Don't forget both Cardiff and Swansea clinics will be selling cakes next week, to raise money for MND.

Our Cardiff clinic November Pet of The Month is Jett Burnell! Jett is a 7½ year old Welsh Collie who first came to visit the Smart Clinic in May of this year, presenting with a gait abnormality in his right hindlimb. This abnormality consisted of intermittent hopping/ skipping while jogging, stiffness following exercise and a difficulty weight bearing on the affected leg, along with hyperextension of the hock.

Although radiographic studies of Jett's hips and hocks proved unremarkable, he was found under general anaesthetic to have pain in his right hip. The way in which Jett was compensating for this issue was to offload his weight to the left and overload his front legs to avoid engaging through his stifle and hip joints, which in turn had created target areas of soft tissue soreness, fascial restriction, and diminishment of his pelvic girdle muscle groups. The hock hyperextension most likely being secondary to Jett’s difficulty to initiate extension at the level of the hip.

Jett's treatment plan involves segmental needling to release his fascial restriction, soft tissue massage, laser therapy to aid and accelerate healing, posture training, stretching and gait training, as well as a hock support to increase his proprioceptive input.

He has come along leaps and bounds in the 5 months he’s been a patient here at Smart Clinic, all thanks to his successful treatment plan, dedicated owners carrying out his exercises religiously at home, his ongoing weight loss programme, and the all-important motivation of tasty treats here at the clinic! (Calories don’t count at the clinic 😉). Well done, Jett! 🥳

With December fast approaching we would like to let you all know of some plans we have coming up!

🎄 We are planning a Festive Fundraising week which will take place in both our clinics week commencing the 11th December running from Monday 11th December to Friday 15th December.
All proceeds raised in the week will be donated to The my name'5 Doddie Foundation via our own fundraising campaign, Motor On.Cymru.
💙 The my name'5 Doddie Foundation is a charity committed to funding research to find effective treatments to Motor Neurone Disease and helping improve the lives of those affected by Motor Neuron Disease. This is a charity very close to all our hearts here at SMART 💙

So, what's on and how can you help us fundraise?

🍰 Well, we will also be running a cake sale throughout the week which will be available in both clinic receptions, so please pop in during your pets appointment or if you are passing please pop in even if your pet does not have an appointment to enjoy some homemade cakes and a cup of tea!

🎁 We will also be running a raffle from our Swansea clinic which will include some brilliant prizes including a festive hamper. Details of the prizes will be released closer to the time and tickets will be available to all those visiting the clinic but also for those at home or who are unable to drop by. We will have a QR code where donations and tickets can be purchased from. Details of this and the prizes to follow.

🎅 And finally, to bring the festive spirit to the clinics our staff will all be dressing in festive pyjamas and attire for the week!

If you would like to get involved with our fundraising please get in touch. We would welcome cakes to be sold and/or prizes to be donated for the raffle too. Otherwise we look forward to seeing you all in December to enjoy some cake and win some prizes!

Who we are fundraising for:
💚💛🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 https://motoron.cymru/
💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 https://www.myname5doddie.co.uk/
Please help us help them!