Articles

Keep up to date with all our latest news, articles of interest, and case studies from the veterinary world around Hawke’s Bay.

Pete The One-Eared Sheep

Peter was rushed to our clinic a couple of weeks ago after being attacked by a dog, and suffering horrific wounds to his left ear.   Kathryn, Libby & the Companion Animal team attended to Pete’s injuries under a general anaesthetic and found that unfortunately his ear was too damaged and would need to be…

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Chickens & Red Mites

Red mites are small external parasites of chickens that live in the cracks and crevices of poultry housing.  They are blood feeders and mainly feed at night but if there are large numbers they may be seen during the day.  They then return to the housing during the day where they lay their eggs.  They…

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An Easter warning for your pet

While overindulging during the Easter period may result in a few extra kilograms for us, the consequences for our pets are much greater. The accidental ingestion of chocolate can lead to serious illness or even death for our beloved companions. Chocolate contains theobromine which is poisonous and caffeine which is dangerous to all our pets.…

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brown grass field with animals on field during daytime

Facial Eczema Monitor – 26 March 2021

Regional average spore counts are around the 25,000 mark, with hotspots across the region, indicating the risk is not over yet. One of the sites on Ocean Beach Road is still 115,000. Best advice is to monitor the spore counts on your pastures to assess risk more accurately. Hastings Results  Waipukurau Results     Further…

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tan pug on brown wooden stool

Overweight Pets

Podgy Pooches & Curvaceous Cats Every pet has an ideal weight but almost 50% of animals coming into the clinic are overweight. This problem can be difficult to manage and is often overlooked, despite the well-known health risks including diabetes mellitus, arthritis, cancer and respiratory and heart disease. The first step to helping podgy pooches…

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Grain Free Dog Food

In recent years there has been an emergence of grain free diets, and these have been advertised as the “best” way to feed your pet. We suspect this trend has jumped over from the increasing amounts of human gluten-free diets. These foods are often marketed as feeding your dog a “natural” diet or something that…

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Facial Eczema and Alpacas

Alpacas are very susceptible to the toxic effects of facial eczema spores and high risk periods occur during the summer and autumn. The spores, produced by the fungus Pithomyces chartarum, are broken down in the digestive tract releasing the sporidesmin toxin. The toxin is absorbed into the circulation and reaches the liver where it is…

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Keeping Your Working Team Warm This Winter

With the change of season and cooler nights fast approaching it’s time to consider how you will keep your working team warm this winter.   Why it is important to keep your team warm over winter? In recent years there has been a real push to improve kennel conditions and to provide bedding and jackets…

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Heat Stroke

Dogs do not perspire the way humans do; in fact, the only sweat glands that they have are on the pads of their feet. Dogs pant to cool themselves. If the surrounding air is not considerably cooler than the animals’ body temperature – as in the case of a hot, stuffy automobile – the cooling…

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golden retriever puppy on snow covered ground during daytime

Epilepsy in Dogs

What is epilepsy? Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that causes dogs to have sudden, uncontrolled and recurring seizures. Dogs can have seizures because of trauma, exposure to toxins, brain tumors, genetic abnormalities, issues with the dog’s blood or organs, or for a number of other reasons. Other times, seizures may sometimes occur for unknown reasons…

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white long coat small dog

What to do if your pet is constipated?

Constipation is an obstruction of the colon with difficulty to pass dry, hard and firm faeces.  Obstipation is a severe obstruction with an inability to defaecate at all.  Clinical signs are:   Straining to defaecate and/or defaecating small amounts of dry hard firm stool Straining with small amounts of liquid stool Occasional vomiting and not…

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