Eltham Vet Service

17/02/2025

Kia Ora, I'm Atraides, I'm your new vet nurse for Eltham Vets. I have been vet nursing for 10 years ranging over a variety of clinics across the North Island. I'm from Taumarunui, recently moved from Palmerston North but Raglan is home. I'm looking forward to calling Taranaki my new home. I come from a farming background growing up on drystock farms and I have also worked on many dairy farms throughout the years. I have a special interest in avian patients, I'm no expert but I have nursed and hand reared all sorts of birds. Aside from birds, I can't wait to meet and get to know all the beautiful pets of Eltham.

17/02/2025

Slight increased in the spore counts & perfect conditions for spore production with the light rain and humid weather today. Spore count levels are generally classified as 0-20,000 lower risk, 20,000-80,000 is considered moderate to high risk and >80,0000 is considered very high risk. However grazing 10,000 spore counts for 10 days can have same toxic effect as grazing 80,000 spores/gram pasture in one day. Keep an eye on our website in the coming days for the days for our February newsletter which has a great article on Facial Ezcema Prevention & Effects.

14/02/2025

Summer crops including forage kale can offer high energy, moderate protein feed that can help balance the feed budget and improve diet quality leading to improved milk yields in summer. Single graze, medium height cultivars of kale make for good milking feed as no more than 1/3rd of the diet.

There are 3 main "pitfalls" when feeding your cows brassicas; they are grouped into
1) underestimation or overestimation of crop DM on offer
2) transition management, feed face considerations and water access
3) clinical or subclinical disease associated with the crop

Copper, selenium, nitrate, goitrogens, SMCO, sulphur, glycosinolates and more are to be considered if you add brassicas into your diet. These Rawhitiroa milking cows are enjoying the spoils of a high leaf to stem ratio, high quality SovGold Kale.

12/02/2025

PHONES DOWN - we are having some technical issues with our phones. Please only call if you have an emergency as we only have line for the whole clinic. Fingers crossed its fixed soon!

10/02/2025

Spore counts on the monitor farms still remains fairly low. Don't let this lull you into a false sense of security. Our Kapuni monitor farm brought in 2 samples today, one 40,000 & one at 15,000 which shows spore counts can vary on individual farms. You should be treating with Zinc OR bringing in spore counts from your farm to monitor at least weekly.

04/02/2025

03/02/2025

If your dog’s breath smells or they are having trouble eating, they might need a dental.
Because we do not commonly brush dogs’ teeth, tarter can build up. Tartar causes inflammation of the gums (gingivitis), pain, bleeding, and eventually periodontal disease, which can lead to tooth loss if left untreated. It creates a rough surface where bacteria can easily build up, pushing the gums away from the teeth and exposing sensitive areas, potentially causing further infection and damage to the surrounding tissues. Once tarter has built up, the only way to remove it is with a scale and polish. This is best performed early, before the teeth get too damaged. If a dog has moderate to severe dental disease, teeth may need to be removed.

On our working dog vaccination runs we commonly see working dogs with fractured teeth. These fractures cause pain due to the cracks exposing nerves and can also be entry points for tooth root infections. These require removal to prevent further damage, otherwise they can an keep your important farm workers out of action

If you have any concerns with your pets teeth book a consult with us where we can assess the level of dental disease and book them in for a dental procedure.

03/02/2025

Todays spore counts are showing similar reading to last week for most of the monitor farms. While these levels are not dangerous, we may get an explosion of spores with the recent rain some of us had. If you haven’t already started treating with Zinc we would recommend you start! If you have any queries about what products to use call the clinic and have a chat to John & Daniel

30/01/2025

Meet Sky. She has Pannus or Chronic superficial keratitis which is a common eye issue affecting mainly middle-aged German Shepard dogs, Greyhounds and Border Collies, with other breeds affected less commonly. The eyes grow a pink/brown growth from the outside corner which progressively covers the cornea and can cause blindness if not treated. The condition is mad worse by UV light. Treatment is with special eye medication which can be reduced overtime but is usually necessary lifelong.
Here are some photos of Sky and her recent case
Sky and her family have been doing an amazing job of treating her eyes and she has been trialing wearing her sunnies.
The photos show how much she has improved after an initial 3 weeks of treatment. If you are worried that your dog might have Pannus call the clinic to book in a check up.

