With warmer days now upon us, and the official start of Summer not too far away, we can start to look forward to holidays and trips abroad.

This is a perfect opportunity to remind you of the ManxSPCA’s dog boarding facility, with its underfloor heating, large pens, frequent walks, enclosed exercise fields, and access to veterinary care.

The staff team are all experienced dog handlers and so if your dog is nervous, or has health issues and medical requirements, there’s no need to worry - he or she will be in good hands.

First time boarders are encouraged to visit the kennels before they come to stay.

They can spend a few hours in a pen and get to know the team, giving their owners peace of mind their beloved pet will be perfectly happy to stay for longer.

But if you can’t bear to be parted from your pet, then the Pet Travel Scheme could be for you if you are planning to travel to an E.U. or ’listed country’ (see www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad for more details).

To qualify for the scheme your dog or cat will require microchipping and it will need a rabies vaccination which has to be done after the microchipping.

You will then be issued with a Pet Passport but your pet will not be able to travel until 21 days after the vaccination, and so you need to plan ahead.

If you already have a Pet Passport now is the time to check that your pet’s rabies vaccination is up-to-date. And please also note that a registered veterinary surgeon is required to treat your pet dog for the EM tapeworm one to five days before they are due to return home.

Our rescue dogs enjoy the same comforts as our boarders, but the kennels environment is not a long-term home and we endeavour to find ’forever homes’ for the dogs as quickly as possible.

Small dogs tend to be adopted very quickly, and we are confident that little Timmy will only be with us for a few more days, despite being 11 years old.

He is very sprightly and energetic, and in good health, with a big personality inside such a tiny body.

He will need a quiet retirement home, with no young children - a nice warm lap, interspersed with some gentle walks, is all he is asking for.

We encourage anyone who would like to adopt an animal to complete a homefinder questionnaire, available on the adoption pages of the ManxSPCA website. If we don’t have the particular pet that someone is looking for (such as a small dog) we will keep their details on a waiting list.

Many of our cats are bigger than Timmy!

Kandy, for example, who is a rather rotund, middle-aged ginger female.

She is very sweet, but is wary of new people and other animals and so she will need to be given time to adjust to a new home. She has no teeth which means her hunting days are over, and so if you want a cat and lots of garden birds she could be the one for you.

Inky is our biggest male at the moment. He has incredibly long legs and no tail (he’s a full Manxie) which gives him a slightly quirky appearance.

He is paired with another black two-year-old called Amare.

She is female and smaller with a full tail.

They are stunning cats and, although they are still quite timid, they would be able to live with children as they did in their previous home.

And we also have rabbits who are bigger than Timmy.

Thumper (brown) and Shadow (black) are one-year-old Flemish Giant crosses and they are enormous.

It’s Rabbit Awareness Week (RAW) this week which highlights some of the issues around rabbit welfare.

The PDSA reports that, in 2017, 56% of the UK’s estimated 1.1 million pet rabbits live alone (they are social animals who need to live in pairs) and a third are in hutches that are too cramped, and a quarter are incorrectly fed a muesli diet.

Our small animals team are on hand to give you any advice you may need if you are considering purchasing or adopting a pet rabbit, and you can come and meet them, and the rabbits we have for rehoming, any day (apart from Thursdays) between 1pm and 4pm.