Veterinary

This section has been added to help assist in day to day veterinary situations. See Ailments and cures for help with some common ailments. See Veterinary notes for general information on the care and welfare of aniamals. VET’S VISIT MARCH 2012 We were fortunate to have a vet, sponsored by Friends of the Cat, visit the island at the end of March. This visit had been scheduled for earlier in the month but, due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, delays meant that the visit had to be re-scheduled for later than we had hoped. As some of us had to leave the island at the end of the month on business, I would like to start by thanking everyone who rallied round to help in our absence: and there are lots of people who need to be thanked! Firstly, to Lyn and Nike Ivison – not only did they offer the use of their studio as a surgery but Nik was invaluable in helping with the surgery itself. Dawn Kiriannakis contacted Greek speakers and ferried them and their animals to and from the surgery. Philippa and Nigel Smith helped with relocating animals after surgery; Mike Holmes and Andrew Lewin spent days lurking in bushes, catching cats galore. Dinah Sinclair and I did what we could before we had to disappear, Guy Routh’s expertise was as invaluable as always. Thanks also to Annie Green who helped at the surgery, Beau and Bert Dendy who provided lunch for the vet and Tony Larcombe and Jan Moon who provided accommodation and a splendid breakfast every day – and to anyone I may have forgotten to mention, I cannot tell you how grateful I am for all your help in making this visit a very successful one. Of course, the best laid plans and all that...... The vet was due to spend three days on Alonnisos and then go to Skopelos – unfortunately, the resident vet on Skopelos (who incidentally is not fully qualified) made serious waves and it was deemed wise that the vet not go to Skopelos after all. So, he spent longer on Alonnisos than planned but at least we were able to give him some well-earned rest before he had to travel back to Thessaloniki where more surgery was planned before he flew back to the UK. And so to the vet! Ed Rowe volunteered his time to help the Friends of the Cat and he performed miracles here. During his stay he worked really hard and made a lot of friends. I hope that some day he will return. He was willing to do whatever we asked of him: we were desperate as every feral un-neutered female cat was either in season or already pregnant and we also had a large number of dogs which we had been fortunate enough to find homes for, but which also needed to be neutered. And the final tally was: Consultations: 10 Female cats spayed: 31 Male cats neutered: 9 Female dogs spayed: 7 Male dogs castrated: 5 Once again, my sincere thanks to all those who helped in making this visit one of the most successful ever! Julia Bowne, April 2012