Congratulations to the eight puppies that recently completed a A Beginner Course for Dogs at the clinic. All puppies (and owners) made great progress throughout the puppy training program and learnt valuable skills such as eye contact, sit, drop, settle on mat, walk on a loose lead, and stay. Puppies also learnt that the vet clinic can be a happy place full of treats and fun where they can socialise with others. Their owners even learnt a few things about health and husbandry, what to do with undesirable behaviours (such as jumping up, mouthing, and digging), how to prepare their puppies for vet visits, and environmental enrichment.

Published in the Australian Veterinary Journal March 2020
 
On Kangaroo Island, in addition to the tens of thousands of livestock which perished, initial estimates suggest up to 70% of wildlife on the island was lost. The Kangaroo Island fires escalated rapidly when a south-westerly change with dry lightning caused the fire to spread catastrophically. Two-thirds of the Island burned out of control for 22 days.
 
Dr Felicity Stoeckeler from Kangaroo Island Veterinary Clinic was on the frontline of the wildlife response, and explained that the enormous numbers of wildlife affected would have quickly overwhelmed the capacity at the vet clinic, so the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park owners stepped forward and began building enclosures as quickly as the animals were arriving.

What is it and what can I expect if my horse has sand colic?
Sand colic is a common problem on Kangaroo Island due to the sandy nature of our coastal soils. Horses that are more prone to ingesting large amounts of sand include those that are underfed, fed on the ground, or live in overstocked, overgrazed pastures in sandy areas. Sand is very irritant to the lining of the digestive tract and can result in chronic diarrhoea and ill thrift. Life-threatening colic due to sand ingestion results when an impaction, digestive tract blockage due to enterolith (giant sand rock), or volvulus (twisted bowel) occurs.

Pregnancy testing in ewes is performed via trans-abdominal ultrasound. The ideal time for this procedure is from 45 days of gestation (7 weeks after rams out). Scanning for empty / pregnant or for multiple pregnancy can be performed and a report and interpretation of results should be provided. Pregnancy testing can also be used as one part of an investigation of poor reproduction performance in a flock.

The decision to pregnancy scan ewes, either for empty/pregnant or multiples, is an important one. The economic benefit of pregnancy scanning is greater in situations where there are more dry ewes in the mob, where there are more twin-bearing ewes in the mob, and in poor seasons where a feed shortage and/or high feeding costs have been predicted.