Hello, My name is Jo. I’m one of six Veterinary Nurses working at Gladesville Veterinary Hospital.   Vet nursing is a wonderful career because you get to work up close and personal with the animals.   Some animals are patients needing extra love and care, and lots of dedication from nurses. Other animals are boarders [...]

Dear Alex,   Sometimes my owner buys me kangaroo meat from the supermarket. I love it, but I am worried about the preservatives in it. Are preservatives harmful for dogs and cats? Rover (4- year-old Border Collie)     Dear Rover,   Most food preservatives are safe for pets – in fact they keep pet [...]

It is very common today to pick up a newspaper or watch the TV news and see a report on the link between human diabetes and obesity, which is increasing in prevalence. It is the same case for cats and dogs. Diabetes is a lack of the hormone insulin, which regulates glucose in the body. [...]

Two or three times a year, we experience a mini-epidemic of kennel cough. People whose dogs come down with the disease often query why this should be so when they have had their dogs routinely vaccinated against kennel cough.   So we thought it was timely to clear up a few misconceptions about this disease. [...]

We regularly treat native wildlife at Gladesville Vet Hospital and this summer we seem to have seen more injured flying foxes (also known as fruit bats) than ever before. Most of these injuries are caused by humans and with some forethought can be easily prevented.   Grey Headed Flying Foxes are classified as a Vulnerable [...]

For years most cross breed dogs were Heinz varieties with multiple ingredients and unplanned births. In recent times there has been a trend to design cross breeds by combining 2 breeds to give a new variety such as a labradoodle, schnoodle, pugalier, even a shitpoo (probably best called a zoodle) and so on. The result [...]

Those of you who have had a massage would know what a trigger point is. They are very localised, tender ‘knots’ that can be found in any muscle of the body. The affected areas of muscle are contractured (the muscle has fatigued or run out of energy and so cannot relax). Trigger points may just [...]

Every dog and cat should be vaccinated annually. These vaccinations are vital to maintain immunity against easily transmissible life threatening diseases. A puppy or kitten course does not maintain lifelong immunity, nor do infrequent boosters.   Core dog vaccinations include parvovirus, infectious hepatitis, distemper (these cause severe systemic disease and are often fatal) and 2 [...]

Everyone at GVH extends a big "welcome" to our newest vet, Karina Creighton. Despite being a Sydney girl, Karina chose to do her veterinary degree through Melbourne University, recently graduating from there with flying colours. Thankfully for us, she has decided to wend her way back north with her two cats, Caspar and Cleo, and [...]