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Welcome to our Summer 2010 Newsletter
The summer so far has been rather wet and humid and we have seen an unusually high number of paralysis tick cases already.
All of these pets were dogs, which had spent some time off the Peninsula.
The Peninsula is a safe haven from ticks but those who regularly travel off the Peninsula with their pets need to remember to use tick prevention.
With the holiday season approaching, please use prevention at least 2 weeks prior to leaving the Peninsula.
If your dog is swimming a lot, topical preparations and collars will not be effective, so use Proban® tablets.
I would suggest treating your pets even if they are going to boarding kennels over the summer holidays. Please contact us for more information about ticks.
The team at Peninsula Vet Surgery would like to wish every one and their families a very Merry Christmas and safe and prosperous New Year.
We would also like to thank all our clients for their support during the year. The surgery will be closed public holidays only.
In this edition, we meet Sam, our new vet nurse, Lilly tells her sad story and Ian continues looking at dry pet foods especially for cats.
There are also a couple of pictures from our recent social events, Melbourne Cup Day party and bare-foot bowls day at Bramble Bay.
Enjoy your reading.
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Trading Hours for Christmas and New Year Season
Open Friday Christmas Eve 24 December 2010
Closed Saturday Christmas Day 25 December 2010
Closed Sunday Boxing Day 26 December 2010
Closed Monday Public Holiday 27 December 2010
Closed Tuesday Public Holiday 28 December 2010
Open Wednesday 29 December 2010
Open Thursday 30 December 2010
Open Friday 31 December 2010
Closed Saturday New Year's Day 1 January 2011
Closed Sunday 2 January 2011
Closed Monday Public Holiday 3 January 2011
Open Tuesday 4 January 2011
For All Emergencies contact BVECCS at Albany Creek 3264 9400
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PET OF THE MONTH Rose Petal
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BAREFOOT BOWLS
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MELBOURNE CUP
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Lily's Story
"Lilly" is Robert's best mate. Recently, Robert needed to leave Lilly at his mother's place.
Although Lilly had been there before, she fretted and tried to get out under a closed gate.
In the process of trying to get out, she broke her leg badly, the bone penetrating the skin just near her wrist.
The X-rays showed a compound fracture of her radius and ulna (fore-arm) bones, this means a multiple fracture and with the complication of infection
we tried a cast first to assess if the bones would heal.
After a week the leg was reassessed and there were signs of infection and massive bruising which would prevent any healing.
After much consideration we decided it was in Lilly's best interest to amputate her leg. This was done in July 2010. Since the operation Lilly has not looked back.
She is fit and well. Due to many causes, pets often need limb amputation.
It is surprising how quickly they adapt.
Thanks to Robert for letting us take care of his best friend, Lilly and sharing her story.
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Meet Our New Vet Nurse - Samantha West
Hi to all… I'm Samantha and this Oscar my dog. We both moved here from Wellington New Zealand mid 2010 and loving it. 
I have been working in the animal industry for the past five years starting as a volunteer for the NZ S.P.C.A.
I became a graduated Veterinary nurse in 2009 and have worked as a locum nurse till now.
I was offered a full time position with P.V.S team and was happy to take the position and haven't looked back.
Apart from the passion that I have for the animals and wild life my other passions are riding motorbikes, Digital photography, and walking my furry child (Oscar).
I'm looking forward to meeting, serving and helping you with all your pets needs at the Peninsula Veterinary Surgery.
Regards
Sam
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Your Pet is What It Eats Part 2 by Ian
Re-capping from the last newsletter, it has become very convenient to feed our pets from commercially available pet foods.
The most readily available are in the supermarket. As with most packaged foods, these are made by multi-national companies which source raw products from various
global markets. The raw ingredients are put together here or overseas and beautifully packaged for us to purchase.
In the wild, dogs and especially cats are carnivores, hunting and eating smaller herbivores. Our domestic dogs and cats do not have to do this as we
provide their diet. In days of old, people would feed their pets left-overs, meat scraps, bones, vegetables etc.
There were some nutritional deficiencies with these diets and so the commercial pet food industry arose.
So I now want to focus on dry cat foods from the supermarket. The common problems arising from these highly processed diets are dull coats, persistent
vomiting and in male cats, urethral obstruction (he can not pee).
In the longer term I believe these diets do tend to make cats overweight and increase the likelihood of kidney failure.
Once again, I would like this article to be more informative than critical. The 2 big pet food companies in the supermarket are Nestle' and Master Foods.
Both these companies make a range of products of your pets. Once again looking at various dry cat foods as an example, I would like to point out the difference in their quality. This is often reflected also in the price of the food, cheaper meaning poorer quality food.
Again let's look at the Purina range of food made by Nestle'.
