Tag Archives: dental

The importance of Dental check-ups for your pet

August is Pet Dental Health Month here at Hall Vet Surgery, so let’s talk about the Importance of thorough Dental Examinations  for your pets!

Dental examinations  play an extremely important role in maintaining healthy teeth and gums.

Providing your pet with good oral care is essential for them
to enjoy a happy, healthy and pain-free life.

Our human dentists recommend 6 monthly dental check ups and cleans for us to prevent dental issues.. and we brush our teeth twice every day!

Hall Vet Surgery offers Free 6 Monthly Dental Check-ups to ensure we detect any dental issues early. Early detection helps us to reach the best possible outcome for your pet (and your wallet!).

Dental disease that is left untreated is painful for your pet and can lead to other serious health problems including infections in the kidneys, liver and heart.

Remember, pets will still eat despite having a painful
mouth, so regular oral examinations with your veterinarian
are the best way to detect dental disease early and keep
your pet comfortable and healthy.

Give us a call on (02) 6230 2223 to arrange your pets Free Dental Check-up.

What happens when my pet comes in for a Dental Procedure?

So you’ve brought your pet in for a check up and your Vet has let you know that your pet needs to have a Dental Procedure. You’re probably wondering what your pets Dental Procedure will entail..

 

The night before:

The night before the dental procedure your pet can have his/her normal dinner but no food is to be eaten after 9pm. You may leave a water bowl with your pet overnight but you should remove this in the morning when you wake.

 

The morning of:

You will be given an admission time between 8am and 9am, please arrive as close to your allocated time as possible. On admission your pet will have a health check with a vet to ensure that they are fit for their procedure, this is a great opportunity to ask any questions you may have.

 

Once in hospital:

Once we have your pet admitted into hospital, they will have a pre operative medication injection (“pre-med”) of sedation and pain relief to make sure they are calm and comfortable while awaiting their procedure. This is also the time that we would run your pets blood tests, we recommend pre anaesthetic blood tests for any patient  going under a general anaesthetic. These tests:

  • Tell us how vital organs like liver and kidneys are functioning
  • Establish a baseline for your pet
  • Identify hidden health problems
  • Decide the best strategy to care for your pet whilst under anaesthetic to reduce risk & hasten recovery

 

Time for Surgery:

We provide intravenous fluids to all patients during and after their anaesthetic. Intravenous fluids can help to minimize some of the risks associated with General Anaesthesia by maintaining blood pressure and putting less stress on kidneys. Pets who have intravenous fluids during their procedure experience smoother post-operative recovery.

 

During the procedure:

As well as a Vet, your pet will have a qualified Vet Nurse monitoring them from the time they receive their pre-med, whilst they are under anaesthetic, all the way up to the time they are awake and able to sit by themselves. Our Nurses use a myriad of equipment to measure your pets vitals whilst under anaesthesia, such as their: heart rate, temperature, respitory rate, blood pressure, mucous membranes (gum colour), capillary refill time, SpO2 (the amount of oxygen in their blood) and many more to ensure your pet has a smooth anaesthetic. All pets are kept warm with heat mats, heat bottles and Mistral air blowers.

 

Recovery:

After your pets dental procedure a Nurse will remain with your pet whilst they wake and recover. Once awake, the Vet will give you a call to let you know how everything went and to confirm your pets pick up time. Your pet will remain in hospital for a couple of hours after their procedure so that we can continue to monitor them and ensure a smooth recovery. Your pet will be offered some food and kept on intravenous fluids until just before you arrive.

 

Home time:

Your pet will be sent home with fresh breath, pearly whites and a pain free mouth! Your pet is now part of our dental program and is entitled to FREE 6 monthly dental check-ups.

For more information on keeping your pets teeth clean at home CLICK HERE.

 

 

 

Free Dental check

Bring your pet in during August for a free dental check and advice on keeping your pet’s teeth clean and healthy. The vets are already busy checking pets’ mouths. Some pets have had a scale and polish to give them a fresh start. Find out the most effective way to keep your pet’s teeth sparkling and gums healthy with a good diet and lots of chewing.

Phone us on 6230 2223 to make an appointment for your pet’s free check.

Snotty-nosed cats

Snotty-nosed and snuffly cats are difficult to live with. Their owners put up with sneezes and snot all over the house, as well as snuffles and grumbles all day and half the night.

The causes of sinusitis and rhinosinusitis are also difficult for vets to diagnose accurately and even more difficult to treat effectively.

Inflammation and infection spread rapidly from cats’ throats to adjacent structures, such as the middle ear, frontal sinuses, nose and tympanic bullae. These cavities are difficult to reach with medical or surgical treatments.

Feline mucus is also thicker than human mucus and medication has a hard time penetrating the mucus to get to the offending microbes.

Feline Herpesvirus is the most common initiating cause of chronic rhinitis and rhinosinusitis. It causes chronic airway inflammation and swelling, destroys the normal lining of the nasal cavity and upsets the normal mucus layers. The nasal cavity cannot remove foreign particles or the abnormal mucus and the sinuses become blocked. Bacteria leap in and set up infections making the situation even worse.

Drugs to reduce the mucus and the swelling in the sinuses help a bit. We treat the bacterial infection with antibiotics but are still left with Herpesvirus and all the damage it does. Herpesvirus sinusitis soon flares up into full blown bacterial sinusitis again. Some cats respond well to antiviral drugs but others keep getting intermittent sinusitis.

Nastier causes of similar signs are Cryptococcosis, a fungal disease, and cancer, commonly lymphoma, adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. These are difficult to distinguish on X-ray but CT or MRI are very helpful, if they are available. A biopsy clears up any doubts. A blood test is available for Cryptococcosis.

Bad teeth and infected tooth roots sometimes make cats snuffly. A dental inspection and X-ray under general anaesthetic allow targeted and successful treatment.

Occasionally a cat breathes in a grass seed or other foreign body. Usually nasal discharge is from one side only and there is some bleeding.

 

Free dental check in August

August is dental month at Hall Vet Surgery.

Bring your pet in for a free dental check this month and learn how to improve dental health.

Phone us a few days ahead to make an appointment.

Dental health is essential to overall health in our pets as well as ourselves. Dogs and cats hide pain from us. Often they have just got used to a level of dental pain that would cripple us on the first day!

Make sure your pet is happy, healthy and pain free . Phone for an appointment during Hall Vet Surgery dental month.

Cat care

Calling all cat carers! Mark Wednesday 21st September in your diaries. Hall Vet Surgery is holding a cat care information evening at the Hall pavilion.

Learn why your cats behave (or misbehave!) the way they do, how to care for your older cat and why regular checkups are vital to all cats’ health and comfort.

Entry is free.

We have heaps of give-aways and prizes for everyone and a delicious supper to cap the evening off.

Secure a seat by phoning 6230 2223, emailing vets@hallvet.com or telling one of our receptionists at your next visit.

Don’t miss out on a fun-filled chance to improve your cat’s quality of life!

Dental X rays

Nurse Ella lines up the new dental digital X ray unit with Lily’s molars. Crisp clear X rays of pets’ mouths enhance vets’ decision-making. No longer do we have to agonise over whether a tooth is healthy enough to leave or whether we should extract it to prevent mouth pain and infection. Nurse Ella will save Lily’s dental images to her record so that we can see if there has been any deterioration between dental treatments.