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The Lifestyle Vet

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The Lifestyle Vet

The Lifestyle Vet provides an exceptional level of veterinary care for your beloved lifestyle block pets, all year round.
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05/11/2024

What a fantastic team we have ❤️❤️❤️

Never a dull moment here! Whether it’s juggling a hospital full of patients, doing alpaca surgery, a pig CT scan or racing around providing preventative health care and shearing services, we love what we do 🥰🦙🐑🐄🐓🐐

The Lifestyle Vet- Your Lifestyle Block Vet ❤️

24/10/2024

The Importance of Pain Relief for Birds: Advocate for Your Feathered Friends
Birds experience pain just like any other animal, whether due to injuries, illnesses, surgeries, or chronic conditions. However, they are experts at masking discomfort, often showing only subtle signs such as changes in behavior, reduced appetite, or altered posture.
Unmanaged pain can lead to serious consequences for your bird, including a weakened immune system, slower recovery, and long-term behavioral changes like aggression or withdrawal. Chronic pain can also cause significant stress, which further exacerbates health issues.
Providing appropriate pain relief is essential not only for your bird’s comfort but also for their overall well-being and recovery. Unfortunately, in New Zealand, many vets may not routinely prescribe pain relief for birds. This makes it crucial for you as a pet owner to advocate for your bird's needs. If you believe your bird is in pain and your vet doesn’t suggest pain relief, don’t hesitate to question them about it. Ensuring your bird receives proper pain management is a vital part of their care.
By being proactive and informed, you can help ensure your bird leads a happier, healthier life, free from unnecessary pain.

24/10/2024

Have you ever had to spend several hours trying to pen your alpacas?

Do they run you round in circles and drive you crazy?

Is penning them a stressful exercise, almost ending in divorce?

We have some top tips for owners with devious, escapee alpacas:

1. Alpacas have a sweet spot for getting them to move. If you walk several meters behind them at their 5o'clock or 7o'clock position, they will usually walk forward. To stop alpacas moving in a forward motion, stand adjacent to their shoulders, or slightly in front of them. This is called an animal's "flight zone" and each animal species has a different flight zone.

2. The easy mustering method involves running a herd of alpaca along a fence line, directly into a pen that is positioned in a corner of the paddock. The less time the alpaca have to think, the easier it will be - make it obvious for them where you want them to go. If you dilly dally, you'll give them time to come up with a master plan to avoid your pen.

3. Alpacas hate being separated from their herdmates. Ensure that you move your alpacas together as one group. If one alpaca breaks loose, mob them together and start again. Move steadily, and quietly, try not to spook them too much or else they may scatter.

4. The more, the merrier! Get your neighbours or friends to come and help you. If you are alone, or there are only two of you, use a rope or bunting flags stretched tight between 2 people (or a fence post) and gently walk behind the herd using the outstretched flags. If an alpaca turns around, gently move the rope up and down to deter them.

5. Feed your alpacas in their pen regularly to get them used to being penned. This often doesn't work in stressed alpacas, but it's worth a shot if they are food motivated!

What not to do....

- Don't pen them in a dark enclosed shed- it will make your job significantly harder - alpacas don't like being confined dark, scary spaces
- Don't put your pen in the middle of a paddock
- Don't push your alpacas too hard, it will stress them out, and they can make panicked, silly decisions. If they run around for too long, you risk causing heat exhaustion or lameness in your alpacas during the Summer seasons. If this happens, give them (and you!) a break and change strategy.
- Don't use dogs to help you pen alpacas. This is very stressful for them, and some alpacas can even stand their ground and try to attack the dogs!

If you'd like a practical, hands-on lesson on how to muster your alpacas around the paddock and into the pen, The Lifestyle Vet is hosting an alpaca course in Mid-February 2025. We will be providing lectures as well as hands-on practical classes on some of the following topics: how to safely muster and pen your alpaca herd, how to safely handle alpacas, how to administer injections, how to nail trim, and much more!!

Contact us on [email protected] for more information!

Feel free to post pictures of your special methods for mustering your alpacas so that we can share your great ideas with our followers🙂

The Lifestyle Vet- Your alpaca Vet

22/10/2024

Do you own Kunekune pigs?

Did you know that Petcover Insurance has just released pet insurance for Kunekune pigs?

