Walcha Vet Clinic is a caring and reliable team that respects and values animal health, welfare and production.
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Bad teeth are not the only thing that causes smelly breath, not eating well and sore mouths! This is why it is so important to have these changes investigated properly🔎. For a proper, full oral exam, most dogs and cats have to be sedated or put under anaesthetic - especially if they are very painful. Both of these dogs were found to have oral tumours, one under the tongue and one right at the back of the mouth.
In the last week we have had a few cases of Grass Tetany crop up 🌱. Grass Tetany is a complex disorder, but mainly and most commonly due to low Magnesium levels. Generally, young grass has lower magnesium levels than older grass. It's a good idea to be checking stock regularly, have some preventative measures in place and have treatment on hand if need be, just give us a call! Please keep letting us know of cases too!
This cat had quite the impressive tumour growing on his tail! It was growing reasonably quickly and starting to really smell - not ideal if you are trying to cuddle up during miserable weather!
A tail amputation was performed, and he is much happier and won't have his tumour bothering him anymore.
Sudden, unintentional weight loss in our animals should always be investigated. This dog was rapidly losing weight, despite still eating the same and being up to date with worming. On clinical exam we could quickly see the problem! His left upper canine was broken and very badly infected. Infections can increase the body's metabolic rate hugely. This canine was removed under general anaesthetic and the large hole left stitched up. He should be feeling much more comfortable and start putting weight back on now that the infection source has been removed.
MICROCHIPS! Recently there have been a lot of strays being dropped off at the clinic. Some have microchips, but often the information is not current or up to date, making it impossible to contact the owners. Please ensure your pets microchip details are up to date; it really could be the difference between them coming home or not. It also makes it easy for us or other clinics to contact you if the animal has been found injured. We can easily scan them and check the details in clinic - just let us know when here. If your pet is not already microchipped it is a wise decision to strongly consider getting them done too.
These little chips make reunions possible (in the last few weeks we have reunited two cats back with their owners, one who was lost for 3 months and one who was lost for a few years!).
Congratulations to one of our lovely clients Robyn Scully on winning the 6 pack of NexGard Spectra and the jar of lollies! Robyn's guess of 40 was the closest to the actual number of "worms" - there were 36!
August is National Pet Dental Health Month! To highlight the importance of our pet's dental health we are running a colouring competition over August (ending 31 August). We have some great dental treats for our pets available for the top three entries! Let us know if you would like the PDF version emailed for printing or fetch a copy from the clinic!
These lil cuties come in for their first vaccination and microchip. Do you need a Bluey in your house? Call the clinic for details.
Most people balk at the idea of a dog or cat having to wear a "cone of shame" after surgery. Unfortunately, if they aren't put on when animals are licking and chewing at wounds, this is the result. A wound breakdown and infection. These can be life threatening if not treated promptly and appropriately (particularly after a spey), and result in added discomfort for the pet too. Most pets don't touch their surgery sites, a few have a bit of a lick and the occasional one gives it a very good go - like this girl did.
Not only dogs get bad teeth! This cat was not eating her bickies anymore and pawing at her face a lot. These back teeth pictured were so infected and basically rotting in her mouth, causing extreme pain. After a dental where she had problem teeth removed and the rest of her teeth cleaned, she is back to her old self and eating like a champion again!
Brrrr! 🥶🥶 With winter well and truly upon us this week, we have put together some handy tips for keeping the four legged animals in our lives comfortable!
If anyone is looking for a LOVELY, smoochy cat - this is your girl! She is tabby and white, desexed and ready for a loving home of her own 🏠🩷. Give us a call if you are interested in her!
Not just a scab unfortunately! These lesions on non-pigmented skin (pink skin) are unfortunately often a Squamous cell carcinoma. It is a relatively common tumour of the skin, nose, mouth or around the eyes in the cat. It has been associated with ultraviolet light exposure of unpigmented skin so basically the equivalent of a type of 🌞cancer. It is a tumour that often affects the older cat.
This cat came in to have the tumour frozen off with liquid nitrogen (known as cryotherapy) under general anaesthetic. This helps stop or at least slow the growth of the tumour. Intervention early is often required as these can get pretty bad pretty quick, eating away at the face. We see similar lesions in sheep and horses too!
World Zoonoses Day is tomorrow! Many 🪱worms🪱 that infest dogs and cats are zoonotic, meaning they can be transmitted to us humans. This is another reason to keep our pets up to date with worming! We currently have a jar of "worms" to guess the number of. The closest or correct guess will win a six pack of NexGard Spectra and the jar of snakes.
