Manukau Veterinary Referral Centre

15/05/2025

G A S T O N 💛

Meet Gaston, a 4 year old big ball of energy, who was referred to our dental service for a fractured upper left carnassial tooth (208).

After consultation with Dr Craig and Gaston's owners, it was elected that Gaston would have root canal therapy performed on the tooth.

Root canal is recommended for functional teeth such as the carnassials (molars) and canines (fang teeth at front) in dogs, due to their mechanics such as shredding and crushing. When these become fractured (either with pulp exposure or discoloration of the tooth), we know in people, fractured teeth can become infected and can be excruciatingly painful.

Advantages to root canal therapy, is there is less pain and trauma, and the patient is left with a functional, pain-free tooth. In saying this, there is absolutely no issue in extracting teeth as well, and it can come down to a variety of reasons as to why the tooth needs to be extracted - it is never a one solution fits all!

For Gaston, dental x-rays and examination confirmed the tooth was able to have root canal therapy performed. A carnassial tooth involves 3 roots, so the canals were cleaned and disinfected, then dried and filled. Finally, a filling is placed over the fracture site, which prevents infection being able to enter the tooth.

Gaston recovered well with our nurses post surgery, and will be back in 6-12 months' time for repeat x-rays to ensure the root canal has remained successful.

26/04/2025

Happy World Veterinary Day to our two incredible vets, David and Craig 🐾 🩺

Without these two, there would definitely be no MVRC. We are so grateful for all they do for their patients, always going above and beyond.

Our two vets also are willing to give back to the veterinary industry by providing further training and support to many veterinarians in the industry

We enjoy the laughs, the hard work, sometimes good yarns and the learnings we get from these two so please join us in celebrating them!

17/04/2025

Happy Easter! 🐣

Our team have hopped away for a quick break, so our clinic will be closed from:
🐰6pm Thursday 17th April and will reopen 9am Tuesday 22nd April

Vets are still able to send non-urgent referrals via our website; www.vetreferrals.co.nz/mvrc_referrals

If your case is urgent, please email either David ([email protected]) or Craig ([email protected]) over this time, or contact Manukau After-Hours Vets on 092778383 and identify yourself as a MVRC patient.

We hope all our patients, clients and referring clinics have a safe and Happy Easter! 🐣🐰

14/04/2025

📣 come and work with us!!!!

An exciting opportunity ahead for one lucky nurse to come work with our incredible veterinary team!

We are looking for a confident, qualified Veterinary Nurse to work full time 5 days a week with no after-hours requirements.

Experience is preferred, however; if you are an enthusiastic new grad with a willingness to learn you are also welcome to apply, as full training will be given.

Our nurses are the backbone of our clinic, we strive to create an environment where your wellbeing is valued and you can thrive to continue to learn more!

Check out the ad below if you’re interested!

Ready to step up to a referral veterinary nursing role?

25/03/2025

We would like to take the opportunity to welcome the newest member of our team!

Meet Meg!

Meg joined our team in November 2024. Meg holds a Diploma in Veterinary Nursing, graduating from Unitec in 2023.

Before becoming a vet nurse, Meg was a competitive men's gymnastics coach and personal trainer. She has a keen interest in animal physical rehabilitation and enjoys being involved in orthopaedic and dental procedures.

In her spare time she enjoys travel, riding her horse and going on adventures with her dog Lady.

We like to put our team through some rapid fire questions, to get to know them a bit better, as well for our clients, so Meg was more than happy to take part:

1. If you could have any superpower for one day, what would it be and why?
- Teleporting, so I could travel wherever I wanted!

2. What's a skill you'd like to learn?
- Horse back archery!

3. If you had to sing karaoke right now, which song would you pick?
- Manic Monday - The Bangles

Meg has been settling in well to the team, learning all the ropes here at MVRC and is loving looking after our lovely patients 🩷

18/02/2025

P E P P A 🩷

Meet Peppa, the most absolutely gorgeous, just turned 2 year old St Bernard, who our nursing team fell in love with at first sight!