Petcover will provide medical insurance for Kunekune pigs between the age bracket of 8 week of age and 5 years of age*. They can provide cover for fees up to $4000, and this includes dental costs!

If you think you may be interested, get in contact with our team, or with Petccover directly.

*Unfortunately, kunekune pig breeds are the only piggie breeds that Petcover will insure (at this point int time).

The Lifestyle Vet- Helping you care for your beloved lifestyle block pets ❤

[email protected]

Phone: 0278385433

15/10/2024

What drenches protect your alpacas against gastrointestinal parasites?

Whether you're an alpaca owning client, have attended one of our alpaca seminars or have been following us on Facebook, you've probably heard the The Lifestyle Vet team harp on and on, and on, about avoiding injectable ivermectin products such as Ivomec and Dectomax as wormers in camelids. Still using injectbale wormers on your animals? Please don't!

But why????!!! Giving an alpaca an injection is so much easier than having to give it an oral drench. We appreciate that. However, you are not doing the animal, or the alpaca industry any favours by choosing the easy road. Here's why...

It is important to know that not all drenches are created equal! In order to look after these lovely creatures, we need to dive a little deeper to the science behind drench families - what is in a drench, which ones work and which ones don't!

Like a lot of things in the alpaca world, only a few studies exist that focus on drench efficacy in camelids.

So here is what we do know:

1. Multiple active, oral drenches were most effective at killing gastrointestinal parasites.

2. Drenches with single active ingredients were proven significantly more likely to promote the development of gastrointestinal parasite resistance. Drenches in this high risk category include those containing: Fenbendazole (Panacur), Moxidectin (Cydectin) and Ivermectin (Ivomec). See the table in the picture attached, which demonstrates the percentage of Australian alpaca farms resistant to different drenches.

3. A few studies have been published on the use of Ivermectin in alpaca, and the results of these studies were very conflicting! One study concluded that ivermectin was between 20% and 100% effective in killing gastrointestinal parasites. Now that is a massive range!

Another study in conducted in Australia (thanks to legend Jane Vaughan) concluded that using ivermectin by itself was so incredibly ineffective that they had to discontinue using this product halfway through the study because the animals receiving ivermectin were becoming so severely parasitised that animal welfare was being compromised! Several other studies also concluded that using injectable ivermectin was associated with both resistance and poor effectiveness.

4. A NZ study in cattle found that oral drenches are most effective at both reaching the parasites within the gut, and killing them. Oral drenches were superior to injectable products and injectable products were superior to pour on drenches. While we aren't aware of any studies to date that have compared the efficacy of oral vs injectable vs pour-on products in alpacas, we would suggest extrapolating what we have learned from cattle to camelid species until a research trial has been carried out - someone needs to study this!

Please note, that these studies do not test the efficacy of injectable ivermectin for the treatment of external parasites such as mites. It's also worth noting that these drenching studies have been carried out overseas and no studies on the efficacy of drenches in camelids have been carried out on New Zealand camelid herds.

We've just taken the time to summarise the relevant publications for you. However, if you are an avid ivermectin injector, and feel like some light reading, feel free to check out the following relevant publications below :)

a)Anthelmintic resistance in gastrointestinal nematodes of alpacas (Vicugna pacos) in Australia https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326189601_Anthelmintic_resistance_in_gastrointestinal_nematodes_of_alpacas_Vicugna_pacos_in_Australia

b)Efficacy of anthelmintics on South American camelid (llama and alpaca) farms in Georgia: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20462700/
C) Efficacy of oral, injectable and pour-on formulations of moxidectin against gastrointestinal nematodes in cattle in New Zealand (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304401712004773)

D) Ivermectin treatment against gastrointestinal nematodes in New World camelids in Belgium
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257326970_Ivermectin_treatment_against_gastrointestinal_nematodes_in_New_World_camelids_in_Belgium

15/10/2024

The Lifestyle Vet team are excited to be able to introduce Chantelle to the team!

Chantelle graduated from Massey University with a Bachelor of Animal Science, majoring in Genetics and Breeding. Growing up on a lifestyle block sparked her interest in the individual care needs associated with owning multiple lifestyle animal species. Her journey into animal care began as a Large Animal Technician, where she worked with a range of animals. Known to never turn away from an animal in need, her home often becomes a sanctuary for rescued animals. Outside of work, she enjoys teaching her dog new tricks, riding her horses, and coaching at her local pony club.

