April 2020
Behavioural Problems in your Pet
Do you have a dog or cat with behaviour problems? Have you taught your pet the basics but just not sure how to take that next step with your training? Then book a consult with Dr Emma Vermeeren from Animal Behaviour Coaching whilst she visits the Island from the 1st – 5th of May 2020.
.Emma is passionate about educating pet owners and ensuring that everyone has ready access to the most humane, up-to-date, and scientifically proven training methods. Emma also has experience and further education in diagnosing and treating dogs and cats with behavioural issues, including phobias, anxiety, and aggression... |
Pet of the Month
Cassie Handley is a 13 year old Labrador who has been a patient at the clinic since she was a puppy. She visited the clinic for her annual vaccination in July last year. At this visit Cassie’s dad was a bit worried that Cassie had put on a lot of weight (6 kilograms or 21% increase since the last visit 6 months previously) and that she seemed to be quite lethargic.
Dr. Liberty Hogg examined Cassie and had a discussion with Cassie’s dad about our health care recommendations for ageing pets. A blood screen was performed and the results confirmed Dr Hogg’s suspicion that Cassie was suffering from hypothyroidism (under activity of the thyroid glands)... |
Stay-at-home Enrichment
Stay-at-home enrichment activities are suitable for any dog to try as an addition to regular exercise, or as a substitution for those dogs that cannot be exercised due to illness or injury, cannot be walked for the safety of themselves or others, or for dogs whose owners are unable to exercise them.
When determining the best suited enrichment activity for your dog, you will first need to observe how your dog interacts with its environment. You then need to develop activities to enhance the environmental and behavioural opportunities for your dog in its daily activities... |
March 2020
A Big Thanks To All Who Donated
The team at the Kangaroo Island Veterinary Clinic would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone that donated money to help treat animals affected by the fires in January.
In total, we administered treatments to the value of nearly $80,000 to a range of pets, working dogs, farm animals and wildlife that we deal with every day... |
COVID-19 and Your Pets
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) reports, ‘Infectious disease experts and multiple international and domestic human and animal health organisations agree there is no evidence at this point to indicate that pets become ill with COVID-19 or that they spread it to other animals, including people.’
All current evidence supports the fact that the spread of COVID-19 in the human population is due to close human to human contact and that there is no evidence that pets are capable of spreading the disease to humans... |
A Beginner Course for Dogs
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...
|
Excerpt from Our Wildlife
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... |
February 2020
Pet of the Month
Gus is an 8 year old working kelpie. In January during the fires on a Sunday, Gus was helping to move a mob of sheep past the shearing shed. The mob looked like it was going to break on the left, so Gus headed around the mob to control the break. Unfortunately, with his concentration on the mob and moving at top speed, he failed to see a parked tractor with attached hay forks that were raised about 30cm above the ground directly in his path...
|
Should You Pregnancy Scan Your Ewes?
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...
|
What to do with injured, starving, sick or orphaned animals
From Dr Deb Kelly, Manager of Animal Welfare, DEWNR
There are a wide range of animals on Kangaroo Island and all have been impacted by the widespread fires. What you can, and should, do with them depends on the species. They can be divided into four groups... |
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...
|
January 2020
Confinement Feeding of Livestock
When the immediate threat of bush fire has abated and thoughts turn to rebuilding your grazing business, the how and how much of keeping your livestock alive and setting them up for the approaching growing season become important priorities in the list of things to do. With so much pasture and livestock infrastructure destroyed, confinement feeding of your sheep and cattle is the best choice to help you navigate the next few months...
|
Patients of the Month
Read about Jess Willson and Jackson Symons' amazing bushfire survival stories...
|
Reducing Stress in Displaced Pets
The ongoing fires of the past few weeks have sadly left many people and their pets homeless. Many pets are therefore being housed in unfamiliar environments, often with unfamiliar people and unfamiliar pets. Their routines are disturbed, frequent travel may be involved, and nothing is familiar. Owners are busy trying to salvage what’s left whilst starting to rebuild their lives. All of these sudden changes, lack of routine and unfamiliarity cause most pets some stress and anxiety. Consequently, this can lead to a number of behavioural and/or medical conditions in your animals...
|
December 2019
Pets as Gifts
We all love our pets and it stands to reason that anyone would be thrilled to receive a pet as a gift. But is it appropriate to give pets as gifts? As much as you might long to see the way some one’s face lights up when they find a puppy or kitten under the tree on Christmas morning, giving a pet is more than a photo opportunity. Pets grow up and they represent a commitment to a new family member for many years. Before dreaming up ways to surprise someone with a pet, consider whether they are ready and able to take on that kind of responsibility...
|
Selenium and Vitamin E in Sheep
Selenium and Vitamin E are essential in sheep diets on Kangaroo Island, and work together to prevent and repair cell damage in the body. Deficiencies of either or both Selenium and Vitamin E can cause weaner illthrift, reduced wool production, reduced ewe fertility, reduced immune response and white muscle disease. Kangaroo Island soils are naturally deficient in Selenium whilst Vitamin E deficiency occurs mostly in weaner sheep grazing dry pastures...
|
Christmas Foods to Avoid
Christmas can be a great time to relax, to spend time with family and friends and to socialise and entertain. Food and drinks are often an integral part of the time spent together and very often this leads to the family pets being given food items that are not a part of their daily diet during the rest of the year.
Over my time as a veterinarian, I have seen a lot of pets suffering from the consequences of dietary indiscretions in the Christmas / New Year break and at Easter time... |
November 2019
It is Grass Seed Season again!
These nasty little barbs can cause pain, swelling, infection and frustration for you and your dog. Nature has designed these little arrows to stay put, and that usually means in your pet!!
Common areas for seeds to penetrate skin are... |
Pre-joining Ram Exams
Your ram team is a significant financial investment in your sheep enterprise. Rams contribute half of their lambs’ genetics but they are the main driver for genetic gains in your flock.
To maximise performance, it is important to assess them for breeding health well in advance of joining. This allows you time to rectify and problems or purchase replacements if required. The first inspection should be around 12 weeks prior to joining... |
Stick-fast Fleas
Stickfast flea infestation is common in backyard poultry flocks on Kangaroo Island. The flea is mostly a parasite of poultry, however it will infest any animal. Severe infestations lead to anaemia and death, especially in young chickens or ducklings.
The stickfast flea is found on all classes of poultry and also on native birds. Dogs, cats, horses, sheep and numerous native animals also spread the flea and it will bite humans... |
October 2019
Snakes Alive!
Spring has sprung and as we enter the warmer months, our resident snakes will become more active. Kangaroo Island is home to two prominent species of snake, the Black Tiger snake (not always black) and the Pygmy Copperhead snake...
|
Success Eradicating Footrot
Footrot is a highly contagious bacterial infection by D nodosus causing acute lameness in sheep. "Climatic conditions on KI this spring are now ideal for footrot-associated lameness to show up and spread" says Deb...
|
Farewell Emma
Anyone who has come in to the vet clinic lately will be familiar with our head receptionist, Emma Stapleton. Her smile and happy nature has been a welcome sight for our clients for the past 2 years.
|
Snail Bait: not so pet safe?
With Spring upon us, we’re fighting the snails off our veggie gardens. There are a number of slug and snail baits on the market, often in a pellet form made with ingredients that are attractive to dogs and every year we see very unwell dogs who have eaten the “pet safe” brands of bait...
|
Patient of the Month: Mack Paxton
Mack is a 2-year-old Kelpie who visited the clinic as he was unwell and not wanting to go to work, which was quite out of the ordinary for Mack...
|
