• Welcome


• Trading Hours for Xmas New Year


• Photo of the Month


• PRE-SCHOOL REUNION


• Paraylsis Tick- What You Need to Know

• Joan Rowe and Benson-photo


• Meet Sam Haggett


• Taekwondo by Penny


• Vet Home Page


• Newsletters

Welcome to our Summer Newsletter

This summer so far has been rather dry and dusty, already many pets are itching and scratching due to their summer allergies. So to keep them comfortable have them clipped short and shampooed regularly. Treat regularly for fleas because this is flea season.

Most people have found Comfortis® tablets for dogs very effective while Revolution® topical for cats. If they are scratching excessively we will need to medicate them to prevent infected sores we call "hotspots".

Please remember to apply prevention for paralysis tick to your pets if they are travelling off the Peninsula during the summer season.

I would suggest treating your pets even if they are going to boarding kennels over the summer holidays.

Once again a quick reminder about the festive season, please be careful with feeding too much rich fatty food to your pets especially dogs. That roast pork bone, crackling and ham bone can cause a severe pancreatitis which needs several days in hospital to resolve.

Here is something that came across my desk recently, a microchip controlled cat flap. Using your pets existing microchip the cat flap will only allow your pre-programmed pets entry, keeping other unwanted pets outside. The product is called Sureflap®; check it out here, http://www.sureflap.com.au.

This device would be useful if you needed to have separate feeding areas for you pet.

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 Sammy, our new vet nurse, Penny shares with us her weekends, Jackie reports on the Puppy Preschool reunion held in October and we review tick paralysis.

Enjoy your reading.

Top of Page

Trading Hours for Christmas and New Year Season

Open Saturday Christmas Eve -am 24 December 2011

Closed Sunday Christmas Day 25 December 2011

Closed Monday Boxing Day 26 December 2011

Closed Tuesday Public Holiday 27 December 2011

Open Wednesday 28 December 2011

Open Thursday 29 December 2011

Open Friday 30 December 2011

Open Saturday -am 31 December 2011

Closed Sunday New Year's Day 1 January 2012

Closed Monday Public Holiday 2 January 2012

Open Tuesday 3 January 2012

Well, our latest Puppy Preschool Reunion was a huge success! It was an excellent turn out on Sunday the 2nd of October down at Endeavour Park at Scarborough. Beautiful clear day, just a little bit windy and loads of family fun and prizes to be had!

Our dogs and puppies that turned up ranged from 2yrs down to 4mths old and they were all so well behaved! Some of the games we played were Fastest Recall which was very amusing as some dogs were running to different owners!

Another fun interactive game was our team game in which we had three teams of 7 people and their dogs and each person had to weave with their dogs through the witches hats and back and tag the next person until the whole team finishes and whoever is quickest wins.

This created much laughter with some dogs not even touching the ground as they were raced around the witch's hats!

Just to test our past doggie students, we also had a game called the longest stay and I was very proud of everyone who participated regardless of how long they stayed for!

We ended with a fun agility course supplied by my Puppy Preschool mentor Jane Harper from Dogs on Track. This was great fun for both dogs and their younger owners.

Then some of our doggie students (and owners) showed us their special tricksthey have been taught, they were all very clever! I was also very impressed with the kids and their ability to train and handle their pets, well done!

A big thank you to James and Penny for doing the yummy sausage sizzle and cold drinks on the day. Also big thanks to the whole team from Peninsula Vets for taking time out to come down and lend a hand, James, Penny, Ian, Naomi, Sam & Julie.

Also a big thank you to Jane Harper from Dogs on Track for supplying all the equipment and her time .

Thank you also to our sponsors who supplied our prizes for the day, Eukanuba, Lyppard, Mavlab and Merial. And a very big thankyou to all the families and pooches who came along! It was a huge pleasure for all of us to enjoy such a special day with you.

Jackie Spyers

Photos from the day's events

Do you like to take your dog camping or bushwalking? Do you live backing onto a creek and/or bushland?

Do you share your property with Bandicoots, Possums or Kangaroos? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you need to be aware of a dangerous parasite called the Paralysis Tick. (see picture above)

Paralysis Ticks love humid areas especially rainforests and are usually found in a 20km band that follows the eastern coastline of Australia roughly between spring and the beginnings of autumn. The Bandicoot is the natural host but Possums and Kangaroos can also carry them.

They like to crawl up the blades of grass and sway their legs back and forward in hopes of attaching to something passing by. This is sometimes unfortunately our poor pooches!

The Tick will crawl its way through the coat of the dog and more commonly will attach itself anywhere from the lips and gums, ears, neck and down to the armpit area of the forelegs but they can also sometimes be found elsewhere on the body too like between the pads of the feet or even in the anal or vaginal area.

