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Puppy Preschool is an early socialisation and training program for puppies, combined with owner education, designed to help puppies and owners get off on the right track together. We will be opening a Puppy Preschool at Ingleburn Veterinary Hospital in November. It will be run as a four-week course for one hour each week. The sessions are designed to be fun, for you and your pup.
Why do puppies need to go to preschool?
Puppies have a sensitive period of development called the
socialisation period. It occurs from about 4 - 14 weeks of age, and any experiences the
puppy has during this time can affect later behaviour. Dogs that are isolated during this
time are more likely to become hyperactive, aggressive, difficult to train, antisocial
and fearful. To develop into normal, friendly and confident adults, puppies need to be
regularly handled and need to socialise with other puppies. They need to be exposed to
many new and novel situations in a non-threatening way.
Puppies also need to learn what is acceptable sociable behaviour. It is important to start them off on the right paw, as it is much easier to teach the puppy the correct behaviour first, rather than try and correct bad behaviour later, when the pup has had 6 months or more to learn it.
Puppy Preschool is a safe way to socialise your puppy, and start them off on the basics of training. They will learn good manners, which includes basic obedience commands such as "Come", "Sit", "Drop", "Wait", "Stay" and "Heel". All training is reward-based or motivational. There are also lots of play sessions. Your puppy will actually want to come to the vet!
The course will also cover such things as:
Puppy Preschool is specifically designed for puppies between 6 and 16 weeks of age. All puppies must of course be healthy, vaccinated and wormed prior to entering the course. Only a small number of puppies will be admitted to each course, so there will be plenty of time for our instructors to give individual attention to each puppy. Our courses will be run by Nicole Pagett, a qualified veterinary nurse and Puppy Preschool teacher.
Our first course will start on Thursday 4th November at 6:00pm and will be run at our hospital for one hour each week. This entire 4 week course will be FREE OF CHARGE, but will be limited to 4 puppies only. Puppies must be aged between 7 and 12 weeks to start the course. Places will go to the first 4 people who book – so call now!
Future courses will cost $65.00 per pup. We hope to then run one Puppy Preschool course every month, but this will be dependent on demand.
Related articles: Puppy Preschool, Course Notes
It's often said that "word of mouth" is the best form of advertising. This is certainly true for our business. Our survey last year showed that over 90% of clients rated our services as either Excellent or Very Good, and 96% would be likely to refer their friends to us. We are aware that many clients already do refer their friends to us, and we want to show our appreciation.
From now on, we will be asking all new clients how they first heard of us. If they mention your name, we will place a $10 bonus on your file. To make this easier for you, we have enclosed one of our new business cards (if you'd like more, just ask). You will notice on the back that there is a place to write your name (and your Client / PetCare Card number if you know it). Do that now, and give the card to a friend who you think might appreciate our services. Tell them to show the card on their first visit. Then, you'll get your $10 bonus, and we'll also welcome your friend with a 50% discount off their first consultation fee.
Of course if you're not happy with our services for any reason, we don't expect you to refer your friends to us, no matter how much of a bonus we offer. We'd prefer that you let us know how we can improve, so that you are happy, and then your friends will be too!
Related articles: Referral Reward - Conditions
Dental disease is one of the most common problems in dogs and cats, but it often goes undetected. When was the last time you looked in your pet's mouth?
Now, until the end of the year you can book a dental examination for only $19.50 (normally $31.00). This examination can allow us to detect dental disease, and treat it if necessary, before it becomes a serious problem for your pet. Appointments are essential. Also, ask for a copy of our "Dental Disease in Dogs and Cats" leaflet.
Now is the time to act if you want to avoid the dreaded summer flea plagues. They're not far away now!
It is a well-known fact that less than 5% of fleas are actually found on your pet, with more than 95% in various developmental stages in your house and yard. Integrated Flea Control is the principle behind all successful flea control measures. This is where you stop fleas by controlling their breeding in the environment, as well as killing the fleas on your pet. This integrated approach is scientifically based, it's simple, safe (using the right products) and most importantly, it works – in fact it's guaranteed! And now is the time to act – before the flea numbers get too high in the environment.
There are several effective options now available:
Since last spring, Novartis has introduced Capstar tablets to complement their existing products – Sentinel and Program. Sentinel is a monthly tablet that controls heartworm and intestinal worms and stops fleas from breeding on dogs. Program is a 6-monthly injection that stops fleas from breeding on cats. (Program is also available as a monthly tablet for dogs or liquid for cats). Capstar is a safe, fast and effective insecticidal tablet. It will kill most fleas on your pet within 30 minutes! But it has no residual action, so we recommend using Capstar only in conjunction with Sentinel or Program.
Novartis is currently running a special offer - kittens can have their first Program Injection absolutely free. That's 6 months free flea protection - while stocks last.
To get rid of the fleas already on your pet, Frontline is still the most effective insecticide available, and in many cases, it may be all you need. Frontline is available as a spray that works for up to 8-12 weeks on dogs, and 6-8 weeks on cats. It is also available as a simple spot-on product that you squirt onto the back of your pet's neck once a month. Advantage and Exetick are also effective.
