September Newsletter
Check out what we've been up to this month
Pets of the Month
You can’t have Spring without new babies! We are still seeing record numbers of puppies through the clinic each week. We just love meeting all these gorgeous new family members and are grateful that we can be part of their journey, helping to navigate all those new puppy questions about health, behaviour and preventative medicine. This week we met Milo,13 weeks old (left) and Sassa, 11 weeks old (right). Both pups were also lucky enough to be able to join our very popular puppy preschool class, run by Nurse Courtney and Groomer Ellie. Information about preschool can be found here.
What's happing in September?
Spring has sprung and so have the plants, insects and grasses! Spring is the time when we traditionally see an increase in the number of pets presenting for skin conditions and insect related injury or illness
· Atopy (inhaled) and grass allergies– itchy feet, ear infections, itchy bottoms and superficial skin infections are common presentations. The approach to this sort of allergy needs to be both short term fix and long term management.
· Contact allergies – there are several very common plants that re regularly see dogs having contact reactions to. This usually presents as red and itchy belly, groin, axilla's (“armpits”) and around the mouth. Essentially the areas with minimal hair that are in contact with the offending plants. We have some great brochures to identify the common culprits so you can remove them from your environment.
· Insect bites – every spring we see multiple bee stings and ant bites that cause swelling and pain to curious pups who couldn’t help themselves but to investigate these interesting creatures. A visit to the vet for antihistamine injection and pain relief makes a big difference to these poor guys.
· Ticks - Tick paralysis is life threatening (and expensive). Usually starting with a change in voice, vomiting or gagging and hind leg “wobbliness” it progresses to complete paralysis of all the muscles, including those needed for breathing. We are so fortunate that there are several excellent tick preventatives available that are fantastic at preventing tick paralysis. You need to be using tick protection for all cats and dogs, particularly at this time of year.
Promotions
Dental Discount Extended: if you receive an estimate for dental work and book within 3 weeks of the date it was provided, you will still receive $50 off your pets procedure
Free Dental Checks have been extended till the end of the year
Receive $20 off when buying Hills T/d dental food for your furry friend (while stocks last!)
$10 HYDROBATH SATURDAYS
Clinic News
After a tumultuous year (and at least one lockdown-induced cancellation) the team finally managed to head out for social afternoon a few weeks ago to the Gumdale Tavern for a “paint and sip” class. It was a lot of fun and we were all surprised at the hidden talents within our team! We are trying to decide whose art is most deserving of a spot in the waiting room – or perhaps we will just put up all of them!