Welcome to the team Chantelle! You'll see Chantelle out and about either helping our vets on veterinary calls or assisting with our health care plan visits!

The Lifestyle Vet- Providing an exceptional level of veterinary care for your lifestyle block pets, all year round :)

15/10/2024

Perks of working at The Lifestyle Vet?

When patients are surrendered to you, you get to take them with you to the local cafe while you pick up your takeaway coffee 👌🦙🦙🦙

Thanks ❤️

The Lifestyle Vet- Your Lifestyle Block Vet

14/10/2024

Do you own a herd of alpacas, but are terrified at even the thought of having to catch and hold one?

Fair enough! Alpacas are well known for their ninja kicking and wicked spitting abilities!

It is important for alpaca owners to have even some basic skills in knowing how to catch and restrain their alpacas in case the animal requires medicating, or in the case of an emergency.

Here are some top tips on how to safely handle alpacas:

Alpacas can kick surprisingly hard, fast and high (as high as their backs). Whatever you do, DON'T bend down or put your head down near an alpaca unless you have them safely restrained and you know what you are doing!

Don't touch the butt! Alpacas absolutely hate being touched on their back ends, and often kick in response to being touched there. When working with horses we often pop a hand around their hip and bottom area to let them know we are there. Unless your alpaca has received a lot of handling and training, touching the butt area doesn't end well.

To catch an alpaca, stretch your arms out and corner them in a penned area. Approach the alpaca slowly at the shoulder area, with your arms stretched out. Use one arm and gently wrap it around the alpaca's neck. You have to be quick- especially in flighty alpacas who aren't comfortable being caught! You can hold the alpaca by wrapping your arms around their neck and giving them a tight cuddle.

Still feel terrified at the though of having to handle your herd?

If you feel you'd benefit from a hands-on alpaca handling lesson, The Lifestyle Vet will be hosting an alpaca course in Mid-February 2025. We will be provide both lectures and practical classes on the following:

- how to muster alpaca
- safe handling of alpaca
- how to provide preventative treatments (drenching/injections/nail trim and more)
- nutritional recommendations
- Alpaca first aid for lifestyle blockers

For more information, contact our team at [email protected]

We'd love to see some pictures of you having cuddles with your alpacas🙂

14/10/2024

The Lifestyle Vet Team are excited to be able to introduce a new member to the team....

Introducing Jess

Jess graduated from Massey University with a Bachelor of Veterinary Technology and a Bachelor of Science. After graduating, Jess stayed at Massey University working in the Farm Services part of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. This is where her love affair of surgery, intensive medical nursing and teaching all started. Jess currently lives in Taupo but jumps at the opportunity to come and help The Lifestyle Vet with their animal health care plan runs, any chance she gets.

Jess looks forward to meeting our wonderful clients during our November health care plan and shearing runs. If your animal requires a tricky anaesthesia, chances are that Jess will be involved :)

The Lifestyle Vet- Providing an exceptional level of veterinary care for your lifestyle block animals, all year round :)

[email protected]
Phone: 0278385433
Afterhours: 0278385431

10/10/2024

Our patient of the week is Barb.... Isn't she adorable?

Barb the lamb was rushed to us with severe lethargy, a very sore tummy, and bloated abdomen. She was diagnosed with abomasal bloat, and received aggressive medical treatment including pain relief and specific gut medication to help move food through her digestive system.

Turns out her milk feeds had been suddenly increased, as per the AnLamb packet recommendations, and this change in feeding quantity had caused acute abomasal bloat.

Within 20 minutes of receiving treatment she was feeling much better! Her milk feeding regime required some tweaking so our vet Bekky provided some nutritional recommendations and Barb has been a happy little lamb every since!

A note for vets reading this post- not all lamb bloat cases are abomasal bloat cases and not all bloat cases require decompression with a needle. We haven't had to decompress a bloated lamb with a needle for 3-4 years ;)

We love our patients!

Feed free to post pictures of your lovely bottle babies below!

The Lifestyle Vet- Your Lifestyle Block Vets

[email protected]
0278385433

09/10/2024

The reality of managing parasitism on NZ lifestyle blocks

Worms are a major problem on NZ lifestyle blocks (LSBs).

