Barkers Veterinary Clinic aims to provide excellent professional services and veterinary care to
your valued family members – your pets. Our
team offers a comprehensive service to you and
your pets to ensure they are healthy and happy
for as long as possible.
Newsletter
Our clinic not only treats dogs and cats, but
birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and mice. We
also offer a free wildlife service.
V o l u m e
“We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals”
Immanual Kant
(Continued from page 3)
cat until it comes inside—they soon learn that
they need to be inside to get dinner!
Once inside, don't‛ let it out again until morning.
Make sure your cat has a well ventilated sleeping
area with food, water
and a litter tray.
Outdoor runs can be
tailor made for your
backyard or courtyard
if you want to prevent
your cat from wandering into trouble—there
are also handy tips for
building your own enclosure—go
to
www.petsinfo.vic.gov.au/community/catnap and
follow the links to get the booklet “How to build
cat proof fencing and cat enclosures”.
Your cat should always wear a collar when outside with some identification, their council registration and microchip tag attached.
Cruciate Disease
“Cats don‛t like
change without
their consent.”
Roger Caras
(Continued from page 3)
Both of these complex surgeries are best to
be performed by a specialist veterinary surgeon. The outcome of surgery is excellent,
with most dogs back to full activity within
8—10 weeks.
Complications of rupturing one
cruciate ligament can be damage to the meniscus (the cartilage inside the stifle), arthritis within the joint and rupturing the other cruciate ligament!
For more information on these
surgical procedures, follow the link
to
www.melbvet.com.au/
surgery.asp.
2 0 0 8
Continuing education is still a focus for all staff members at the clinic—Rohana, Maggie and I all attended a seminar on FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease) recently, and I will be attending the
World Congress of Veterinary Dermatology later in the year. Rohana and Maggie will also be studying
towards their Accredited Veterinary Nursing Certificates this year—a recognition of excellent in veterinary nursing that requires continuing professional development such as presenting seminars, case
reports and text reviews.
E-mail: [email protected]
Responsible Cat Ownership
A u t u m n
I am afraid that despite my best intentions of having a seasonal newsletter we have already missed one
season! We have 2 new staff members to welcome to the team at Barkers. Maggie Hards has joined the
team as a part-time nurse (see more news about Maggie on page 2), and Isobel Martin is working as a
casual cattery hand and receptionist. Isobel came to us via the work experience programme at MLC, and
is a huge animal lover and hopes to study veterinary science after she finishes school.
When your pet has a specific health problem, we
have many veterinary specialists available for any
referral work. This includes soft tissue and orthopaedic surgery, behaviour, internal medicine,
natural therapies, exotic pets and bird medicine.
www.barkersvet.com
1
Welcome to the Autumn edition of the Barkers Veterinary Clinic Newsletter!
All of our staff members are kept up to date
with current therapies and procedures by regular
in house seminars and education programs and by
attending conferences.
Phone: 03 9853 3990
Fax: 03 9853 3992
I s s u e
Welcome to Barkers Vet Clinic
We also offer a wide range of other pet-related
services, such as dietary advice and specialised
pet foods.
37 Church Street
Hawthorn VIC 3122
2 ,
Inside this
issue:
Staff News
2
Animal Trivia
2
Ear Infections
in Dogs
2
Referring
Clients
3
Over the Australian summer both Andrew McKay and myself
have been lucky enough to ski in the Northern Hemisphere
for our holidays. Andrew spent a week skiing in Niseko in
Japan, and my husband and I spent out 10th Wedding Anniversary skiing and traveling in Italy. I tried to prepare myself by starting to study Italian last year, but unfortunately
three months of Italian was not enough! However, I am
persisting with the Italian lessons and hope to get back to
Italy some time in the future to see some more of the country and practice my new skills!
Jane Kohler
Responsible Cat 3
Ownership
Cruciate Disease in Dogs
3
Eukanuba Rewards
Did you know that when you buy your Eukanuba dog and cat food at Barkers Vet Clinic
there is a rewards programme available? For every 10 bags of food that you purchase,
you receive one bag free!
Eukanuba is a complete diet, meaning that all of your pet‛s nutritional needs are met in a
highly palatable and easily digestible food, tailor-made for your pet‛s age, breed and
weight. To make sure that your pet is getting the best nutrition possible, speak to the
team at Barkers and sign up for the Rewards programme.
