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PO Box 88 |
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Welcome to the latest issue of BVS e-News. In this Issue
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Often our clients show us photos of their pets in hilarious situations which we all thoroughly enjoy so we have decided to run a competition - in search of the funniest pet photo in Bungendore! The only rules are that the animal has to be owned by clients of the clinic and the photo must not be subject to copyright as we will be including the finalists in our next newsletter. There may be a fantastic prize for the best photo so dig out those old pics and email them to us at bungendorevet@gmail.com before the end of July. 
by Lucy Parker Why should I worm my dog? Dogs are susceptible to a number of intestinal worms including roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms. The adult worms live in the intestine of the dog and can cause problems such as blockage in the intestine, reduced appetite of the dog, failure to thrive and diarrhoea. Hookworms suck blood from the dog which can result in anaemia which can be life threatening in some instances. The immature stage of some worms migrate through other systems of the dog including the lungs and can cause coughing. Can dog worms affect me or my children? Tapeworms - The hydatid tapeworm can infect humans. It is most commonly a problem in farm dogs that are allowed to feed on offal or scavenge dead carcases. Humans become infected by ingesting the eggs of the tapeworm that are expelled in the faeces of the dog. Human hydatid infections can be very serious and life threatening in some instances. To prevent infections regular worming of your dog and good hygiene (ie washing your hands after patting your dog) is recommended. Roundworms - The larval stages of roundworms are capable of migrating through both adults and children. They can cause blindness and damage to the liver. Hookworms - Can cause a rash on the skin. Regular worming of your dog can eliminate these potential risks to you and your family. How often should I worm my dog? Dogs should be wormed with a complete allwormer that covers all the common intestinal worms. A variety of products are available and your veterinarian will be able to provide assistance when choosing wormers for your dog. Please note that dosage invervals may vary with individual products but the general recommedations are as follows: Puppies under 3 months - Treat at 2,4,6,8,10 and 12 weeks. Puppies between 3 and 6 months - Treat monthly. Adults over 6 months - Treat every 3 months or 6 weekly in Hydatid prone areas. Pregnant or lactating bitches - Treat at mating then 10 days prior to whelping, again at 2 and 4 weeks post whelping then as per adult program. Please note you should be aware that dogs also need prevention against heartworm which is not covered in this summary. Please contact our friendly staff if you have any queries regarding heartworm prevention. 
We are very happy to report that Perin gave birth to Lauren and William on 17 March, all are doing well. With luck she will be back at work around March next year, which we will all look forward to. In January we welcomed Dr Lucy Parker to our team to replace the mum to be. Lucy grew up in Ulladulla on the South Coast, graduating from Sydney University in 2008 and is currently acclimatising to her first Bungendore cold snap, not wanting to believe sub zero temperatures are the norm here! Lucy is a keen skier so it shouldn't take her too long to adjust to our climate! Dr Heather Breckenridge is also back at our clinic after a few years away overseas and working in other clinics around the country. Many of our clients will remember Heather who was previously with us from 2003 to 2006, she has settled back into working life here like putting on a comfortable pair of slippers! One more person has joined us since our last newsletter, Sonna Schramm. Sonna is a qualified veterinary nurse and lives locally with her husband. She works with us a couple of times a week and also at another clinic in Canberra the other days. Welcome Sonna! After doing the maths many would be wondering how can we fit so many staff into such a small clinic? We are in the process of building a bigger and better hospital which hopefully (fingers crossed) will be operational by the end of the year. We are all very excited about the new building and we hope to showcase it in our next newsletter! Jaimee and Janine recently went to Melbourne for the Veterinary Nurse's Council of Australia's Annual Conference. They attended lectures on nursing the critically ill patients including up to date CPR techniques. Another lecture they attended and both really enjoyed was the Practical Equine Nursing session presented by Andrew McLean, in particular useful ideas on behaviour management for the unruly equine in-patient. 
By Jack Laing There are three main diseases in horses in Australia that are preventable by vaccination. These are tetanus, strangles and herpes virus respiratory disease and viral abortion. In other countries this list is much longer and includes Equine Influenza which is again exotic to Australia. All horses should be vaccinated for tetanus as the bacteria causing this disease is everywhere in the environment and not caught from other horses. Tetanus is caused by a toxin released from the bacteria after it colonises a wound. The wound may be insignificant or go unnoticed. The toxin causes widespread muscle cramps and death and is very hard to treat. The vaccination programme is 2 needles given a month apart into the muscle and a booster in 1 years time. Boosters should then be given every 5 years. If your horse injures itself and it's tetanus vaccination is incomplete it is recommended to also give a tetanus antitoxin as well as the booster vaccination to give full protection just in case. Any horse who mixes with other horses at events or shows, or whose paddock mates do, should be vaccinated against strangles which is a serious respiratory disease that can cause illness, swollen glands and sometimes death. The programme is 3 needles 2 weeks apart into the muscle and repeated annually. The vaccination is not 100% effective in preventing the disease but will greatly reduce the clinical significance to your horse. If your horse is a high level competition horse or in training stables where colds are common and downtime is a disaster you should consider vaccination against herpes virus types 1 and 4. Herpes viruses cause 70% of upper respiratory infections in horses and can cause abortions in mares. Vaccination is 2 needles into the muscle 1 month apart and repeated every 6 months. The presence of other infectious disease, parasitic infestations, nutritional disorders, immunological deficiencies and poor management practices may reduce the efficiency of any vaccination programme. A timid little man walked into a tough biker's bar in Sydney and asked "Um, er, which of you gentlemen owns the rottweiler tied up out the front?" A giant of a man covered in tatoos, excessive body hair and leather stood up and said "He's my dog, what's it to you?" "Well," squeaked the little man, obviously very nervous, "I believe my dog just killed him, sir". "What" roared the biker in disbelief, "what kind of dog do you have?" "Um, I have a chihuahua puppy sir." The biker laughed and said "your pup couldn't kill my dog Butch". "It appears that he has choked on her, sir." 
By Michael McCormack "He likes his tucker but I'm sure he's not fat".... From time to time pet owners seem to take offence at the suggestion Felix or Fido may be 'a little portly'. Whilst there are a small number of diseased that predispose to weight gain, by far and away the most common reason for obesity is excessive calorie intake and too little exercise. Obesity is in fact a form of malnutrition and it's main significance in your pet is that it can not only predispose to - but can also exacerbate other diseases. Obesity can aggravate arthritic conditions, increase anaesthetic risk and predispose to diabetes and pancreatitis. Fat cats are at a higher risk of developing urinary tract disease whilst overweight, desexed female dogs have an increased propensity to becoming incontinent. There are also many other health issues and disease processes that may be initiated or complicated because of excess weight. How much to feed your beloved friend is a difficult question to answer. Genetics, individual metabolism, activity levels and energy content of food all impact on the quantity your pet should be eating. Like humans, animal's energy requirements vary according to their age, reproductive status and physical activity levels and food rations should be adjusted to maintain a healthy weight. Vets often use a scoring system to assess your pets' body condition. As a rule of thumb you should be easily able to feel their ribs under a moderate layer of fat but they should not be showing. Your pet should also have a waist with definition between the end of the ribs and the abdomen. Your vet can help you determine whether your animal is overweight and provide some handy ideas to help shed those unwanted kilos. We all love to treat our pets with food but we really should not jeopardize their health through excessive kindness! 
Last newsletter we incorrectly reported that "Rosie" the grey warmblood mare featured in our Pet of the Month article was 4 years old when diagnosed with melanoma when in actual fact she was 7 years old (in 2004) after belonging to Ina Knospe for 3 years. We apologise for any confusion! |
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