Some LSB owners are lucky enough to have been able to purchase land that is large enough to faciliate grazing management strategies such as rotational grazing and cross grazing to reduce the parasite burden on the pasture. Many LSBs are however too small in size to implement rotational and/or cross grazing strategies. As a result, the animals are "set stocked" on these properties, meaning that they are constantly pooping in the same paddock and eating pasture that often contains high parasite loads.

Sheep and beef farmers may mention that they only need to drench their stock 2-3 times a year, when required. These farmers may have farms 300 hectares or more in size and therefore they are able to use a variety of parasite management tools to reduce their need to drench stock.

Is this faesible on 1-2ha lifestyle blocks? The answer is... probably not.

On small scale lifestyle blocks, it may be impossible to rotationally graze sheep, alpaca or goats between paddocks. As a result, the worm burden on these small paddocks become larger and larger, until eventually the animals become parasitised enough to cause illness.

To combat this issue, LSB owners may end up drenching their animals more frequently than a commercial farmer would. The more we drench an animal, the more we are exposing the parasites within the animal to drench products and the greater the risk that these worms manage to develop a resistance to the active drench ingredients.

So, how can we best protect our pets whilst also actively ensuring we are not contributing to the growing drench resistance issue we are seeing throughout NZ?

If we don't start making smart drenching choices, one day we may wake up to find that none of the commercially available drenches are protecting our animals from internal parasitism, and there will be very little that we can do about it.

Here are some things to think about...

- Have you carried out a post drench check on your flock or herd recently? To check that the drench you are using is actually working, we should collect a poo sample from the animals 10-12 days after drenching, send it to the lab so that the lab can carry out a faecal egg count check (FEC). The test should be 0 10-12 days after drenching. If eggs are passing into the the faeces 10-12 days post drenching then further investigation is required and please contact your local vet for more guidance on the next step.

- Are you getting drench product advice from a veterinary professional or from a sales person at a feed store counter? Before choosing a drench to purchase, please contact your vet, or someone with extensive experience in this field.

- Are you carrying out regular FEC testing on your animals (either individual or herd tests) to monitor their parasite burden and to decide when to drench? All of our annual health care plans come with the option to add on regular FEC testing prior to each visit. If you have not added this service onto your existing plan, and are interested in adding this on, please contact our team.

- Are you choosing the right drench product ? Different drenches are often required at different types of the year depending on the species of worm that is most prevalent. For example, trichostrongylus worms species are more prevalent in Autumn and Winter months and these worms are very good at developing resistance to drenches. This is why we recommend using a triple active drench product over a single action drench product to combat trichostrongylus so that we can reduce the ability of this worm to develop resistance.

REMEMBER- there is no hard and fast rule for drenching on lifestyle blocks. Each LSB is different- number of animals, species, size, climate, topograhpy etc. All of these factors contribute to the parasite load on the property and within the animals.

This is a complicated topic so please contact your local vet to organise a LSB parasite management consult.

The Wormwise NZ page is an excellent resource for LSB owners and farmers. Please take some time out this page and to watch the videos provided on the following page:

https://beeflambnz.com/programmes-partnerships/current-programmes/blnz-wormwise-programme/worms-101

Still unsure where to from here? Give our team a call or email our team to book in a parasite management consult

For more information about our sheep, goat, pig and alpaca annual health plans contact us at [email protected] or call us today on
027 VET LIFE (0278385433)

The Lifestyle Vet- Passionate about disease prevention!!!

08/10/2024

Barbers Pole Warning !!! ⚠️ ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

The Lifestyle Vet team are seeing an alarming number of barbers pole cases on new client properties.

This poor sheep had pale white conjunctiva and gums. Its blood percentage was 8% 🥲
Thanks to a blood transfusion, she made a full recovery.

If you’re on our sheep annual health care plans, and we’ve seen you in September, then there’s no need to worry- your sheep will be well protected until our next visit in early November.

If you aren’t on our preventative sheep health care plans then these are the questions to ask yourself now:

🐑 When did I last drench my sheep?

🐑 What product did I drench my sheep with and how long does it cover my sheep for Barbers pole worm?

🐑 Have I had issues with this worm on my property in the past?

