Alex B House Sitter

26/01/2025

Meet Tex the Maltese x shih tzu🥰 it was lovely looking after him for the week. This little one be making more appearances through the year!

21/01/2025

In of honour of Diva PLEASE read 🙏

For those who don’t know Diva is a pony that had gotten colic during the time I was looking after her. Unfortunately after a few days her owners came back she had pass

Understanding Equine Colic: Signs, Prevention, and When Surgery May Be Needed 🩺

Colic is one of the most common and potentially serious health issues in horses. It refers to abdominal pain caused by various factors, ranging from gas buildup, obstructions, or more severe conditions like intestinal twists. Here’s what you need to know:

🐴 Signs of Colic in Horses
• Restlessness or pawing at the ground
• Looking at or biting their flank
• Frequent lying down and getting up
• Loss of appetite
• Sweating or laboured breathing
• Rolling excessively

🔍 What Causes Colic?
Common causes include changes in diet, dehydration, parasites, stress, and lack of regular exercise. Regular dental checkups, proper feeding schedules, and clean water access can reduce the risk of colic.

⛑️ Immediate Actions
If your horse shows signs of colic, contact your veterinarian immediately. Early intervention can often prevent the need for more invasive treatment.

🏥 Specialised Care for Severe Cases
In more complex cases, hospitalisation may be necessary. Veterinary assessment plays a vital role in diagnosing and treating colic cases. Advanced diagnostic tools are often used to determine the best course of action in more severe cases. Roseworthy Veterinary Hospital has an exemplary team of veterinarians, specialists and nurses to care for your horse 24/7.

🩺 When is Surgery Needed?
In severe cases, such as a displaced or twisted intestine or a severe obstruction, surgery may be the only option to save your horse’s life. While the idea of surgery can be daunting, it’s important to know that colic surgery has an overall success rate of 70–90%, depending on the severity of the condition and how quickly treatment begins. Many horses go on to live happy, healthy lives post-surgery!

💡 Prevention Tips
• Feed a consistent, high-fibre diet
• Ensure your horse has clean, fresh water at all times
• Minimize stress during travel or changes in routine
• Keep up with regular veterinary care and parasite control

Your horse’s health is our priority. Recognizing the signs of colic early and seeking professional help can make all the difference. 🐎💙

Dr Olivier Simon was one of the authors on the following paper: "Factors that influence owner consent for exploratory laparotomy in horses with colic in Australia and New Zealand", highlighting that improved owner education on survival rates is beneficial when considering a surgical exploratory laparotomy.
Link to paper: https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/evj.13868

*Image Credit: ©Steve Bardens

20/01/2025

17/01/2025

No rest of the wicked! Now it’s Bundy’s turn for the weekend🥰

Old photo

16/01/2025

Look at that face 😍

16/01/2025

What best way to spend our last night together? The dog park!! It was very busy this evening but all owners and dogs were well behaved. She ignored everyone and focused on her ball like the good girl she is 🥰

14/01/2025

Don’t even get alone time on the toilet😂

06/01/2025

A very good read!

VET TALK TUESDAY

CAN I CATCH WORMS FROM MY PET?

Intestinal worms in dogs, cats, puppies and kittens are very common, and they can cause some serious illness in humans. “Allwormers” from veterinary clinics control infection in dogs and cats for the five main intestinal parasites which are:

• Roundworms

- Mainly from faeces, causes nodules in humans which contain larvae of the parasite.
- Nodules occur in liver, lungs, kidneys and brain, sometimes affects eyes requiring removal.
- Soil can be contaminated with parasite eggs, pregnant and lactating bi***es often heavily infected. Soils in parks and playgrounds can be contaminated where children play. Also infection via contaminated cat litter boxes if hygiene poor.

• Whipworms

- Direct transmission between dogs and humans is rare because the species differ..

• Hookworms

- Infection in humans causes “cutaneous larvae migrans” – an intensely itchy red and inflamed eruption in human skin. Lungs can also be invaded.
- Believed approx 50% infections occur at the beach.
- Humans can also get enteritis from adult hookworms. Signs include abdominal pain.
- Humans are infected by larvae via the skin (barefeet in gardens and beaches, parks and playgrounds).

• Tapeworms

- Develops in fleas and lice. Pets and children infected by ingestion of insects. Tapeworm develops in the gut of humans. Tapeworm segments exit our pets and humans from a**s in the faeces, and also empty eggs which can be ingested. Young children are particularly at risk. The eggs hatch, embryo enters wall of intestine and migrates to organs such as liver, skeletal muscle and heart.

• Hydatid (Echinococcus)

-The hydatid tapeworm (Echinococcus granulosus) poses a more serious risk compared to common tapeworms like Dipylidium caninum. It can infect humans and cause a condition known as hydatid disease or echinococcosis, which can have severe health consequences.
- When humans ingest Echinococcus eggs, the larvae can travel through the bloodstream and form hydatid cysts in organs such as the liver, lungs, brain, or other tissues.

Symptoms: The symptoms depend on the location and size of the cysts and may include:
▪ Abdominal pain or swelling.
▪ Cough, chest pain, or difficulty breathing (if cysts are in the lungs).
▪ Neurological issues or headaches (if cysts are in the brain).

Complications: If a cyst ruptures, it can cause severe allergic reactions or secondary infections.

Many supermarket brands only cover 2 or 3 of the parasites, commonly leaving out tapeworm coverage. Check all labels to ensure your pet is covered.

Don’t forget that tapeworms are also connected with the flea cycle – so if you are seeing either worms in poo, eggs around bottoms, or fleas on your pets, you must worm and flea treat your pet to break the cycle.

We recommend good personal hygiene at home, washing hands after playing or handling pets, plus regular intestinal worming of adult pets every 3 months (more often for farm pets, pregnant or lactating bi***es, puppies and kittens).

Please speak to your pharmacist about products for intestinal parasite control for the family.

06/01/2025

Don’t know what I did to get the cold shoulder but I did something!

04/01/2025

It’s going to be a hot this weekend (Saturday – Sunday). 🥵

Stay hydrated, check in with friends and family and never leave children or pets in parked cars.

🌞 For tips on how to keep cool, visit ses.sa.gov.au/heatwave

03/01/2025

Such a special girl 🐶

31/12/2024

Today Frankie is turning 5!

It’s hard to believe I’ve known her since she was a little puppy ❤️🐶

31/12/2024

25/12/2024

Frankie would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to hope you make 2025 your year

🎄🐶❤️

24/12/2024

Frankie in her Christmas jammies🥰

Wasn’t impressed I don’t think😂

19/12/2024

She does have her genius moments. Using one of her toys as a pillow 😆

19/12/2024

Favourite snack in the world!! 🍟+ 🐶 = ❤️

18/12/2024

Instead of a walk we went to a dog park, 10 minute drive away, to throw the tennis ball.

Frankie loves her tennis balls. Unfortunately she doesn’t know when to stop so I’m the bad guy and make her take breaks in between 🤭