Duncan McGinness Veterinary Surgeon

14/11/2025

Resharing this oldie!
In light of our recent snake post we did, it reminded us of our best reached post still to this day which was shared 10 years ago!
Let us know below if you have Guinea Fowls who keep the snakes away. 🐍🦃

Snakes beware!
There’s a new security system in and around Dubbo!
Guinea fowl can’t stand snakes, and play an active role in reducing the numbers of venomous snakes in house yards on properties (unfortunately they are too noisy for in town). Jodie had 16 venomous snake visitors in the house yard during ONE summer a few years ago which was really stressful.
After introducing Guinea fowl onto the property, only 1 snake was known to have visited in the last 3 years. Initially the pair of guinea fowl purchased need 2-3 months locked up in an enclosure to ensure they stay around the property. They can then be let out to wander during the day, returning to their enclosure at night to roost. Eventually they find trees to roost in at night which gives them a safe haven from foxes. During the night they will set of an alarm call if foxes or stray dogs come close to their roosting site which is great if the roost site is near your chicken coup. They patrol their territory during the day and actively harass any
snakes they encounter which appear to decrease unwanted snakes entering the house yard. Please phone the clinic for further information.

12/11/2025

SNAKES ARE OUT AND ABOUT
With this warmer weather the snakes are well and truly out.
Depending on the type of snake your pet can show different signs, these could be:
- Weak, wobbly back legs
- Cats lying on side flicking tail tip, glazed eyes
- They could collapse and then get back up again and seem fine
- Paralysis
- Vomiting or increased salivation
- Bloody urine
- We DO NOT often see a bite site, however sometimes you may see localised swelling which can indicate the bite site.
If concerned, contact the surgery directly on 02 6884 9900 or call your nearest AFTER HOURS EMERGENCY clinic. ALWAYS call first so the clinic can be prepared and give you the best advice for the fastest help.

Head to our website to read more about snake bites.
https://www.dmvs.com.au/pet-care-tips/2017/10/15/snakes

10/11/2025

On the daily we are seeing multiple pets present with grass seeds. In their skin, between their toes, in their ears, eyes and nose. Unfortunately with our lovely spring weather brings out these problem grass seeds.
Dusty here was out with his owner and found himself covered in many grass seeds that the owner removed from his coat. That same day he started coughing, a hacking cough trying to bring something up. It seemed to get a bit better and less frequent however didn’t fully go away, so he presented to the clinic. He otherwise checked over as a healthy happy dog, on examining the mouth no grass seed could be spotted so the only way to thoroughly check was to put him under anaesthetic. Once he was under we used an laryngoscope to look further to the back of his throat which there sitting was a tiny prong of a grass seed. We completed a full exam with the endoscope to look down further and no more was found.
Even though it was so small you could imagine how annoying this would be to have lodged in the back of your throat, and no more reports of Dusty coughing since!

Please head to our website link below to read more about grass seeds in your pets.
https://www.dmvs.com.au/pet-care-tips/2017/10/15/grass-seeds

07/11/2025

Today we had a lovely little visitor Stephanie Kim and today is her 19th Birthday!! 🎈

What a privilege to see our patients at all stages throughout their life.

Is she our oldest dog? Let us know in the comments how old your pet is?

30/10/2025

How are we so lucky to see all these adorable puppies? 🐶💛

Our October Puppy Preschool was another great one — full of wagging tails, happy faces, and lots of learning!

Head to our website for more information about our classes or give us a call to book your puppy into the next one. 🐾

👉 https://www.dmvs.com.au/puppy-preschool

18/09/2025

A Day in the Life of a Rock-Eating Bandit 🐾
Recently, nurse Lauren noticed something unusual with her dog Bandit — he hadn’t touched most of his dinner and showed little interest in food, which is very out of character for him. When she placed him in his bedtime carrier, she found vomit inside, and then also spotted a few more vomits around the yard — one containing a rock. (Yes, Bandit has a known history of foreign body ingestion... 😅)
She checked his gums which were tacky, he was mildly dehydrated with a skin tent, and he showed abdominal tension, especially in the cranial region. While palpating his abdomen, he even vomited bile — and unusually, allowed himself to be held for 15 minutes without protest (As a very excitable 1year old Jack Russell, this was a clear sign something was wrong).
Abdominal radiographs confirmed the presence of what appeared to be a rock in the gastrointestinal tract. Bandit was placed on IV fluids, and we planned to repeat X-rays to monitor its movement and decide whether surgical intervention (exploratory laparotomy) would be necessary.
Over the next several hours, radiographs showed the object moving progressively along the GI tract, nearing the re**um. We administered a microlax e***a in the hopes it would assist in passing the object naturally — and while he passed some stool, the rock remained lodged.
We decided to proceed with sedation, and our amazing team was able to manually remove the foreign body rectally — no surgery required! A few days of soft food and he’s on the mend.
No more earrings rocks please Bandit!!

❌🐶🪨

16/09/2025

A few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to celebrate the wedding of our long-time Nurse Emily to Nick 💍 It was such a special day to witness and celebrate with Emily after her 13 years of dedication at DMVS. We wish you both a lifetime of health and happiness together. 💐

You also may spot in the photo why Dr Megan has been missing from the clinic 😉 We’re so excited for this next chapter for Megan and Josh with the arrival of little baby Heather. She’s already a favourite visitor at DMVS. 👶❤️

08/09/2025

Our August Puppy Preschool Graduates 🎓 🐶 🐾
Another bunch eager to learn, Puppy Preschool classes teach puppies (and owners) the importance of socialisation at a young age and how these essential skills follow them throughout their life.
Please head to our website for more information on our classes or give us a call to book in.

04/09/2025

Our phones are currently down.
Please call us on any of the following during business hours- 0460 407 599 or 0418 638 380 or 0429 441 192

Our business hours are Monday - Friday 8:30am-6pm, and Saturday 8:30am - 1pm.

Unfortunately this phone issue may be going on for some time while we install our new phone system and retrieve our existing phone numbers, so please hang in there with us 😭

📞 ☎️ 📱

29/08/2025

We have had a number of phone issues the past few months and we apologise for any inconvenience if you have struggled to get through at times.
If you have any issues reaching us on our normal line 0268849900 please call on 0268827637 or 0460407599 and we hope you can be answered.
Although our phone system isn’t quite as old as the one pictured, it’s done it’s time and we hope to have a new phone system (with no issues!) all set up very soon.

Thank you for your understanding ☎️ 📱

22/08/2025

The clinic will be CLOSED tomorrow/for the weekend. We reopen on Monday as normal.

In the unfortunate circumstances you require a Vet over the weekend please contact Orana Veterinary Services or one of the other clinics in town.

Sorry for any inconvenience and we hope you all have a good weekend 🐾