Hall Vet Surgery and Vets at Amaroo are looking for a Certificate IV qualified veterinary nurse with minimum 2 years of nursing experience to join our team. We are well-equipped small animal practices located in Canberra, who deliver the best care to each and every patient and have lots of fun along the way.
Hall Veterinary Surgery has been part of the Hall community for 30 years. We are located on the outskirts of Canberra in a village atmosphere and surrounded by nature with a great coffee shop just down the road.
Recently, we opened a second purpose-built clinic called ‘Vets at Amaroo’. This clinic is situated in the relatively new suburb of Amaroo approximately a 10-minute drive from Hall. https://amaroovet.com.au/
Opening our second practice gives us an opportunity to expand our wonderful team of Nurses. Bonus points for an applicant with a keen interest in mentoring and training our wonderful junior nurses.
Our Senior nurses take pride in maintaining a high standard of care for every patient. Whilst they are all highly trained and professional they also love to have fun and celebrate the wins along the way. We are looking for someone who is confident in anaesthetic monitoring (including BP and ETCO2) and emergency and critical care cases, is experienced in nurse consultations (including arthritis injections, post-op rechecks, suture and drain removals etc) and is an all-round legend who gets along well with a wonderful and diverse team of people. A great sense of humour is also an essential skill for this role!
If you think you are the amazing person we are looking for please send your resume and cover letter to: Keely Scotland keely@hallvet.com.au
Did you know that obesity is the most common nutritional disorder seen in domestic cats? Many of us don’t even realise that our pet has become overweight as it often takes place gradually over time, yet we know that in some countries up to 40% of all adult cats are obese.
As much as we love to spoil our cats with a few extra biscuits in the morning or it can be tempting to give into their hungry yowls in the afternoon, the excess weight can have serious and detrimental effects on the health. Obese cats have an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, many types of cancer, arthritis and degeneration of joints, urinary problems and stones to name a few.
Not only does carrying excess weight have a negative impact on your cats general health, happiness and overall quality of life, it can also significantly shorten their life expectancy compared to a healthy-weight cat.
WHAT CAUSES WEIGHT GAIN?
Weight gain is the result of an increase in body fat. This is usually caused by an imbalance between the energy your cat is consuming and the energy your cat is using. Overfeeding, a decrease in exercise, high calorie foods and frequent treats or extras are often contributing factors. Other factors can include age, desexing status and medical conditions.
SO WHAT CAN I DO?
Accepting that there is a problem and committing to getting your pet back to a healthy weight is step one. To understand your pets current condition, their goal weight and how to get there, we recommend booking an appointment with your vet. Weight loss should be gradual and steady in order to be safe. Once you know your pet’s goal weight, there are a number of methods you can implement to help them get there.
DIET – Proper nutrition plays a very important role in treating an overweight cat. There are scientifically formulated diets to help with healthy and safe weight reduction in cats such as Hills Metabolic and Royal Canin Satiety, you can speak to your vet about the best weight management diet for your pet. Use the correct feeding guide and measure out your pets daily meals with scales or a measuring cup. Make sure to account for any treats, dental chews etc. in their total daily feed.
EXERCISE & ACTIVITIES – Promoting regular exercise will not only assist you in decreasing your pets weight, it will also increase their overall happiness and quality of life. Promoting regular exercise for cats means providing ample opportunity for them to climb and play. Utilising cat trees and scratching posts can help to get them climbing and toys like laser pointers and teasers can encourage the use of their natural hunting instincts.
WEIGH INS – Regular weight checks will let you know whether you’re on the right path, allow you to adjust feeding amounts and also help to keep you motivated by showing you how far you and your pet have come. Give us a call to find a time to come and use our cat scales.
TIPS AND TRICKS – Move your pets food bowls further away from where they tend to spend their time to encourage them to get moving when they want to go to eat/drink. Rather than letting your cat inhale their biscuits straight from a bowl, disperse their food over a large area or use a treat ball to make them work for it! Swap your cats regular treats for weight loss friendly treats like Hills Feline Metabolic Treats and don’t feed more than the recommended daily limit.
If you’re unsure if you pet is a healthy weight or you’d like more information on weight management, please give u a call on (02) 6230 2223.
Did you know that obesity is the most common nutritional disorder seen in cats and dogs? Many of us don’t even realise that our dog has become overweight as it often takes place gradually over time.
As much as we love to spoil our pets, that extra treat in the morning and the odd bowl of leftovers every other day can have serious and detrimental effects on your dogs health and well-being. Research shows that being as little as 20% overweight can greatly increase the risk of your dog developing serious health conditions such as diabetes mellitus, pancreatitis, arthritis and painful joint problems, urinary stones or heart disease.
Not only does carrying excess weight have a negative impact on your dog’s general wellbeing, happiness and overall quality of life, it can also significantly shorten their life expectancy compared to a healthy-weight pet.
WHAT CAUSES WEIGHT GAIN?