We will happily discuss your individual situation and advise you which product is most appropriate for you. The fact is that we now have a variety of products that will control fleas – guaranteed. The only real choice that you need to make is whether to pay a bit more for products that work, or continue to spend your money on cheap products from the supermarket that don't!
Revolution is an exciting new parasite control product, available in Australia from 20th October. A simple, once-a-month spot-on product, it kills fleas and prevents heartworm in both dogs and cats – it even kills intestinal worms in cats too! We'll let you know more next issue.
Related articles: NL7:Revolution
Congratulations go to Peter and his wife, on the July birth of their second beautiful daughter, Rachel. Mahala and her daughter, Siobhan, are doing well and Mahala has already come back to work for a few hours a week.
Our PetCare Reward Scheme was introduced in our July newsletter and has been very well received. Already over 700 of our clients have accepted our offer of a free PetCare Reward Card. The scheme was developed here at Ingleburn Veterinary Hospital, to help make quality health care for your pets more affordable.
Each time you spend money at our hospital, our staff will make an entry on your card, showing the value of the purchase. When the card is full, you will receive reward dollars equivalent to the average value of all entries on the card. This reward can be spent on anything you wish. You can buy medication with it, or save it until the next time you need to bring your pet in for a visit. And there is no time limit on the card.
Ask us for your free PetCare Card – it's our way of saying thank you for your regular business.
Related articles: PetCare Reward Card Scheme, Terms and Conditions
Many people are not aware that there are several private health insurance schemes available for pets. We are not insurance salesman, but cases like "Sabu" (see case report overleaf) remind us just how beneficial insurance can be for pet owners.
What is covered – and what isn't?
Pet insurance schemes are designed to cover unexpected illnesses or injuries. They do not cover routine things like vaccinations and desexing, and usually won't cover pre-existing illnesses or pregnancy. But they will cover virtually everything else including surgery, blood tests, hospitalisation and medication. Some schemes also offer extras such as death benefits and personal liability.
Are there any conditions?
Of course! An excess ($50-$75) usually applies to each claim, and each policy has limits on how much will be paid (per incident and per year).
What does it cost?
Usually around $15 - $25 per month, depending on the level of cover required ($8.75 for accident cover only).
So, is it worth it?
That's for you to decide – but remember that there is no government Medicare "safety net" for pets. If you have adequate financial reserves and are willing and able to pay whatever unexpected fees may arise (or if you'd be willing to put your pet to sleep in the event of an expensive illness or accident), then pet insurance may not be for you. For everyone else, we definitely think it's worth considering. For a small monthly outlay, you may never need to worry about the cost again in choosing the best possible care for your sick pet.
How do I find out more?
We have information available for most of the major policies including:
Just phone us and we'll be happy to mail you some brochures.
Related articles: Pet Health Insurance Funds
Our general advice to pet owners is to feed a premium quality commercial pet food and make this the bulk of your pet's diet. The good ones are prepared by animal nutritionists to ensure that all of your pet's nutritional, vitamin and mineral requirements are met. Canned and dry foods are both OK. On top of this don't forget to give raw bones 2-3 times per week to help to keep your pet's teeth and gums healthy.
But choosing the best diet for your pet can still be a difficult task. There are just so many different pet foods available. We stock only the ones that we believe to be of absolutely the best quality.
In this article, we want to feature Tucker Time.
It has always been our most popular pet food item – and for good reason, because as well as being of excellent quality, it is also very good value for money.
Tucker Time comes in several forms:
| - a 3kg meat roll for dogs (3 flavours) | $11.50 / roll |
| - a 4kg dry food for dogs | $12.50 / bag |
| (18kg bags also available) | |
| - a 2kg dry food for puppies | $ 9.85 / bag |
| - a 1kg meat roll for cats | $ 5.30 / roll |
Tucker Time is a complete, nutritionally balanced, high-quality, concentrated food. It is free of artificial colours, preservatives and flavourings. The inclusion of digestive enzymes in Tucker Time means that almost all of the food is absorbed in the gut, which means much less smelly faeces around your yard! Less wastage also means you can feed less - one 3kg roll will feed a 20kg dog for over a week, whilst a 4kg bag will last for over 2 weeks. Tucker Time is also Australian owned & made in Australia. Remember too that by using your PetCare card when you buy Tucker Time, you'll accumulate bonus dollars very quickly!
We believe this is an important new legislation for all pet owners to understand and there's lots of mis-information going around. Remember the key points:
Get your pet desexed and microchipped before it is re-registered.
There have been numerous articles in the media in the last few months about problems with microchips. The new system certainly does have some 'teething' problems, but things aren't as bad as they make it sound:
At Ingleburn, we have continued to register all animals that we microchip with the AAR, and this is included in our microchip price. Council pounds have a legal obligation to take all steps possible to identify a microchipped animal, which would include contacting both CAR and AAR. For this reason, we firmly believe that all animals microchipped by us will be easily identifiable.
