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Welcome to the latest issue of BVS e-News. In this Issue Pass it on Click here to forward this email to up to 5 friends at once. |
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By Michael McCormack Whilst nothing can surpass the companionship and loyalty of a faithful dog or cat, there are an increasing number of people who are discovering the rewards of owning a rabbit. Like cats and dogs, desexing is recommended for rabbits. This can help prevent unwanted pregnancies, help stop unwanted behavioral problems and reduce the risk of certain diseases, like cancer of the uterus. Good nutrition is very important in ensuring good health. Rabbits have a unique digestive tract that enables them to extract nutrients and energy from plants that our gut wouldn’t cope with. There are good commercial pelleted foods available which provide a good balance of vitamins and minerals. However, these should only make up a small proportion of your rabbits diet as they are highly concentrated and can lead to obesity. These foods are also quite soft and don’t encourage the natural grinding action required to keep your rabbit's continuously growing teeth healthy. Hay, fresh grass and vegetables should make up the bulk of your pet's diet. Most vegetables are safe for rabbits but be sure to introduce new vegetables slowly, avoid too much spinach, cauliflower, potatoes and beans and remember rhubarb is toxic. A supply of fresh water is always essential. Not unlike other companion animals, there are some nasty infectious diseases that we need to be aware of in order to best protect our rabbits. Calicivirus was introduced to help control feral populations of rabbits. This deadly disease can be prevented with annual vaccination commencing from 10-12 weeks of age. Myxomatosis is another fatal disease spread by biting insects and fleas. Unfortunately in Australia there is no vaccine available so if you live in an area where there are lots of wild rabbits consider a mosquito proof cage or a topical insecticide (ask your vet for products safe for rabbits) to help prevent infection. In the warmer months it is a good idea to check your rabbit daily, paying particular attention to the backend, for signs of flystrike or maggots. Humid conditions combined with faecal or urine staining can create an enticing environment for blow flies. Keeping a clean hutch and regularly changing bedding will also help prevent his problem. Rabbits require an enclosure that allows access to fresh air and preferably fresh grass. They will also need a fully enclosed sleeping area padded with plenty of soft bedding like straw or shredded newspaper. The hutch should be large enough to allow your rabbit plenty of exercise or they can be allowed out to graze in a larger, rabbit proofed yard. Like all pets rabbits do require some effort to ensure they remain happy and healthy but with some care and attention they will prove to be very rewarding companions. Pictured is "Conan" who was desexed recently at our surgery. 
Hello everyone, the cold months have bought along some more changes at our surgery. We welcome a new nurse to our team, Dee Winters, who has moved to Bungendore from Melbourne this year with her husband. Dee (pictured) has worked as a veterinary nurse since 2004 and is keen to get more hands on with large animals, particularily horses. She works mainly on Saturday mornings, our busiest day of the week. Jack is off to walk the Kokoda Track next month, and has been in training for quite some time already. You may have caught a glimpse of our fearless leader walking the hilly areas surrounding Bungendore with a back pack (no, it wasn't a World Youth Day pilgrim who had lost his way). Good luck Jack, it will be a great experience. Suzie has returned from her overseas trip, and after a six month break is now back at work. She has written an article in this newsletter about her adventure in India. Perin, once again, has been attending workshops and conferences. Firstly, a week long equine dentistry workshop run by the Australian Equine Veterinary Association in June, and she has also written an article in this newsletter about horse dentistry. Secondly, she has just returned from the Bain Fallon Horse Conference in Cairns. We all thought the conference was for a week, but Perin was missing from work for a fortnight! Mmmm. Bungendore winter is a great time to visit far north Queensland! Speaking of which, Michael also visited Cairns for a week last month, just for a holiday. He and his partner went white water rafting, scuba diving, bushwalking, and explored the lovely restaurants up there. He has come back very relaxed and keen to get back to work! Many of our clients will remember Heather Breckenridge, a vet who worked with us for a few years. Heather and her husband Dan had a baby girl on 18th July and named her Brianna Louise. All is well with Mum, bub and Dad! So many of our nurses are studying with various institutions, doing a variety of courses. Just to recap - Jaimee is at Canberra University, and is well on her way to a Science undergraduate degree. Naomi and Kara are into their second year of the Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing and Suzie is enrolling in an MBA via distance, with a major in Veterinary Practice Management. Someone really needs to do a degree in logistics, just to be able to sort out our rosters!!! A foursome was on the last hole and when the last golfer drove off the tee, he hooked his ball into a cow paddock. He advised his friends to play through and he would meet them at the clubhouse. They followed the plan and waited for their friend. After a considerable time he appeared disheveled, bloody and badly beaten up. They all wanted to know what happened. He explained that he went over to the cow paddock but could not find his ball. He noticed a cow wringing her tail in obvious pain. He went over and lifted her tail and saw a golf ball solidly embedded. It was a yellow ball so he knew it was not his. A women comes out of the bushes searching for her missing golf ball. The helpful male golfer lifted the cow's tail and asked "Does this look like yours?" That was the last thing he could remember. 
