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Addressing Pet Overpopulation: A Vital Concern

Animal shelters worldwide grapple with the challenge of accommodating unwanted pets, often resulting from unplanned breeding. Tragically, many of these animals fail to find loving homes. This predicament underscores the urgency of spaying and neutering pets. By taking this step, you contribute to the reduction of unplanned litters and help alleviate the strain on animal shelters, leading to healthier and happier communities.

Enhanced Health and Well-Being

Early spaying and neutering can profoundly impact your pet’s health and longevity. Beyond preventing unwanted litters, these procedures offer tangible health benefits. Neutering reduces your pet’s likelihood of certain cancers and eliminates the risk of potentially life-threatening conditions in females. Moreover, spaying curtails the risk of infections and complications tied to pregnancy and birth.

Common Queries Addressed

1. Addressing Changes in Behavior and Activity: 

Contrary to misconceptions, spaying or neutering your pet won’t transform them into a couch potato. While their energy levels may slightly decrease, this can be attributed to a reduction in the instinct to wander. Any shifts in appetite can often be managed with mindful feeding habits.

2. Personality Alterations: 

Rest assured that your pet’s fundamental personality traits remain unchanged. Neutering or spaying doesn’t alter their core character. Instead, it can lead to a decrease in aggression towards other animals and mitigate the urge to roam.

3. Anaesthesia Concerns:

While there’s a marginal risk associated with anaesthesia, modern veterinary practices employ safe anaesthetics. If you have concerns, don’t hesitate to discuss them with our skilled veterinarians.

4. Breeding for Profit: While you can breed your pets, the prevalence of notices seeking homes for kittens and puppies emphasises the need for responsible breeding. Consider the long-term impact on animal welfare before pursuing this path.

5. Health and Longevity:

These procedures enhance your pet’s chances of leading a healthier, longer life by reducing the risk of certain diseases and conditions.

6. Improved Pet-Family Dynamics:

Neutered pets exhibit better behaviour around other animals and are less prone to wandering and aggression.

7. A Cleaner Home:

Spaying eliminates female dogs’ heat cycles and decreases male dogs’ marking of their territory, contributing to a cleaner home environment

8. Combating Overpopulation:

By opting for spaying and neutering, you actively contribute to tackling the challenge of pet overpopulation, promoting healthier communities.

The Procedure in Brief

The spaying or neutering process is relatively straightforward. Prior to the surgery, your pet is examined by our veterinary team. After a brief fast, the procedure is performed, typically in the morning. Recovery is swift, and your pet can be back with you on the same day. Aftercare involves monitoring and ensuring your pet avoids strenuous activity while the incision heals.

Pet Health Plan Members Receive Exclusive Benefits

We’re delighted to extend an exclusive benefit to our Pet Health Plan members. As a part of our commitment to your pet’s well-being, members of our Pet Health Plan are entitled to a 10% discount on the neutering procedure. To find out more about our Pet Health Plan and the benefits it offers, please visit http://villagevets.ie/villagevets.ie/free-visits.

Take the Responsible Step

By choosing to spay or neuter your pet, you’re not only safeguarding their health but also playing a crucial role in maintaining a balanced pet population. Reach out to us to book your pet’s surgery and contribute to a brighter, healthier future for your beloved companion and the community as a whole.

The post THE IMPORTANCE OF SPAYING AND NEUTERING YOUR PET appeared first on Village Vets.

Get ready to give your beloved pet the gift of a healthy smile because we are offering an incredible 20% OFF the end cost of your dental bill!

Maintaining good dental hygiene is vital for your pet’s overall health and happiness. Our state-of-the-art facilities and compassionate staff ensure a comfortable and stress-free experience for your pets. We prioritise their well-being every step of the way.

Don’t miss out on this amazing offer! Book your pet’s pre-dental check with us today at one of our selected dental clinics:

Village Vets Dental Clinics:

• Village Vets Ashbourne
• Village Vets Beaumont
• Village Vets Castleknock
• Village Vets Clonsilla
• Village Vets Dunboyne
• Village vets Dunshaughlin

At the pre-dental check, you will receive your dental procedure estimate and we will schedule your pet’s dental appointment.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

To schedule an appointment, click the link here:  https://vet.lc/vqsfn4

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The Value of Dog-Friendly Services:

Did you know that nearly 800,000 pets reside in 62% of Irish households? The pet industry plays a significant role in the Irish economy, contributing approximately €660m. With more and more people considering their dogs as part of the family, the demand for dog-friendly venues and accommodations is on the rise. Surveys indicate that a substantial percentage of participants would be happy to eat in dog-friendly places, and many would be more inclined to vacation in Ireland if dog-friendly accommodations were available. It’s time to normalise dogs outside the home and embrace their presence in various settings, including the workplace.

