Wingham and Valley Vets

22/01/2024

Have you heard about our Family Dog Course?

It's a dog training program where we aim to
teach owners how dogs think and learn,
the skills to keep dogs calm, engaged and focused, and how to build a long lasting, trusting relationship with their canine friends.

There are several places available in the upcoming February program so please call reception on 65570000 to enquire further.

14/12/2023

We are truly thankful for these beautiful Christmas gifts from one of our loveliest clients. They have brightened up our staffroom and consult room immensely and we just love them!! They are cleverly made from river pebbles and are absolutely lovely ❤

05/12/2023

URGENT PARVOVIRUS WARNING - PLEASE ENSURE YOUR DOGS' VACCINATIONS ARE UP TO DATE!!

We are unfortunately seeing a huge spike in parvovirus cases this December, some of them in dogs that have never left their property, living in homes that have never had parvovirus before. This means that the virus is unfortunately being brought home with their owners, likely on the soles of their shoes. Parvovirus must therefore be out there in the environment in public spaces, with no way of knowing where you could pick it up and take it home with you. It is an extremely long-lived virus, and can remain infectious for up to 7 years, under the right conditions, which is why it is such a nightmare for dog owners.

We have also seen parvovirus in adult dogs who have been previously vaccinated, but whose vaccines have now lapsed so it is essential your dog's C3 vaccination is kept up to date. We give a specific C3 vaccination that is highly effective and only needs to be administered every 3 years.

If your dog is overdue for their C3 vaccination please have them vaccinated urgently, as parvovirus is life-threatening and in some cases, dogs will die despite intensive care and many days in hospital. With parvovirus, prevention is paramount and breeders, please be extremely careful about hygiene and quarantine practices when handling your puppies who are still too young to be vaccinated or who haven't yet received all their C3 vaccinations. Luckily, once a pup has received their full course of C3 vaccinations, it is almost impossible that they will contract parvovirus.

Please share our post to ensure your friends and family know the risk and can take steps to ensure their dogs are protected.

29/11/2023

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make our Grand Opening Day a huge success!! We had a beautiful day welcoming hundreds of people through our new hospital, with a lot of fun and laughs as you will see in our photos! We are so grateful to the Wingham community for turning out in such big numbers to support our event - we hope you all had as much fun as we did!!!
Special and sincere thanks to:
- Wingham Rotary who came on the day and cooked our sausage sizzle for us - our town is so lucky to have such wonderful volunteers who donate their time so generously in service to the community
- Our amazing staff who have supported us through the entire build process and the transition to the new hospital, and who made the Open Day so fun for everyone by helping set up, bringing in their beautiful pets in for display and running all the games and activities on the day. We couldn't ask for better staff, we are truly grateful to have you all and you make the Wingham & Valley Vets the place it is today
- Lucas & Caitlyn Lyon who played their beautiful pipes and drums for us to enjoy - your music was lovely and we know you will make Wingham proud at the World Piping Championships!
- Snow & Sons Butchers & DW Quality Meats for supplying us with their delicious sausages
- Kat's Kakes Wingham for their amazing commemorative sponge cake
- Blake Ballard from Ballard's Backyards who not only keeps our grounds and lawns looking amazing, he helped us set up on Sunday and brought in some of his beautiful snakes for our visitors to see
It has been an incredibly busy year finalising the build and it was lovely to celebrate with you all! Thanks for the support and we hope you all enjoyed your visit to the new hospital 🐾🩺

21/11/2023

Thank you so much to our wonderful friends at Manning Veterinary Hospital for the absolutely beautiful flowers sent to welcome us into our new building. We really appreciate the wonderful supportive relationship between our practices ❤🐾

18/11/2023

Get Excited!! Only one more sleep until our Grand Opening Day from 12pm - 4pm tomorrow Sunday 19th November at 33 Isabella Street Wingham
Bring along the whole family for a wonderful day out! There will be fun for everyone with:
- hospital tours behind the scenes of our brand new building with interactive and interesting displays - see what your pets experience when they visit us!
- free sausage sizzle and cold refreshments - join us in the barn for 'last drinks' toasting the beautiful heritage pub that once stood on this site
- first 150 people to complete our hospital tour will get a showbag full of useful pet products, including free Nexgard flea and tick treatments
- everyone gets a ticket in the lucky door raffle - first prize is a $350 Wingham & Valley Vets gift voucher, other prizes include a skin care hamper, dental hamper, pet food hamper, pet toys and puppy hamper and a year's supply of Bravecto flea and tick for a cat and a dog!
- kids barn dance and disco from 2pm with zooper doopers at the end!
- cuddly animal farm
- free face painting and tattoos
- lots of games and fun activities

Hospital tours will run from 12:00pm - 2:30pm. After 2:30pm all remaining events will be down in the Barn for a big celebration.

