OPEN DAY AND CHRISTMAS PARTY

Santa Spreads Lots of Cheer at Open Day and Christmas Party

‘over £2,200 raised for animal charities, a fantastic display of generosity and big thank you to all’

We can proudly boast that this year’s Open Day and Christmas Party was the best ever by all measures – record number of people who joined in the fun, record number of  pets who joined in the fun, and most importantly a record amount of funds raised for charity.

On Sunday 6 December 2009 Animal Ark threw open its doors and the crew got the opportunity to say thank you for all your support throughout the year.

In addition to the food and Christmas tipple on offer, there were various activities including a quiz, raffles, charity stalls, equipment demonstrations, dog training and tips, industry reps with educational stalls and face painting.  

However, by far and away, the biggest hit this year was Santa and his grotto.  Visitors to Santa’s grotto got to take home a wonderful photo memento of the occasion.  A special thank you goes to Gary and Nick from Zone Studios in Romford who kindly donated their expertise and resources producing wonderful photos of Santa with pets, kids and big kids. We understand it was the first time Santa has had a ferret sit on his lap!

Congratulations to Connor Anderson, the winner of the Quiz.  In addition, there were many raffle prize winners who won goodies that included a red letter day experience, digital photo frame, coffee machine, pet food, hand made Christmas decorations, home made Christmas cake, chocolates, wine, and sunglasses. The lucky winners not in attendance at the draw have been notified by phone.

A day like this takes a lot of effort and preparation and it would not have been the success it was without the additional support of numerous volunteers. A big thank you goes out to all of you.

We trust everybody enjoyed themselves and would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

7TH ANNUAL PET FOOD RUN

HERO OF THE MONTH

Amy Dickens is a 12 year old red and white Setter.
Over the last 5 months, Amy has given her family a number of scares.

In March this year Amy's mum found a lump about 4cm in size on Amy's hind leg. The lump had grown fairly quickly in size.

Given Amy's age, it was decided to carry out a Fine Needle Aspirate (FNA) to determine the nature of the lump before proceeding straight to surgery .

Unfortunately the results revealed a spindle cell tumour and the choice of treatment was surgical removal. Complete removal of this type of tumour is key to long term success, and in Amy’s case the possibility of complete removal was complicated by the location of the tumour on the leg.

Luckily, surgical removal was successful, which was confirmed by further histopathology reports.
However, the location of the tumour complicated the healing process of the surgical wound. This meant the wound required a fair amount of ongoing care and maintenance.

Amy was also placed on a natural anti-inflammatory (shark’s cartilage) to assist in the healing process.

Amy was then being monitored for possible future growths and everything appeared to be going
well, until…….

In July, during a physical check, the vet could feel a mass in Amy's tummy about the size of a small football.  It was agreed to proceed straight to surgery. During surgery, a tumour on the spleen approximately 25cm in diameter and weighing over 2kgs was removed.

This was a massive tumour that had grown very quickly, representing 10% of Amy's bodyweight!

A number of our veterinary and nursing team were on hand to remove the massive tumour and spleen.

The good news is that the massive tumour was benign.

So with careful monitoring and regular check ups, the prognosis for Amy is good.

Amy should continue to enjoy a happy and comfortable life.

If you would like to nominate your pet as Animal Arks' Hero Of The Month, please email a member of our Customer Care Crew.

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