Communicating With Your Pet Whilst I am no Dr Doolittle my training in behavioural medicine has taught me how to better “read” my patients’ emotional states. Humans use mainly vocal communication but our pets use a combination of visual, vocal, olfactory and tactile communication. Behavioural Specialists are now placing more emphasis on a pet being […]
New Tricks Carrie and I spent last week in our old stomping grounds at Sydney University. Over five full days of lectures we learnt how behavioural medicine is now an accepted and integrated part of veterinary medicine. Australian specialist veterinary behaviourists, Kersti Seksel and Jacqui Ley were joined by the UK’s Sarah Heath. The Take […]
Not All Lumps Are Born Equal! Finding a new lump on an older pet can be a worry. Tumours of the skin and subcutaneous regions are the most common tumours affecting dogs and second most common in cats but glandular, cystic and inflammatory lesions can look and feel very similar. So what should you do […]
Cruciate Ligaments A ruptured ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) is every footballer/netballer/dog owner’s worst nightmare. ACL injuries are a common cause of sudden, non weight bearing, hind limb lameness in the dog and most require surgery. A functioning ACL prevents forward translocation and rotation of the tibia during weight bearing. Without one the knee joint quickly […]
Stop The Boats! Tony Abbott was right but as usual he was talking about the wrong boats. Australia is the largest exporter of live animals in the world. Long haul voyages to the Middle East take >21 days with ships carrying 60 ,000 sheep or 15,000 cattle on each 10,000km journey. A Senate Enquiry into the […]
Change is Hard! Change is hard for everyone but seasonal climatic changes can be particularly tough on certain pets. Going into winter months we tend to see a spike in arthritic pets presenting for lameness and coming into the warmer summer months, as we are now, we frequently see problems with our older cats and […]
Ticks, People and Allergies Whilst our focus is the prevention and treatment of paralysis tick affected pets, did you know that paralysis ticks can induce life threatening anaphylaxis in people either by themselves or via an induced red meat allergy? Interestingly both of these may be easily prevented by killing the tick at the attachment […]
Ticks on Acid A found and removed 3-4mm tick (when measured across the abdomen) has been attached for around 3 to 4 days and injected enough holocyclotoxin to kill an average size dog though luckily not straight away. The toxin needs to be absorbed by local lymphatics, find its way into the bloodstream, leach out […]
Spring Has Sprung Kennel Cough Since the last school holidays the most recent kennel cough outbreak has been unfortunately rumbling along. Kennel Cough or infectious tracheitis causes a hoarse goose honk like cough often followed by a retch with white or yellowish foam produced. Owners of affected dogs can help control the outbreak by seeing […]
Fear is a Powerful Motivator Mediated by a small almond shaped structure deep within the brain called the amygdala, threatened animals have an almost instantaneous surge in heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate and metabolism. This so called “fight or flight reflex” is the subjective state of fear and dysregulation of this “fear pathway” […]