We are looking forward to seeing you there!!

02/11/2023

We are very excited to announce that Wingham & Valley Vets have been awarded internationally-recognised ISFM Gold Cat-Friendly Clinic status, the highest possible accreditation. We are the only Gold-Accredited Veterinary Hospital between the Hunter Valley and Brisbane. The CFC program has been developed by the International Society of Feline Medicine and aims to promote well-being and high standards of care for all cats visiting or being hospitalised in a Veterinary clinic.

We wanted Cat-Friendly Accreditation so we can make sure that a trip to our clinic is as stress-free as possible for our cat patients and their caregivers. Cats can get very anxious when taken out of their usual environment, and this can make owners reluctant to seek veterinary attention when their cat needs it. By undertaking Cat Friendly Clinic accreditation, we’ve committed to delivering high standards of cat care, with compassion and expertise.

Benefits of accreditation:
An accredited clinic has to prove rigorous adherence to a set of criteria which includes provision of facilities and demonstration of staff activities and attitudes aimed at reducing stress in cats, both as in-patients and out-patients. The criteria includes having separate dog and cat waiting areas, feline-friendly hospitalisation cages (our cat patients just love our new cat condos!) and Veterinary equipment specifically for treating cats. Most importantly, staff are encouraged to approach and handle cats sensitively and respectfully. Clinics are expected to maintain high standards of veterinary care, including continuing to update their knowledge of feline medicine as new knowledge becomes available.

As part of the accreditation we are required to have a designated "Cat Advocate" staff-member, who ensures the hospital continues to uphold rigorous standards for cat handling and care each and every day🐈🐾🐱

26/10/2023

Save the date for our New Hospital's Grand Opening on Sunday 19th November from 12noon to 4pm! All are welcome to come and see inside our small animal hospital and large animal stable complex. Bring your friends and family for a fun afternoon in Wingham with lots to do!
- clinic tours & cute animals
- interesting Veterinary exhibits on display
- lucky door prizes and special treats for the first people through the doors
- free sausage sizzle and drinks
- facepainting
- Veterinary demonstrations
- kids scavenger hunt with lots of prizes
- goodie bags
- fun games
We will be having a barn dance from 2pm for the kids and any adults who love a good time, so bring the whole family along to christen our lovely new barn in style!
Share our post to go into the draw to win a $100 gift voucher! We will be sharing more information and updates in the coming weeks so be sure to like and follow our page so you are kept informed. We look forward to seeing you there! 🐾🐶🐱🐮🐷🐴🐰🐔

25/10/2023

A huge thank you to Barrier Signs for the amazing job they have done on our hospital gable signage! We are just thrilled with your work, it ties in perfectly with our beautiful heritage-style building. Barrier Signs were great, they worked with us to produce a design concept that suited the building and the town. Thanks again for your lovely work!

24/10/2023

We are feeling pretty chuffed that photos of our new hospital featured in a presentation on "Freshest Hospital Designs" at the Melbourne Vet Expo last week! It's great to see some Wingham style trendsetting in Melbourne 😂 The presentation detailed how Vet Hospitals don't have to be cold and clinical, and our hospital was used as an example of a 'fresh' design that is warm and inviting to help pets and owners feel relaxed and comforted 🐾

19/10/2023

We will always remember our first ever inpatient in the new hospital. Beautiful Tess was bitten by a snake on the long weekend as we were moving premises. Her owner did not see the snake, but she collapsed at home and he rushed her straight to us. Luckily for Tess, her owner encountered Dr. Zac in the carpark who saw Tess was in a critical condition and close to death and ran her inside where Dr. Alissa and Dr. Claire could help commence immediate resuscitation. Tess was non-responsive, had purple gums and was not breathing when she arrived at the hospital. Within 90 seconds three vets had Tess intubated so we could start ventilating her, and an intravenous cannula placed to administer fluids and life-saving antivenom. Tess was completely non-responsive with a faint heartbeat. We determined she had likely suffered a brown snake bite, as she was profoundly paralysed and could not breathe on her own, requiring manual ventilation for 2 hours.
After a third vial of antivenom Tess could twitch her feet and we started to see some return in breathing function, however after no further improvement we administered a fourth antivenom vial. To our delight, after this vial she started breathing on her own! Tess was not out of the woods at that point and needed a blood transfusion the following day. Of all the patients we have treated over the years, Tess has been the closest we have ever seen a dog come to death and survive. She is now back home with her adoring owners and we are so happy we could save her life - she is a beautiful girl who is incredibly loved by her family and by all the staff ❤ 🐾🐾🐾