Peppa was referred to our surgical team, by Oratia, due to a fractured right hind leg. Whilst trying to go sniff another dog at a hardware shop, Peppa tripped over her own legs and had unfortunately fractured the tibia and fibula (shin bones) in her leg. After consultation with Dr David, Peppa was admitted to our hospital team for overnight care, prior to her surgery the next day.

Once the leg was prepped for surgery, the repair began! We have extremely large tables for our patients in surgery, but with Peppa weighing in at 71kg and having very long limbs, an additional table was required - just to support her fractured leg! The surgery itself took just over 3 hours and multiple plates to allow the fracture to heal, but also be able to support Peppa's bigger frame once she was up and walking. Check out the photo with the size of the surgical plates next to a standard sized pen!

After surgery, a padded bandage was placed, which took a lot of materials and as you can see, Peppa's leg was as long as one of nurses arms! The nurses took wonderful care of Peppa over the 5 and half hours she was under anaesthetic for. She received many cuddles post-operatively, by not only our nursing team but the afterhours nursing team, and was discharged the next morning to her owners, who were very happy to see her!

We are pleased to report that after some TLC at home and strict rest, Peppa's repeat x-rays showed the bone was healing very well, and she is back to her usual cheeky self!

19/12/2024

We just wanted to take the time to thank all our wonderful referring veterinary clinics, and their clients for a fantastic 2024!

Our clinic will be closed from today, Friday 20th December and will reopen on Monday 06th January 2025.

Vets are still able to send non-urgent referrals via our website; www.vetreferrals.co.nz/mvrc_referrals

If your case is urgent, please email either David ([email protected]) or Craig ([email protected])

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and a safe and Happy New Year and we look forward to working with you all in 2025!

13/12/2024

C H U T N E Y 🧉

Meet Chutney, a gorgeous 7 year old Labrador referred by the team at Auckland Pet Hospital for ongoing lameness in her right hind leg.

Chutney was placed under anaesthetic for a right tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO). There were also questions over whether Chutney had some pain in her tendons, on the right hand side.

Once in surgery, it was confirmed there was a complete rupture in the right cranial cruciate ligament, as well as a small tear in the meniscus - which is the cartilage pad that acts as a shock absorber between the tibia (shin) and the femur (thigh bone).

The plan was to see how Chutney would progress post operatively, in regards to if the tendon pain subsided. Chutney did a great session of resting, and came back to us after six weeks for a repeat x-ray. These x-rays showed that the bone had healed well and that the implants were stable. It was also noted that she was walking much more comfortably now after surgery and is able to return to normal activity!

10/12/2024

We absolutely adore all of our patients, but getting feedback from our clients absolutely makes our day!

"Dear David and the team at Manukau Veterinary Referral Centre,

We wanted to extend our deepest gratitude to you and your team for the exceptional care you provided for Peppa. From the moment we brought her in, we felt reassured by your professionalism, skill, and compassion. Knowing she was in such capable hands made all the difference during such a difficult time.

Peppa is now back home, settled, and doing well. Our kids are overjoyed to have her back, and seeing her happy again has brought so much relief to us all. We are incredibly grateful for the dedication and kindness you showed, which truly went above and beyond.

Thank you once again for everything you did for Peppa and our family."

We can't wait to share Peppa's story with you soon! 🩵

06/12/2024

C H U N K Z 🦷

Chunkz was referred to our dentistry team by Ellerslie Veterinary Clinic for a fractured canine tooth as Chunkz thought it was a great idea to try bite a chainsaw!

Luckily for Chunkz, he walked away with just a fractured upper left canine tooth! After consultation with Chunkz people and Craig, Chunkz was booked in for standard root canal therapy on the canine tooth (204).

Once under anaesthetic, full mouth dental x-rays were taken which revealed that Chunkz had some minor fractures to other teeth, but they weren't exposing pulp, so were left.

A standard root canal was performed on the upper left canine - the pulp was removed, the canal was disinfected and then filled with a cement like substance. From here, the access site was sealed and the surface of the tooth smoothed and shaped.

Chunkz recovered very well from his procedure, he loved receiving plenty of cuddles and lunch from our nurses, and happily went home the same afternoon.

We look forward to seeing this happy boy back for repeat dental x-rays in 6 months time 🦷