From the office (2) Insurance Claim Forms

As most of you will know we provide the service of filling in your insurance claim forms. This can be straightforward or complicated depending on how many conditions you are claiming for. We have to fill in the veterinary side of the form, photocopy the forms, store the copies and send the claim off with the clinical history and amount you are claiming. Now we have the new (ish) computer system we are able to take advantage of the collaboration between Petplan and VetEnvoy. VetEnvoy is the company that provides a computer link between our computer system and Petplan, enabling us to send claims electronically. The benefits of this are a saving of time and less paperwork and paper usage – and for the client the claim should be settled quicker. If Petplan have any queries they can ask for more information by email and it is hoped that eventually other pet insurance companies will follow suit. Also for you, the client, the advantage is that you only have to fill in the smaller Electronic Claim Authorisation Form. We have a stock of these forms so why not try it and and let us know if you feel your claim is paid more efficiently. Judith (Practice Adminstrator)

Hello, it's keeley (nurse),



I thought I would share a clip of my 8 month old cat, "Doobie", playing with her new "kong Hugga Wubba"!. These marvellous toys contain catnip and have various textures to them for ultimate entertainment!



We have a new range of toys in the practice which are recommended by Roger Mugford (animal behaviourist) aimed at stimulating natural behaviour and of course pure good fun, please call in if you want to find out more about these products, my cats love them!

This is Tracy our nurse who is also interested in wildlife. At this time of year we seem to have a few poorly baby hedgehogs brought to us. We would urge anyone who brings wildlife to us, including birds, only to bring it if they truly think it is injured in some way. Otherwise we support the RSPCA campaign to leave wildlife where it is. Most birds and animals will have a better chance of survival if left in the wild.

Most of the injured or poorly hedgehogs we see tend to have lungworm, ticks, maggots or abscesses and infections. They are usually found by people because they are so poorly. Although we do try and treat them where possible, they rarely survive, unfortunately, when they are very ill.

Where hedgehogs are quite well, we do rehome them with one or two contacts we have with people who can look after them till old enough to release.However we do still stress, best to leave well looking animals where they are.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.....

Theres nothing better than spending a weekend at the seaside, which is exactly what we just did. I was a little bit apprehensive about how my very nervous 8 year old Border Collie was going to cope with sleeping in a tent and seeing the sea for the first time so using a DAP collar to help relieve some of her stress and using Zylkene tablets to calm her nerves (I think I needed some too) we were off, bucket and spade (and ball) in hand!

To my amazement she had a very quiet night sleeping in the tent, probably due to a good run before bedtime, only growling a couple of times as people wandered past but didnt bark at all (shes never that quiet at home!). So after a good nights sleep we headed for the beach. Very nervously she went down on the the sand, not sure about the squidgy stuff between her toes but soon forgot about it when she saw her trusty tennis ball! Slowly we headed nearer & nearer the sea until she was getting her feet wet. Very quickly she lost all her fear of the water and was jumping through the waves to get her ball and digging in the sand to get .... who knows but she had fun!

I was really proud of her this weekend, she was incredibly brave considering she normally walks round puddles on the street, although when we went to the park yesterday she still walked round the puddles so perhaps we've got a little way to go yet!

By Sarah (Vet Nurse) & Charlie (the dog)

From the office:
This is to introduce myself - Judith from the office. You will see that I am really a cowgirl at heart and like nothing better than to ride the range in Colorado. In my other life I take care of the accounts at Shamrock which involves sending out accounts and dealing with financial matters. Does anyone remember Miss Harbottle from “If only they could talk” by James Herriot? She was the bane of Siegfried's life – brought in as a model of efficiency but in her severe clothes and brogue shoes continually harassing the vets about the petty cash, the bills and bad handwriting! Well, I'm not a bit like that!
I also get involved in sending the Insurance Claim forms off, so you may get a phone call if anything needs clarifying. Since we introduced the new computer system my job is much easier more enjoyable and I also see the animals as they come in and out and occasionally sometimes I get lucky and am “borrowed” to help with them too!

Molly

This is veterinary surgeon and practice partner Pamela Singleton. With her is Molly who has recently suffered from a cut leg. She has had it stitched up but unfortunately it is still taking a while to heal. Meanwhile she is having to put up with this lampshade on her head which she feels is embarrassing and annoying.Molly is getting quite used to her visits down to Shamrock and always seems happy to see us. Definitely a contender for the dog with the waggiest tail.

Knaresborough Bed Race 2009

Saturday 13th June 2009 Knaresborough Bed Race. Team Shamrock came in 7th place which is brilliant, out of a field of 86 teams. Check the bed race website for details of how this event works. This year the fancy dress theme was music and Shamrock did Irish music, what else, with the bed dressed as a harp, the runners dressed as famous Irish singers and accompanying children dressed as Irish dancers or rugby players, and the Irish wolfhound, pictured, dressed as herself!
The weather was great, a fantastic day was had and we raised .... money for saving the native British red squirrels. Details of exact amount to follow.