Read our latest newsletter here!
It has been a while since we last shared a good abscess video! Enjoy to those who love them, sorry to those that don't! This fella felt HEAPS better with this pressure drained off of the side of his face.
We recently had a cryptorchid dog in for desexing. A cryptorchid means there is a failure of one or both testicles descending into the sc***um. This one only had one testicle descended. The other one (the smaller one) was still in his abdomen! Testicles start their lives near the kidney and descend into the sc***um by about 2 months of age (most are there much earlier). It is one of the things we check for at puppy vaccinations!
A dog without any or only one testicle descended should be desexed for a number of reasons:
-->The internal testicle is more likely to develop testicular cancer
-->It is an inherited defect so they should not be bred to remove the defect from the breed line
-->The retained testicle can twist, causing excruciating pain and requiring emergency surgery to correct
Our friends at Boehringer Ingelheim are running a special program at the moment. For every purchase of a NexGuard Spectra for cats you get an entry to be in with a chance of winning 1 of 4 exclusive experiences at Taronga Zoo for 4 adults (valued at $10,500) or other minor prizes. They are also donating $50,000 to the Taronga Conservation Society Australia.
A reminder that the new NexGuard Spectra spot on for cats is the most complete parasite protection in an easy monthly application. Let's keep our household tigers free from parasites! 🐯🐯
We, like most of the businesses in town this morning, were absolutely spoilt with our morning tea today! Jenny (who helps us at the clinic whenever we need) and her team do an such an amazing job for a great cause. If anyone hasn't donated yet we have popped the QR code here too 🌻
With the weather cooling down, a few mice are starting to try move into warmer places, which results in more ratbait being put out. Unfortunately, this usually results in secondary poisonings in our pets and work dogs. It is a good idea to get into the habit of checking gum colour to see what is normal. Pale gums like these need to be investigated very quickly as it means there is not a lot of red blood cells left in the body.
The clinic will be closed tomorrow (Monday the 10th of June) for the public holiday. As always there is a vet on call for 🛑 emergencies only 🛑. Please call 6️⃣7️⃣7️⃣7️⃣2️⃣3️⃣0️⃣2️⃣ and listen to the message to get the vets details. Hope you all enjoy your long weekend!
These are all paralysis ticks! Just at different stages of fill (from sucking on our pets' blood). You can tell because the ticks legs are all at the front (the most reliable identifier of a paralysis tick).
In the last week we have had four animals in the hospital for treatment of tick paralysis (three dogs and one cat). While we don't get ticks in Walcha itself, we have clients from tick areas and who travel to tick areas for work or holidays. It is a good reminder that ticks are still out and about! Prevention is MUCH cheaper than treatment! There are many preventative options available now days so give us a call to work out what will best suit you and your animals!
Read our May Newsletter here! We cover desexing in dogs and PPID in horses 🐕🐎
We are sure this cow feels a bit better without this cancer on her tail anymore! A surgical tail amputation was performed to remove the tail along with the tumour. She is a PTIC cow, so worth getting it off before calving so she can do her job calving and raising her calf without the tumour weighing her down!
We have a client needing to rehome these two lovely adult cats. The tortie is a female and the grey and white a male. Both are desexed and vaccinated. They are loved, inside cats. Please give us a call if you are interested in either (or both) of them. 🐾❤️
Nurofen 💊 a very useful anti-inflammatory that us humans use for aches and pains. However, it is TOXIC to dogs and cats! Nurofen causes major damage to dogs and cats kidneys - damage which is irreversible if not treated quickly and properly.
We recently had a case where a dog ate an entire box of Nurofen Zavance (not a wise choice on her behalf!). Her initial blood work showed kidney changes (meaning her kidneys were failing and not removing the toxins from her blood stream). After 48 hours on a drip to support the kidneys and flush the system she went home, but we would not know if the kidney damage was permanent until follow up blood work two weeks later. Her most recent blood test shows that the kidney damage was not permanent, and the kidneys are working as they should again - which is a huge relief for patient, owners and us at the clinic! 🐾
FOUND! Black and white bitch with beige collar on. No microchip. She is safe at the clinic, give us a call if she is yours or you know who she belongs to! 🐾
Did you know older entire dogs can get an enlarged prostate? It can start causing them problems by not letting faeces past the enlargement or making them strain like they are constipated due to it feeling like they need to go.