We hope that one day the systems will be integrated, but until then we will register pets on both systems.
For this reason, the regulations also require that all council pounds, and all vets using microchips, must now have a multi-scanner that will read all existing microchip types.
If you are planning to get your pet registered and have received from us only the green AAR form, then you will need one of the photocopied forms too. Come in and we'll help you to fill it out.
As you can see, there are some problems, but we are doing everything we can to eliminate them for our clients. We still strongly recommend microchipping, and as more animals are being microchipped, we are now able to identify more of the stray dogs that come through our doors. Microchipping is now compulsory, and we are confident that the ‘teething' problems with the new NSW system will be worked out (soon?). There is no reason for you to delay microchipping your pet.
Related articles: Microchips
We hope from time to time to be able to present reports in our newsletter about interesting cases we have seen (with the owner's permission of course). Sabu is a very interesting case, due to the severity of his injuries and his remarkable recovery. His case serves to show the level of care that we are able to provide our patients, and demonstrates an interesting technique of fracture repair.
Early one Thursday morning (9th September), Peter received an urgent phone call. "Sabu", a 10-month-old siamese cat, had slipped past his owner and out onto the road where he was hit by a car. Sabu was promptly examined at our hospital. In some ways he was lucky - most cats that are hit by cars don't make it to us alive! But he probably didn't feel very lucky. His face was extremely swollen, he was bleeding from the mouth and nose, and he was having trouble breathing. He was found to have a fractured jaw and the bones of his hard pallate (the roof of his mouth) had been split. Perhaps most significantly, he had a badly fractured femur (hind leg). He was in a lot of pain.
Sabu was admitted to hospital and immediately given drugs to control the pain and swelling, to minimise the risks of brain damage and shock, and to stop infection. X-rays were taken of the fractures and a catheter (‘drip') was put in to administer intravenous fluids. Sabu was stabilised and on Friday, a lengthy surgical procedure was begun to repair his injuries.
Sabu's jaw was repaired by twisting surgical wire around the site of the fracture to hold the bones together. The split in his hard pallate was able to be repaired with sutures.
Sabu's fractured femur was repaired with a combination procedure that included an intramedullary pin (IM pin), wire and an external skeletal fixation (ESF) device. An IM pin is a metal rod that is placed inside the marrow cavity of the bone. In Sabu's case, this pin was left protruding from the skin just above his hip. The external fixation device can best be explained by reference to the accompanying diagram. Several threaded metal pins were drilled into the side of the bone, above and below the fracture site. The pins were connected together by a series of clamps, and an ESF rod – a metal bar that would remain outside of Sabu's leg at the end of the surgery. Another bar was used to connect the ESF rod to the IM pin, to provide greater strength and stability. Finally, a piece of wire was placed around the bone, to repair a split that ran down the bone below the primary fracture.
The surgical incision was closed, and X-rays were taken, before making final adjustments to the position of the IM pin in the femur (which can be done out of surgery).
The surgery went for 3-4 hours and was very successful. Unfortunately, shortly after the surgery, Sabu went into cardiac arrest (his heart stopped). Peter, Mark and our nurses worked earnestly on Sabu attempting to resuscitate him – and for a while we all thought we were going to lose him. He received 3 doses of adrenaline and several other drugs and after what seemed like forever performing cardiac compression and artificial ventilation of Sabu's lungs with oxygen, we were able to revive him. But he'd been down for a long time and we were worried about possible brain damage. Sabu was then under constant veterinary supervision for 6 hours, (until 11:30pm) by which time he was semi-conscious and the tube could be removed from his trachea. He was then placed into a special oxygen cage overnight.
Sabu has been virtually unstoppable since then. By the time he went home on Tuesday he was actually walking on his broken leg - only 4 days after his surgery! Our biggest problem since then has been getting him to eat. The injuries and swelling inside Sabu's nose meant that he couldn't smell his food. For several more days, Sabu was kept in hospital and fed through a syringe with a special convalescent diet (Hill's Prescription A/D Diet). Eventually, Sabu discovered a taste for roast lamb, and has been eating at home. His personality and behaviour are back to normal, seemingly unaffected by his brushes with death (but I guess he's used up a few of his 9 lives!)
Sabu's treatment is not yet complete. He is still being checked weekly. His ESF device on his leg is covered with bandages to stop it from getting caught on things. Once it's been on for about 4 - 6 weeks it will be removed. The IM pin and the wire around his jaw will be removed about another 3 - 4 weeks later.
Obviously, a lot of time and money has been spent on this case. For our part, we have discounted charges where we can. Fortunately, Sabu was covered by pet health insurance. CIGNA has agreed to pay up to $1400 for Sabu, plus $30 per day in hospital. Without insurance, many people would be unable to afford the extent of treatment given to Sabu. His owner will also get a part-refund from us on the re-usable fixation clamps and bars used on the outside of his leg, and will eventually get her 1-in-12 PetCare discount too.