Category Archives: Caring for your Dog

Caring for your Dog, Dogs, general

Smart Puppy Buyer’s Guide

The RSPCA have released a Smart Puppy Buyer’s Guide which provides some very good guidance on where to buy your puppy. Whilst buying a dog from the RSPCA or other shelters or rescue organisations is often saving that animal’s life, sometimes people are after a specific breed.

The RSPCA recommends only buying from reputable breeders who provide a high standard of care for all their dogs, so that you know your animal is not coming from a puppy-farm. Depending on the breed, you will want to talk with the breeder to see if they are taking steps to reduce the risks or incidence of inheritable disorders (eg hip dysplasia or heart valve defects).

The brochure also encourages early desexing of your new puppy, as part of responsible ownership.

So if you are looking to buy a puppy, please first of all see what’s available at your local pound, RSPCA or animal shelter. If you must purchase elsewhere, always look for a reputable breeder. And read the Smart Puppy Buyer’s Guide.

Caring for your Dog, Dogs, Training tips

Reward-based training

Dogs play an important part in many of our lives. With proper training from an early age, they can learn to interact with people in a positive way.

With this in mind the Australian Veterinary Association has developed a set of practical recommendations for vets and dog trainers on training methods based on positive reinforcement.

Reward-based training: a guide for dog trainers outlines the benefits of reward-based training and identifies some of the problems associated with alternative training methods. It also includes a number of case studies, examples of training and comprehensive list of references for further reading on the subject.

Caring for your Cat, Caring for your Dog, Cats, Dogs, Poisoning

Ticks worst in years

Already this spring we have seen dogs and cats back from the beach with tick paralysis.

Reports from the coast say that the ticks are the worst seen in many years.

Treat your pet for ticks before you leave for the coast. Advantix must be applied 2 days before traveling down and reapplied every 2 weeks while at the coast.

Alternatively rinse dogs with permethrin before leaving and then weekly while down there.

Frontline spray is the only safe tickicide for cats. Apply 2 days before leaving for the coast and then fortnightly while down there.

Please note that Advantix and Permethrin are extremely toxic to cats. A cat brushing up against or grooming a treated dog can die of permethrin poisoning.

Supplement the tickicide application with close daily inspection of your pet. Feel inside the ears, under the arms, around the tail and in all the crevices and skin folds. Ticks love to hide in long hair. Remove any ticks you find immediately.

If your pet is weak in the legs or drooling contact a vet immediately.

Cancer in Cats, Cancer in Dogs, Caring for your Cat, Caring for your Dog, Cats, Dogs, Today's News

Another reason to give up smoking

Cats and dogs who live with smokers have a higher risk of developing cancer.

The risk of lymphoma, the most common cancer in cats, is tripled in cats from smoking households. Squamous cell carcinomas of the mouth are also more prevalent in cats exposed to tobacco smoke.

Dogs living in a household with a smoker are more likely to have a chronic cough to match their owner’s. Most sobering of all, they have a higher risk of developing nasal and lung cancer.

Scientists from all over the world have detected nicotine metabolites in the family pets of smokers. The more smokers and smoking in the household, the higher the levels of nicotine metabolites found.

Carbon material, a byproduct of smoking, has also been found in these pets’ lungs.

As if we needed more reasons to give up smoking!

Caring for your Dog, Diseases of dogs, Dogs, Internal diseases of Dogs, Today's News

Heartworm

Heartworm live in the heart and major blood vessels of infected dogs.

How do dogs get heartworm?

Female heartworm produce millions of young, or microfilaria, which live in the bloodstream. Mosquitoes ingest microfilariae when they bite an infected dog.

The microfilariæ develop further in the mosquito. When the mosquito bites another dog it injects larval heartworm. These larvae migrate to the heart and adjacent vessels over a few months, and grow to adult heartworm.

Usually dogs do not show outward signs of infection for a few years.

How do heartworm affect dogs?

Adult worms:

Adult worms clog the heart and the major blood vessels leading from the heart. They stop the heart valves from closing and reduce blood supply to the rest of the body.

The most obvious signs are: a soft, dry, chronic cough, shortness of breath, loss of stamina, and weakness, especially after exercise. Heavily infected dogs may faint.