Enhancing Workplace Dynamics:

“Bringing your furry friend to work can be an excellent opportunity to interact with your coworkers in a whole new way,” says Charles Cosgrave, CEO of Village Vets. Dogs have a remarkable ability to break the ice and foster better communication and teamwork among colleagues. Imagine the positive impact on office morale when your furry companion sits beside your desk, spreading joy and creating memorable moments. Now, it’s time to pitch this idea to your employees or to your boss and convince them to embrace the spirit of National Dog Friendly Day.

Considerations Before Taking Your Dog to Work:

Before taking your beloved pet to the office, there are a few important considerations to keep in mind. First and foremost, ensure that your business is participating in the celebration of Dog Friendly Ireland Day. Inform your coworkers in advance that you will be taking your dog to work, as some people may have allergies or feel uncomfortable around dogs. It’s essential to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone.

Show Your Participation: 

To promote Dog Friendly Ireland Day and encourage others to join the celebration, we have created social media dog-friendly graphics. By displaying these graphics in your workplace or sharing them on your social media platforms, businesses can signal to their employees that they are participating in the event. These graphics serve as a visual reminder of the day and can inspire others to take their furry friends to work on June 23.

Click on the graphic of your choice to download and use it in your office and your social media channels. 

Instagram/Facebook post:

Story:

A4 poster:

Creating a Dog-Friendly Office Space:
It’s important to acknowledge that not all pets would enjoy coming to work, and some may find it stressful. To ensure a positive experience for everyone, consider the following tips when creating a dog-friendly office space:

1. Determine specific areas where dogs can roam and establish any rules they need to follow.
2. Encourage employees to bring dogs who enjoy being around people and other pups, but respect those who prefer to leave their pets at home.
3. Decide which dog breeds are allowed and set a reasonable limit on the number of furry friends in the office.
4. Consider the needs and comfort of your colleagues by surveying their opinions on having dogs in the workplace.
5. Provide appropriate chew toys for dogs, preferably ones that don’t make excessive noise.
6. Allow dogs to have familiar items from home, such as cozy beds or blankets.
7. Ensure that all doggy coworkers are well-trained in using designated potty areas and stick to their regular schedule.
8. Keep a good supply of poop bags available for easy clean-ups.
9. Ensure that office doors are secure, preventing any unintended escapes.
10. Provide fresh water

For more information on how to make your office dog-friendly, call one of their Village Vet clinics for advice.

The post Celebrate National Dog Friendly Day in Your Workplace appeared first on Village Vets.

According to Hannah Tymlin, a clinical mentor at Village Vets, “Veterinary medicine leadership roles are traditionally male-oriented. However, Village Vets is unique in that it has made it a priority to give more women positions in leadership roles.”

Village Vets boasts a team of five strong female support members in leadership positions, including Gerorgine (Nursing Coordinator), Hannah, Orla, Dawn, Aislinn (Clinical Mentors), and Aoife (Clinical Director). By providing support, training, and mentoring opportunities for these female leaders, Village Vets is helping them develop their skills and gain valuable experience in leading teams.

The practice is also committed to recognizing its female leaders by assigning them to strategic initiatives that drive visibility within the leadership team. This recognition creates a positive environment where women can feel empowered to take on more responsibility and be seen as equal members of the team.

In addition, Village Vets is helping its female leaders develop coping strategies necessary to mitigate the stressors associated with day-to-day veterinary practice and atypical job demands such as complaints to the state board. The practice also offers more flexible schedules that accommodate both family and work life and finds out what their female staff wants to support their career journey.

Village Vets’ approach to empowering female leaders is not just good for women in the veterinary profession. It also helps create a culture of inclusivity and acceptance that benefits the entire team. By giving more clinical leaders from diverse backgrounds a chance to shine, Village Vets is paving the way for a more inclusive and diverse veterinary industry.

Hannah Tymlin – Clinical Mentor at Village Vets

“Women are an integral part of the Village Vets team and have been instrumental in driving the success of the organization,” says Tymlin. “We strongly believe that recognizing and supporting female leaders is essential to create a culture that fosters growth and development.”

As an industry leader, Village Vets hopes to inspire other veterinary practices to follow their lead and provide more opportunities for women to take on leadership roles. By working together to address the gender gap in veterinary medicine, we can create a more inclusive and diverse profession that benefits everyone.

#WomenInBusiness #FemaleLeadership #GenderGap #Inclusivity #InternationalWomensDay #Empowerment #FemaleVeterinarians #VillageVets

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With 18 clinics across Dublin and Meath, from Dunshaughlin to Dundrum, our Village Vets Bray clinic is located beside SuperValu.

We had a fantastic day celebrating with all our clients and Top model Rosanna Davison. Our vets and nurses were there along with Santa Paws to welcome guests and their furry friends at the clinic.

