Newsletter2017-02-24T06:43:52+11:00

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Feeding Your Bunny

Most of us tend to feed our pet bunnies incorrectly with too much grain and too many treats. These diets contain too much starch and too much protein. We describe rabbits as herbivores which indeed they are but even more correctly they are “leafivores” or “foliagivores”.   In summary, RABBITS EAT GRASS. They need lots of fibre! Like horses and koalas, they have a large caecum where their food undergoes fermentative digestion producing volatile fatty acids. Digestible fibre is the primary source of energy here. Indigestible fibre has no nutrient value but is essential in promoting good gut motility, stimulating appetite and caecotroph ingestion (caecotrophs are soft faeces that rabbits pass, usually at night and which they ingest …. Yes, that’s right, they eat their poo! This is essential to help digestion). The hard pellets that we see in the [...]

GVH Staff Activities

The GVH family would like to extend a big welcome to our new vet Adele Lloyd. Adele comes from the UK where she completed an engineering degree. However, after meeting her Australian husband, she moved to Sydney to achieve her dream of qualifying as a veterinarian. She has 3 rescue dogs, and loves camping and 4 wheel driving. She also loves to travel having recently spent 4 weeks in Uganda with orphan chimps on the Jane Goodall Institute's Ngamba Island and at the USPCA (Ugandan version of our RSPCA) helping with the street dogs and cats. Jane Goodall is the English scientist who did ground breaking research on chimpanzee behaviour in Tanzania in the 1960’s, living with a group of the animals for several years. During her time in Uganda Adele also helped in a local school teaching kids about [...]

Diabetes

There are two types of diabetes which occur in both humans and our domestic pets. Diabetes insipidus (water diabetes) is relatively rare. Diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes) is common, and is the disease that most people are referring to when they simply say “diabetes”. Diabetes occurs very commonly in dogs; although it is somewhat less common in cats, we nevertheless diagnose feline diabetes quite frequently. Diabetes is a failure of the pancreas gland to produce enough insulin to regulate the body’s blood sugar levels. The food which is eaten is converted into simple sugars, but without insulin the sugar is unable to be utilised by the body’s cells. Consequently blood sugar levels become very high, but the cells are essentially being starved of the energy needed for metabolism. The patient loses weight while remaining very hungry. The glucose is passed out [...]

Kidney Disease

Kidney Disease What do kidneys do? Kidneys filter the blood and excrete waste products into the urine. They produce hormones for new red blood cell production (Erythropoeiten). They help control blood pressure. They retain water in the body and help keep electrolytes balanced.   What is chronic renal disease insufficiency? It is a slowly progressive disease that shows little obvious sign until the later stages. It particularly affects older cats, from middle-age onwards and occurs when areas of the kidneys slowly become damaged and die.   What causes chronic renal insufficiency in cats? Many things can impact on your cat’s health throughout its life which can affect kidney health. These include infections, inflammation, toxins which damage the kidney, urinary obstructions, cancers and some congenital conditions such as renal cysts.   What are the signs of chronic renal insufficiency? In the [...]

Injured Wildlife

Australia is renowned for its wide variety of native birds and wildlife. While a lot of these special creatures live outside the city, many also make homes in our backyards and surrounding areas. Like all creatures, native animals sometimes need veterinary help. So, what do you do if you find injured or possibly injured animals? One of the most important things to remember is that you should never place yourself at risk. Possums, in particular, and some birds have the potential to cause harm if you do not handle them correctly, especially if they are in pain. The second point to remember is to get the animals to the vet as soon as possible so that they can have immediate attention. The best way to handle wildlife is to use gardening gloves or a towel. It is a good idea [...]

Keeping Cats Indoors

It is becoming more common for cats to be kept entirely indoors. Indoor cats are protected from traffic accidents and injuries and diseases associated with fight wounds, their exposure to parasites such as fleas, ticks and ear mites is minimal and local wildlife is protected from predation. Cats that have pink noses and pale skin around their eyes and ears have a much lower risk of skin cancer if they are protected from the sun.   There are a number of things that you can do to keep your indoor cat happy.   Spend 20-30 minutes each day directly interacting with your cat – playing, grooming or cuddling.   Toys provide entertainment and exercise for your cat. There is a variety of cat toys available – from catnip-filled mice to treat balls. Cats also love playing with ping-pong balls and [...]

