County Vets

Learn about us and ask us a question! 🙋‍♀️

Where are we based? 🏡
👉 Culzean Road, Maybole, KA198AH
👉 42 Prestwick Road, Ayr, KA88LB

What are our opening hours? ⏰
👉 Maybole & Ayr: Monday to Friday 8.30am - 6pm
👉 Maybole: Saturday 9 - 2pm

Do we have an out of hours service? 🚨
👉 Yes, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, out of our Maybole surgery

Are we an independent run practice? 💪
👉 Yes, and proud to be!

What animals do we work with? 🤔
👉Dogs, cats, rabbits, small furries, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses & donkeys to name a few! 🐶 🐄

Have a question you want to know the answer too? Comment below ⬇️

Happy birthday to Gillian 🥳🥳🥳🥳

⚠️ ✈️ Leave your dog at home this weekend during the times the Air Show is taking place in Ayr ✈️ ⚠️

This weekend there is the fantastic “Air Show” is being held on Friday 4th and Saturday 5th of September at the Low Green in Ayr🥳

As much as we love to see this spectacle, your pets will not love it as much 😬

We recommend:
👉 Don’t take your dog to the show… There will be a lot of extremely loud noises and your dog could get very stressed or spooked!
👉 Keep cats indoors if possible during the show times to avoid them getting scared and hiding!
👉 Make sure small furries like rabbits and guinea pigs who live outdoors are either brought inside, or checked on regularly that they are not scared!
👉 Check on horses regularly throughout the day that they are okay in the field or stable.
👉 Keep the curtains closed to make your pets feel safe, have the TV or radio on for some familiar sound and offer them a treat or chew to try and keep them amused!

If your pet gets extremely stressed with loud noises and you are concerned, call us in advance and we can try to help 📞☺️

🦷🐴 Horse Dentals 🐴🦷

A routine dental check is something we recommend for your horse every 6-12 months, sometimes more often in young or geriatric horses 📆

At County Vets, all of our oral examinations and teeth rasps are carried out under sedation. Sedating your horse allows a thorough examination of their mouth without any time constraints, and allows us to carry out a thorough job with minimal stress for your horse. It also makes sure we don’t remove too little, or too much from the tooth surface ‼️🐴

Rasping is important to reduce sharp points that can develop on the outer edges of the upper teeth and on the inner edges of the lower teeth, which if left, can cause ulceration on the cheek and tongue which are painful 🦷

We can also remove wolf teeth, flush diastema’s and assess for fractured teeth 😬

Have your horse’s teeth been checked by us recently? ☑️

🐾🌟 Dynasty’s Story 🌟🐾

A couple of weeks ago, Dynasty & his owners were visiting Ayrshire on holiday, when suddenly Dynasty became very bloated and his abdomen was swelling up in front of his owners eyes ‼️

His owners called us, and promptly brought him to us at Maybole, where we soon realised this was a serious emergency 🚨

We immediately took an X-ray of Dynasty’s abdomen and diagnosed him with a twisted stomach (GDV)‼️

We have highlighted his X-ray showing his stomach with the twist, and his stomach being 10 times the size it should be full of gas😧

There were only 2 options in this case:
1. Immediately take him to surgery to untwist his stomach to try to save his life 🤞
2. Put him to sleep as this wouldn’t correct itself 😞

Without hesitation, his owners gave us consent to take him to surgery, where we put him under a general anaesthetic and managed to untwist his stomach and then stitched his stomach to just behind his ribs to prevent it twisting again in future 🙌

A few days of hospitalisation with us afterwards and Dynasty made a full recovery ❤️‍🩹

This was a real emergency situation, that took coordination between our vets, nurses and reception team throughout the whole process from taking the phone call, to monitoring his anaesthetic and completing the surgery 💪

Dynasty’s owners were so dedicated in his recovery to get him back to full fitness and loving life again 🥰

🐶🥳Happy National Dog Day 🥳🐶

A true friend in life is a dog 🐾

Show us your furry companions below 👇

Here are a few of our staff dogs 🥰

‼️ Let’s clear up some of the myths around Bluetongue ‼️

This has been created by industry experts from the RH&W Bluetongue working group 💪

The effects of this virus on flocks & herds is catastrophic. Let’s be proactive 🛑

We are currently sourcing as much vaccine as we can as the current recommendation is still TO VACCINATE 💉

If you need any further advice please call the surgery:
📞 Ayr - 01292880110
📞 Maybole - 01655883531

🚨 BLUETONGUE UPDATE 🚨

In the last few days, the first case of “Bluetongue BTV3” has been confirmed in Scotland 🦠

The virus affects sheep & cattle, with no confirmed cases as of yet in goats in the UK 🇬🇧

This virus is transmitted by midges and NOT directly from animal to animal. Clinical signs vary, with sheep showing the most severe symptoms ranging from:
- 🐑 Sheep: Swelling of the head, mouth and nose ulceration, drooling, fever, lethargy, nasal discharge, lameness & death.
- 🐄 Cows: Drop in milk yield, reduced fertility, crusting around mouth & nostrils, reddening of teats and feet.

A vaccine is available, with 3 brands currently on the market which we are currently trying to obtain stock for: Bultavo 3, Blue-vac 3 & Syvazul BTV3 💉

The vaccine takes 3-4 weeks to provide full immunity after the vaccination course (which varies based on the chosen vaccine) so we are strongly recommending farmers do consider vaccination ASAP in flocks & herds to reduce cases 👍

If you suspect Bluetongue in your flock or herd, please notify us, and we can come to test upto 3 animals which can be funded by the government ☑️

Visit here to keep updated:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/bluetongue-latest-situation

If you have any questions please comment below or give us a call:
📞 Maybole - 01655883531
📞 Ayr - 01292880110

⚠️ Lymes Disease ⚠️

Recently we have seen a handful of dogs come in that we have diagnosed with Lymes Disease 😕

Lymes disease is caused by a bacteria, transmitted by ticks 🦠

It is thought that 5% of ticks in Scotland carry the bacteria in them 😖

The clinical signs of Lymes Disease are vague, ranging from fever, stiffness, swollen joints, intermittent limping switching between legs & loss of appetite. If left untreated, it can result in kidney failure and death ☠️

It is SO IMPORTANT to have your dog covered with tick prevention products. We strongly recommend you giving them regularly, and obtaining them from your vet. We recommend not buying these online or over the counter in pet shops or supermarkets ‼️

The reason for this is, only veterinary prescribed products are at a high enough strength to kill the ticks quickly before the bacteria can be transmitted💨

If your dog does get infected with Lymes disease, treatment is possible, and a full recovery can be made before the symptoms advance 👍

At County Vets, we stock Simparica Trio, which is a monthly tablet which should be given all year round to your dog, that covers them against fleas, ticks & roundworm ❤️‍🩹