Reading from the Ingredient Panel on the packet, the first ingredient is the primary ingredient in the food followed by the second etc.
Note previously I stated that cats are carnivores, meaning they should eat meat as their first ingredient.
From the dry cat foods I have chosen for this article it is clear there is a distinction between the diets.
Diets high in wholegrain cereals can cause problems in cats because naturally, in the wild, cats eat smaller animals because they are carnivores.
Purina One Adult Formula Salmon & Tuna Flavour 
Ingredients: Poultry meal, Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat, Soy Meal, Salmon & Tuna, Animal Fat(derived from beef and/or lamb), Sorghum, Vitamins & Minerals, Animal Digest, Salt, DL-methionine, Natural Anti-oxidants & Flavours.
Purina Supercoat Adult Salmon & Tuna Flavour 
Ingredients: Wholegrain Cereals and by-products, Meat & meat by-products(poultry and beef and real Salmon & Tuna), flavours, iodised salt, yucca extract, Amino acids (methionine, taurine), Vitamins(A, D, E, K, B1, B6, Niacin, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Choline, Biotin, B12) & trace minerals(Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Potassium), mixed natural Tocopherols(vitamin E), whole linseeds(a source of omega 3), rosemary plant extract, garlic & kelp.
Fancy Feast Beef, Salmon & Cheese Flavour 
Ingredients: Meat & meat by-products(Chicken and/or beef and/or lamb), Wholegrain rice and/or wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Wholegrain Corn, Soy Bean Meal, Animal Tallow(beef and/or lamb), Essential Vitamins, Minerals, & Amino Acids, Natural Flavours, Salt and Food Colours.
Purina Friskies Adult Salmon, Tuna, Prawn & Sardine Flavour 
Ingredients: Wholegrain Cereals and by-products, Meat & meat by-products(Chicken and/or beef and/or lamb and Fish incl. Salmon and Tuna), Vegetable proteins & vegetable by-products, Essential vitamins, minerals and amino acids, Food Colours, Natural Flavours & Anti-oxidants.
From this small exercise, clearly Purina One Adult Formula Salmon & Tuna Flavour would be the better dry cat food from this range of foods.
Taking the time to read the ingredients may help with your selection of foods, take a look at these, Fancy Feast Beef, Salmon & Cheese Flavour does not have any salmon or cheese in the ingredients and likewise Friskies Adult Salmon, Tuna, Prawn & Sardine Flavour does not contain any prawn or sardines.
Another concern I have is the colouring of the biscuits in the Fancy Feast and Friskies varieties.
The ingredient lists these as "food colours" which have become problematic for some children so, does these colours also have a detrimental effect on our pets?
I would suggest it is unnecessary for the colours to be added to the diets, cats do not normally eat foods that are bright yellow and green.
Once again beware of the cereal based foods because there are usually more palatable but they are nutrient poor per gram so pets will need to eat more of them to
get the nutrients they need.
I call them junk foods (we all love a fast food burger but know it's not very nutritious). This tends our pets to over eat and become overweight which causes more
health problems.
I hope this article sheds some light on the pet food dilemma. Remember the more you pay for a pet food usually the better it is, regardless of who endorses it. Also, any of the premium foods such as Eukanuba, are in a different range to the supermarket pet foods and offer a more nutritious diet to your pet. I will address this at some later stage.
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A Tribute to Blackie
My beautiful Blackie came into our lives when most unexpected. We went to the pound to make a donation and Blackie came and sat beside me.
Apparently she had been abused and no one wanted her because of her skin problems. I had no intention of having a dog but she melted me with those eyes and
of course I took her home. We have had Blackie now for years, and I have treasured every minute.
She had brought us joy, happiness and sadness over the years as she had many skin problems and arthritis, but we managed them well with good diet and
the help of our dedicated vet, Ian and gave her a great life with aging gracefully.
Blackie was not well on the weekend and a long discussion took place with our vet, we now know it is time to remember Blackie with happy memories and
not poor quality of life. For the past week we have taken her to the beach, drank wine to celebrate her life and took many photos.
I have given her all the cuddles and treats she wants. It has been a hard week looking into her eyes knowing her life will end in a few days.
She seems to know and has given me double amounts of smooches, as if her way of thanking me for all we have done to make her life happy.
I could not believe the compassion of our vet and his offer to come to the home to take care of her end of life needs. I know her departure will be peaceful.
I will miss her everyday but will treasure the memories that Ian talked me through to help me cope.
I would like to thank my partner Ron, my daughter Melissa for encouraging me to take Blackie home, my son Shane for taking her fishing, all my friends and family who have had a important part in Blackie's life and especially Ian, our vet and the staff at Peninsula Vet Surgery for their dedication and love shown to our beautiful friend. Thank you to the animal refuge for giving me the most beautiful friend.
Christine Robie
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