Eukanuba also has a 100% money-back guarantee if your pet
doesn‛t love the taste.
Eukanuba have several new diets available in the Custom
Care Range—Healthy Joints, Sensitive Skin, Weight Control
and Sensitive Stomach.
<— Post-surgery radiograph of
TPLO procedure.
Digital image supplied by Dr Sam
Snelling of Advanced Veterinary Care.
"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."
Anatole France
P a g e
V o l u m e
2
Maggie Hards — Veterinary Nurse
Maggie is the newest member of the
our nursing team,
but has been nursing in the UK and in
Australia for 28
years!
Maggie with Abby, the
newest addition to her
family.
She has quite a
menagerie
at
home—apart from
her
husband,
Steve, she has two
greyhounds (Daisy
and Abby), a Jack
Russell Terrier (Freddie), a
Chinchilla cat (Salty), a longbilled Corella and two finches.
team and hopes to participate
again next year.
Freddie often accompanies
Maggie on her daily runs,
although he has to stay home
when she is participating in a
fun run or half-marathon.
Maggie has also successfully
competed in two Oxfam
walks, which is a fund-raising
annual event when teams of
four walk 100km to raise
money for Oxfam Abroad.
Although she is not walking
this year, Maggie is on the
support crew for her old
On the cultural side of life,
Maggie is a keen artist, taking
painting classes every week
and producing some beautiful
water colour pictures of her
own animals and some of the
Australian wildlife. She also
loves to read biographies and
autobiographies and is a member of her local book club,
when not busy babysitting her
one-year-old grandson, Ethan.
A zebra is white
with black stripes.
♦
Brown eggs come
from hens with red
feathers and red ear
lobes, white eggs
from
hens
with
white feathers and
white ear lobes.
“There is no snooze
button on a cat who
wants breakfast”
Unknown.
♦
Cats have four rows
of whiskas.
♦
An albatross can
sleep while it flies.
Dolphins sleep at
night just below
the surface of the
water and rise to
the surface for air.
♦
Sharks are the only
animals that never get
sick—they are immune
to every known disease, including cancer.
♦
A rat can last
longer without water than a camel.
♦
A cheetah is the only
cat that can‛t retract
its claws.
♦
There
are
types
of
breed dogs.
♦
♦
Cats‛ have no sweat
glands.
A cat that bites you
for rubbing its stomach is biting from
pleasure not anger.
Ear Infections
Cleaning your dog‛s ears.
The most common ear infections in dogs are caused by yeast or bacteria. Very small numbers
of these bugs live in the ears of all normal dogs, but a change to the environment of the
ear canal can lead to a population explosion and a nasty discharge (and smell) that irritates your dog and causes it to scratch its ears, rub its head on the ground or shake its
head due to the irritation and pain.
Dogs that get water into their ears are much more likely to get infections, as the moisture and humidity in the ear canal makes it very easy for yeast and bacteria to multiply.
Diagnosis of the cause of the infection is easily done by a quick swab which can be
viewed under the microscope. For chronic or severe infections, we will send a swab to
the laboratory for a full culture. Treatment can then be selected that is specific for
your dog‛s infection and result in a faster cure. It is important to be sure that the infection has completely gone at the end of the course of ear drops, so a revisit to the vet
for another swab is essential. There are also several ear cleaners available to help keep the
ear canals clean and dry between swims or baths — contact the team at Barkers to ask for
more information.
N e w s l e t t e r
1
P a g e
3
Cruciate Disease in Dogs
ACL (anterior cruciate ligament)
rupture is a common disease in active dogs—especially those that
jump and twist on their back legs.
flamed. Dogs that fully rupture
their ACL will often hold their leg
off the ground or just touch their
toe to the ground when walking.
Treatment for this injury is surgical for any dogs over ten kilograms. The two most common
surgeries are a prosthetic replacement ligament inserted into
the stifle joint to stabilize the
knee, or a TPLO (tibial plateau
levelling osteotomy) which realigns the angle of the stifle.
The ACL is a very small and sturdy
ligament in the stifle joint, or knee,
of dogs and cats that prevents the
femur (thigh bone) from slipped
forwards over the tibia—it keeps
the joint stable. Once this ligament is ruptured or strained, the
stifle becomes unstable and in-
(Continued on page 4)
Responsible Cat Ownership
♦
701
pure
I s s u e
We welcome Maggie to the
Barkers Team.