Rosanna, a former Miss World, said she was ‘broody for a puppy’ after snuggling with Golden Retriever puppy Teddy at Village Vets Bray new clinic in Co Wicklow.

Village Vets Bray will offer a wide range of services from Pet vaccinations to pet passports, as well as our comprehensive pet health plan which includes unlimited free vet visits, as well as discounts on neutering (10%) and Royal Canin Diets(20%), blood tests and much more.

The clinic will open Monday to Friday from 9am to 7pm and on Saturdays from 9am- 5pm.

Announcing the opening of the new clinic, Charles Cosgrave, MD of Village Vets, said: “With a dedicated team of two vets and three veterinary nurses at Village Vets Bray, we will continue to make lives better through excellence in veterinary care to those in the Bray area and beyond.

We know that pets hold such an important place in our lives, so at Village Vets we strive to provide a consistent high level of care and great value service to our customers.

The team is also very important to us, as we know that our customers like to meet the same team each time they visit, so we look forward to getting to know the local pet owners in the area.”

Village Vets is an award winning business that was set up by Karl Cosgrave in 1980 in Dunshaughlin, which is now run by his children, Charles and Julianne Cosgrave. In 2019 Village Vets won two coveted Energia Family Business Awards; Professional & Business Services Family Business Award and the Family Business CSR Award, demonstrating its leadership in the veterinary practice sector in Ireland.

The post Village Vets Bray Open Day with Rosanna Davison appeared first on Village Vets.

Come & join us on Saturday, August 6th at 1-3pm, for an afternoon of fun & frolics. We will show you around our new clinic, and introduce you to our incredible team in Castleknock. We’re planning an exciting day for adults, children & of course our furry friends!

Step behind the scenes of our state of the art facility. We’ll have expert talks with our veterinary team, & you’ll have the opportunity to ask the vet nurse any burning questions you may have!

There’ll be lots of free fun activities on the day including face painting, a chance to experience our pet ambulance, a colouring competition, as well as tasty treats for our 2-legged & 4-legged friends!

We’ll have some special guests on the day, and you will be in with a chance to WIN one of our famous Pet Health Plans!

We can’t wait to meet you!

Unit 5B
Castleknock Square
Beside LIDL Castleknock
D15 CHC6

The post Castleknock Open Day appeared first on Village Vets.

Village Vets is a family owned Veterinary practice based in Dublin & Meath. They employ 230 Vets,
Veterinary Nurses and animal care assistants over 14 clinics that provide veterinary care to over 80,000
domestic pets in 2021.

The school of Veterinary Medicine in UCD provides specialist veterinary referral services alongside its
teaching hospital. Each year, UCD accepts undergraduate and postgraduate students to study Veterinary
Medicine and Veterinary Nursing. Students experience cutting edge diagnostics and procedures as part
of their training in UCD’s referral Veterinary Hospital. However, structured exposure to more
commonplace, day-to-day veterinary care is often best achieved through work place rotations in primary
practice.

Rory Breathnach, Associate Professor and Clinical Director at the School of Veterinary Medicine said:
“Our primary purpose is to maximize the student learning experience and produce highly competent,
all-round veterinarians who have the Day 1 skill sets to address all the common challenges encountered
in primary practice, with the added knowledge of when and how to seek referral to more experienced
colleagues when faced with the more complex case. This combined teaching approach, encompassing
both referral hospital and primary care settings, permits a strategically important blend that fulfils
societal needs for high quality animal care.”

With more than 100 students studying Veterinary Medicine in UCD each year, there is a strong demand
for graduates of the course. Alongside Ireland’s strong performance in the agri-food export sector, there
has also been a surge in pet ownership during the pandemic. These factors have led to an increase in the
demand for veterinary services across the sector with employment prospects remaining strong
throughout the last twelve months and into the future.

According to Charles Cosgrave, owner and MD of Village Vets, ‘This relationship with UCD School of
Veterinary Medicine is very exciting for us. Being acknowledged as a high quality provider of veterinary
care by a leading veterinary teaching college is a great honour. Working with final year students allows us
to demonstrate how we apply high quality veterinary care and diagnostics in a working environment. We
also get to share ideas with these students and learn new teachings from them while working with a
world renowned veterinary institution’.

As part of this new partnership, both UCD and Village Vets were audited by the American Veterinary
Medicine Association (AVMA) as part of the cyclical accreditation process. Accreditation by the AVMA
allows degree recognition for students who study Veterinary at UCD. This allows students who qualify
from the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine to work in North America without the need for any further
exams, and is a pivotal factor in attracting overseas graduate students to study veterinary medicine in
UCD each year. There are only seven veterinary teaching programmes in Europe recognised by AVMA

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1. Body Language:

Dogs, and animals in general, are very good at picking up on micro expressions and subtle changes in our body language – it’s why they make the best comfort animals. When meeting a friendly dog try to appear friendly yourself; use calm, gentle movements, open your eyes and smile (smiling should be easy if you love dogs). Any dog should melt in your arms if you follow the above!

