!?

In more optimistic news than the Coronavirus, we only went and got our frigging IFSM silver award!! Jess I has been working so hard on this behind the scenes and we got graded this month. We even made the Bury Free Press which is great since the last time I was in it was for a Maypole competition in 1994. The IFSM is a prestigious badge of honour given to Cat Friendly practices. We are only the third in Suffolk to get it and the only one in BSE! In order to get it we have had to prove we have the facilities, knowledge, expertise and handling techniques to make our feline friends’ experience at the vets as good as possible. Little things such as the FeliWay diffusers on in cattery, separate cattery and kennels, separate waiting rooms etc have helped us. When we built the clinic, we knew we wanted to be cat friendly. Feline stress is sadly very high when coming to the vets and we now have the badge of honour to prove we do everything within our power to make it as purrrfect for them as possible.

As we are talking of cats, and preventative healthcare, let’s talk about sex. It is coming up to the time of year that cats’ hormones start to go crazy and we will soon be inundated with stray kittens and hand rears. Don’t get me wrong, kittens are CUTE!! But every year there are thousands of unwanted ones, so it is a great time to get your cats neutered. And that’s without mentioning the looooong list of health benefits. We deliberately keep our prices low on neuterings and actually, all preventative healthcare (dentals, vaccination, flea and worming etc) so that every animal can have the best. It shocked me this week that 66% of practices in the UK don’t send cat castrates home with pain relief… ask your husband / brother / son / father if they would like to be castrated with no pain relief afterwards. I bet they will wince. We not only offer excellent value, but also, gold standard care. We will ALWAYS do our best for your animal. That includes pain relief after operations. It comes as standard with the routine procedures, there is no hidden charge for it, it is not optional. Always has been, always will be.

March is looking to be busy already. We are welcoming new clients left right and centre and it is lovely to see new faces as well as the old. It’s great. Working for ourselves, and our team, has proven to be so rewarding. I saw an old face from my Catley Cross days today and they asked if I missed it…. I loved my time there but being here at BSEVC and doing the high quality, affordable excellence that we do absolutely does give me greater job satisfaction than ever before. We really have created our own little slice of veterinary heaven so thank YOU. Whether you are the awesome colleagues who we work with, one of our fabulous clients we can’t wait to see, the rep who brings us fruit bowls, the cat who loves a cuddle, or the dog who has just pee’d on the post in the middle of reception. We love you all. It is an honour to be your vets.

Till next time, Carly & Jen X