Animal Trivia
♦
2 ,
Serious problems can occur if cats
are allowed to roam outdoors between dusk and dawn. 80% of accidents involving cats happen at
night—cats can get hit by cars,
injured in fights or catch fatal disease, such as feline AIDS.
On average, cats that are kept inside at night live three times
longer, than cats that are allowed
to roam.
The hours between dusk and dawn
are also when cats are most likely
to kill native wildlife (or fight with
a possum). Cats can also annoy your
neighbours at night by spraying,
fighting, yowling and digging in gardens.
If your cat is found
trespassing and is
not identified, it can
be seized and impounded, and you will
need to pay a fine to
reclaim it from the
pound. The council
can also issue an
order to stop you
FYI
Friend Referrals
Cattery
The greatest compliment you
can pay to our clinic is to refer
your friends to us. We greatly
appreciate word-of-mouth
referrals.
Every time you
refer a friend to us, a discount voucher is sent to you
as a thank-you.
The cattery continues to become very popular, and we
have already had places filled
for Christmas 2008. If you
think you may need a place in
any holiday period, please book
well in advance—a deposit will
ensure that your cat will not
miss out!
cat trespassing, which often happens when a particular cat is spraying or annoying housebound cats
that become distressed
with
a
strange cat in their
territory.
When training your
cat to accept confinement, skip its
morning feed and call
it in at night to be
fed. Don‛t feed your
(Continued on page 4)
In any emergency,
phone Barkers Vet
Clinic on 9853 3990
Clinic Safety
or come straight to
When visiting the clinic with
the clinic during noryour pet, please make sure
that your dog is on a lead and mal opening hours.
your cat is secured in a cage For
after
hours
(or even a pillow case). Cages emergencies, phone
can be borrowed from the
the Animal Emerclinic if you don‛t own one. We
gency Centre at 37
don‛t want any loose animals
Blackburn Road, Mt
escaping through the front
Waverley on 9803
door onto the road!
8122.
P a g e
V o l u m e
2
Maggie Hards — Veterinary Nurse
Maggie is the newest member of the
our nursing team,
but has been nursing in the UK and in
Australia for 28
years!
Maggie with Abby, the
newest addition to her
family.
She has quite a
menagerie
at
home—apart from
her
husband,
Steve, she has two
greyhounds (Daisy
and Abby), a Jack
Russell Terrier (Freddie), a
Chinchilla cat (Salty), a longbilled Corella and two finches.
team and hopes to participate
again next year.
Freddie often accompanies
Maggie on her daily runs,
although he has to stay home
when she is participating in a
fun run or half-marathon.
Maggie has also successfully
competed in two Oxfam
walks, which is a fund-raising
annual event when teams of
four walk 100km to raise
money for Oxfam Abroad.
Although she is not walking
this year, Maggie is on the
support crew for her old
On the cultural side of life,
Maggie is a keen artist, taking
painting classes every week
and producing some beautiful
water colour pictures of her
own animals and some of the
Australian wildlife. She also
loves to read biographies and
autobiographies and is a member of her local book club,
when not busy babysitting her
one-year-old grandson, Ethan.
A zebra is white
with black stripes.
♦
Brown eggs come
from hens with red
feathers and red ear
lobes, white eggs
from
hens
with
white feathers and
white ear lobes.
“There is no snooze
button on a cat who
wants breakfast”
Unknown.
♦
Cats have four rows
of whiskas.
♦
An albatross can
sleep while it flies.
Dolphins sleep at
night just below
the surface of the
water and rise to
the surface for air.
♦
Sharks are the only
animals that never get
sick—they are immune
to every known disease, including cancer.
♦
A rat can last
longer without water than a camel.
♦
A cheetah is the only
cat that can‛t retract
its claws.
♦
There
are
types
of
breed dogs.
♦
♦
Cats‛ have no sweat
glands.
A cat that bites you
for rubbing its stomach is biting from
pleasure not anger.
Ear Infections
Cleaning your dog‛s ears.