🐑 Are my sheep currently a good body condition and have they got enough nutrition on board? Or, have they lambed, are they light in condition and therefore more likely to be wormy?

🐑 If I’ve just had a shearer administer a drench, what did he administer and how long will this protect my animals for?

Many factors can contribute to an animal’s susceptibility to parasitism. Even if you’ve administered a triple drench like Alliance C or Matrix in the past 8-12 weeks, your animals could now be wormy and at risk.

It’s always a good idea to carry out regular faecal egg count testing (FEC) to determine what the parasite status of your sheep is.

Please ensure that you are using a good quality closantel containing drench, such as Genesis Ultra, Polerize or Clomax this Summer to protect your sheep from Barbers Pole worm. Genesis ultra and polerize are no longer being manufactured, so Clomax is the next best thing available on the market. You can either purchase it in 1L, 5L or 20L container from PGG Wrightsons, or you can contact your local vet or The Lifestyle Vet team and we can dispense 100ml,200ml, 500ml or 1L bottles to you.

Please avoid using Cydectin- this is a single action moxidectin product and we are seeing a lot of drench resistance to this product.

The Lifestyle Vet- Providing exceptional veterinary care for your lifestyle block animals 🦙🐑🐖🐄🐓🐐

[email protected]

06/08/2024

When our veterinary calls turn into a rescue mission ❤️☺️🤷‍♀️

Last week our veterinary team went out to see a lonesome sick sheep who was very unwell and had unexpectedly also lambed. Her owners were overseas and had no plans to return to NZ for quite some time.

Naturally, we couldn’t help ourselves and loaded both the sheep and the lamb into the Ute to take on as rescue sheep.

A massive thank you to Amanda White who not only came to the rescue to provide a short term stable to pop them in while we raced around to carry out the rest of our veterinary calls, but who subsequently also decided to take them on as rescues herself ❤️❤️❤️🐑🐑🐑

We have such wonderful and caring clients!! Thank you for your support 🐑🐑🐑❤️❤️❤️☺️👌🥰

The Lifestyle Vet- Your lifestyle block vet

29/07/2024

Just another day cuddling our wonderful patients ❤️❤️❤️

This lad has got to be one of the most well behaved alpacas we have ever encountered. He literally has a large and deep open wound on his leg (with major blood vessels exposed may I add) that he lets both his owners and us clean and flush every day.

What a legend! Well done to his wonderfully committed owners for taking care of this beautiful alpaca ❤️🥰🦙

The Lifestyle Vet- Your alpaca vet

15/07/2024

Shirley and Litia, veterinary students in their final years of vet school, did an awesome job warming this alpaca up after his body temperature plummeted.

We love having vet students with us and it’s a privilege to be able to teach them ❤️❤️❤️

Thank you to all of our clients who are happy for us to teach veterinary students during our visits to see your animals ☺️👌🥰🦙🦙🦙

The Lifestyle Vet- Your Lifestyle Block Vet

11/07/2024

Important Lambing Information...

Here are some tips to support your ladies through this year's lambing:

In the farming world, sheep farmers ‘set stock’ their ewes 4-6 weeks before lambing. This basically means spreading them out and giving them a lot of good quality feed before they have to give birth. Doing this correctly will reduce the incidence of parasitism, ketosis, mis-mothering, lamb deaths due to exposure and more...

What should you consider when set-stocking your ewes?

1. Nobody wants to give birth on a hill or in a ditch! An ideal lambing paddock is flat, has no ditches or rapid streams. Consider fencing off ditches and checking them regularly to make sure lambs haven't fallen into them. We want to avoid any 'lamb-slides'

2. Good quality grass: This grass should be green, have a high leaf content, and contain minimal amounts of dead grass.

3. Plenty of food: The ideal length of the grass when they go into the paddock is at least 4cm. This allows the sheep to have a good mouthful of grass in every bite and keeps their weight on in the last month of pregnancy.

4. Space: It is recommended to have less than 10 ewes per hectare. This means that you can fit just under 10 pregnant ewes on a rugby field. Any less space than this and sheep are at risk of developing metabolic diseases or mismothering; The more crowded, the easier it is for mums to lose lambs.