Sometimes we hear heart murmurs or abnormal lung sounds with a stethoscope. In advanced cases the abdomen and legs swell with fluid accumulation. Weight loss, poor condition, and anaemia develop with a chronic infection.

Severely infected dogs may die suddenly during exercise or excitement.

Microfilariæ (Young worms):

Microfilariæ circulate throughout the body but prefer small blood vessels. Because they are as wide as the vessels, they may block blood flow to vital organs such as the lungs, liver and kidney.

How do we prevent heartworm?

Annual injections of Proheart SR-12, or monthly tablets such as Heartgard or Proheart, or spot-ons such as Advocate or Revolution all kill larval heartworm before they reach the heart.

Before starting a preventative we run a blood test in the surgery to check for any existing infection.

If we detect an existing heartworm infection an effective treatment is available. Before admitting an infected dog for treatment we screen for damage to the liver, kidneys, heart and lungs to reduce the chance of complications.

 

Caring for your Cat, Caring for your Dog, Cats, Dogs, Today's News

Festive season for pets?

Spare a thought over the festive season for our pets.  Christmas is a fun time of year for humans but it disrupts our animals’ lives, causing stress and untoward changes in their behaviour.

Potential sources of stress include:

  • Car travel
  • Boarding
  • Visitors to their home
  • Parties and increased noise in the neighbourhood
  • Fireworks
  • Changes in routine
  • Visits to unfamiliar environments such as a holiday house or extended family

Many pets become anxious under these stresses. Their behaviour changes to cope with the stresses. These behavioural changes are usually temporary but occasionally turn into long-term, serious problems.

How can we reduce our pets’ anxiety this Christmas?

Reassure your pets in unfamiliar circumstances by allowing them to stay close to you and spending as much time with them as possible. If you have to leave them, give them something familiar like bedding or your shirt.

Provide a comfortable safe hidey hole with lots of fun things to do if visitors are expected or you are planning a party. Long lasting treats like stuffed Kongs and chew toys keep dogs engrossed and happy.

Avoid confronting a dog with anyone they fear. Children or big men frighten some dogs.

Don’t punish a frightened dog or make it face up to its fear. This usually makes an already tense dog more anxious.

Try not to initiate any more fears in your pet. A house suddenly full of noisy party-goers and no secure place to hide will make a timid dog frightened of more people.

Pheromones, naturally produced communicators, reduce anxiety significantly in many pets.   ADAPTIL® (containing Dog Appeasing Pheromone) and Feliway® (containing a calming cat pheromone) are synthetic copies of the animals’ own natural pheromones. They reduce behaviour changes resulting from stress or anxiety.

Feliway replicates the feline facial pheromone that cats rub around their environment so they feel relaxed and at home.

ADAPTIL (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) replicates the pheromone the dam releases when suckling her puppies. It reassures dogs of any age, reducing anxiety and preventing fear and stress related behaviours.

If behaviour resulting from fear and anxiety is out of proportion to what is happening or causes long lasting problems then schedule an appointment with one of our vets. They will work through a programme of retraining or behaviour modification in conjunction with a prescription drug, appropriate for your pet.

 

Caring for your Cat, Caring for your Dog, Cats, Dogs, general, Pet Insurance

Pet Insurance

(This post is archived on our website at https://www.hallvet.com.au/about/pet-insurance/)

Some perspective…

According to the Australian Companion Animal Council,

  • vet fees only account for about 1/4 of the cost of your pet,
  • about 1/3 is spent on other services (toys, kennels, grooming, holiday accommodation etc) and
  • the rest – nearly 1/2 – is spent on food.

Big Bills

But there are times when vet bills loom large because of accident or illness. In the last four years at Hall Veterinary Surgery, about 90% of invoices over $1000 were for dogs. They included conditions as diverse as dog-fight injuries, pancreatitis, surgery for cancers, blocked waterworks, broken bones or cruciate ligaments, snake bite, heart failure, car accidents, tick paralysis, vomiting, diarrhoea, and chemotherapy for cancer.
Big bills hit young pets as well as old.