By Suzie Anderson Dogs, dogs and even more dogs! For anyone who had ever visited India, you will know what I mean. The problem is massive with over 30,000 Indians dying from rabies each year after being bitten by street dogs. I have recently returned from India after working with Vets Beyond Borders, a non-profit volunteer organisation for a couple of months. The project I helped with was called SARAH (Sikkim Anti Rabies and Animal Health) and was based in Gangtok, high up in the Himalayas in the north east Indian state of Sikkim. I worked with two Australian vets and one or two Indian vets and we travelled to very remote areas around the state where we would run desexing clinics. This generally involved loading the truck with all our instruments, portable surgery tables, vaccines and medicines, sitting on the back of a jeep with four others and driving the 3 or 4 hours to our location. The roads were very primitive, winding around the mountains and we were blocked by landslides more than once. I found it easier to cope by not looking down! We also had two local vet aides working with us who went out with the truck each night and caught the dogs (approximately 20 per day) and had them sedated and ready for surgery early the next morning. Whilst the dogs were under anaesthetic, we gave them a rabies vaccination and notched their right ear (instead of tattooing, we can easily tell without catching the dogs which ones have previously been desexed). They were released in the same location as they were caught the day after surgery. We were also called upon to talk to children at local schools, to promote responsible dog ownership and to discuss rabies prevention. As most children in this area spoke only Nepali, we were not sure how much actually sunk in but they all seemed to enjoy our visits! I was also lucky enough to help out with a leopard who needed a caesarian section at the Gangtok Zoo, certainly a highlight of my Indian adventure! 'Julie' , a 5 year old common leopard is one of the first big cats to survive a C-section, and she is making a full recovery. She only had one cub, and unfortunately it had died a long time before the surgery which had caused Julie to become so unwell. Whilst the desexing program is working really well in this part of India, there are many other areas that are not as fortunate to have so much help from charity organisations like VBB. If you are interesting in reading more about the SARAH program or other VBB projects you can visit their website at www.vetsbeyondborders.org Volunteering with VBB in India has certainly been a career highlight for me, the locals are all so friendly and the project management team are wonderful. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who may be looking for the chance to see a beautiful part of the world whilst helping a fantastic cause. 
By Jaimee Wheelhouse "Jake" is a 13 year old domestic shorthaired who lives in Bungendore with his owner Penny. In February 2006 he visited our surgery as his owner was concerned that Jake was drinking alot more than usual and putting on extra weight. Also he had started to adopt a different stance. A blood sample was taken and the glucose count was 18.89 mmol/L (normal range for a cat is between 3.94 and 8.83). Urine tests also suggested that Jake was a diabetic. He started daily insulin injections, and frequent trips to the vet for glucose checks ensued. What makes Jake so unique is that his diabetes has since gone into remission and so no longer requires insulin injections. Jake is a wonderful and gentle patient, and even though we take countless blood samples from him, he is always extremely well mannered. He is well deserving of our Pet of the Month title!! 
By Perin Vale In June I was fortunate to attend the Equine Veterinary Dentistry Course, conducted for 5 days up in Grafton, NSW. This workshop covers most aspects of equine dentistry, with an emphasis on developing practical skills. The course takes only a limited number of students each year and has a high number of tutors, enabling each pair of students to have a dedicated instructor. Most clients these days recongnise the importance of proper dental care in their horse, although there remain some common misconceptions. Because our region has endured many years of drought, most horses in the area are on some level of supplemental feeding. Any feed that is not pasture changes the way in which a horse chews, which will have rapid flow-on effects to the horses' teeth. I say rapid, because amazingly horses are estimated to perform a chewing motion approximately 20 million times in an average year. This high number of repetitions means that abnormalities can develop in what seem short time frames to us. The normal recommendation is that horses receive an annual dental examination, but there are certain groups in which more frequent attention is required. Young horses between the ages of 2 and 5 are losing baby teeth and bringing new permanent teeth into wear. This results in uneven teeth in the mouth and greater opportunities for abnormalities to develop. Sharp enamel points, wolf teeth and retained caps may all make an appearance during this period and they can greatly influence how responsive the horse is to the bit. More frequent examination at this time will allow these transient abnormalities to be modified, making the horse more comfortable. An important time to have your horses' teeth checked is prior to breaking in. Painful mouth ulcers commonly result from a bit striking sharp enamel points, especially in the soft mouth of a young horse. Resistance to training as a result of pain will cause delays in your horses' education. Other groups which may require more regular dental attention are horses which have lost teeth and geriatrics. The horses' teeth continue to grow throughout most of their life and they are kept at the correct height by their opposing tooth on the other jaw. When a tooth is missing it's partner tooth will continue to grow and so regular attention is required to keep the overgrown tooth