Weight gain is the result of an increase in body fat. This is usually caused by feeding too much or a decrease in exercise and in many cases it’s a combination of both. But there can be other contributing factors too, such as;
AGE – Older dogs are less active, have less energy, and require fewer calories, which is why nutrition formulated for his age is vital to his weight and overall health.
DESEXING STATUS – Desexed dogs have a decreased metabolism, meaning they require 30% less food overall than their un-desexed counterparts.
OVERFEEDING – Dogs with unlimited access to food understandably eat more than they need — this includes table scraps and extra treats from family members.
QUALITY OF FOOD – Many supermarket type commercial foods are loaded with salt and fat. This improves taste, which means your dog will usually love it, but it won’t love them back.
BREED – Some dog breeds are typically more food motivated and less active than others making them more likely to gain weight.
MEDICAL PROBLEMS – Weight gain can be associated with medical disorders that may require veterinary treatment.
SO WHAT CAN I DO?
Accepting that there is a problem and committing to getting your pet back to a healthy weight is step one. To understand your pets current condition, their goal weight and how to get there, we recommend booking an appointment with your vet. Weight loss should gradual and steady in order to be safe. Once you know your pet’s goal weight, there are a number of methods you can implement to help them get there.
DIET – Proper nutrition plays a very important role in treating an overweight dog, speak to your vet about the best weight management diet for your pet. Use the correct feeding guide and measure your pets daily meals with a measuring cup or scales. Make sure to account for any treats, dental chews etc. in their daily feeds.
EXERCISE – Promoting regular exercise will not only assist you in decreasing your pets weight, it will increase their overall happiness and quality of life.
WEIGH INS – Regular weight checks will let you know whether you’re on the right path, allow you to adjust feeding amounts and also help to keep you motivated by showing you how far you and your pet have come. You are always welcome to pop in and use our scales for weight checks, no appointment needed.
ACTIVITIES – As well as regular exercise, playing games or activities is a fun way to get the whole family involved in your pets weight loss journey.
“Puppy Ping Pong” is a game that will not only get your dog moving but will also help to reinforce their recall! Have family members stand apart and take it in turns to call your dog to encourage them to run to you, reward the behaviour when they get to you with a small amount of boiled chicken breast, carrot or other healthy treat.
“Find It” Is great for exercise and mental stimulation. Cut up some carrot or pumpkin into small pieces and throw them around your backyard. Your pet will be on an adventure lead by their nose to try and find the food you threw.
TIPS AND TRICKS – Make swaps where you can e.g. try swapping your pets schmackos or pig ear for a carrot. Rather than letting your pet hoover their biscuits straight from a bowl, disperse their food over a large area or use a treat ball to make them work for it!
If you’re unsure if you pet is a healthy weight or you’d like more information on weight management, please give u a call on (02) 6230 2223.
It’s a fact. Not all dogs like to be patted, at least not all of the time.
Dogs have preferences as to where, when and how they like to be touched. They also have preferences for who they like to be touched by. Just because they love a chest scratch from their care giver, doesn’t mean they want the same from a stranger. Even in the same household a dog may enjoy a particular interaction from one member of the family, but not from a different member. The good news is that it’s easy to ask a dog if they like the way you’re touching them. It simply requires some knowledge of dog communication and attention to their body language.
Many dog owners are sure that their dog likes being hugged, however in dog language, hugs can be aversive, and represent intimidation and restraint rather than affection. It’s true that some dogs tolerate or even enjoy a hug, but for the majority a hug is not an enjoyable interaction.
We need to recognise and teach children to learn our dogs “no” signals. When you approach to pick up or hug your dog become aware of attempts to avoid the impending interaction. If you bend down and your little dog moves away, they probably don’t like being picked up much, let alone hugged. Many dogs tolerate our hugs but don’t actually enjoy them. Some dogs don’t mind a hug from their special people, but don’t want the same affection from others.
Here’s a quick summary of how dogs say “yes” or “no”. Sometimes they say “maybe”. I suspect they are conflicted at times because they want our attention but don’t like the type of attention that they receive. It’s the classic walk away and then come back and then walk away routine. Once we change our approach, a “maybe” can soon become a “yes”.
Be aware that all dog body language needs to be observed with consideration of the context within which it occurs, what their whole body is ‘saying’ and the individual dog involved. Just like people, different dogs have little idiosyncrasies and styles of communicating.
Body language that says “Yes”
Moving into your space, coming to you for physical contact
Nudging a head into your hand or lap
Pawing your hand
Leaning into you
Lying down near you, touching you or flopping onto you
Face, mouth and eyes are relaxed and droopy
Body language that says “No”
Moving away from you, especially if they don’t return. This is so important to take notice of. If a dog does not come to you, do not go to the dog and invade their space, especially if you are unfamiliar to that dog. Do not put dogs in situations where they cannot move away or escape from a patting interaction even when you’re convinced it is pleasant. They may not appreciate it.
Leaning away from you.
Turning the head away.
Looking away from you.