The tick will attach itself and start to feed on the dogs blood whilst injecting its evil venom! The signs of Tick Paralysis are wobbliness usually starting in the hindquarters which eventually will spread until the dog cannot get up.

The paralysis also affects the organs and when it reaches the lungs the dog can have breathing difficulties and become quite huffy in sound.

The vocal cords can be affectred too thus making the dogs bark sound hoarse. Vomiting may also occur. The Paralysis will also affect the swallow reflex of an animal so it is important NOT to give your dog any food or water if they are definitely showing any signs as it may go down the wrong way and end up causing pneumonia.

GET YOUR DOG STRAIGHT TO THE VETS AT THE FIRST SIGNS OF FINDING A TICK OR OF THEM SHOWING ANY OF THE ABOVE SIGNS AS THEY CAN BE FATAL!!

If you find a tick you can remove it a number of ways, either spray it with some Aerogard first (NEVER use Kerosene or Metho etc as can aggravate the tick and it may inject more venom) wait 10 minutes then either use a pair of tweezers to grasp the tick where it is attached at the base of the skin surface then twist and quickly pull it out (remember DO NOT grab the ticks body as you may squeeze more venom into the dog!), if you have no tweezers you can try scraping the tick off with a plastic card or keep on hand a tick twister.

These little instruments will hook under the tick and make it easy to remove them safely. Remember to keep the tick to show to the Vet if not sure which type it is.

Prevention and awareness is the key to avoiding your dog becoming a victim to the Paralysis Tick. There are a number of products available to protect your precious pooch from these nasty parasites! Advantix from Bayer is a liquid applied every two weeks to the back of the neck, care should be taken if doing a lot of swimming as it may wear off quicker.

Frontline Plus from Merial is another liquid that you apply every 2wks to the back of the neck as well. This product is water proof as long as they don't swim until 48hrs after application. Virbac Tick Collars are also available and last for 2mths, these need to be removed before getting wet and then replaced again after. The disadvantage of this is that is takes another 48hrs to protect the dog again.

Otherwise there are washes such as Permoxin or Fidos Rinse Concentrate which you can soak your dog with and leave to dry. This will need to be done every few days or you can make it up in a spray bottle and spray them on a daily basis.

The important thing is that even though you are using these products, ALWAYS still check your dog regularly by running you fingers through their coat, checking their gums and inside their ears and pads of feet. If you have a long or thick coated dog you might even consider getting the dog shaved for the summer period as it can be very difficult to find ticks in these types of coats.

If you know you are travelling to a risky area make sure you prepare and start applying a tick prevention product at least two weeks before you leave so it definitely has had time to build up and work.

If you have any concerns, questions or just need some advice then please don't hesitate to come in and see us or call us here at Peninsula Veterinary Surgery on 3284 5133.

Benson is our loyal "longest serving " patient. At 16.5 years old he is looking like a much younger gent!! Thanks Joan for your continued support over many years.

Hello There, My name is Sammy. I'm currently studying Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing and loving it!

Whether they are big, small, furry, feathered, scaly, two or four legged, I've always had a passion for animals.

At the moment I have a few pets including my horse Peppie, Petra and Sonic my dogs and my little Guinea Pig Albie.

My other interests include camping, shopping, movies, hanging out with family and friends, supporting the Borneo Orangutan Survival and Volkswagens.

I look forward to meeting you and your animal friends.

Taekwondo is what I do for fun. 10 years ago I enrolled our boys into taekwondo classes.

A short time later, I thought I might try the club's Women's Kickfit class because a couple of the other mothers I knew were doing it.

The first class I did was really challenging but it was heaps of fun and I tried hard. That afternoon I had a severe headache and was vomiting.

I barely made it to pick the kids up from school. I had to sit in the car in the carpark a while waiting for my nausea to settle.

I'm not sure why, but I went back to the next class. I learnt how to manage my hydration and energy levels, and I gradually got stronger.

I loved kicking so much that it was a natural step to start traditional taekwondo classes. I graded at the end of term and every level I achieved felt fantastic.

As a kid I was a nerdy studious type. I didn't play sport. In my twenties I walked my Rhodesian ridgeback "Nari" regularly and went to the gym for six months before our wedding.

After three babies at 36 when I began taekwondo, I was basically starting from scratch fitness-wise. Taekwondo transformed me completely. I got fitter, and so I got stronger, and so I felt more confident and so I challenged myself to do things that before would have been "impossible".

For a while, taekwondo became my passion. I had injuries regularly and I had a year off to travel but finally in 2008 I achieved my first dan black belt.

After that I took a break, partly because I had disc issues in my neck. Getting old is really inconvenient. This year I have begun training again and am looking towards grading to second dan next year.