Budgeting

If unexpected vet bills would blow your budget, you could try one of these strategies to minimise the fallout:

  1. Pet insurance costs range from about $18/month (cats, accident only) or $33/month (dog, accident only) up to $65/month (dog select breed, accident/illness.
    Depending on pre-existing conditions and payout limits, pet insurance will reduce the impact of most big bills. Some plans work on a co-payment system, which reduce the premium if you pay 20% or more of any bill.
    Most insurance companies reimburse you after you’ve paid the vet.
  2. A low-fee credit card kept for emergencies only.
  3. Self-insure by putting a monthly contribution into an interest-bearing account. This is the most cost-effective method for small costs; you don’t have to worry about pre-existing conditions and you can economise on multiple pets -as long as they don’t all get sick at the same time. You can also budget for costs that aren’t covered by the pet insurance companies. These include vaccinations, worming, flea and tick protection and wellness programmes. The average monthly costs below will give you an idea of what to put aside. If a big cost comes up before you’ve accumulated enough you’ll still have to bridge the gap.

Total Spend

The table below shows amounts carers spent on individual pets over the last four years. It breaks this down to the average monthly cost of vet care and the percentage of dogs and cats in that spend category. This is the average per pet for all products and services offered at Hall Vet Surgery, including flea and tick products, prescription diets, dental work, big surgeries, cancer treatment, desexing and vaccinations.

Total spent over 4 Years Ave per Month Dogs Cats
$500 $10 54% 38%
$1,000 $21 28% 17%
$2,000 $43 9% 4%
$5,000 $104 1% 0.4%
$10,000 $208 0.1%

So you can think of the percentages as indicative of the chance that your pet will cost at least that much in vet bills. eg if you own a cat, there’s a 1:250 chance your cat might total $5,000, or a 1:10 chance that your dog might cost over $2,000 over four years.

Pet insurance is more cost-effective if your pet is unlucky enough to have a bad accident or becomes ill. But you have to have your pet insured before it happens!

Caring for your Cat, Caring for your Dog, Cats, Dogs, general

Boarding your pet

Holiday plans are not complete without accommodation arrangements for your pets, too. Many holiday accommodations are now pet friendly but most people have to leave their pets behind. Ideally, they should stay in their own home and yard with a friend, relative or house-sitter looking after them.

Many pets spend happy holidays at boarding facilities and even look forward to their own break from home routines. If possible visit the cattery or kennels beforehand, inspect the accommodation and meet the staff.

All commercial boarding establishments are licensed by the local authority but standards vary. Seek out recommendations from friends, neighbours or your veterinary surgeon. Some people like to trial board their dogs for a weekend or a few days and see how they settle.

Check that your pets’ vaccinations are up-to-date well before the holiday. Kennels insist upon current cover for distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and kennel cough for dogs and enteritis, calicivirus and herpesvirus for cats.

A single intra-nasal kennel cough immunization at least 72 hours before boarding covers dogs previously unvaccinated for kennel cough for 12 months. Other vaccinations take at least ten days to take effect.

Caring for your Dog, Diseases of dogs, Dogs, general, Skin diseases of Dogs

Itchy bottom?

Dogs scoot their bottoms along the ground when they have anal gland problems, tapeworms or allergies.

If you catch your dog rubbing along on the carpet, worm him with a good quality wormer such as Drontal or Milbemax that covers all worms, especially tapeworm.

If he still scoots or seems off colour then bring him in to the surgery. Many small dogs suffer from anal sac problems. The gland fills up with material too thick to empty through the small ducts near the anus. Usually we just express them and all is well.

Sometimes the material gets infected and the glands become swollen and painful.  Your dog might have trouble defecating or lick the area a lot. The glands may break through the skin and discharge foul smelling fluid. At the surgery we clip and clean them as well as starting antibiotics and pain relief. If your dog has repeated anal gland infections we recommend surgery to remove them.

In spring and summer many allergic dogs rub, lick and scratch all over including their bottoms. Some dogs allergic to food proteins also rub their bottoms on the ground. Treatment for the allergies usually stops the rubbing and licking.

 

Caring for your Cat, Caring for your Dog, Cats, Dogs, general, Today's News

Free dental check

Last chance to bring your dog or cat in to Hall Vet Surgery for a free dental health check!

Book before 31st August and bring your pet in for a free dental check.

Learn how to keep your pet’s mouth and teeth clean and healthy.

Dental health is essential to overall health in our pets.

4 out of 5 pets live with dental disease, infection and pain but are very good at hiding it from us.

Make sure your pet is happy, healthy and pain free.

Phone 6230 2223 to make an appointment for a free dental check during Hall Vet Surgery’s dental month.