Shying away or ducking the head away from your hand.
Rolling the eyes away to show the whites of the eye (whale eye)
Yawning
Licking the lips
Freezing (a tense stillness as opposed to a relaxed stillness)
If you miss the more subtle body language for “no”, the dog may escalate their distance increasing behaviours to become more obvious and effective. Dogs who really find patting aversive (i.e. hate it and can’t wait to escape) may learn to skip the subtle requests if history has taught them that no-one ever listens. When pushed, a dog can learn that growling, snapping or biting are VERY effective strategies to give them space.
Body language that could mean “Yes” or “No”
Licking your face or hands. This can be asking for space or for you to stop. It is a common appeasement signal. Appeasement behaviours function to reduce or get rid of some part of the interaction which they do not like without using overt aggression. It can also be a sign of affection from a very mouthy, licky dog.
Rolling over and expose the belly. If the dog is tense, lips are drawn back and tense, this means “no”. It is another appeasement behaviour. If the dog is floppy and the eyes are soft or closed, this means “rub mah belly”. Refer to the pictures below.
Appeasement Roll Over – leave me alone: * Ears pinned back (one forward due to pressure of couch) * Tight mouth, pulled back at commissure * Front paws tucked tight, not relaxed * Quick lick lip * Back legs rolling partially open but tense
Rub Mah Belly Roll Over: * Mouth relaxed (floppy gums dropping with gravity, exposing teeth) * Front legs floppy and relaxed * Back legs relaxed, flopping wide open with gravity * Skin around eyes soft, not taut * Body relaxed, stretched out fully, lying fully on back
Paw raised. If the dog is tense and the body is leaning away, it means “no”. If the dog is leaning towards you and body is relaxed, it can be “yes” or “maybe”.
Walking away. Some dogs will walk away and come back. They may want attention from you, but not the sort you are giving. If you change what you are doing, they may stay.
Mouthing the hand. This may mean “no” if it occurs whilst you are petting and stops when you stop. Some dogs show affection by mouthing, so they may gently mouth your hand as you pat them. If it occurs when you stop petting, it could be a mouthy dog requesting for you to continue.
Being motionless. If the dog is relaxed and choosing to stay without restraint, they may be enjoying the pat. They may lean ever so slightly into your touch, with all the other signs of enjoyment (soft eyes, ears, mouth). If they have “frozen” and are tense or rigid under your touch, almost resisting relaxation or holding their breath, they are probably not enjoying the patting and are waiting for it to stop. You can often feel a pounding heart under the chest of a dog who is very still but not enjoying the contact.
Lots of wiggling. Some dogs are happy, wiggly, bouncy balls of exuberance who can’t stop moving when they are enjoying an activity. Others are nervous, uncomfortable wigglers who are torn between wanting some attention from you but not liking where or how they are being touched.
Many pet parents notice a difference in the way their dog approaches, stays and responds to them when they take the time to observe, ‘ask’ the dog and accommodate what he/she enjoys.
Hall Veterinary Surgery & Vets at Amaroo are looking for a full time customer care extraordinaire with a minimum of 2 years experience to join our team! If you are passionate about providing customer service excellence and creating moments that matter, what’re you waiting for?
About The Role: • Minimum of 2 Years Experience in a Customer Service Role Required • Full Time Position ~38hrs/wk Including Some Saturdays • Located in Picturesque Hall Village & Amaroo Shopping Precinct • Fast-paced, Challenging and Rewarding Role • Supportive Team Environment Committed to Continual Improvement • Need We Mention the Puppy & Kitten Cuddles..?
About Us: Hall Veterinary Surgery has been part of the Hall community for 30 years. We are located on the outskirts of Canberra in a village atmosphere and surrounded by nature with a great coffee shop just down the road.
Recently, we opened a second purpose-built clinic called ‘Vets at Amaroo’. This clinic is situated in the relatively new suburb of Amaroo approximately a 15-minute drive from Hall. https://amaroovet.com.au/
We pride ourselves on delivering gold standard care to our patients and their humans through our friendly and personalised approach. We have a dedicated customer care team who are passionate about going the extra mile to assist our clients.
About you: Our ideal candidate; • Has a minimum of 2 years experience in a customer service role • Finds satisfaction in helping clients when they need it most • Is excited by the opportunity to push themselves, learn and grow • Is resilient, enjoys a challenge and shows initiative • Possesses a high level of emotional intelligence & self awareness • Is a team player, dedicated to working together to succeed
Applications: If this sound like the job for you we’d love to hear from you! Please email a one page cover letter outlining why you’re the best person for the role and your up to date CV to April Maney – april@hallvet.com.au
Applications for this role close on 11:59pm Monday 1st of February. Interviews for this position will be held on Saturday the 7th of February at Hall Veterinary Surgery.
Please note, this is a customer service role only and is not a pathway to a veterinary nursing career. If you are interested in pursuing a career in veterinary nursing please keep an eye out for a vacancy in our nursing team.
