THE GRANGE SCHOOL CHRISTMAS FAIR
Tom, Fiona and David spent a cold few hours at The Grange School Christmas Fair on 4th December. As well as giving out advice about the problems facing pets at this festive time, we also had a selection of pet gifts for sale. In addition we ran a competition to win a Teddy Bear which was donated by one of our customers at The Laurels. All the money raised we decided to donate to Northwich Guinea Pig and Rabbit Rescue. We raised just under £100 on the day. Once again Fiona's Chihuahuas proved to be very poular. Thank you to everbody that supported this worthwhile cause.
XMAS RAFFLES
The Laurels surgery in Runcorn are holding a raffle in aid of the stray animal fund. They have a number of fantastic teddy bears as prizes donated by their customers Mrs Matthews and Mrs Oulton.
The staff at Acorn Surgery at West Kirkby have put a hamper together as a raffle prize. All the money generated will go to a local animal charity.
XMAS CARDS
Our Abbeycroft and Holly House surgeries are selling packs of Christmas cards on behalf of Lower Moss Wood Wildlife Rescue and Education Centre. Buying these cards is a great way of spreading Christmas joy whilst also helping our needy wildlife. Please call into either surgery.
FRIENDS REUNITEDWe had a lovely end to a sad story this week. On Sunday 31st October a black spaniel was brought into our Hartford surgery. The dog had been found wondering the streets in the Acton Bridge area. We scanned the dog and luckily he had been microchipped so we looked up the owner on the register and found, surprisingly, that he lived in Chorley. We phoned the owner Mr Heron who was just about to board a plane for a trip abroad. Mr Heron told us that the dog was called Chester and that he had been stolen from his kennel in Chorley back in january when he was just a few months old. We looked after Chester until Mr Heron returned from overseas and on Wednesday Chester and his owner were reunited. Mr Heron stated "I just gave up hope of ever seeing him again, the shock and delight at getting him back was incredible".
CHESHIRE FM
Fiona Wall was the guest of Big Al on Cheshire FM on Wednesday 3rd November. Fiona covered such topics as 'pets and fireworks', caring for older pets and puppy socialisation. We will be giving pet care advice out on Cheshire FM on the first Wednesday of each month from 11.15am. We will post the topics we will be covering in advance on the Forthcoming Events page of this website so if you have any questions you can e mail them to big.al@cheshirefm.com and we will try to answer them
BROWNIE VISIT
We recently played host to the local Brownies at our Hartford Hospital. Twenty four brownies along with their leaders came for a talk and tour as part of their 'animal' badge. The brownies learned about the role of the vet and even got to dress one of the leaders up in full operating theatre clothing including hat, mask, gown, gloves and overshoes. There followed a walk through tour of the facility.
VISIT BY SWEDISH VETSOn 16th September The Willows played host to a group of Swedish Veterinary Surgeons and Nurses from Hund & Katt Kliniken Bista. The group, comprising 3 vets and 7 nurses are from one of the larger independent practices in Orebro, a medium sized town situated between Stockholm and Gothenburg.
To facilitate the trip our visitors had to close their practice for 3 days. The trip had two main purposes, team building for their business and to gain an insight into the workings of the UK veterinary practice.
Organised by Dechra, the Willows was chosen to showcase the UK veterinary industry due to the range of facilities that could be demonstrated from the small animal hospital in Northwich, the equine hospital in Allostock through to retailing at Beeston Animal Health. A bonus was that the students were able to witness the MRI scanner at hartford.
HARTFORD FETE & THE WILLOWS DOG SHOWThank you to everyone who came to see us at the Hartford Village Fete and to the people who entered our dog show. The winners were: Best Puppy: 1st Twiggy Tansey, 2nd Amber Dewison, 3rd Sammy Caulfield. Best Pedigree: 1st Chester Adams, 2nd Jack Oliver, 3rd Fizz Whitcombe, 4th Oscar Seddon. Best Mongrel or Crossbred: 1st Mabel Wall, 2nd Bruce Tanset, 3rd Twiggy Tansey. Waggiest Tail: 1st Ollie Wier, 2nd Chester Adams, 3rd Rupert Foulkes, 4th Bruce Tansey. Most Alike Dog and Owner: 1st Amber Dewison, 2nd Chester Adams, 3rd Rupert Foulkes. Best 6 Legs: 1st Ollie Wier, 2nd Chester Adams, 3rd Tattie Eccles, 4th Bruce Tansey. Best Golden Oldie: 1st Maddie Astbury, 2nd Rupert Foulkes, 3rd Mabel Wall. Best Child Handler: 1st Ben Whitcombe and Fizz, 2nd Naomi and Lucy Crowder with Izzy, 3rd Jamie Bennion with Jack. A big thank you to Fern Wright from Four Paws Doggie Day Care at Cuddington who was our judge on the day.
LYMM PRE- SCHOOL TALKDavid Tweedle from our Lymm Surgery recently gave a talk to the children at Lymm Village Hall Pre-School. The talk formed part of the childrens' 'Careers Week' where the children learned about the important work done in the Community.
THE GRANGE SCHOOL SUMMER FAIR
We had an enjoyable time, baked in glorious sunshine at The Grange School Fair on 25th June. Our friends at Stockley Farm joined us for the day and brought some of their petting animals - rabbits, guinnea pigs and chickens which were a great hit with visitors. 
The highlight of the day was the Donkey Derby - which brought back memories of It's a Knockout as grown men and women in costumes hurtled down the racetrack.Although it was a Donkey Derby we did spot a camel, cow and reindeer taking part !!! Willows Veterinary Surgeon Giles Constant gave each of the participants a thorough health check prior to the race and was seen to be donning a full length arm glove on one occasion. Thank you to The Grange for inviting us along.
OUR SMALLEST CLIENT ?
We just thought you may like to see some pictures of this tiny baby bat that was brought into our surgery by a member of the public. It has now been taken to a sanctuary by our local 'batman'.
CHESHIRE SHOW
We spent an enjoyable couple of days in the sunshine at Cheshire Show. This year we had the small animal, farm and equine sides of our group represented. The show was very busy - right until England kicked off on Wednesday afternoon !!!! It was great to see so many of our clients. The stands were managed by our vets and nurses and many people came along to ask for help and advice with their animals.
RACE FOR LIFE
Sally Guthrie, a Veterinary Nurse from our Winsford Surgery recently took part in the Race For Life. Sally did an excellent job and raised £162 for Cancer Research. Sally ran a very credible time for a self confessed couch potato of 45 minutes for the 5k run.