from affecting the chewing motion. Geriatric horses may have many missing teeth and in some cases they have teeth where there is no growth potential left. They often have many sharp points and teeth that are more sensitive to temperature and pressure. The guiding principle with geriatric dentistry is to do the minimum amount required to remove the sharp points and make the horse comfortable. An interesting tip from the course was to try making their water tepid (rather than freezing at the present time!) as it is believed that many geriatrics drink the minimum amount possible when water is cold because of their sensitive teeth. Signs that your horse may have a dental problem include slow eating, dropping food, impaction of food in the cheeks, weight loss and fighting the bit or head shaking. As part of the investment in attending the course, we have bought some new dental equipment and we will be starting to use some of the new techniques taught on the course. Sedation is a very useful tool when used correctly, and can allow a detailed oral examination and treatment while minimising stress and discomfort to the horse. Very few of us would relish having a tooth extracted or treated without the benefit of some pain relief! Potential Poisons for your Pet: Part II 
By Rosemary Laing Onions and Garlic Onions and garlic are a staple part of most human diets, however they can cause severe illness if ingested by dogs, cats and even livestock. Thiosulphate is the culprit ingredient and in pets it causes haemolytic anaemia (rupture of the circulating red blood cells). Onions are much more of a danger as garlic does not contain as much thiosulphate, and much larger amounts of garlic need to be eaten for toxicity to occur. Dogs are more likely to be at risk as they tend to be less discriminate in their eating habits than are cats (less fussy we could perhaps say). Effects of poisoning are seen a few days after the pet has eaten the onion. All forms of onions can be a problem, including raw, cooked, dehydrated onions and onions used in dishes such as bolognese sauce and even pizza topping. Left over onions from the bbq seems to be particularly tempting for dogs and are often given as a treat by unsuspecting owners. Poisoning can occur with a single ingestion of large quantities or repeated meals containing smaller amounts. Initial signs after ingestion can include vomiting and diarrhoea, though this may pass unnoticed. After a few days the animal may become dull and weak and the red pigment from the burst red cells will start appearing in the urine, giving it a dark red/brown colour. Breathlessness may develop because the red blood cells that carry oxygen to the body are reduced in number. Gum colour can change to very pale pink or even white as the anaemia worsens. Diagnosis of this condition is based on a history of exposure to onions and fairly characteristic changes seen on examination of a sample of the animal's blood. Mild cases may not need treatment as long as exposure to the onion is stopped. Treatment in severe cases may need to include a blood tranfusion to tide the animal over until it can start to produce enough of it's own healthy replacement blood cells. The effects of the thiosulphate will stop as soon as the animal stops ingesting the onion, so there should be no long term effects once they have recovered from the acute toxicity. New Products and Services - the CatBib 
The CatBib was invented by a cat lover who also loved to watch the birds in his backyard. It has been evaluated by a group at the School of Veterinary Studies at Murdoch University and been found to be particularly effective in reducing predation on birds. They also documented a reduced predation on mammals but not to the same extent as birds. The Murdoch study found that 86% of cats adapted almost immediately to wearing the CatBib, 10% took a day or so longer, while 4% took longer. One of our clients has been using a bib on her cat for most of this year and has seen a significant reduction in the number of birds that he is catches, although there has not been as much success as far as lizards go. The CatBib is made of colourful, light neoprene and attaches to a collar by velcro loops that will release if the CatBiB snags. It works by interfering with the cat's hunting skills while not interfering with other activities - they can still climb trees, eat and drink while wearing theCatBib. Basically it gets in the way just as the cat strikes out for a bird. The bright colours may also act as a visual warning to birds that a cat is nearby. A larger size has also recently become available which is designed for partcularly aggressive hunters on whom the original sized bib did not seem effective. Used in conjunction with other measures such as keeping you cat indoors at night the CatBib does seem to have the potential to help save many of our beautiful local birds. The CatBib is available to order online at www.catbib.com.au or by phoning CatBib Australia on 08 9299 7426. The USA site www.catgoods.com also gives quite comprehensive information on the product, including the detailed results of the Murdoch study. By Perin Vale A 2007 study of 340 cats conducted by the University of Sydney has found that 16% of pet cats with outside access are infected with FIV (an equivalent of HIV). Feral cats in rural areas were found to have an infection rate of 21%, much higher than previous smaller studies had demonstrated. Cats with FIV often lead normal lives for many years, however eventually the immune system becomes suppressed and they will become susceptible to other diseases or infections. The main method of transmission is by bite wounds acquired during fights. A blood test is available to check for FIV infection. Vaccination is also available and challenge studies in other countries have demonstrated the vaccine to be 100% effective at preventing infection. Human and cat immunodeficiency viruses are quiet different and infection cannot occur across species. |
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