12/10/2023

We are so grateful for the beautiful bouquets of flowers and the cards that clients have brought in to welcome us to our new hospital building. We feel very blessed to be part of such a wonderful, caring community. Our reception area was made all the lovelier with these gorgeous home-grown Hippeastrums. Thank you so much 😍💐

11/10/2023

We got very lucky when our wonderful new nurse Sheree decided to move her family from south of Sydney to the beautiful Manning Valley! Sheree is a highly trained Veterinary Nurse who brings with her a wonderful warm and caring personality, and a wealth of experience. We are very happy to have a gem like Sheree on our team. Welcome to Wingham & Valley Vets Sheree!! 🤩

29/09/2023

We received very exciting news late Friday afternoon - we were granted an occupation certificate for the new hospital!! We didn't have a lot of warning so we made the snap decision to move in overnight and this morning will be our first day operating from our wonderful new hospital building at 33 Isabella Street Wingham. Construction on our Equine Hospital is still ongoing, we are hopeful it will be finished by mid-October, but we are thrilled to be moving in!!

23/09/2023

🥛 Beautiful colostrum 🍼
First milk (colostrum) provides life-enriching nutrition, and antibodies from mum, to help fight off infection during the first few months of life.

This cute newborn Shire Horse foal, is only 6 hours old. A blood test was done that showed he had already absorbed enough antibodies from the first milk 😊

Sometimes a foal doesn't receive enough colostrum/antibodies, and we then administer a fluid called 'plasma' that provides antibodies to help boost the foal's immune system, and give the best start to life 🚑

Foals should be standing and having their first drink within 2 hours after birth. If it is taking much longer, they should be examined by the vet to see if they need extra help 🩺

19/09/2023

Continuing education and lifelong learning are central to our culture at Wingham & Valley Vets. When you know better, you do better! Our vets attend a weekly education meeting at the fabulous Garden Grub cafe. They discuss challenging cases and new treatment innovations, so their patients benefit from the expertise of a diverse Veterinary team with a breadth of knowledge and experience. We find this is invaluable for our Vets' professional development and greatly improves case outcomes and patient welfare. A huge thank you to Garden Grub for taking such good care of us and to all the wonderful Vets sharing their wisdom every week 🦉☕

16/09/2023

We adore our beautiful greyhound patients at Wingham & Valley Vets 😍 Make sure you get them along to the Great Global Greyhound Walk this Sunday 24th September 10am at Pebbly Beach Reserve in Forster. The walk is to show the world that sighthounds make great pets - we absolutely agree ❤

12/09/2023

This beautiful girl needed surgery with Dr Michael on both her knees to repair luxating patellas, a condition where the kneecap regularly pops out, causing lameness and instability in the stifle joint. Adequate pain relief was of paramount importance in this case given that both knees were repaired, so she could recover and regain her mobility quickly after the surgery. To keep her comfortable we used a multi-modal approach to pain relief that involved intravenous op**te infusions, anti-inflammatories and transdermal patches that provide pain relief through the skin. She spent a very comfortable night in hospital post-surgery - you can see her snuggled up with her cuddly toy after she recovered from anaesthetic - and she is now doing well at home. She has just had her 8-week post-op radiographs and is all cleared for full return to exercise. Well done Brave Girl ❤

11/09/2023

This gorgeous pup came in for vaccination with all their brothers and sisters and it was love at first sight. Truly we have a wonderful profession, even taking into account the rough days when life feels hard, we wouldn't change it for the world and it's a privilege to do what we do every day ❤🩺

18/08/2023

We wanted to give a very heartfelt and grateful thank you to all our amazing staff who tackled the huge challenge of changing Veterinary Practice software this week. The software implementers who were with us all week were so impressed with how positive, enthusiastic, constructive and helpful the staff were, handling the major changes with goodwill and optimism. Special mention goes out to our wonderful Reception team, who worked so hard to make the change as seamless as possible for our patients and clients. It is not an easy task to learn a new computer system and continue to perform an already busy and demanding Reception job, so we are truly grateful for all that you do.

