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Did you know that we offer a pick-up and delivery service? Our nurses can pick-up your pet from your home, bring them back to our hospital for veterinary examination and treatment, and then return them to your home. Our charge for this service is $15 each way for Ingleburn, Minto and Macquarie Fields, and $25 for other suburbs.
It is important that you provide the nurse with as much information as possible about your pet's illness, and leave a contact number where the vet can phone you during the examination if necessary. Please note that (despite the picture!) this is not an emergency ambulance service. Booking in advance is essential and the service may not be available if we are very busy.
Related articles: House Calls & Patient Pick-up
You're not alone! We've calculated that, on average, people buying heartworm tablets from us give only 9 monthly tablets every year. That means a lot of dogs are going unprotected for many months of the year.
Heartworm is a serious and life-threatening disease.
Our first recommendation for heartworm prevention is Sentinel monthly tablets, but if you’re not giving 12 doses per year, then perhaps you should consider the once-a-year ProHeart injection - and forget monthly tablets forever. (The injection only covers heartworm so you will need to give an intestinal worm tablet every 3 months). The injection is quick, easy and costs no more than the tablets that you're using now. If you've been irregular with your heartworm tablets for a long time, then we may recommend a heartworm test before giving the ProHeart injection. For more information on heartworm disease, please ask us, or visit our web site.
Tip: If you miss just one heartworm tablet, then you should give the next dose as soon as you remember. But you should then phone us for advice on what to do next to ensure that your dog doesn't become infected.
Related articles: Heartworm Prevention in Dogs
Good Friday 18th April: Closed
Easter Saturday 19th April: 9am – 12 noon
Easter Sunday 20th April: Closed
Easter Monday 21st April: 10am – 12 noon
Anzac Day 25th April: 10am – 12 noon
Phone 9829 1947 at any time for emergencies.
We plan to use the new Bronchi-shield 3 vaccine because we believe it gives the best available protection to our patients. As a result, we are making some minor changes to our recommended vaccination schedule, which should also simplify things slightly. Instead of a C4 injection plus bordetella, we’ll be using a C3 injection plus the new Bronchi-shield 3. If your dog has already been vaccinated against canine cough, there’s no need to do anything now. We'll use the new vaccine at your dog's next annual visit.
This newsletter includes a review of our vaccination recommendations for dogs. There's also a description of canine cough, and a guide to help you to decide whether or not your dog needs to be vaccinated against it.
Related articles: Vaccination - Dogs
It may be hard for you to judge but here's a rough guide. Run your hand gently along the side of their chest, and then along the middle of the back down to the hips. You should be able to feel each individual rib and each bone of the spine. If you can't, or if you have to push to feel them, your pet is probably overweight.
This is unhealthy and can reduce your pet's activity and quality of life. It can also lead to serious health problems including arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, pancreatitis and heat stress.
Our Weight Loss Program is now up and running. We would like to encourage everyone to come in and weigh their pet. It's free and can be done any time during office hours without an appointment. Our staff will happily let you know your pet's ideal bodyweight and whether they are overweight. If they are, then we can offer you enrolment in our weight loss program.
For more details, please refer to our last newsletter, ask us, or visit our web site - www.ingleburnvet.com.au. We've recently added some more information on weight loss to our web site.
Related articles:
(Also known as "Kennel Cough")
Canine cough is a condition produced by several highly infectious diseases. Affected dogs have a severe, dry, choking cough known to persist for several weeks. It is very distressing to the dog – and often to the owner too!
Canine cough can be easily spread wherever dogs come into close contact with each other. The disease is particularly common in boarding kennels, hence the name "kennel cough" but this is only one of the possible sources of infection.
Among the infectious agents associated with canine cough are the bacteria Bordetella bronchiseptica and the canine viruses Parainfluenza and adenovirus.
We recommend that all dogs should be vaccinated yearly against canine cough, although some dogs are at low risk of infection, so the choice is yours. Timing the yearly vaccine within 6 months prior to entering a kennel will provide the greatest protection. The following guidelines will help you to assess the risk for your dog, based on their level of contact with other dogs:
Puppies require an initial vaccination at 6-8 weeks of age, followed by a booster at 12 weeks of age. (Some brands of vaccine require pups to have 3 shots, but our vaccines are effective with only 2 doses.) Dogs over 12 weeks of age need a single yearly vaccination.
Vaccination against parvovirus, distemper and hepatitis is essential for all dogs. We also recommend that all dogs be vaccinated against Canine Cough (preferably with the new Bronchishield 3 intranasal vaccine, but injections are available for dogs who don't like the nose drops). Puppies should also be vaccinated against coronavirus. Any dog with contact with rats should be vaccinated against leptospirosis. (See our last newsletter or visit our web site for more details.)
Related articles: Vaccination - Dogs
Did your dog have a hard time during the New Year's Eve celebrations, or during the severe storms we had last month? Noise phobia (fear of noises) is a common problem. A dog's hearing is much more sensitive than ours is, and loud noises can be quite distressing for them. Some dogs with noise phobia will sit in a corner and tremble with fear. Other cases are much more serious. We frequently hear stories about dogs who have torn through flyscreens and even wooden doors trying to get inside. Others break through gates or climb fences and escape from their yards. Many of these dogs injure themselves in the process. Some go missing, or worse still, are severely injured in car accidents.
Noise phobia can be treated. There are things that can be done on the night to minimise your pet's anxiety. We can also show you a program of behavioural re-training to prevent the fear response in the future. You can do it at home and your dog will probably enjoy it. It's not expensive either, but it does take time to achieve results.
Don't put it off. Make an appointment for a behavioural consultation now and we can advise you how to reduce or eliminate this dangerous and destructive problem.
Related articles: Fear of Noises
If you'd like to ask us a question about any aspect of pet care, you can use the Ask the Vet page on our web site, and receive a response by e-mail from one of our vets.
Visit www.ingleburnvet.com.au and click Ask the Vet.
Our web site also includes a growing amount of information on all aspects of pet care. If you haven't visited our web site yet, we invite you to browse.
"A Letter from Mark"Many of you are aware that our son Declan recently had a bad fall, and expressed your concern. It was a bad time for our family, not knowing how he would be. Well the news is all good at the moment. Due to the excellent care he had from the ambulance, Care Flight service and the Children's Hospital at Randwick, and a big dose of prayer and luck, he is doing remarkably well. Declan is almost fully recovered after 8 weeks and back at school, when the initial forecast was that he would be in hospital for 3 months!
Thanks to everybody who enquired. It helped Kathie and I a lot knowing how many people cared! You may have noticed that everybody at the hospital had to carry my workload for a while, especially Peter and Karen, and did a great job. So thanks to you guys too!
Mark
3rd March 2003
Marcel Vel is our new vet who joined us in February to fill in during Mark's absence. He will be staying with us for 3 months until early May. Many of you will have already met Marcel but we would like to take this opportunity to welcome him to our staff, and introduce him to all of you. Marcel has just completed 2 years of study for his Masters in Veterinary Clinical Studies under the supervision of one of the dermatology specialists at the University of Sydney, Camden.
Corinne graduated from Sydney Uni's veterinary science degree (with honours as we predicted!). She is now working as a vet in New Zealand.