Darragh O'Hanlon

Hello Clare, how are you?

It is the season.

It is what we call puppy and kitten season.

So it's a very, very busy period of the year.

It's particularly exciting for households who, you know, huge excitement getting potentially a new young animal into the household.

It is also very busy for us vets.

And partly that's because in the spring in particular, you've got new animals on the ground.

So lots of puppies, lots of kittens.

And they obviously, hopefully, will find a home to go to.

This is it, yes.

So nowadays, most pups will possibly, around 12 weeks or so, you'll get your puppy, sometimes a bit sooner than that.

But you're absolutely right.

They're born in the springtime, sometimes the early summer, and then that's when they make their way into our homes.

It's not just puppies and kittens, though.

You also have increased kind of rehoming rates or adoption rates as well.

Well, a little bit.

And I wonder, is that societally, you know, maybe the days are getting longer.

We feel like we've got more time on our hands and we can put lots of effort and investment into these young animals and making sure that they're going to work well with us and our families and things like that.

Well, that's absolutely it.

And like even in terms of like puppy pads or having to bring animals outside to teach them how to toilet outside, it's always a little bit more pleasant without the rain beating on your back and the absence of sunlight.