We are also incredibly grateful to every lovely client who came in this week and was patient and understanding when we were a little slower than usual or when something wasn't quite right. The steepest learning curve is now behind us and we are looking forward to all the fantastic improvements in patient care that will come from having this new software 🐾

17/08/2023

Don't think it's possible for cats to be relaxed at the vet and enjoying their consult? Think again! With fear-free handling practices, lots of delicious treats and some Feliway pheromone spray, Uly was as relaxed and as confident as can be for his vaccination, even licking his lips after lapping up some creamy treats off the consult table. Vet visits don't have to be stressful and your cat's comfort should be a priority for Veterinary staff. We are working hard towards achieving IFSM Gold Standard Accreditation as a Cat-Friendly Clinic and the new Hospital has been designed with this goal in mind. Having a plethora of cat-loving staff really helps to set high standards in gentle cat-handling 🐱❤

16/08/2023

This little fellow turned up for his vaccination and bumped into his Doppelganger, who had only just arrived for his consult 😍

13/08/2023

Some major exciting changes are happening this week and no, we aren't moving into our new hospital building just yet, although that is just around the corner!!! We have made the decision to change our practice management software to a newer, more advanced program that has much greater capability and efficiency compared to our old software. This is a fairly major project for any practice, and especially one as busy as ours, but we feel it is important and will result in huge improvements in patient and client care. One feature of the change is a state of the art in-patient hospital management system which facilitates best-practice patient care and is utilised by many of the top referral hospitals.
It is just another way in which the staff and management are working hard to offer the best possible service to our patients and clients, so please bear with us this week and be understanding of our staff as they work through the implementation process and become proficient with the new software program. We will have software implementers and trainers in the practice all week working with the staff to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible and we are allowing a lot more time for each consultation, so hopefully hiccups will be few and far between. However, if you have any concerns or an error is made, please don't hesitate to reach out to us and we will ensure it is rectified.
Thank you very much for your understanding as we implement these changes to make the practice and your pets' experience as wonderful as possible 🩺🔧🐾

05/08/2023

Just when we thought this litter vaccination consult couldn't possibly get any cuter... the puppies started taking Mum for a walk 😍

04/08/2023

It is incredibly important your puppy's first visit to the vet is as positive and stress-free as possible. Every experience they have shapes their future behaviour and so we put in lots of effort to make our puppy patients feel relaxed and confident in the Vet Hospital environment. As a result, the vast majority of our young adult and older patients feel happy and confident coming in to the clinic. Some of the strategies we use are dog-appeasing pheromone diffusers, fear-free training for all staff in gentle handling techniques and lots of treats, cuddles and licky mats. You can't get much more relaxed than these gorgeous little mates! 🐾🐶❤

We are a small and large animal Vet practice that provides care focused on excellence & compassion.

31/07/2023

This lovely friendly fellow is safe and sound with us. He was found In Wingham, is anyone missing a beautiful Cockatiel?

31/07/2023

We are having issues with our phone connection this morning and are working hard to rectify this. Please phone on 0427 670 133. We are also here to assist you in person

25/07/2023

HENDRA POSITIVE CASE
Last week there was a positive Hendra Virus case in Newcastle – the second case in the Newcastle region. Hendra Virus is a deadly virus that horses contract through exposure to Flying Foxes and is also “zoonotic” which means humans can become infected with the virus with potentially fatal consequences. Over 50% of people infected with Hendra virus have died. The Manning Valley has a large population of Flying Foxes which have been shown to carry the virus and with cases both North and South of us, there is certainly risk to horses and people working with horses in this area.

Vaccination remains the best way to protect your horse and family from Hendra virus. Additional measures include avoid placing your horse’s feed and water sources below where bats roost to limit their exposure. For more information regarding the confirmed case and Hendra Virus in general please check the NSW DPI website. (https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/about-us/media-centre/releases/2023/general2/hendra-virus-confirmed-in-unvaccinated-horse-near-newcastle)

Please contact the clinic on 65570000 to organise Hendra vaccination for your horses.

11/07/2023

Gorgeous Miss Molly took a little tumble this week and broke her front leg! The vast majority of fractures in adult dogs require internal surgical repair with a bone plate for them to heal. Luckily in Miss Molly's case she is still a baby with excellent healing potential and the fracture is not seriously displaced, so we feel there is a good chance of it healing with a padded splint and rest. She didn't mind her trip to vets at all, with lots of love and cuddles.

10/07/2023

How lucky are we to be looking after these snuggling beauties 😍 Bengals are a truly beautiful cat and are always jam packed with quirky personality! We just love cats and we can't wait to move into our new hospital so our feline patients can benefit from a dedicated cat ward, cat-only consultation rooms and multi-level state of the art cat condos for hospitalised feline patients.
Our goal is for the new hospital to be ISFM Gold Accredited as a Cat Friendly Clinic. You can read more about how a Cat Friendly Clinic benefits your cat here: https://catfriendlyclinic.org/cat-owners/what-you-should-be-looking-for/