The most common ear infections in dogs are caused by yeast or bacteria. Very small numbers
of these bugs live in the ears of all normal dogs, but a change to the environment of the
ear canal can lead to a population explosion and a nasty discharge (and smell) that irritates your dog and causes it to scratch its ears, rub its head on the ground or shake its
head due to the irritation and pain.
Dogs that get water into their ears are much more likely to get infections, as the moisture and humidity in the ear canal makes it very easy for yeast and bacteria to multiply.
Diagnosis of the cause of the infection is easily done by a quick swab which can be
viewed under the microscope. For chronic or severe infections, we will send a swab to
the laboratory for a full culture. Treatment can then be selected that is specific for
your dog‛s infection and result in a faster cure. It is important to be sure that the infection has completely gone at the end of the course of ear drops, so a revisit to the vet
for another swab is essential. There are also several ear cleaners available to help keep the
ear canals clean and dry between swims or baths — contact the team at Barkers to ask for
more information.
N e w s l e t t e r
1
P a g e
3
Cruciate Disease in Dogs
ACL (anterior cruciate ligament)
rupture is a common disease in active dogs—especially those that
jump and twist on their back legs.
flamed. Dogs that fully rupture
their ACL will often hold their leg
off the ground or just touch their
toe to the ground when walking.
Treatment for this injury is surgical for any dogs over ten kilograms. The two most common
surgeries are a prosthetic replacement ligament inserted into
the stifle joint to stabilize the
knee, or a TPLO (tibial plateau
levelling osteotomy) which realigns the angle of the stifle.
The ACL is a very small and sturdy
ligament in the stifle joint, or knee,
of dogs and cats that prevents the
femur (thigh bone) from slipped
forwards over the tibia—it keeps
the joint stable. Once this ligament is ruptured or strained, the
stifle becomes unstable and in-
(Continued on page 4)
Responsible Cat Ownership
♦
701
pure
I s s u e
We welcome Maggie to the
Barkers Team.
Animal Trivia
♦
2 ,
Serious problems can occur if cats
are allowed to roam outdoors between dusk and dawn. 80% of accidents involving cats happen at
night—cats can get hit by cars,
injured in fights or catch fatal disease, such as feline AIDS.
On average, cats that are kept inside at night live three times
longer, than cats that are allowed
to roam.
The hours between dusk and dawn
are also when cats are most likely
to kill native wildlife (or fight with
a possum). Cats can also annoy your
neighbours at night by spraying,
fighting, yowling and digging in gardens.
If your cat is found
trespassing and is
not identified, it can
be seized and impounded, and you will
need to pay a fine to
reclaim it from the
pound. The council
can also issue an
order to stop you
FYI
Friend Referrals
Cattery
The greatest compliment you
can pay to our clinic is to refer
your friends to us. We greatly
appreciate word-of-mouth
referrals.
Every time you
refer a friend to us, a discount voucher is sent to you
as a thank-you.
The cattery continues to become very popular, and we
have already had places filled
for Christmas 2008. If you
think you may need a place in
any holiday period, please book
well in advance—a deposit will
ensure that your cat will not
miss out!
cat trespassing, which often happens when a particular cat is spraying or annoying housebound cats
that become distressed
with
a
strange cat in their
territory.
When training your
cat to accept confinement, skip its
morning feed and call
it in at night to be
fed. Don‛t feed your
(Continued on page 4)
In any emergency,
phone Barkers Vet
Clinic on 9853 3990
Clinic Safety
or come straight to
When visiting the clinic with
the clinic during noryour pet, please make sure
that your dog is on a lead and mal opening hours.
your cat is secured in a cage For
after
hours
(or even a pillow case). Cages emergencies, phone
can be borrowed from the
the Animal Emerclinic if you don‛t own one. We
gency Centre at 37
don‛t want any loose animals
Blackburn Road, Mt
escaping through the front
Waverley on 9803
door onto the road!
8122.
Barkers Veterinary Clinic aims to provide excellent professional services and veterinary care to
your valued family members – your pets. Our
team offers a comprehensive service to you and
your pets to ensure they are healthy and happy
for as long as possible.
Newsletter
Our clinic not only treats dogs and cats, but
birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and mice. We
also offer a free wildlife service.
V o l u m e
“We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals”
Immanual Kant
(Continued from page 3)
cat until it comes inside—they soon learn that
they need to be inside to get dinner!