28/01/2025

Aimed at young stock and beefies before the use of boluses, DanMix® Zinc is a loose-lick supplement designed to provide recommended levels of zinc for the prevention of facial eczema. It contains an ACVM registered zinc oxide* as well as trace minerals including organic copper to minimise the competitive adsorption effect of zinc and copper, thereby reducing the risk of copper depletion during treatment for facial eczema. Give Dan & John a call in the clinic for more information.

27/01/2025

Looking at todays spore counts we can see that there is an increase in spores across most of the monitor farms. While these levels are not dangerous, we may get an explosion of spores with the recent rain some of us had. If you haven’t already started treating with Zinc we would recommend you start! If you have any queries about what products to use call the clinic and have a chat to John & Daniel. check our website for any additional spore updates and info on https://www.elthamvetservices.co.nz/news/spore-counts

26/01/2025

Ginger Castrated Male cat found in Eltham near Hill Street. Has been at this address since Dec, current family looking after it has had no luck finding owners.
Cat did have a grey flea collar on it also.

Please contact the clinic if you think this is your cat.

22/01/2025

⛳️GOLF DAY ANNOUNCEMENT - Held at the Eltham Golf Club⛳️
there are still time slots available between 3.30- 4.40pm. Call the clinic on 06 764 8196 to book in your team.

21/01/2025

We have a milk culture service at the vets. Bring milk samples from mastitis cases or high SCC cows post herd test and we will generally have a result for you 24 hours later. It is important to know what bacteria you are dealing with to make treatment, prevention and culling decisions in your herd. There have been high levels of E.coli mastitis cultured this season, these cases do not respond well to standard penicillin based mastitis treatments so culturing each case of clinical mastitis can help improve cure rates if dealing with E coli mastitis as the earlier the correct treatment is used the better.

Cultures cost $24 per sample. You can bring fresh samples in or take samples before treatment and bring frozen samples in the quarter if it is not curing.

Contact us for more information

20/01/2025

📣📣Lepto 4 way vaccination

Previously we had vaccinated your cattle with Lepto-3-Way. A new vaccine has now been developed in response to the emergence of a new Lepto serovar- ‘Pacifica’. Pacifica has been linked to the highest rate of human lepto infections in New Zealand. By using Lepto-4-way we are improving the protection of you and your family, your staff and farm visitors/contractors e.g. Vets.
To get the full protection of the new vaccine, cattle will need two vaccinations 4 weeks apart. We have rolled this out for calves already, but heifers and cows will need two shots.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 06 764 8196 or via our website on https://www.elthamvetservices.co.nz/contact

20/01/2025

Here are our first spore counts for the season, nice and low across the district. If you have any concerns for your farm take a sample and bring it in clinic for a specialized sample for your farm. Keep an eye on our website for updates also. https://www.elthamvetservices.co.nz/news/spore-counts

17/01/2025

We will be starting our weekly spore counts on Monday, Results will be sent to those on the FE email list. If you wish to be added to that list, contact reception. These results will also be published on our website weekly and on our page. https://www.elthamvetservices.co.nz/news/spore-counts

With little to no moisture around we are expecting that spore counts will be low, but you should be getting prepared to treat. Pasture spraying should commence before spore counts rise.

Remember trials have shown that treating in the water will not result in high enough zinc blood levels to prevent FE. Other methods are pasture spraying, zinc boluses, including zinc in your inshed feed mix, & drenching stock. If you need anymore information please contact the clinic and keep an eye on our page as we will be putting more information there.

17/01/2025

Large amounts of potentially toxic cyanobacteria have been found in the Kaūpokonui River at the beach domain and in the Waingongoro River at Ohawe.
Cyanobacteria can cause serious illness in humans and animals. Children are at greater risk because their smaller body size means they need to ingest less toxin to become seriously ill, while dogs may be attracted to the musty smell.
Cyanobacteria is a naturally occurring algae that often appear as dark green or brown mats attached to rocks in rivers and streams. We have seen that these mats are beginning to detach from rocks and are now floating on the water’s surface and gathering along the water’s edge.
To stay safe, we advise that you avoid swimming or letting your children and pets enter the water.
Skin contact with cyanobacteria may cause rashes and skin irritation.
Ingesting cyanobacteria may cause:
• nausea
• tummy upset
• tingling or numbness
Signs of poisoning in animals include:
• excessive drooling
• vomiting and diarrhoea
• lethargy or weakness
• difficulty breathing
• convulsion
If you or your pets experience symptoms after contact with the water, or your pets have eaten toxic algae, visit your doctor and/or veterinarian immediately.
Further monitoring for cyanobacteria will be carried out next week.