5. Good view: Make sure it is easy for you to check on the flock multiple times a day

6. Shelter from the rain and the elements. Ensure your selected paddock has enough shelter, particularly if bad weather has been forecast

You are pretty much looking for a rugby field sized paddock with lush long grass!! If you don’t have Eden Park in your back yard, or if your grass is as short as a golf course; prioritize the older and younger, and twin/triplet bearing sheep. Consider supplementary feeding with lucerne chaff and hay. If you are planning for lambing next year, fertilizing your paddocks in Autumn may be a good idea.

What else do your ewes need?

- Ewes should receive a pre-lambing vaccine 4-6 weeks before lambing to protect both the ewe and lambs against clostridial diseases, like tetanus.

- Ewes lose their natural immunity to parasites 2 weeks before giving birth. This can last for up to 8 weeks after birth. It is a great idea to have a Faecal Egg Count (FEC) done on your ewes pre-lambing and consider drenching 2-4 weeks before the planned start of lambing.

- Ewes will usually benefit from a pre-lambing mani-pedi! A combination of the wet weather and excess baby weight often leads to an increased incidence of lameness. We recommend trimming their hooves 6 weeks prior to lambing to help reduce the incidence of lameness.

If you require a hand with any of the above, give The Lifestyle Vet team a call on 027 838 5433 , or email us at [email protected].

10/07/2024

Lets Talk about Colostrum.....

Whether you own a commercial sheep farm, a lifestyle block, or are rearing lambs for agriculture day, this post about the importance of colostrum is for everyone 🙂

What is Colostrum?

Colostrum is the first milk made by a mother after she gives birth to her baby. It looks quite different to normal milk, and is a golden yellow colour and is a thick consistency. Colostrum is absolutely crucial for newborn farm animals- this is why farmers tend to call is liquid gold.

When lambs are born, they have no immune system. This means they are susceptible to bacterial infections, viral infection and other bugs they come into contact with in the environment. Remember, bacteria are EVERYWHERE! Colostrum provides the baby with an immune system while we wait for the baby to start developing its own immune system at 12 weeks of age. Colostrum is jam-packed with nutrients and antibodies, giving the baby the best start to life.

How is Colostrum absorbed?

When a newborn drinks colostrum, the antibodies are absorbed and transferred through the gut and into the bloodstream. This is known as passive transfer. The passive transfer of antibodies in a lamb can only happen in the first 12 hours of life. At birth, the gut is able to absorb 100% of the antibodies within the colostrum. The ability to absorb these antibodies rapidly declines over time, and by 6 hours after birth, only 50% of the antibodies are absorbed by the gut. After 12 hours, the baby’s gut can’t absorb antibodies from the colostrum at all.

If the baby does not drink enough good quality colostrum when it is born, its immune system wont get the kick start it needs, and it will be left totally vulnerable to all the bugs it encounters. This is known as a failure of passive transfer. A newborn lamb should receive 10% of its body weight in colostrum within the first 6 hours of life, and up to 20% in the first 12 hours of life.

Babies that have had a failure of passive transfer will often become very sick with infections from bacteria and viruses they can’t protect themselves against. These infections can cause diarrhoea, sepsis, joint infections, pneumonia, liver abscesses, navel infection and many many more diseases. Often the baby will not be able to fight off the infection, and will die. If they manage to survive the infection, they may have long-term health issues like reduced growth rates, pneumonia, diarrhoea and increased parasite susceptibility.

The quality and quantity of colostrum is important:

The best colostrum a newborn bay can receive is directly from its mum. The quality of this colostrum can be measured by us on-farm using a special device. A drop of colostrum is placed on a refractometer and the quality of the colostrum can be measured immediately. The colostrum should contain at least a 22% antibody content (immunoglobulins). If your baby wont drink from mum, it is important to hand milk the mother if possible, and bottle-feed this colostrum to the baby. You can also store good quality fresh colostrum in the freezer for a 12 month period so that you have some on hand in the future.

If you can’t get colostrum from mummy, there are some other alternatives, such as cow colostrum and powdered colostrum. Powdered colostrum can vary substantially in quality. We stock a brand called Halen Newborn Colostrum. This has 20% antibodies, and although it is still not as good as mum’s colostrum, it is better than all of the other brands of powdered colostrum on the market. Excel Plus colostrum has 15% antibodies, and Jumpstart colostrum has just 9% antibody content.

