Surgical cases are treated at our clinic in most instances. These may range from removing lumps, and stitching wounds to gastro-intestinal surgery or fracture repair. Some problems are best handled at the surgical specialist and we will always inform you if your pet should be referred.

Things to consider when having surgery performed are whether pre- anaesthetic blood testing, intravenous fluids, and pain relief during and after the procedure are required. These things reduce risks and make for the best outcome for your pet post surgery.

Puppy pre-school is a socialising and early training program designed for pups to start between 8 and 16 weeks of age. The "imprinting" stage of a pup's development happens during this period and good (as well as bad) behaviours can be introduced.

The course is designed for between 3 and 8 pups to interact and for the owners to gain valuable knowledge into how a dog thinks (pack structure) , health tips and begin on the road to having an obedient, well mannered dog.

Julie Chapman has begun work with us in August 2005 and provides for grooming of all breeds of dogs. She has 23 years experience in the field and has previously owned and run a very successful salon at Scarborough. She sold this to have a family and we are fortunate to have her expertise in our team.

Cats and dogs need an initial course of vaccinations to gain full immunity from a number of fatal diseases (see our kitten and puppy care packs).

Every patient receives a reminder for their Annual Health Check, when we thoroughly examine your pet and are able to talk about teeth, skin, gut and behavioural problems, and in the case of dogs, give a heartworm injection.

During this consultation, we perform any vaccinations. The new vaccines for dogs mean what injection a canine patient actually receives will be different from year to year.

There are still, at present, only annual vaccines available for cats in Australia. The vet who sees your pet will then issue a written report and a vaccination certificate that is required if going to dog obedience classes or boarding kennels. Microchipping can be done at this time.

Heartworm prevention also comes as a convenient once yearly injection now and can be done at the same time as vaccination. Also worming and any flea problems can be addressed.

80% of dogs and 70% of our cats have some measure of teeth and or gum disease. Fortunately most of this is not advanced. However our pets cannot tell us when there is a problem in their mouth and rarely complain. Bad teeth can go hand in hand with a number of organ problems in the body, especially affecting the kidneys and heart.

At Peninsula Veterinary Surgery we have a complete Dental Base that allows us to scale and polish teeth as well as perform extractions where necessary. Sometimes root canal work is indicated (with broken teeth especially) and there are a number of Veterinary Dental Specialists available in Brisbane that we work closely with.

We would love all our patients to have great teeth and this starts with a good diet including raw bones for both dogs and cats. Give us a ring if you would like more information.

We have a Behavioural Program here at Peninsula Veterinary Surgery to help clients with the many problems that make our pets a challenge to live with.

Most dogs display more than one undesirable behaviour be it barking, digging, chewing, jumping, escaping, shyness, aggression, not heeding commands or just over the top excitement.

We all know that it is more expensive to register a non- desexed dog, but there are many more important reasons to desex your pet. Generally all dogs and cats that are not breeding should be desexed.

In females unwanted litters, mammary cancer and infections to the womb are problems, and with males the desire to fight and escape and chase "girls", as well as possible prostate disease and testicular problems are an issue.

Male cats have a very strong urine smell when marking their territory and their desire to fight is huge. Unfortunately so is the chance of contracting Feline Immunodeficiency Virus(cat aids) if they are not desexed.

Did You Know? : That female cats are in season and able to mate for 13 days each cycle and that they cycle every 21 days!!!

So the chances of them getting pregnant in the breeding season is...................... high.

Did You Know? : that if a female dog is desexed before their 1st season that their chance of getting cancer in their mammary glands is almost nil!!!

We recommend that dogs and cats be desexed at 6 months of age. Yes this is before their 1st season and no they don't need a litter before they are speyed to be a great dog.

Desexing requires a general anaesthetic and usually intravenous fluids All our patients will receive pain relief and antibiotics at the time of surgery, pain relief for the days after surgery and stitch removal is included in the fee. We can answer any questions you have regarding desexing please ring us on 3284 5133.

Radiology is a big part of a general dog and cat practice. Many things can be detected on xray including pregnancy, broken bones, the size position and shape of soft tissue organs, some cancer and much more.

Generally we will anaesthetise any patient to allow a great xray to be taken and this will usually involve the patient staying with us for part, or all of the day. We recently purchased an upgraded xray machine and this allows us to give an even better service.

We offer a wide range of treatments in the area of dermatology. Please consult us on any concerns you may have with your pets' skin care.

We stock and recommend Eukanuba Premium Dog and Cat Food.

It is now compulsory for all dogs and cats in the Moreton Bay Regional Shire that are bought or that change owners to be microchipped. Young dogs and cats are are to be vaccinated between 8 and 12 weeks of age.

A microchip is a small implant inserted under the skin at the base of the neck. It stores a number that is readable by a scanner. Nowadays all vets , pounds and shelters have scanners.

It gives you peace of mind that your pet will be identified if he/she loses any tags or collars and ends up in the lock up. The fee includes the procedure to implant the chip and lifetime registration of your details on the computer database.

Please note: if you ever change your contact details these need to be updated on the database that holds your information.

We recommend the Annual Heartworm Injection (Proheart SR 12) for all our canine patients. This is a simple, safe method of preventing heartworm disease and takes the onus of owners to remember monthly treatments.

Our team will send a reminder when the pet is due and most people opt to have the injection done at the same time their pets Annual Health Check. We start the patients with their first injection at 6 months of age usually.

We know that there are a mountain of medications out there and pride ouselves on quality advice to tailor a program that is effective and suits your life style.