2. Tone of Voice:

After body language, your tone of voice is the most important thing a dog will pick up on. From past experience, using a bright and cheery, almost playful tone is the best tool in your arsenal here. If you think of the dog you’re trying to impress as a baby or very young child; if you sound excited they’ll mirror it right back. Before you know it, you’ll have every tail wagging with your dulcet tones!

3. Where to Scratch:

So, you’ve tried smiling, you’ve tried speaking in an excited tone, you’ve even offered a treat or two and your Sister’s new dog is having none of it, there’s one more trick in your arsenal that you can call on. Provided that the dog you’re trying to impress is friendly, try scratching behind their ear, underneath their collar or the area of their chest between their forelegs — these are three areas that most dogs can’t get to on their own. Grooming and scratching in general is the language of affection in the dog world, but scratching those three areas in particular will have you in every dog’s good books!

4. The Height Difference:

To most dogs (especially toy breeds) us humans are giants. This major difference between us can be intimidating for them to try and reckon with and will certainly do you no favours if it’s a dog you’re trying to impress. To start, bend down to the dog’s level or, if possible, sit on the ground. The dog in question may become curious and start climbing all over you, but by that point you’ve already accomplished what you’ve set out to do. For a really good laugh you can try lying on your front or back and letting them walk on you to their heart’s content!

5. Should I Pick Up?:

Before trying to pick up any dog always make sure that their owner is happy for you to (and you’re confidant that you can lift and carry them properly). Always take care not to strain yourself. Toy and small breed dogs are (almost) the perfect size for lifting, but you should know yourself whether they like being carried. If they do then you’re on to a winner — lift and cradle them as you would a baby and you’ll never have to worry about them liking you again.

6. Preparation is Key:

Lastly, if all else fails you can try the oldest trick in the book: bribes. Always check with their owner first that they can eat and digest most meaty treats. If so, slip them some pieces of a cooked sausage or a dedicated dog treat and you’ll be best friends for life – simple!

We hope you have tonnes of success in the near-future with these tips of ours. If you need advice or perhaps you’d just like to let us know whether they worked or not, you can always contact us here.

Bye for now, pet-pals!

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Today we’ll be looking at the five easiest mistakes pet owners can make when bringing their doggo on a road trip.

No. 5: Allowing them the run of the car

It should go without saying that allowing your dog to travel without a seatbelt or some kind of safety harness on is definitely a mistake. It is actually law in Ireland that when in a vehicle, dogs or other animals should be suitably restrained so they cannot distract you while you are driving or injure you if you stop in an emergency. In some European countries, the law does not allow dogs to travel loose in vehicles at all! Besides, in the event of an accident (touch wood) you want to be sure that your pet is as protected as you are.

No. 4: Heads out the window

We’re not sure what movie started this trend, but it has since become a cliché of sorts that when a dog travels in a car, its head must stick out the window. In reality this practice is very dangerous as your dog can injure themselves and others while your car is passing trees, cyclists, other road users and signs. It’s no harm to have the window down for good air ventilation, but letting your dog hang out of the car can have day-ruining consequences!

No. 3: Leaving them in the car for extended periods

There’s oodles of evidence, both in the real world and online, of owners leaving their pets in cars during heatwaves. On an, albeit rare, sunny day in Ireland, the temperature in a car can reach as high as 35 degrees Celsius; high enough to dehydrate, exasperate and cause long-lasting bodily harm to your pet. Even if the temperature outside is bearable, inside the car can be suffocating, so never leave your pet in a close parked car, conservatory or greenhouse.

No. 1: Interacting with your pet while driving

While driving, 100% of your attention should be given to the road, other road users and your own actions at all times. Even a one-second lapse in concentration can lead to calamity, injury and hefty insurance bills, and it doesn’t matter how experienced a driver you think you are; even Lewis Hamilton crashes. While the car is moving, you should treat your properly-restrained pet like a mobile phone: in your pocket and not your priority! That doesn’t mean you can’t talk to your pet as you go off on your adventure together, but it’s certainly something to be wary of while driving!

On your next outdoor adventure together, we hope you and your pet have as much fun as possible, but arrive and leave from your destination with safety as your main concern. It’s great that we have laws that allow us to bring our pets in our cars, but making sure we stay on right side of those laws is important to know and be familiar with! In truth, there really is nothing like bringing your best friend on a trip! If you have any questions or concerns, you can always contact us.

Farewell for now, Pet-pals. We hope to see you out and about soon!

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