Gemima post dental photo

Just couldn’t resist snapping a photo of Gemima, a very cute 8 year old pomeranian who came in for a dental today. Looking still very sleepy after her anaesthetic.

 

Update on Puppies

As was requested, here’s some pics of nurse Victoria’s mini dachshund puppies at 6 weeks old. By this time, they were running around, practicing their barks, whines, and cute puppy-dog eyes, and getting into a lot of mischief while looking ultra-adorable. The dapple girl is staying with the breeder, but the other two black and tan girls are now happy and settled in their new homes.

City To Surf Planning

All of us at the vet clinic are planning to do the City to Surf on Sunday the 25th March. Check out our new t-shirts with the vet logo. Should be a good day, but a shame we can’t all bring our dogs to tire them out on the 10km walk/jog!

Ouch! I bounced off the couch!

Little Pomeranian Teddy came into our clinic with a very twisted looking foot after jumping from his owner’s arms, bouncing onto the sofa, and onto the floor. We immediately took him in and gave him pain relief and put him on IV fluid therapy for shock. When he was stable we sedated him for x-rays. The first x-ray view did not show any breaks, but a dislocated wrist area, which the vet manipulated and popped back into place. Here’s the x-ray below.

The second x-ray we took showed a fracture of the Radius and Ulna bones! As it was a pretty clean break, we put his leg in a cast. In another month’s time, it sh0uld be all nicely healed, as long as Teddy doesn’t do any more jumping!

Happy New Year Puppies

Gemma is a miniature dachshund who belongs to one of our vet nurses. In late December, she had a cesearian and 3 lovely female puppies were the result! Here’s a photo of them at 1 week old. They are very healthy and chubby little pups without a care in the world except for drinking milk, sleeping, and growing. Their eyes are closed at the moment, they should open around 10-12 days old.   We will post more photos of their growth and development.

Merry Christmas From At The Vets!

Christmas is only 3 sleeps away! And all of us at the vet clinic are looking forward to some sunny days off to spend with friends, family, and our pets. We are closed on the 25th, 26th, and 27th of December, and on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of January. Otherwise, opening hours are as normal (Mon-Fri 7:30am-7pm and Sat 9am-1pm, closed on Sundays)

 

Fluffy Christmas dog toys

Christmas is only a few sleeps away, and Domino the miniature dachshund has received and destroyed his first Christmas teddy! Lots and lots of fluffy stuffing came out, then the squeaker. It was so much serious fun for him, it was almost worth the rag at the end. Just a note of caution if you are buying xmas toys for your pet, watch them with it to make sure they do not swallow the stuffing! (Domino did swallow some stuffing and his droppings came out all fuzzy….funny to talk about now, but he was lucky it did not block in his intestines.) Maybe we will try just edible treats in his stocking next year!

Hit by car cat, where are your owners?

This afternoon 3 young women came in with a cat wrapped in a blanket. They told us they had accidentally run it over with their car.

So, what happens at a vet clinic when someone brings in a cat/dog that’s been injured and there is no name tag or microchip for us to find the owner?

Firstly we dealt with the comfort of the cat. Assessed it’s pain. It’s a young female cat, she can’t walk and looks like it may have a broken pelvis. So we gave her pain relief and a tiny bit of sedative.  Then, we called the SPCA. The SPCA agreed to fund us some money to treat the cat with fluids (for shock and dehydration), pain relief, and vet assessment. So, we are going to keep her comfortable overnight and hope that her owners ring around the vet clinics and look for her. Otherwise, we might call other vet clinics around Christchurch tomorrow and see if anyone has reported a young female tabby missing. In cases like this, you can see why it is so useful to just microchip your pets.

Keep your Pet Safe during Guy Fawkes

Guy Fawkes can be a scary time for pets, there are loud bangs, crackles, and big bursts of light in the sky. The SPCA have released a checklist of things we can do to minimise their anxiety and prevent any runaways during fireworks time.

SPCA Auckland’s Guy Fawkes Checklist:

1. Stay home with your pet – they’ll be less stressed with someone they trust
close by.

2.Keep them indoors – where they won’t see the flashes and the bangs will be
muffled. Close doors and windows and draw the curtains.

3. Put a collar and registration tag on your dog – if your dog panics and bolts,
it will help rescuers reunite you.

4. Move horses and farm animals away from fireworks – and make sure all fences
are secure. Stable horses where possible.

5. Take special care of elderly or nervous pets – consult your vet for the best
advice on keeping them calm.

6. If your animal goes missing, please contact your local vet clinics and SPCA,
and register your lost pet at www.petsonthenet.co.nz.

Only try this on a really chilled out pet…

But here are some cute pics of pets all dressed up for Halloween… Did you dress your pet?

Billy the Brave Bunny

Billy’s concerned owners brought him into our clinic when they found he couldn’t use his back legs.  After some xrays and tests that ruled out any broken bones, we told his owners that he may or may not gradually recover the use of his back legs. They were keen to hope for the best, and he has stayed at our clinic having all his needs cared for by the nurses and vets. He’d been with us for a few days when we had a great idea! Why not ask Elena (our animal physiotherapist) if she could do some physio and laser treatment on him? So far, Billy has had 3 treatments of physio and laser therapy, and he is slowly but surely improving! He now has withdrawal reflex in his back legs, and is gaining a bit more strength in them too. Elena has taught the nurses some exercises they can do with Billy a few times a day to help strengthen his muscles. We have all fallen in love with this brave little bunny, he’s sweet and friendly and will shuffle his way towards you, especially if you have some dandilion leaves! We will be updating our blog about his progress, and we all have our fingers crossed for his recovery.

Mrs Bird

Mrs Bird had a nasty mass removed from her abdomen yesterday, Nicki our Veterinary pathologist is looking at the cells today to see what it may have been. The surgery went smoothly and we kept her nice and warm post op, so she has recovered well. It took us a rather long time last night to sort out Mrs Bird’s head collar so she can’t peck her stitches,  but we finally made one out of x-ray film!

Update on Mrs Bird

We saw Mrs Bird again earlier in the week for the removal of her stitches. She has recovered very well from her surgery and her surgical area has healed nicely. Yay!