Why are Ag day lambs so susceptible to disease?

Orphan lambs sold for ag day have often missed out on colostrum from their mothers. New owners put endless amounts of love, time and energy into them, only for these babies to become sick and die, because their immune systems have not properly developed. If you’re concerned your lamb may have failure of passive transfer, we can do a quick blood test to check, and come up with a plan to ensure your baby makes it to ag day and beyond, happy and healthy!

Here is a quick checklist to summarise the above information:

1. Did the lamb's mother receive a pre-lambing vaccine at least 4 weeks before lambing?
2. Did the lamb receive an adequate quantity and quality of colostrum from its mother within the first 12 hours of birth?
3. Are you using the right colostrum powder at present?

If you have answered NO to any of the above, get in touch with The Lifestyle Vet team today so that we can walk you thorough the next steps to maximise the health of your lamb 🙂

The Lifestyle Vet- Providing an exceptional level of veterinary care for your beloved lifestyle block pets, 24/7 ❤

027 838 5433
www.thelifestylevet.co.nz
[email protected]

Address

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0881

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Videos

Is your alpaca itchy?

If your alpaca haven’t been shorn, make sure you watch this video! The Lifestyle Vet- Your alpaca vet 🦙🦙🦙

Applying a flystrike preventative and early shearing could have saved Molly the sheep’s life 😪

If your sheep haven’t been shorn and they haven’t received a flystrike preventative, this could happen to your flock. Please don’t wait or it may be too late 🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑 For more information about our cost effective annual sheep health care plans, where early shearing is automatically scheduled in for you each year by our team, get in touch with us today 👏👏👏 The Lifestyle Vet- Your Lifestyle Block Vet [email protected] 0278385433

Fred, our favourite cow of the week ❤️ Yes, Fred is a girl 😂🥰

Do you have a pet cow at home as cool as Fred? Show us your awesome pet cow in the comments below 🐄🐄🐄 The Lifestyle Vet- Your lifestyle block vet

Double plasma transfusions ❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍 Septic lambs with poor immune systems? That’s our forté 👏👏👏 The Lifestyle Vet- Providing an exceptional level of veterinary care for your beloved pets 🐑🦙🐄🐑🐓

Last week The Lifestyle Vet team had the pleasure of working with this little calf. Layla the calf was found seizuring and collapsed. Within 2 hours of hospitalisation, IV fluid therapy, glucose supplementation and active warming, she was up and drinking. Woohoooo 🥂🎉😊 Well done to the fantastic veterinary students carrying out their placement with us, for assisting us with this case. The Lifestyle Vet- Your Lifestyle Block Vet 0278385433 [email protected]

Case of the week…. Meet Wilson, our latest rescue alpaca. Wilson was found all alone in a paddock. He was one sad and painful alpaca. Check out our video and tell us what you think is wrong with Wilson… The Lifestyle Vet- Your alpaca vet 0278385433 [email protected]

This poor little lamb was brought into The Lifestyle Vet yesterday late afternoon. It was found sitting underneath someone’s car unable to move, and a lovely local community member handed it into Rodney Animal Rescue. We are unsure who owns this lamb but the amazing Alice from Rodney Animal Rescue has decided to help this wee fellow. He was severely flystruck, had severe anaemia with a blood percentage of 6.8%, has hypothermic, was emaciated and couldn’t even stand. Alice dug deep into the charity’s pockets because she has a heart of gold and we proceeded with an emergency blood transfusion, IV fluids and IV medication. One of our lovely sheep Rupert donated 450 ml of blood to save the lamb. The lamb has now been appropriately named Rupert Junior 🥰 Within 12 hours he is now able to stand, eat and drink on his own and is living inside her house in a crate with careful monitoring. He is doing exceptionally well and is going to make a full recovery ❤️‍🩹 ❤️🐑👏👏👏 Despite our heavily discounted veterinary services to help out Rodney Animal Rescue, Alice still relies on donations to help animals like this one. If you’d like to donate to help Rodney Animal Rescue and the many amazing things they do to help animals like Rupert Junior, you can visit their page here Rodney Animal Rescue We wish there were more people in the world like Alice ❤️ Please remember that barbers pole worm and flystrike are easy diseases to prevent. If your sheep, goats and alpaca have not been drenched in the last 8 week period with a specific drench that protects against this worm then they are at risk. If your sheep have not received a good quality flystrike preventative (Clik extra or cyrex) despite shearing, they are at risk. If your animals have been subjected to poor weather conditions, resulting in stress and feed shortages, they may be immunocompromised and more at risk of all sorts of diseases. Please check on your animals dai