Bereavement

It is an unfortunate reality that the lifespans of our pets are much shorter than our own. It is inevitable for all pet owners that at some stage they will have to face the death of a much-loved companion. Grief over the loss of a pet has some particular features which can make it even more emotionally challenging than the death of a friend or relative. If you burst into tears at work because you have just lost your mother, your workmates are likely to rally around in a very caring and supportive way. If the same thing happens because you have just had to put your beloved 15 year old Labrador to sleep, you’ll be much less likely to receive a sympathetic hearing. The grief experienced over the loss of a pet is often made worse by the fact [...]

Kennel Cough

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. “Kennel cough” is an extremely contagious infection which causes tracheobronchitis (inflammation of the lining of the airways). The common name is something of a misnomer, since your dog doesn’t necessarily have to have been in kennels to contract it. Any contact with an infected dog can lead to development of clinical signs, up to 7 days later. The organisms responsible for the disease are spread through the air, so some dogs will get the infection even without leaving their own backyards. Nevertheless, the incidence is greater [...]

Cats and Heartworm

As those that own dogs would already be aware, heartworm is a worm that is transmitted by mosquitoes which lives in the dog’s heart. The worm actually requires to have spent some of its life in a mosquito in order to develop and grow. The mosquitoes that carry heartworm seem to preferentially prefer to feed on dogs than cats. So do cats get heartworm? The simple answer is yes, but at a much lower incidence than dogs. It is also more common in the USA than Australia. The cat is not a natural host for the heartworm, so the migrating larval worm injected by the mosquito is unlikely to find its way to the heart. The cat’s immune system is very reactive against heartworm so the larval worms are often killed and the worms never make it to adulthood. The [...]

High Blood Pressure – Cats Get It Too!

Early detection of high blood pressure in cats is vital, as there is little middle ground between asymptomatic cats with hypertension and those that present with major organ damage.   Causes of hypertension in cats are thought to be secondary to another disease process.   The most common cause in cats is chronic renal insufficiency and hyperthyroidism. One out of five cats with chronic renal insufficiency have high blood pressure!   Clinical signs of hypertension are very serious and include retinal detachment, blindness, retinal haemorrhage, seizures, incoordination, heart murmur, congestive heart failure, bleeding noses and progression of chronic renal insufficiency.   Measuring blood pressure is relatively straight forward in cats, and can be done in the consult environment. Control of blood pressure is achievable with correction/management of the underlying disease if possible, and medication to reduce the blood pressure to [...]

Cats and Hairballs

As you would have noticed, cats spend a considerable amount of time grooming their coat. If excessive hair is swallowed (for instance in long-haired cats or in cats that over groom) then hair may build up over time in the stomach to form a hairball. Cats with a hairball will often retch or vomit to try to eliminate it.   If a cat is suspected of having a hairball then paraffin oil-based feline laxatives (eg Cat-Lax, Laxapet) can be given to try to get the fur to pass through the gut.   However, these should not be given over extended periods of time as they can lead to a deficiency of fat-soluble vitamins.   With cats that are prone to hairballs, frequent brushing can reduce the amount of hair that is swallowed.   This is often not sufficient and in [...]

Heartworm Disease

Do I Really Need to Protect My Dog? Heartworm disease is caused by a parasite that is spread by mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites a dog with heartworm, it becomes infected. Your dog becomes infected when an infected mosquito bites it. As Sydney has a humid climate with plenty of mosquitoes, there are lots of infected dogs. So, yes, it is very important that your dog is protected against heartworm disease. What Happens In Heartworm Disease? Once the mosquito has bitten, the tiny parasite larvae migrate under the skin of your dog and undergo a maturation process, eventually ending up in the heart, hence the name heartworm. Most dogs with heartworm disease do not show any clinical signs. However, the damage caused by the presence of the worms within the heart, if left untreated, results in severe disease and heart [...]

Kidney Disease in Cats

What do kidneys do? Kidneys filter the blood and excrete waste products into the urine. They produce hormones for new red blood cell production (Erythropoeiten). They help control blood pressure. They retain water in the body and help keep electrolytes balanced.   What is chronic renal disease insufficiency? It is a slowly progressive disease that shows little obvious sign until the later stages. It particularly affects older cats, from middle-age onwards and occurs when areas of the kidneys slowly become damaged and die.   What causes chronic renal insufficiency in cats? Many things can impact on your cat’s health throughout its life which can affect kidney health. These include infections, inflammation, toxins which damage the kidney, urinary obstructions, cancers and some congenital conditions such as renal cysts.   What are the signs of chronic renal insufficiency? In the early stages [...]

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