This dog's prostate was so large it was pressing the colon down to more than half the size (compare the two blue arrows, the one over the bladder is normal colon sized, and over the prostate is much smaller, making defecation very difficult and painful).
The best treatment for this is castration, as the removal of the testosterone supply reduces the prostatic enlargement. Other conditions like prostatic cancer and infections can cause this too, but usually come with other clinical signs.
These conditions are some of the good reasons to strongly consider castrating your dogs. ⚽️🏀⚾️🥎
Training your dog is an important part of ownership! There are many benefits to having a well-trained and socialized pet. While we don't offer training or puppy classes, one of our clients runs these fabulous courses. Please contact them directly (details on the image) to book in.
62e Fitzroy Street
Walcha, NSW
2354
| Monday | 8:30am - 5pm |
| Tuesday | 8:30am - 5pm |
| Wednesday | 8:30am - 5pm |
| Thursday | 8:30am - 5pm |
| Friday | 8:30am - 5pm |
| Saturday | 10am - 12pm |
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It has been a while since we last shared a good abscess video! Enjoy to those who love them, sorry to those that don't! This fella felt HEAPS better with this pressure drained off of the side of his face.
Penrose drains are often used in abscesses post lancing or wounds which have what we call "dead space". They are a vital tool in getting fluid and infection to drain out of an area. We place a few a week, and always recommend bringing the dog in for removal and a recheck. Removal may seem simple, BUT if a part of a drain is left in (as it was in this case) it can cause a huge inflamamtory reaction and a bigger problem than what was there in the first place.
Why we always recommend getting sore eyes checked in the clinic! 👀👀 Pesky grass seeds get under third eyelids frequently. Eyes need to be checked very carefully and any foreign bodies removed, or they will continue to scrape over the eye itself, injuring it further. Note this dog was under anaesthetic in the video (she had just had a spey) but this can be done awake too with local anaesthetic and a cooperative dog.
Retrobulbar abscess - an abscess deep behind the eye of an animal 👁! This dog came in with a very swollen head, right eye swollen closed and pain when his mouth was opened. A retrobulbar abscess was diagnosed, and he was put under anaesthetic. The 1.5 inch needle was inserted fully and into the abscess behind the eye. This allowed us to release some of the pressure and therefore relieve the pain the dog was experiencing too. These are not abscesses we can just lance, given the myriad of crucial structures in the dog's head (vessels, nerves, sinuses to name a few) and the depth that the infection is usually found at. Anaesthesia is imperative, so no injuries are inadvertently caused by patient movement. He is doing well at home on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. Exact cause of this one unknown.
A good chocolate/strawberry milkshake 🥤 abscess for you all to enjoy! This dog felt MUCH better with the pressure of the abscess relieved and being on some good antibiotics and anti-inflammatories!
We know you all love a good abscess as much as we do! Happy Friday 🤩
"It's just a puncture wound" - it is actually NOT. Dog fight wounds are notorious for not looking too bad on the outside (e.g. just a small hole in the skin) but in actual fact what we are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg of the trauma! Firstly, the mouth is full of bacteria and any penetration into the skin results in these bacteria being put into the underlying tissues where they can fester and cause life-threatening infections. Secondly the underlying tissues and vessels are ripped and torn causing major internal trauma. This is why we always recommend dog attack patients undergo sedation, clipping and cleaning of wounds, drain placement if necessary and appropriate medications (antibiotics to fight the infection and anti-inflammatories to reduce inflammation and ease pain). NOTE: this dog was sedated during this video, had a drain placed and was sent home on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories :)
One of our favourite patients Jess 🐾! She was our "Patient of the Month" in our July Newsletter and her full story is in the August edition! We put together this video showing how well her wounds healed - enjoy!
Wake up, Mum! These Lil babes are waiting for a feed after Mum has had to undergo a caesarean. Mum was unable to birth 4 more more babies alone. A caesarean is a huge surgery that involves a general anaesthetic and abdominal surgery on an already stressed animal. These ladies are expected to be fully functioning very soon after surgery to be able to care for their babies. Shout out to all the caesarean mums! #walchavetclinic #caesarean #ifyouknowyouknow😉
Some dogs like a clip. They skip out clicking their heels. 'Happy' LOVES to get clipped. This is him relaxing and enjoying the pampering. His coat is a magnet for grass seeds. No restraint and no sedation. Just don't touch his front legs, Grrrr. 🤣 #walchavetclinic #clip #Happyissohappy #grassseedinfection #isthatasmile?