This poor wee darling was found five meters up a tree. The severe flooding that swept through kumeu left a flock of sheep treading water for many hours trying to save their lives. This poor wee lambie was the only one that managed to wedge herself in a tree as the flood waters rose. The rest of her friends weren’t so lucky. They all drowned and were found dead in the paddock. Her incredible owners managed to pull her out of the tree and called The Lifestyle Vet team. She was so hypothermic that her temperature didn’t even register on the thermometer. After paddling for hours, her muscles were so fatigued that she was unable to stand. Her lungs were full of water and she was in bad shape. She was immediately hospitalised. After 3 hours of active warming, IV fluids and IV medications, her temperature was back to normal. Within 6 hours she was able to stand on all four legs again. This is one lucky little lady ❤️🐑 A massive thank you to her incredible owners for doing what they could to help her. If you’re worried about your aniamls, please don’t hesitate to call us on 0278385433. The Lifestyle Vet- Your lifestyle block vet

Just another day at The Lifestyle Vet….. 😐😳🤯🐮🐮🐮

Happy Friday!!! Mr Sheldon loves a good cudle.

Do you remember Sheldon the alpaca? Sheldon the alpaca was seized and rescued by the SPCA and ended up in our care. He was severely vitamin D deficient, immunosupressed, his growth was stunted and he required bottle feeding until he was 6 months of age. Our incredible followers and supporters helped us provide the care he needed through donations. He has turned into the most gorgeous little man and is very well behaved. We have some more updates on his journey which we will post about in the next week. In the mean time, enjoy this gorgeous video of him enjoying life! He doesn't really understand that he is an alpaca, because he is using his warning cry as a cry of excitement :) The Lifestyle Vet- Your Lifestyle Block Vet

Check out this beautiful little lamb. This little lambie was born premature. It’s bones have not yet had time to properly develop, and many of the joints consist of cartilage rather than bone. It has also been diagnosed with contracted tendons. The amazing owner of this lamb is going above and beyond to treat this lamb. Soft bandaging, pain relief and special medications are key when treating little neonates like this one with contracted tendons. If your lamb was born with bent little legs, get in touch with The Lifestyle Vet team so we can help you and your little lambie ❤️🐑🐑 The Lifestyle Vet- Your Lifestyle Block Vet #sheepvet #veterinarian #contractedtendons #lifestyleblockvet

Meet Chardonnay the kune kune pig Chardonnay required a foot trim today but she’s a bit of a princess, so it was impossible to do this without sedation. She’s now tucked up inside with the underfloor heating on wrapped up in blankets recovering ❤️🐖🥰 Isn’t she lucky! We just love her so much! The Lifestyle Vet- Your pig vet 🐖🥰👍

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The Lifestyle Vet

The Lifestyle Vet was founded by a veterinarian that had a dream. Laura realised that there was a substantial lack of support for lifestyle animal owners. After countless vet emergency visits to lifestyle properties where animals were sick or dying from easily preventable diseases, she pledged to help educate lifestyle owners and to maximise animal health and welfare wherever possible.

Owning a lifestyle block is a sought after dream for many. Many lifestylers end up owning an assortment of animals. Whether these farm animals are for the kids, to keep the grass down, for production purposes, or simply to have as pets, all farm animals have health requirements. Animals require regular preventative care to stop at least those diseases that are preventable. Parasite infestations, foot-rot, fly-strike, facial eczema, and vitamin D deficiency are just a few of the many preventable diseases you may have heard of. Luckily these are all diseases that we CAN actually prevent. Knowing HOW to prevent these diseases before they strike is the important part.

At The Lifestyle Vet we work hard to provide the highest standard of preventative care for your beloved lifestyle block pets. We offer a variety of services, ranging from veterinary services specifically for lifestyle animals to alpaca and sheep shearing and animal burial services. For a list of the services that we offer, please see the list below.

Annual health plans for lifestyle animals