Once inside, don't‛ let it out again until morning.
Make sure your cat has a well ventilated sleeping
area with food, water
and a litter tray.
Outdoor runs can be
tailor made for your
backyard or courtyard
if you want to prevent
your cat from wandering into trouble—there
are also handy tips for
building your own enclosure—go
to
www.petsinfo.vic.gov.au/community/catnap and
follow the links to get the booklet “How to build
cat proof fencing and cat enclosures”.
Your cat should always wear a collar when outside with some identification, their council registration and microchip tag attached.
Cruciate Disease
“Cats don‛t like
change without
their consent.”
Roger Caras
(Continued from page 3)
Both of these complex surgeries are best to
be performed by a specialist veterinary surgeon. The outcome of surgery is excellent,
with most dogs back to full activity within
8—10 weeks.
Complications of rupturing one
cruciate ligament can be damage to the meniscus (the cartilage inside the stifle), arthritis within the joint and rupturing the other cruciate ligament!
For more information on these
surgical procedures, follow the link
to
www.melbvet.com.au/
surgery.asp.
2 0 0 8
Continuing education is still a focus for all staff members at the clinic—Rohana, Maggie and I all attended a seminar on FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease) recently, and I will be attending the
World Congress of Veterinary Dermatology later in the year. Rohana and Maggie will also be studying
towards their Accredited Veterinary Nursing Certificates this year—a recognition of excellent in veterinary nursing that requires continuing professional development such as presenting seminars, case
reports and text reviews.
E-mail: [email protected]
Responsible Cat Ownership
A u t u m n
I am afraid that despite my best intentions of having a seasonal newsletter we have already missed one
season! We have 2 new staff members to welcome to the team at Barkers. Maggie Hards has joined the
team as a part-time nurse (see more news about Maggie on page 2), and Isobel Martin is working as a
casual cattery hand and receptionist. Isobel came to us via the work experience programme at MLC, and
is a huge animal lover and hopes to study veterinary science after she finishes school.
When your pet has a specific health problem, we
have many veterinary specialists available for any
referral work. This includes soft tissue and orthopaedic surgery, behaviour, internal medicine,
natural therapies, exotic pets and bird medicine.
www.barkersvet.com
1
Welcome to the Autumn edition of the Barkers Veterinary Clinic Newsletter!
All of our staff members are kept up to date
with current therapies and procedures by regular
in house seminars and education programs and by
attending conferences.
Phone: 03 9853 3990
Fax: 03 9853 3992
I s s u e
Welcome to Barkers Vet Clinic
We also offer a wide range of other pet-related
services, such as dietary advice and specialised
pet foods.
37 Church Street
Hawthorn VIC 3122
2 ,
Inside this
issue:
Staff News
2
Animal Trivia
2
Ear Infections
in Dogs
2
Referring
Clients
3
Over the Australian summer both Andrew McKay and myself
have been lucky enough to ski in the Northern Hemisphere
for our holidays. Andrew spent a week skiing in Niseko in
Japan, and my husband and I spent out 10th Wedding Anniversary skiing and traveling in Italy. I tried to prepare myself by starting to study Italian last year, but unfortunately
three months of Italian was not enough! However, I am
persisting with the Italian lessons and hope to get back to
Italy some time in the future to see some more of the country and practice my new skills!
Jane Kohler
Responsible Cat 3
Ownership
Cruciate Disease in Dogs
3
Eukanuba Rewards
Did you know that when you buy your Eukanuba dog and cat food at Barkers Vet Clinic
there is a rewards programme available? For every 10 bags of food that you purchase,
you receive one bag free!
Eukanuba is a complete diet, meaning that all of your pet‛s nutritional needs are met in a
highly palatable and easily digestible food, tailor-made for your pet‛s age, breed and
weight. To make sure that your pet is getting the best nutrition possible, speak to the
team at Barkers and sign up for the Rewards programme.
Eukanuba also has a 100% money-back guarantee if your pet
doesn‛t love the taste.
Eukanuba have several new diets available in the Custom
Care Range—Healthy Joints, Sensitive Skin, Weight Control
and Sensitive Stomach.
<— Post-surgery radiograph of
TPLO procedure.
Digital image supplied by Dr Sam
Snelling of Advanced Veterinary Care.
"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."
Anatole France